Tuesday, April 8th, 2008

We have a Cross-Border Trade Team… who knew?

I received a number of questions regarding cross-border trade practices in the first few days of the blog and, over the weekend, Scot Wingo proposed in eBay Strategies that “Confusion abounds over eBay’s new International Visibility Offering” so I decided to go off on my first recon mission. One of the initial questions raised on Ink about this was by Davey regarding setting up an internal cross-border trade team. You will be interested to know that there already is a team in place devoted to evolving and enhancing Cross-Border Trade (CBT) practices on eBay. The team was expanded and has been in place and focusing on CBT since early last Fall, and it seems the fruits of their efforts are now starting to see the light of day. I was lucky enough to sit down with a couple of members of the team over the past two days to see if I could sort some of these questions and concerns out.

Firstly, I wanted to find out more about the International Visibility Feature discussed by Scot and the questions he raised around non-US buyers rating US sellers at .2-.5 lower stars. It is the CBT team’s contention that although a ding of any kind is not optimal, they’ve seen no evidence of this going beyond a .1 rating. In fact, I got the impression that some sellers have even higher International scores than domestic.

Further, it was agreed that the current DSR set-up is not the best for international transactions and they are currently focused on addressing an improved rating system.

Thirdly, I wanted to get their opinion on the current “work-around” strategy of listing across two different seller IDs and although it was agreed that this was a solution of sorts, it could be argued that the seller is simply creating more work for themselves by having two IDs to manage and, by directing buyers to another ID could only add to the confusion.

Which leads to a theme that I’ve seen come up with regard to current CBT practices. Quite frankly, it seems that not enough education regarding CBT is out there. For one thing, buyer’s expectations need to be set with regard to shipping cost and time. Essentially, this is what the team has been brought together to do: educate and enhance the international experience. As it stands now, the buyer is confused with the current set up (yes, I agree with Scot’s assessment) and in order to counter that confusion, we need to have better messaging and education that can set the expectations on both sides of the transaction.

I took a look at the current Best Practices on international selling. It definitely has served its purpose up until this point, but its time has passed. In meeting with the CBT team today I was given a sneak peak at the soon-to-be-launched Global Trading Page that will house detailed support, information and new best practices for both buyers and sellers (I was told weeks – not months). Unfortunately, I don’t have much more info on this right now but they were nice enough to provide me with an extremely teasing screen shot of the page (see above). As soon as I get a URL for this, I’ll be sure to share with the group.

I realize there are a lot more questions regarding CBT but I’m pleased to report that there is a team devoted to answering those questions and enhancing that experience. I’ll be interested to get folks’ feedback on the landing page once it goes live.

Cheers,
RBH

Tagged: , cbt, cross border trade, cross-border, domestic, dsr, ebay strategies, international, scot+wingo, shipping

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26 Responses on this post. Click to add yours.

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Rob POn 06.12.2008 at 10:52 am Said:

Well, here’s a comment from a cross-border buyer based in Canada, buying from the US.

In the 6 years i’ve been buying on eBay, i’ve only made a dozen purchases. Payment methods have varied all the way from mailing a cheque and hoping for the best to using Paypal. I’ve only had one transaction go bad, a seller claimed to have shipped product but it never arrived. We agreed through email to cancel the transaction, but I had to call VISA to get the funds refunded. It was pretty painless from my perspective.

Recently however, I tried to buy an item from a seller in the US who offered Paypal as a payment method, but then wouldn’t take it from an international Paypal user. I guess they’re concerned about the transaction fraud someone mentioned earlier in the comments.

They want me to send a money order or cashier’s cheque instead, which of course is tossing all of my purchase protection out the window. So we’re at an impasse. If I use Paypal, I can screw them. If I don’t, they can screw me. This is the aspect of cross-border transactions that needs to be rectified most, IMO.

Thanks for listening.

DakotaOn 06.12.2008 at 11:45 am Said:

I had been shipping to Canada but due to the lack of seller protection and the fact the buyers think that it takes no longer for items to get to them from the US than it does from someone in Canada, I am dumping Canada and shipping only to the US.

I don’t need me stars and whatnot dinged over international shipping.

Besides, there are USPS regulations that PayPal has NOT considered:

Certain items can only be sent to Canada any other way other than Registered Mail. Most all of my items fall under that regulation.

That means not only am only allowed up to $43 compensation from USPS for a lost or damaged item (even if the value of the item is $1000’s), I am also out my PayPal seller protection.

It is just easier to not deal with all of that.

TheBrewsNewsOn 06.13.2008 at 6:15 am Said:

Here is a question for you or your Cross-Border Team. Paypal has announced a new amendment directed squarely at eBay sellers. However, when I talked to a Powerseller Rep AND Trust & Safety today, they had not heard of the Paypal amendment. They pulled it up and read it while I was on the phone with them.

My question was this: Obviously anyone who already takes Paypal (including new eBay sellers) would be required to accept Paypal for international transactions. But what about the eBay seller who does NOT currently accept Paypal payments? Will they have to conform to the Paypal amendment (which they have not agreed to since they don’t accept Paypal) or will eBay be making an announcement letting sellers know IN ADVANCE of a policy change that they will be required to accept Paypal payments for international transactions.

I ask the question because it is entirely possible that eBay would not make any announcement prior to the policy implementation (I think back to the digitially delivered policy which removed listings BEFORE any announcement or policy implementation) and there could be several sellers who wake up July 10th in violation of a policy they didn’t even know existed.

Again, I’ll say it — eBay really needs to STOP holding sellers accountable for rules that they don’t even tell anyone about. If there is going to be a rule change, how about telling us IN ADVANCE so we have time to change our listings rather than issuing a policy violation and pulling our listings. That is not a proper way to inform anyone of a rule change.

It’s a pretty sad day when a seller has to inform eBay (including eBay Trust & Safety) that a rule change has occurred. That makes twice now that I’ve been giving the honor of doing so.

**************************

New July 2008 PayPal Amendments Impact eBay Sellers

eBay sellers need to take a look at the new amendments to the PayPal user Agreement (below is the exact wording from the PayPal site):

PayPal is a business that serves a new and exciting market. As that market changes, our business evolves. This page is dedicated to informing users in advance of important changes to the PayPal service, its User Agreement or other policies.

Amendment to the PayPal User Agreement

Effective Date: July 9, 2008
Beginning July 9, 2008 the PayPal User Agreement is being amended as follows:

Section 4.3 is amended so that eBay sellers must accept international PayPal transactions if the eBay listing offers shipping outside the US.

Section 13.1 is amended so that the Buyer Protection Programs do not cover Classified Ads on eBay.

Section 14.2 (Alternative Dispute Resolution) is deleted.

For Reference:

14.2 Alternative Dispute Resolution. If you are unable to resolve your issue by working directly with us, PayPal will consider reasonable requests to resolve disputes through alternative dispute resolution procedures, such as mediation or binding arbitration as alternatives to litigation. Accordingly, you and PayPal agree to resolve any claim in accordance with this Agreement, or as otherwise agree to in writing.

TheBrewsNewsOn 06.13.2008 at 6:26 am Said:

Richard, you posted on April 8th:

“In meeting with the CBT team today I was given a sneak peak at the soon-to-be-launched Global Trading Page that will house detailed support, information and new best practices for both buyers and sellers (I was told weeks – not months).”

Today is June 13th… MONTHS later.

TheBrewsNewsOn 06.13.2008 at 6:44 am Said:

And let me add one more wrinkle to things…..

How can Paypal REQUIRE non-Powersellers to accept PayPal for an international transaction for which they are NOT covered. A small seller cannot accept payment for an item shipped to Australia or any country other than U.K. and Canada and be covered under the Seller Protection Policy no matter even if they ship by Express Mail.

It kind of reminds me of when eBay required sellers whose items appeared on eBay Express (and we all know what a failure eBay Express has turned out to be) to accept PayPal from buyers with unconfirmed addresses even when they provided absolutely no seller protections. I remember lots of $300 - $400 payments I received from eBay Express sales that I refunded because the shipping address was unconfirmed. I was not willing to take that risk. Imagine how many small sellers will be refunding PayPal payments for international purchases because there is absolutely no protections… sounds like it’s going to be a great buyer experience to me.

Doesn’t anyone at eBay making these decisions ever really THINK about the implications? Oh wait a minute…. yesterday on his radio show Griff did say that any policy changes have to be discussed internally at length so that eBay looks at it from every angle that a seller could possibly “game” the system to take unfair advantage of the rule.

I don’t even have the words to describe how I feel about eBay / PayPal REQUIRING small sellers to accept PayPal payments for international transactions for which PayPal will not offer any protections whatsoever.

AmberOn 06.13.2008 at 8:05 am Said:

@Brews,

I agree that for smaller sellers of high fraud items, this is a huge blow.

The work around is to always insure packages and refund any transactions that are not covered by insurance. That way, it doesn’t matter whether the buyer claims the item never arrived.

I am a small, NON-powerseller. I ship internationally via First Class International (eg. no tracking) quite frequently. If something is too expensive for me to “risk” losing in transit, I insure. Others should do the same. U-pic and a few others offer international insurance to most countries. Of course, Paypal and eBay aren’t doing anything about educating sellers about this “best practice.”

I don’t think their actions are legal or morally right. But that didn’t stop them from conducting in anti-competitive practices in Australia. It took the Australian government to even make a dent in their arrogance. And it hasn’t made much of a dent. Ebay Australia is still officially putting out the “advice” that all sellers should not put any other payment methods in their item descriptions or they will face listing violations!!

The Cross Border Trading page is up. It’s pathetic, to be honest.

AmberOn 06.13.2008 at 8:08 am Said:

This is the page they were talking about. It is subpar to say the least:

http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/internationalselling.html

TheBrewsNewsOn 06.13.2008 at 8:33 am Said:

@Amber

Yes, I completely agree with the insurance aspect. However, in order for the shipper to get a non-receipt claim paid the recipient has to provide a statement saying that they did not receive the item. If the recipient fails to provide that statement, for whatever reason, then U-Pic (which I use) will not pay the claim. Postal insurance only works when the recipient cooperates. When I ship first class I understand that risk (that even insurance may not protect me) but how many sellers do not know they are taking such a risk?

Assume for a minute that a non-Powerseller ships an item by Express mail to Australia. The buyer claims they didn’t receive it and files a claim with Paypal. The seller is completely out the money no matter how you look at it. Neither the post office or U-Pic would pay a claim since it is clear that the recipient received it if they signed for the package; Paypal will not protect the shipper since there is no International Seller Protection for non-Powersellers (other than U.K. or Canada) even if the shipper can prove the item was delivered. Again, Paypal is REQUIRING the small seller to take the risk without offering any protections. And PayPal, just like eBay, has no incentive to turn away anyone who abuses the system.

AmberOn 06.13.2008 at 8:45 am Said:

@Brews,

I agree completely with you. Trust me, if I didn’t sell such low fraud items, I would no longer sell internationally at all. Which, to me, seems to completely contradict what ebay claims to want: increased Cross Border Trade.

Aside from Paypal, there are TONS of other ONLINE payment options available for international transactions. There are also International Money orders, which many Canadians still prefer over Paypal. I don’t think the policy is right.

As for the cooperation of the buyer and insurance, I understand the risk there as well.

Paypal is NOT a safe payment option for SELLERS. Not at all. Which is one reason the ACCC issued their ruling against Paypal. It protects the buyer at the expense of the seller–something that has been obvious to all and that Paypal/eBay has denied. Until they expand the unconfirmed addresses protection to all sellers, this is yet another dictatorial slap at the small seller.

Believe me, I’m in that vulnerable demographic. I understand how horrible the Paypal policy is for small sellers shipping internationally.

MistyOn 06.13.2008 at 8:58 am Said:

[Quote by Amber]Paypal is NOT a safe payment option for SELLERS. Not at all. Which is one reason the ACCC issued their ruling against Paypal. It protects the buyer at the expense of the seller–something that has been obvious to all and that Paypal/eBay has denied. Until they expand the unconfirmed addresses protection to all sellers, this is yet another dictatorial slap at the small seller.

This is exactly why I say PayPal should be charging the buyer the fees not the seller.