Perplexing track record for TRS

[packratville]

Just searching for an item tonight and checking the solds to get an idea of the going price. One of the sellers I ran across has a 95.7% feedback score. For the month, there have been 1257 positive feedbacks, 21 neutral, and 66 negative. Other than one apparently misguided negative thanking the seller for a good product, nearly all the negatives are for receiving new items in used condition or items not received because the seller cancelled the transaction. There were a lot of angry customers. Of course I don't know how many total transactions the seller had for the month. But the seller is a TOP RATED SELLER WITH HIGHEST BUYER RATINGS.

My confusion is that I've seen posts from sellers who have been here forever and had 100% feedback and all positives, yet maybe they cancelled a couple of listings or got a couple of defects because eBay had to step in. I think they usually had a decent number of transactions too, though not in the hundreds or thousands. Despite their track record and 100% feedback all indicating excellent customer service and happy customers, they were booted off eBay.

I just don't get it. And it's not an aberration because I run across it quite a bit.

[ted_200]

This is a horrendous seller.  And I am not Top Rated. 

eBay wouldn't know a good seller if it jumped up and bit them on their behind. 

[castlemagicmemories]

Seems that TRS is playing the system.  If they chose, buyer requested, or problem with buyer's address, they cancelled without a defect.  If they had SNADs, and accepted the return, no defect, as there was no case closed without seller resolution.  Their volume probably mitigates any damage as well, but 95.7 is an extremely poor feedback percentage.

But feedback percentage is not an Ebay seller metric any longer.

As for the 100% feedback seller, they may look good on the surface, but if they fought returns or SNADs, then they got case closed without seller resolution defects, and just a few can be fatal.

Ebay doesn't want to step in, they want the seller to step up.  They want them to handle it.

If they had OOS issues, that gives potentially fatal defects as well.  You can't see these things, they are behind the scenes, but they can cost a seller their selling privileges.

Ebay doesn't like OOS because it disappoints the buyer.

[packratville]

I was Top Rated for a little while in 2014 or 2015 (can't remember exactly), but these horrendous sellers really make it meaningless. I wonder how many buyers, especially new ones, just see the Top Rated status and don't look further into the seller's record. This one tonight is one of the worse I've seen. Usually with that number of neutrals and negatives, the positives are several thousand.

I thought eBay hated out of stock and cancelled listings. Doesn't look like it though based on this seller.

[thallidguy]

TRS isn't linked to feedback, is it? It has been so long since I've been one that I've forgotten the criteria. If I'm right, then it would be fairly easy for a seller to have bad feedback and TRS, especially if the sample size isn't that big. We all know what a small number of rogue buyers can do to your feedback percentage.

I don't think TRS impresses buyers that much, does it? I never thought it encouraged buyers to trust me any more. I valued it only for the FVF discount.

[packratville]

When I see ratings like this sellers and some really angry comments in those negatives, it reflects everything eBay apparently hates. 

Dishonest seller. Canceled transaction without giving reason. Not to be trusted.

Cancelled transaction. Gave no reason. Waste of time

Seller said was shipped gave a tracking number, then canceled order.

I bought this item as a new but both trimmer and travel bag are missing.

CANCELED DAYS AFTER PURCHASE,AFTER SHOWING SHIPPING W/TRACKING,BAD BUSINESS~ F-

and on, and on...

There's something wrong when these types of sellers can get a TRS badge or continue selling by playing the system. Those are not happy buyers.

[southern*sweet*tea]

This is what TRS means:

1. They've had an active account for 90 days
2. They've sold 100 items in a year to US buyers
3. They've sold $1000 worth of items in a year to US buyers
4. They have 0.3% or less cases closed w/out seller resolution
5. They have 3% or less late shipments
6. They have 95% tracking uploaded and validated

They sell lousy stuff and have lousy descriptions. They count on their buyers either not caring, or not knowing how to file cases, and if the buyers do file cases, they handle them quickly since the allowable defect rate for TRS is very low.

Believe it or not, there are a lot of these sellers around.

[packratville]

Yes, I guess that's right, but the comments pretty much indicate items out of stock. And lots of them. I think one of the guys kicked off had a couple of out-of-stock items. 

[southern*sweet*tea]

---

@packratville wrote:

When I see ratings like this sellers and some really angry comments in those negatives, it reflects everything eBay apparently hates. 

Dishonest seller. Canceled transaction without giving reason. Not to be trusted.

Cancelled transaction. Gave no reason. Waste of time

Seller said was shipped gave a tracking number, then canceled order.

I bought this item as a new but both trimmer and travel bag are missing.

CANCELED DAYS AFTER PURCHASE,AFTER SHOWING SHIPPING W/TRACKING,BAD BUSINESS~ F-

and on, and on...

There's something wrong when these types of sellers can get a TRS badge or continue selling by playing the system. Those are not happy buyers.

---

They're cancelling using the buyer requested option, and the buyers aren't reporting it. The only way I know of to report is to call, and most buyers won't. They just don't shop here again.

[packratville]

Well, I see a lot of them. It's hard to believe this seller and others can jump in fast enough to avoid eBay intervention, but I guess that's the key.

[packratville]

I wish buyers were savvy enough to check the feedback and not the percentage. And I'm glad the feedback isn't counted. I see a lot of negatives left for sellers that are accompanied by a glowing positive comments. And then there are people like the buyer on the Selling and Shipping forum who impatiently negged the seller without giving her an opportunity to even try to resolve an issue that may not be the seller's fault to begin with.

That being said, I don't know that a buyer is any less happy with having a transaction cancelled because eBay didn't step in.

[ted_200]

I wish buyers were savvy enough to check the feedback and not the percentage.

They just don't care.  With MBG, it doesn't really matter how awful the seller is, if it ends bad, they'll get their money back.  I've bought from sellers with f/b nearly this bad myself.  Particularly with Auctions, the bad f/b scores can depress bid levels and you can get a bargain deal.  If they don't ship, or it's got a problem, it doesn't really matter, it cost me nothing to try. 

This of course helps lousy sellers stay on eBay, when in the old days they couldn't have bought a bid or sale with feedback like that.  Likewise, it eliminates all the advantages a top tier quality seller once had.  This is why seller quality, overall, is sinking like a rock here. 

That being said, I don't know that a buyer is any less happy with having a transaction cancelled because eBay didn't step in.

When my last non-performing seller refused to ship, they lied and said it was "buyer requested cancel".  I was sort of shocked to see that eliminated my ability to leave f/b for the transaction, so they got off scott free for not shipping. 

[packratville]

Good points about the feedback effects.

Maybe some kind of confirmation from the buyer should be required when a seller reports a listing cancelled at buyer's request. It's probably happening a lot. And a shame in your case because feedback would have helped to warn others.

[d-k_treasures]

---

@ted_200 wrote:

This is a horrendous seller.  And I am not Top Rated. 

eBay wouldn't know a good seller if it jumped up and bit them on their behind. 

---

Probably because ebay will bite them first ..........

[luckythewinner]

---

@packratville wrote:
I just don't get it.

---

For every person like you who posts that a seller with negatives should not be a TRS, there is another person who posts here that unjust feedback should not cause a seller to lose TRS.

eBay has clearly taken the stance that as long as a seller immediately refunds a buyer whenever a case is filed, that is considered good customer service.