Getting bumped from top seller status after 26 years of selling
Summary: janetcam expressed frustration about being downgraded from a top seller status on eBay, despite having a long history as a seller. Other participants explained that eBay has specific criteria that must be met, and loyalty doesn't impact the algorithm-driven assessments. Some responses suggested focusing on increasing sales or adjusting strategies to meet eBay's requirements. There's a sentiment shared that the top-rated seller status might not be as impactful as perceived, with some reassurances that fluctuating in and out of status is a common experience. Discussion also touched on conspiracy theories about eBay's sales algorithms.
I'm getting bumped from top seller because I don't sell enough. I have been a sterling seller for 26 Years. Where's Ebay's loyalty to people like me?
redlinear
·2 weeks ago@janetcam
he term "socialist algorithm" or "sales rationing" is a widespread conspiracy theory and colloquial term used by community sellers on the ebay selling forums. It refers to the belief that eBay artificially caps or rations a seller's daily sales to distribute wealth evenly across the platform.
Sellers who use this phrase often note that their daily revenue graph is strangely consistent (e.g., hitting $200 a day) or follows a strict "alternating" pattern—where a massive sales day is immediately followed by a "dead" day. They claim the algorithm "throttles" visibility once a certain threshold is met to give OTHER SELLERS a turn.
bashort
·2 weeks agoIts simple, you failed to meet the criteria to get the worthless badge.
onefootflipper
·2 weeks agoSome of ebay's worst sellers have been here since the 1990s. Length of seller history means nothing. Why should it?
To be a top rated seller you have to meet the standards of being a top rated seller. If that is important to you then you could meet those standards. Many of us meet the annual standards every single week. I am sure you could meet them if you tried.
m60driver
·2 weeks agoLoyalty?!? There is no loyalty in the business world. But losing TRS is no big deal. I have been drifting in and out of TRS status for years. It is not a big factor in my sales and it makes a rather trivial hit to my net margins.
steve_stuff
·2 weeks agoWe just lost our TRS on a different account - why? - Because people didn't buy enough stuff from us. NOT because we didn't sell enough to people, but because they didn't buy enough from us.
But as we also don't meet a bunch of the other requirements, we have never got the discount? on fees - that's the carrot on the stick, right?
onefootflipper
·2 weeks agoThe discount is for top rated plus. Which is absolutely 100 percent not worth doing for most people. The labor involved with making sure you get next day scans on all your sales far outstrips the money saved with the discount. That alone makes it not worth it, you don't even have to get into how much the free returns may or may not cost you.
I know some of you walk 3 packages into the post office every single day and wait in line so they scan them and you can save $1 on final value fees on $100 worth of orders, that is crazy to me given how long that process takes. You can't ever count on a pickup driver or anything placed in the bulk mail bins or carts to get scanned on time, and try waiting in the line with 50 packages and seeing how popular that makes you with the clerk at the counter, most would start looking for reasons to refuse your packages. And if you also use Fedex and UPS then you get to do that process three times per day.
jonathanbrightlight
·2 weeks agoYeah, the discount is great for bigger sellers (we save between $500-800 in FVFs per month, last time I calculated it), but for smaller sellers I can't imagine it usually being worth it.
onefootflipper
·2 weeks ago · EditedLosing an extra hour a day to making sure everything got scans 5 days per week costs about $500 in labor per month anyway, it is a total wash. I paid $9850 in final value fees last year. Top rated plus would have save me $985 and it would have paid me $3.94 an hour. Actually more since I usually have both Fedex and USPS every single day, adding Fedex to that mix would put me up to an hour and a half extra labor per day (minimum) would down that payout to $2.62 an hour.
I also imagine it would cost me at least a couple hundred more in returns per year which would have brought that top rated plus payout down to around $2.09 an hour.
Also, the more you sell the bigger the time sink of getting the scans becomes and the more free returns you will eat. I am not sure if there is actually a break even point at all for the average seller. Maybe if you lived next to the world's sleepiest post office and could drop it all off and be sure it actually got scanned. If you have to wait in that line then you lose.
fm2000
·2 weeks agoStrictly speaking, you don't have to drop off packages at the post office and wait to have them scanned for TRS. When I was TRS they picked up my packages and even on the rare occasion they were not scanned on pickup, they would be scanned at my hub and they would arrive on time and I was never penalized for not having a pickup scan. I would never advise anyone to take things to the post office and wait in line just for TRS, it is not just a waste of time but at waste of gas and wear and tear on a vehicle (unnecessary wear and tear over a year really adds up).
onefootflipper
·1 week agoA lot of people just can't count on that. Either they can't leave the items for the postal worker safely, can't meet the postal worker, or the postal worker doesn't scan the items anyway.
All mine are actually picked up by a postal worker. Never had a single one get a scan before they went over an automated machine at the local hub, usually in the wee hours of the morning the next day. The place where ours are picked up from is super close to the hub so I feel like they get directly routed there. While the stuff we dump in the bin at our local post office usually gets a scan before it hits the hub, but I can never count on it being the same day.
kibble-net
·2 weeks agoPersonal Responsibility.
Learn this phrase: "If it is to be, it's up to me".
Ebay does not owe you ANYTHING. You have to maintain the same requirements the rest of us do.
mam98031
·2 weeks agoI'm sorry this happened to you and that you are upset by it. The rules and requirements for this program is the same for EVERYONE. Ebay isn't going to make an exception for you just because of your length of time on Ebay. That isn't stated anywhere in the policy.
If you really want to keep your TR status, then work on getting more sales so you can get the status back. If you can, sell some things that are likely to sell quickly for you, even at a low price. Run a sale. Offer coupons. Whatever you are willing to do in order to get more sales so your numbers go up.
Qualify as a Top Rated Seller
To become a Top Rated Seller, you must meet the following guidelines:
An eBay account that’s been active for at least 90 days.
100 or more transactions and $1,000 in sales during the last 12 months with US buyers.
A defect rate less than or equal to 0.5%, with three or fewer defects from unique buyers.
Cases closed without seller resolution less than or equal to 0.3%, and two or fewer cases.
A late shipment rate less than or equal to 3%, and five or fewer late shipments.
Tracking uploaded within your stated handling time, and carrier validation for 95% of transactions to US buyers.
Once you meet these requirements, we will automatically upgrade you to the Top Rated Seller status at your next evaluation.
kibble-net
·2 weeks agoImagine actually reading this instead of blaming ebay for your problems :) :) :)
fern*wood
·2 weeks agoMaybe before it actually goes away you will sell enough to qualify.
lacemaker3
·2 weeks ago · Edited@janetcam ,
You have not been a top-rated-seller (TRS) for 26 years, because the top rated seller program started less than 20 years ago.
Actually less than 18 years ago, or maybe about 18 years ago. 2008 sounds about right. It might have been a year or two later than that.
It has always had a requirement for at least 100 sales and $1,000 sales value per year.
Source: I was selling when the TRS program started, and I qualified for it immediately.
dhbookds
·2 weeks agoNot about loyalty......you may go to school every day, but that doesn't entitle you to an "A".............
luckythewinner
·2 weeks agoWhere is your loyalty to eBay? Why are you not selling enough to satisfy their requirements?
chapeau-noir
·2 weeks agoLongevity doesn't mean much here - I suspect there are as many awful veteran sellers as good ones, so basically it's all the same playing field.
As for 'getting bumped' - these days I lose TRS all the time due to not selling enough as I'm part-time. I've been selling for - 24-25 years? Often full time. One of the criteria is having a certain number of sales which has nothing to do with listing quality and everything to do with how much stuff I happen to have listed and thus how much $$ I pull in - you may be in the same boat.
janetcam
OP2 weeks agoThanks for your response
ten_o_nine
·2 weeks agoAlgorithms handle evaluations, not human beings.
Algorithms have no feelings, empathy, or historical memory.
janetcam
OP2 weeks agoIt was stupid of me to think otherwise. Algorithms win. I'm 75 years old and just can't keep up anymore.
kensgiftshop
·2 weeks agoThey have certain requirements to meet to continue to be a TRS.
Ebay loyalty to you is the same as any other seller.