eBay’s High INAD Service Metric Is Unfairly Hurting My Small Business | Selling

iremotely · 2026-06-05T23:51:19.038000Z

eBay’s High INAD Service Metric system needs to be reviewed because, in its current form, it is hurting small sellers unfairly I am currently dealing with a Very High INAD service metric, and because of that, eBay is charging me an additional high INAD fee on my sales. I understand that eBay wants to protect buyers and keep the marketplace trustworthy, but the way these defects are being counted does not always reflect the seller’s actual performance The biggest issue is that many returns are counted against the seller simply because the buyer selected a certain return reason, even when the problem was not caused by the seller For example, if a buyer opens a return and selects “wrong item sent,” “doesn’t work,” “arrived damaged,” or another INAD-related reason, it counts against the seller’s service metrics. However, in many cases, the buyer may have ordered the wrong item, changed their mind, selected the wrong return reason by mistake, misunderstood the listing, or damaged the item after receiving it As a seller, I have had situations where the item shipped was exactly what the buyer ordered. For example, a buyer ordered a MacBook top case in Midnight color. The correct item and correct color were shipped, but the buyer opened a return claiming the wrong item was sent. Even though the seller did nothing wrong, that return still counts as an INAD defect This is not fair If the seller shipped the correct item, described the item properly, included clear photos, and followed eBay’s rules, why should the seller be punished only because the buyer selected the wrong return reason? For small sellers, this system can be very damaging. A 15% additional fee for Very High INAD is extremely hard to absorb, especially when the returns being counted are not always the seller’s fault. Many small sellers are already dealing with shipping costs, return costs, eBay fees, taxes, and tight profit margins. Adding extra fees based on return reasons that may not be accurate puts honest sellers in a very difficult position I believe eBay needs to improve this system by reviewing INAD cases more carefully before counting them against seller service metrics. If the evidence shows the seller shipped the correct item, the listing was accurate, and the buyer selected the wrong reason, then that case should not count as a seller defect eBay should also give sellers a clear and fair way to appeal INAD defects that were incorrectly counted. Right now, it feels like the system automatically trusts the return reason without properly reviewing the facts. That creates an unfair situation where sellers are penalized even when they did everything correctly Sellers should be held accountable when they make mistakes, but sellers should not be punished for buyer remorse, buyer mistakes, wrong return reasons, or situations outside the seller’s control I hope eBay takes this issue seriously because many small sellers are being affected by this. The service metric system should measure real seller performance, not just the return reason selected by the buyer I wanted to write more and more, but i think it’s already long enough eBay can and should do better to protect both buyers and honest sellers

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