posted on July 4, 2002 08:15:33 AM new
I emailed eBay asking about zip codes being added to feedback page or end of auction notice. This is the email I recieved:
We are currently researching some ways that would make it easier for our
sellers to get zip code information as soon as an auction closes. We
will be making an announcement regarding any new features which will
help you in this manner.
I have also forwarded your email to our Product Development team. They
will give your suggestions the serious consideration which they merit.
Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance.
We sincerely appreciate your efforts to help us keep our site safe and
fun. Thank you for your membership in our community.
Regards,
Temujin T. L.
eBay PowerSeller Support
______________________________
eBay
Your Personal Trading Community (tm)
posted on July 4, 2002 08:49:18 AM new
Seems they're on it, obviously they know the USPS zone changes affect everyone, and likely many sellers have e-mailed them about it.
Kind of renders checkout obsolete too I imagine at this point.
For now I'm e-mailing every bidder to ask for their full address, then I send them my EOA e-mail giving them their postage options, they get to choose which cost they want.
Working good, also lets me know which bidders are likely going to be slow payers, as a small percentage are slow in corresponding back.
Would be nice if we could obtain their zip codes easily after the auction ended of course, that would speed it back up again greatly.
Also, with 95 auctions that ended on July 1st, so far not one person has objected to any higher costs on postage, and a whole bunch of them actually reminded me to check it in case the rate was different than what I had posted in my auctions.
posted on July 4, 2002 09:49:57 AM new
I'm surprised that ebay didn't already have something in place at the time that the USPS's zoned rates took effect. The USPS announced these rate changes, including the zoned PM rates, almost a year ago.
Of course, back then USPS claimed they needed the extra income to cover the then-inflated gas prices; later it was because of the terrorists. I'm sure if gas prices dropped to 25 cents a gallon and the terrorists had never attacked, they would have come up with another reason for the hike.
posted on July 4, 2002 12:47:03 PM new
THANKS TOOL HOUND. KEEP POSTING. MAYBE I JUST DON'T COME ACROSS CLEAR ENOUGH OR PERHAPS I WAS TALKING TOO EARLY IN THE GAME. NOW I BELIEVE PEOPLE WILL UNDERSTAND ABOUT THIS ZIP CODE ON THE FEED BACK PAGE. [email protected]. IT WILL TAKE MORE THAN TWO OF US TO MAKE THEM DO IT. THEY DO SEND A VERY CONVINCEING E MAIL REPLY. GOT THE SAME ONE. LE'T JUST HOPE IT REALLY HAPPENS. SOON!
posted on July 4, 2002 03:52:09 PM new
Hi.
I know it's a pain but you can pull their contact info which lists city and then go to the USPS website and look up the zip code. Or wait for them to email you with the info.
posted on July 4, 2002 04:47:32 PM new
I have been asking for this for years. I sell items that generally are too heavy for resonable shipping through the USPS. I usually use UPS and always need a zip code to calculate shipping costs. I have e-mailed many times only to get a canned response that they do not feel that to be necessary to complete the transaction. If they keep in this line of thinking, you can bet they will do something opposite of what we all need them to do.
posted on July 4, 2002 05:02:41 PM new
jackswebb,
I'm with you on this, I just didn't have anything helpful to say. You weren't too early in the game. It's too bad eBay wasn't planning and preparing ahead of time.
fonze,
I never thought of pulling the contact info for the zip, DUH! That would make it easier.
caffeitalia,
I can't believe eBay said the zip wasn't necessary to complete the transaction. Huh???
posted on July 4, 2002 05:25:38 PM new
ALWAYSBROKE,,,,,,,,,THE MISSION NOW IS TO E MAIL E BAY,,,,,,NOTHING ELSE MATTERS. I AM SURE THERE ARE MANY ADDRESSES TO E MAIL E BAY AT I JUST KNOW POWERSELLERS@EBAY BECAUSE THEY GAVE ME THAT TITLE AND THE ADDRESS IF I HAD ANY CONCERNS OR QUESTIONS. I DON'T REALLY THINK IT MATTERS WHAT TITLE THEY GIVE ANYONE,,,,,,,,,E MAIL THEM. I DID AND I WILL DO IT AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN TILL I SEE IT ON THE SELLERS I.D. CARD WHERE IT BELONGS. UNITED STATES, NEW YORK, 90000. THEY CAN DO WHATEVER THEY WANT TO DO IN A HEARBEAT. THEY OWN THE COMPANY.
FOLKS,,,,,,,,,THIS THE UTMOST OF IMPORTANCE. GET THEIR ZIP.
WITH A ZIP THERE,,,,,THE END OF E.O.A. NOTIFICATION IS HISTORY. THEY HAVE THE SHIPPING AMOUNT CAUSE YOU JUST SENT IT,,,,,IT DON'T MATTER IF THEY ARE ON VACATION OR WHAT,,,,,,WHEN THEY GET ON THEIR E MAIL ,,,,,,,,,,THERE IT IS. SEND,,,,,,,TOTAL,,,,,PLEASE, SEND TOTAL $21.95. AUCTION SO AND SO. PLEASE REPLY YOU GOT THIS TOTAL AND ARE SENDING PAYMENT. IF YOU DON'T HEAR FROM THEM WITHIN A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME ,,,,,,,,,,,YOU KNOW THEY AIN'T AND GO FROM THERE.
I PERSONALLY BURNED OUT ON THIS WAITING FOR A REPLY TO MY REQUEST AN ADDRESS A LONG , LONG TIME AGO. SEND THEM THE AMOUNT OWED AND THAT IS IT.
posted on July 4, 2002 05:38:19 PM new
GOTTA COME BACK,,,,,,,,ALSO, THAT IS THE END OF HOW MUCH IS SHIPPING? FROM THE BUYER ALSO. THEY KNOW RIGHT NOW HOW MUCH IT IS.
BID $10.00
POSTAGE $ 5.00
TOTAL $15.00
THANK YOU, ETC.
YUP, I AM SIMPLE AND THAT IS EXACTLY THE WAY IT NEEDS TO BE, SIMPLE. THE FUN WAS ALL IN THE AUCTION,THIS IS THE BUSINESS SIDE. I WANT THESE PACKAGES OUT OF HERE LIKE PRONTO.
posted on July 4, 2002 09:52:03 PM new
What I really think is eBay is trying to get on top of it and the USPS really screwed this up. Ebay tries to hide the identity
of the sellers as much as they can and now if they have to show zip codes more of the secrecy is gone. The USPS doesn't much care about customer relations, as most of us has found out trying to get answers to our questions. I think all they care about is how they can make more money and how they can screw the public. Now that is my opinion. They say they needed this increase because of the anthrax problem and all the cleaning up they had to do. Didn't they have insurance for that???
posted on July 4, 2002 10:01:52 PM new
GEESH, IF THEY WANT SECRECY, GET OFF OF E BAY. THIS IS NOT A HIDE AND SEEK GAME. I WANT MY SALES OVER AND DONE WITH ASAP. I KNOW,,,,WOW,,,,,,,BUT,,,,,,THAT'S THE TRUTH. WANNA PLAY E MAILS GAMES ALL DAY? I DON'T THIS IS A BUSINESS.
[email protected] TELL THEM. THIS IS A BUSINESS,,,,,,,THIS IS NOT FUN AND GAMES. THEY ARE NOT PLAYING FUN AND GAMES WITH US. THEY ARE CHARGING FEES. FEES FOR EVERTHING THEY CAN AND CAN DREAM UP. I WANT MY SALES TO END AS SOON AS POSSIBLY WITH THE LEAST BIT OF TIME OR PROBLEMS. WHAT I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT A BUYER IS THEIR ZIP CODE. PERIOD. I HAVE BEGGED ENOUGH FOR A COMPLETE ADDRESS AND ALL I EVER GET IS A ZIP. I HAVE DECIDED THAT IS REALLY ALL THAT IS IMPORTANT. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE OR CARE LESS WHERE 12345 IS. IT'S JUST A NUMBER BUT, IF IT GETS THE JOB DONE,,,,,SO BE IT.
[ edited by JACKSWEBB on Jul 4, 2002 10:15 PM ]
posted on July 4, 2002 10:15:33 PM new
I don't understand what you mean when you say "GEESH, IF THEY WANT SECRECY, GET OFF OF E BAY. THIS IS NOT A HIDE AND SEEK GAME."
Well it is to a lot of sellers that don't want to be identified.
There are a lot of sellers that don't want their identity identified, I am not one of them. I have said my eBay user name and also showed some auctions that I had on. Mine is not a secret. Yours is as you say you won't tell. Well if they start with the Zip codes they are one step closer to your identity. What will be next?
This is tough for all of us and it will take time to put together a chart for shipping. I am only a small volume seller so It won't be hard for me, but for the power sellers and high volume sellers I know it will be difficult and I understand the frustration that you are going through.
posted on July 4, 2002 10:20:22 PM new
alwaysbroke,
You have been able to get ebay customer service to actually serve you? Yah right. I wish I had the e-mail saved, but it was so long ago that I had given up on it. For a while I was pulling the contact info of my bidders, but that was making too many people mad. People do like their privacy. I am not going to get my hopes up with them. The screwed up the end of auction notice even worse than it was before. And now they are forcing sell-your-item 2.0 down our throats stating that over 50% of the people are using it. What a bunch of crap. Many of the catagories that a person would want to list has been only available through 2.0, so that stat is simply bogus.
posted on July 4, 2002 10:22:36 PM new
LIBRA63,,,,,,,YOU GO THROUGH MORE STEPS BUT I BELIEVE THE "WINNER" CAN GO RIGHT TO YOUR PERSONAL FILE AND SEE ALL YOUR INFORMATION ANYWAY. AGAIN, WHAT IS ALL THIS SECRECY. IF THEY BUY SOMETHING FROM YOU THEY CAN LOOK AT YOUR SELLERS PROFILE IT IS JUST A BUNCH OF,,,,,,,,,,,STEPS MORE. JUST PUT THE ZIP WHERE IT BELONGS,,,,,ON THE MEMBERS I.D. CARD. AND GET IT DONE. ONE FAST LOOK. NO TEN STEPS TO GET THERE.
posted on July 4, 2002 10:26:40 PM new
Libra63,
I think you are missing the point. It is us sellers that need the buyers zip code in order to figure out the shipping costs. IMHO once a bidder bids upon your auction, they lose the right to be private to that seller. Now the buyers zip code should not be released to anyone else other than the seller, but releasing it to the seller would better control what shipping costs should be as opposed to a seller guessing what it should be. The seller is going to need that info later on anyway to send the item to the buyer, so why not allow the seller to see the info right away.
posted on July 4, 2002 10:31:21 PM new
CLAP, CLAP CLAP, CLAP. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. CASE DISMISSED. CAFFE,,,,,,NO ONE COULD HAVE SAID IT BETTER. THANK YOU. WE NEED A ZIP CODE. PERIOD!
posted on July 4, 2002 10:35:10 PM new
No, I do understand, but putting the zip code on the feedback page is one step closer to giving the identity of the seller away. Since a winning bid is a binding contract why can't ebay send a EOA notice like PayPal's payment notice with the name and address on that. I think that is the easiest way to do it. It can't be to hard to do that. It would make life easier for both eBay and the seller if the identity is right up front at the end of the auction.
posted on July 4, 2002 10:40:13 PM new
Thanks to Jack for bringing this issue to the boards and for working so hard to get the idea across to everyone. Many cheers!!
I agree the zipcode should be released immediately to the seller. It would make things much easier.
posted on July 4, 2002 11:00:43 PM new
WHERE THEY LIVE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS. WHAT IS THEIR ZIP CODE SO WE CAN GIVE THEM THE POSTAGE RATE. I WAS HOPING YOU WERE GOING TO SAY NO. BUT ANYWAY,,,,,JAPAN.NHK493. I GIVE UP,,,,,I TRULY DO. NOPE. I JUST HAVE TO FIGURE OUT ANOTHER WAY TO SAY IT OR SOMEONE ELSE DOES. I WANNA KNOW THE BUYERS ADDRESS AND GET THIS OVER WITH. 12345 IS MY ZIP. NOW WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ME MORE THAN YOU DID 10 MINUTES AGO????????? WHAT! NOTHING BUT A CITY. BIG DEAL.
[ edited by JACKSWEBB on Jul 5, 2002 04:03 AM ]
posted on July 5, 2002 01:37:30 AM new
eBay not thinking or planing ahead? When most of europe changed over to the Euro they did not waste a second to jump on the wagon and try to get as much money out of eBay users by incredible rises in fees as possible.
No gain in changing anything only because postage rates increase. Give them a little while to figure out how they can charge you for it! Then you will have a "new feature" that will cost you plenty!
posted on July 5, 2002 04:30:59 AM new
NEW DAY. LET'S CONTINUE TO THROW IDEAS AROUND BUT! E MAIL E BAY AND TELL THEM TO GET THE ZIP CODE WHERE IT IS EASILY SEEN.
I DO REALIZE NOW IT IS ALREADY IN THE SELLER OR BUYERS INFORMATION FILE BUT YOU AND ONLY YOU WHO HAVE A COMMITTED SALE ARE ABLE TO ACCESS THE INFO. BUT LOOK AT ALL THE STEPS.A ZIP CODE IS NOT GOING TO "GIVE" ANYONES IDENTITY AWAY.
FURTHER MORE. SOME PEOPLES INFORMATION THERE IS FALSE. I READ ABOUT THAT RIGHT HERE ON A/W. WEIRDO'S CALLING THEM. AND SOME PEOPLE DON'T EVEN WANT THEIR WIDGET DELIVERED THERE. WHERE PEOPLE RESIDE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS. WHERE DO THEY WANT THE WIDGET DELIVERED? 92000. THAT IS WHAT WE NEED TO GET THEM THE FINAL TOTAL.
HERE IS WHAT THEY GET.
HELLO, THANK YOU, ACCORDING TO YOUR ZIP CODE THE TOTAL IS $29.99.
AHHHHH. HAHAHAHAHAHHA. NEXT.
WAIT!!!!!! JUST ONE MORE.
HOW MUCH IS SHIPPING? HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU GOT THAT E MAIL? NOW WE BOTH KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO NEXT. UNLESS LIKE ME. DELETE AND BLOCK. I KNOW THEY HAVE NO COMMUNICATION SKILLS. IT ONLY GETS WORSE AFTER THEY ARE DECLARED THE "WINNER". AND ONCE YOU DO IF YOU CHOOSE TO E MAIL THEM AND FIND OUT THEIR ADDRESS, YOU GO THROUGH THE EXACT SAME STEPS TO GET ALL THAT INFORMATION FOR THEM AS IF YOU HAD SOLD IT. WHAT DO YOU GET IN RETURN FOR THEM MERELY TYPING, HOW MUCH IS SHIPPING. NOTHING OR A SIMPLE, THANKS. AND THEN NEVER SEE THEM POP UP AS A BIDDER. HAHAHHAHA. INSANITY.
[ edited by JACKSWEBB on Jul 5, 2002 04:34 AM ]
posted on July 5, 2002 07:44:52 AM new
Jack, I am not arguing with you and I agree something has to be done, but as you stated.
"FURTHER MORE. SOME PEOPLES INFORMATION THERE IS FALSE. I READ ABOUT THAT RIGHT HERE ON A/W. WEIRDO'S CALLING THEM. AND SOME PEOPLE DON'T EVEN WANT THEIR WIDGET DELIVERED THERE. WHERE PEOPLE RESIDE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS. WHERE DO THEY WANT THE WIDGET DELIVERED? 92000. THAT IS WHAT WE NEED TO GET"
That is why we are verified at PayPal. so that they can give the address where the item is to be delivered to and if they give you a different address do not ship.
eBay has to verify every address they have in their data bank. Putting a bogus zipcode on the feedback page will not work. By bogus I mean what zip code they want it to be delivered to, not the one they reside at. It must be the zip code of their verified address and nothing else.
There are a lot of posters on this board who have a way of finding out who the posters are. I am not one of them as I don't care. I don't care what other people sell and I don't care if they know what I sell. The reason I use a different ID in here because of eBay.
So everyone has to put their heads together and figure something out. Maybe ebay is doing that. I know the USPS isn't and
doesn't care but they should because they make quite a bit of money off the eBay sellers.
posted on July 5, 2002 08:23:19 AM new
AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAH. YOU SURE HAVE GIVEN ME A CHORE TO BREAK THIS DOWN WITH RESPONSES. I KNOW YOU ARE NOT ARGUING WITH ME. AND ME NEITHER.
PAY PAL DOES NOT EVEN COME INTO THE PICTURE TILL AFTER THE SALE. AND NOT EVERYONE USES IT ANYWAY.
WHY WOULD ANYONE IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WANT TO PUT A FAKE ZIP IN THIER FEED BACK PAGE. E BAY DOES NOT VERIFY ANYTHING RELATED TO THE INFORMATION THEY HAVE SUPPLIED. AAAAAAAH! WITH EXCEPTION,,,,,,,YES! THE ONE ON YOUR CREDIT CARD! WHAT THE MEMBERS PUT IN THAT INFORMATION TO CONTACT THE SELLER THING IF THERE IS A PROBLEM IS COMPLETELY UP TO THE INDIVIDUAL.
ONE EXAMPLE, A FRIEND CHANGED HER PHONE NUMBER JUST BECAUSE SHE WANTED TO. BUT THEN READ ABOUT THE WEIRDOS ACTUALLY CALLING THE SELLERS, SHE WAS GOING TO UPDATE THE NUMBER. GUESS WHAT. NOPE AND SHE HAS NO PLANS TO PUT HER NEW NUMBER IN THAT E BAY FILE. IT WILL RING TILL THE COWS COME HOME AND NEVER BOTHER HER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.
THE USPS ISN'T DOING WHAT? THEY ARE DESTROYING A BARGAIN ON E BAY, THAT IS A FACT. I SEE THESE FINAL POSTAGE FIGURES AND GO,,,,,OH MY GOD! MANY WILL PAY IT. SOME WON'T. I JUST GO ON UNLESS IT IS A HIGHLY BID ON AUCTION. AND IS EXPENSIVE.
[ edited by JACKSWEBB on Jul 5, 2002 08:34 AM ]
posted on July 5, 2002 08:39:58 AM new
I WILL JUST CONTINUE TO SEND THE SAME E MAIL TO E BAY EVERYDAY. THAT'S MY SOLUTION. I WANNA KNOW WHAT ZIP I AM DEALING WITH. MATTER OF FACT NEW IDEA. THIS HAS BEEN TALKED AND TALKED HERE I AM GONNA RUN OVER TO THE OTHER BOARDS AND SAY THE SAME. GOOD LUCK.
posted on July 5, 2002 01:28:37 PM new
REAMOND,
The problem with it being in the only in the EOA is ofter I don't get those for up to 48 hours after the close of an auction and never get them for at least 2 hours after the end of auction. I agree, the zip code should be there, but it needs to be reasonably accessable to the sellers way before that. That gave me an idea. It could be put with the bidders e-mail address. When a seller checks out the e-mail address in the #bids link, only the seller is able to see the e-mail addresses. The zip code could be put there. That way, the bidders whereabouts could be kept private from the rest of the spammers that lurk out there and allows the seller to calculate proper postage.
As far as auto-check out, get rid of it. Outlaw it. It causes way too many problems with non-communication between the seller & buyer. There have been a drastic increase in NPB's and negative feedbacks since it inception.
posted on July 5, 2002 05:34:25 PM new
Since I use the BIN option most of the time I get my EOA's fairly fast. I do use instant pay through paypal, but that is only on the items I know what the mailing price will be. I think that is a good idea about the Zip Code in the # of Bids. What I was trying to get at earlier is when eBay sends the EOA notice and they have that information at the beginning. Below that they can put a statement saying A bid is a contract and the bidder is-- Then give the name of the bidder with name, address and zip code.
I sure hope that they can get this straightened out or we as sellers are going to lose a bundle of money on postage. eBay will not lose or will the USPS just the seller.
