So I don't get the 40 free listings anymore.... so much for ebay

[daffodil101]

For some bizarre reason, I suddenly have to pay $1.50 insertion fees for every listing and have zero free listings.  I called ebay, and they lady told me in a mechanical sing-song voice that if it wasn't listed in my Promotional Offers section then I didn't have it and how important it is to click 'accept offer'.  But the 40 free listings doesn't get sent to you as an offer, it's just there as a normal part of your seller account that every. single. seller has.  I'd always had it before. Until now.

I've spent the last 2 days cleaning and photographing ponies to sell.  And now, I can't use ebay to sell them, without paying an arm and two legs in fees.

I'm just gutted.  I was so excited to get selling again.  The lady on the phone couldn't actually help me, she just read out the script in answer to my questions.  (They also seem to have removed the feature where you can schedule a time for listings to go live, but I guess that's not important if I can't sell at all.)

A bit shell-shocked.  I've used ebay to sell ponies for years.  I feel lost and don't know what to do now.  I guess I'll put them on the arena, but I was really hoping to sell them quickly and efficiently, which auctions and high volume traffic are idea for.  Plus having standard postage that can be paid online, makes the process a lot less daunting than having to get to the PO every second day to get quotes....  I don't think I can do this.

[bluerose9978]

They used to have promotions every month where they would give 1,000 extra listings for a week, too, and that's gone. I don't know what to tell you. I used to have 100 free listings every month and now I only have 50. It's less and less. I don't get it. It's like eBay is discouraging selling.

[Haruna]

I don't know if this helps, as Ebay.au might be different, but I think you *should* get 50 free listings each month by default, as long as they're in certain categories (which ponies are: Toys & Hobbies) and are auction or fixed-price listings. I wonder if the Ebay rep knew what she was talking about? Even if it's just 40 listings in Australia instead of the 50 we have here in the U.S., I shouldn't think it would be very different. Here as long as my pony auctions are in the Toys & Hobbies category they're free up to 50 listings; I don't have to accept a special offer for them.

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but have you already sold more than 40 or 50 items already this month? Also, you've probably tried figuring this out already, but did you choose any "extra" features that are adding a fee? There are a few features that will add a fee to your auction if you choose them, like specifying an automated start time, adding a subtitle, adding more pictures than 12, and others I can't remember. Hope this helps! As you said, Ebay is useful for quick sales and high traffic, but it can be confusing as heck.

[daffodil101]

@Bluerose  Yeah, that's what I was thinking of when she talked about 'promotions'.  I haven't seen one in ages either.  It is kinda dumb... to have buyers you need sellers.  I guess it's all about making as much money as possible. 

@Haruna  Nah, I haven't sold any this month or used the premium features   I don't think they make that much difference.  Thanks for the ideas anyway!  It did say in the policies that everyone is meant to get 40 free listings a month, so at least I've got that to go by.

I emailed the customer support team, though I had to pretend to be a buyer before it would let me contact them.  I did suspect the woman on the phone didn't know what to do.  I also felt pretty frustrated on the phone, and didn't want to take it out on her, so I didn't press it too hard.  It's not the call centre workers' fault.  But I have had help in the past from the email team, so I'm keeping my hopes up they'll be able to help.

[Stormness_1]

I use .au, and I've only ever got the listings if I accept the offer. Usually that lasts for a year, and I list here and there when I'm feeling up to the whole ebay ordeal. I had 100 free listings a month which finished about 18 months ago, and then I got 40 per month for a year after that, now I have none, as I hadn't been offered anything, and haven't been on there much to buy of late, so not sure if there is even an offer at the moment. Maybe there's a selling volume that gets you offers? I'm not sure how they choose people to send offers to.

[Haruna]

I emailed the customer support team, though I had to pretend to be a buyer before it would let me contact them.  I did suspect the woman on the phone didn't know what to do.  I also felt pretty frustrated on the phone, and didn't want to take it out on her, so I didn't press it too hard.  It's not the call centre workers' fault.  But I have had help in the past from the email team, so I'm keeping my hopes up they'll be able to help.

Hopefully they can help you! Good that it says in the policies that you get 40 listings; that is ground to stand on. Maybe it's just a matter of finding the right rep, one who won't read you a script! Hooves crossed

[daffodil101]

Well I finally got it sorted!  It turned out, my address had inexplicably been changed to a US address.  I have no idea how.  I did recognise it as one I've posted to before- but how a customer's address came to be listed as my primary residential address I will never know.

I changed it to the correct address on Sunday after getting a reply from ebay explaining the problem, but then it changed back to the US one again, so on the second email I had a new set of instructions to change it a different way and hopefully this time it will stick!

I got a bunch of 'congratulations on your move to Australia' notifications, haha.  I've never been out of the country, but hey.   

[Stormness_1]

That's so bizarre! Ebay does do some really strange things... I've had listings disappear and reappear, and I've had listings that were on auto-relist pop back up weeks after they finished their relist cycle. Ebay is super broken sometimes!

[Haruna]

Well I finally got it sorted!  It turned out, my address had inexplicably been changed to a US address.  I have no idea how.  I did recognise it as one I've posted to before- but how a customer's address came to be listed as my primary residential address I will never know.

Yeah, that is bizarre, lol! How weird. Congratulations on your move At least it all got sorted in the end!