eBay Delays New Top-rated Seller Rule

Marketplace will begin considering tracking requirement July 20.

By Olga Munoz · June 19, 2012 · 4 Comments
TAGGED IN: eBay policies, selling

eBay is giving sellers one more month to upload tracking information for 90 percent of their transactions to comply with a new Top-rated Seller requirement and get a discount on their final value fees.

Michael Jones, eBay’s vice president of Seller Development, made the announcement on eBay’s General Announcements page today. He notes that, though eBay initially said it would start considering how often sellers provide tracking information for sales made in the U.S. when deciding who gets the Top-rated Seller emblem on May 1, it did not start looking at that requirement until June 1.

This means that when eBay considers if sellers will be given, or maintain, their Top-rated status on June 20, it will not take into account tracking information. Instead the marketplace will consider if sellers have 0.5 percent or less low Detailed Seller Ratings, 0.5 percent or less opened eBay and PayPal Buyer Protection cases, 0.3 percent or less unresolved eBay and PayPal Buyer Protection cases, a 98 percent or higher feedback score and at least $1,000 in annual sales with at least 100 transactions in the past year.

“Since we announced updates to the eBay Top-rated Seller criteria in February, many have said they need more time to meet the new requirement”

eBay will begin looking at how often sellers uploaded tracking information on July 20, when it again gives out Top-rated Seller emblems. The marketplace will then look at sales made from June 1 to June 30.

“Since we announced updates to the eBay Top-rated Seller criteria in February, many Top-rated Sellers have said they need more time to meet the new requirement,” Jones writes. “We’ve heard your concerns and want to give sellers more time to make the needed changes.”

He adds that, as of June 1, only listings from Top-rated Sellers who offer a 14-day or longer return policy with a money-back option and a one-day handling time will get 20 percent off their final value fees and the biggest boost for fixed-price listings in Best Match.

Jones also writes that, though sellers have asked for more time to adjust to the new requirement, eBay is “impressed” with how many merchants have already uploaded tracking information for 90 percent of their sales.

“eBay buyers clearly appreciate it, too, as shown by the continued growth of sales for Top-rated Sellers,” he says.

Olga Munoz is editor of TheOnlineSeller.com. In addition to writing news and feature articles about e-commerce, selling trends, online marketing and other topics of interest to online sellers, Olga manages the site's social media efforts. A journalism graduate of Chico State, Olga says her favorite part of being a journalist is learning interesting facts that help put stories into perspective, attending industry events and meeting interesting people "that leave you smiling, even in tough situations." Opinions expressed here may not be shared by The Online Seller and/or its principals.

Paulwebsterantiques

I upload tracking info to 100% of my transactions, yet ebay remove my TRS status due to low shipping cost DSR’s. I only ever charge what it actually costs to post an item, I don’t even charge for the packing materials, and sending out 200-300 items a month, that can add up! ebay maintain that feedback (in the case of DSR’s) is a subjective matter, which of course it is, however my suggestion that the input of actual shipping costs, which is currently available as an option should block the possibility of low scores when the actual, and charged shipping costs are comparable has fallen on deaf ears. It is unfair that the vast increases in postage prices inflicted by Royal Mail can have such an adverse effect, when sellers like myself who play fair with shipping costs, are objectively penalised by eBay based upon a subjective criteria. It is clear to anyone with any concept of how ebay works, that they are actively pursuing ways to deny sellers of earned discounts. But what else can we do? If the suggestion is to ship for free of for considerably less than cost, which option is going to cost my business more, to allow vast shipping costs to eat into profit margins or to loose 10% on me ebay fees? I know which is relevant to my business!
jgofan

eBay says “Since we announced updates to the eBay Top-rated Seller criteria in
February, many Top-rated Sellers have said they need more time to meet
the new requirement.” But then in the same breath they also say “eBay is ‘impressed’ with how many merchants have already uploaded tracking information for 90 percent of their sales.”

If you noticed, the pop up window in your seller dashboard that tracked your progress on meeting the upcoming new Top-rated Seller requirements almost always had erroneous data. So, I think it had a lot more to do with eBay having problems with their tracking mechanism than eBay “allowing sellers more time” to get into compliance. Get real! Since when has eBay EVER cared about sellers not having enough time to comply with seller updates? After all, they made the announcement of the new requirements in February.
Silaba

ebay sellers needed soon!!! please message me including ebay user id
- Flyercrazy
  
  ebay seller here…needed for what? flyer-crazy
  
  Jim