Selling Services will affect your Seller Performance
I'm a bit confused, upset, and disgusted with eBay. I'm retired and have a small business doing what I like. I repair all sorts of consumer electronics and a few years ago, I decided to list some popular ones on eBay. I built up a good reputation, on here, and other platforms.
My listings are specific. Each listing deal with one common repair and the specific device. Such as, Xbox Series X HDMI Port Repair Service. You would have to send the device to me for repair. My fee is $49. This includes parts/labor. Shipping both ways, is the buyer's responsibility. Handling time is extended to about 2 weeks to give the buyer time to send in the device, for me to repair it, and to finally print a shipping label to return the device to the buyer.
When the buyer purchases the service, I send them a copy/past eBay message. Typically A thank you, my address, and the next steps to send in your device and other info. After I receive the device, I send the buyer a message to confirm receipt, and give them a date of service, typically a few days depending on the workflow. After the repair. I follow up with repair complete message, and finally a tracking number utilizing eBay's shipping. It's been working great for the past few years, and the buyers love the services, as you can see from my feedback.
I know eBay is not exactly setup for services like this, but they DO allow it, and as a seller, I do my best to comply with the rules. My question is, how do you deal with buyers that purchase, and never respond? Again, there are buyers that are not responding, so the service cannot be completed. To avoid a late ship strike, I have to cancel these orders. I have been canceling and choosing Buyer canceled, or sending a refund, I would choose Other Adjustment and send the entire amount. I canceled and refunded 7 orders within the past 9 months.
The past few months I noticed my sales dropping and volume /views slowing down. I came to realize that all 7 of those orders were affecting my seller performance, therefore limiting views and cutting any promoted listings on my account. I noticed there were all labeled as out of stock, which is not true. These are all services, and not a physical product. I'm sure this is a mistake, an error in the system. eBay helped me with other issues before and they will remove these, no problem.
So, after many phone calls, messages, and explanations, they won't remove them. They claim I choose out of stock when I canceled which is not true. The Refund ID shows reasons otherwise. 1 of the 7 even shows a reason of Buyer Canceled, but yet it's still labeled in seller performance as out of stock. Final eBay supervisor claims that I'm too late to appeal as the 90 days have passed. This is not a standard appeal request. The issue is that my transactions were incorrectly classified as “out of stock”, without my knowledge, and which does not apply to my business. These transactions do not involve physical inventory. In each case, the buyer paid but failed to send their device within the required timeframe, and I issued refunds accordingly.
If eBay allows service-based listings that require buyer participation (shipping a device), then the platform should not penalize sellers when buyers fail to follow through. The current system is misclassifying these situations and negatively impacting seller performance. Please escalate this matter to the appropriate team, as this is a system classification issue and not a policy exception.
She asked me what exactly I want. I repeated, I need these false transactions off my seller performance. She said no. So, I unlisted everything and canceled my store subscription.
Yet, a few eBay reps did claim it's a flaw, and some tried to explain how to do it, but no one can explain how to cancel properly without affecting your seller performance. Some eBay reps have said to have the buyer cancel the order. If the buyer is not responding to messages, how can I have the buyer cancel? Does anyone have any idea??
funfactorychannel
·5 months agooff topic do you fix broken switch and xbox development kits?
plw_electronics_repair
OP5 months agoAbsolutely. Yes, that's what I do.
meme6253
·5 months agoIt's a great service you offer & the prices seem reasonable, But you yourself stated that Ebay allows services but is not properly set up for them, So you need to find one that is or set up your own site that is the only real solution to your particular problem, Good Luck.
ryry-jj
·5 months agolet me ask, how are your listings set up? Do the buyers pack up and purchase a label to ship to you, and then you fix, repack, and pay to ship back? If so, what about when they buy, send them a prepaid label in an envelope. They affix that to the box they ship to you. This way you "shipped" with tracking. You might even be able to send the label in a box that they can use to ship the item to you, so you have the size and estimated weight. Obviously, you need to up what you charge to do this, but that is the cost of doing it correctly... possibly?
plw_electronics_repair
OP5 months agoYes, listings are setup as a flat rate fee for the service, with return flat rate ship included. The buyer's other expense is to ship the device to me. They need to provide a box, packing material, and purchase a shipping label on their own. Once I receive it, I take care of the rest. Most sellers of these listings in Specialty Services>Restoration & Repair>Electronics are selling this way. I thought about selling a box instead to send in your device for repair, but that's an extra unnecessary step. Or just mailing them a shipping label, but most buyers will want a label right away, which can be done with email, or messages, and at the same time I'm thinking, I can also physically ship the label to fulfil the order, according to eBay. Once I receive the device, I can send the buyer a final invoice for the service by creating a reserved listing with return shipping and fulfil that order too.
funfactorychannel
·5 months agoCouldnt you send them a mail with a unique coupon for a service for repair when service is done or when they pass the date, the can use it to redeem. Just keep track of the codes. This way you can do 1d handling as long as you send them a certificate or coupon for a repair service? That way you avoid the cancellation and if buyer doesnt want it he can do the return and you refund the money without a ding.
plw_electronics_repair
OP5 months agoI'm sorry, I don't understand how that will work.?
funfactorychannel
·5 months agoBuyer purchase your service.
You note the buyer and issue him a unique coupon code, can print it on a paper and send it to him via mail with tracking within 1 day. Also email via ebay messages about the code to redeem for the service.
Once he contacts you, you can strike off the code. And do his repair and send it to him.
If buyer doesn't contact you at all, your not on the hook to take a defect. It is up to the buyer to ask for refund instead of you cancelling the order.
Afterall they are buying a service as long as YOU honor your service, this shouldnt be a problem
plw_electronics_repair
OP5 months agoSo your saying, I need to ship twice to the buyer. First a coupon code to fulfil the order, and then again, after the device is fixed?
Do I include the cost for all of it in the listing, or just for the coupon code. What will this coupon code buy or is it just for the shipping label? When I receive the device, do I create a reserved listing for the repair for the buyer, so I can ship the device back to the buyer?
funfactorychannel
·5 months agoI would adjust the price to include everything, making it easy for your buyers. The code is for your service. Its considered redeem once they send your item to you. You can use a spreadsheet to track or some software.
Point really is keeping everything you have now. Only addition is you add a code and ship with tracking. Noting this is for a repair service, whatever disclaimer you want to add. The extra process is on your end and not inconvenient the buyer. But allows the buyer the time to respond or not respond but your not on the hook to cancel, and you keep his money until he ask for a refund. if he doesn't they still have a code to redeem after 30days.
Also you should have your own site and use the code you sent to redirect to your site.
luckythewinner
·5 months agoSelling Services will affect your Seller Performance
I agree.
eBay is not a good fit for selling services.
And using eBay for something it is not suited for can be an issue.
plw_electronics_repair
OP5 months agoYep, and this is why. 30,000+ listings are in the Specialty Services>Restoration & Repair>Electronics. About 90% of the listings require the "buyer" to act first before the seller can act. Since eBay is set up for the sellers to react after a purchase, no exception, this category is a disaster waiting to happen.
ryry-jj
·5 months agoTons of pitfalls to this type of selling as you have discovered. Would cancelling do to problem with address work? I imagine the same issues can pop up if a buyer doesn't respond with a local pick up as well. Give it a week, then claim buyer cancelled as a result of not proceeding with the order? I don't see a clear cut path
plw_electronics_repair
OP5 months agoTons of pitfalls to this type of selling as you have discovered.
Yes, here is another one. If I have a repeat buyer, which I do often, and the buyer purchases the service again. after 90 days, I cannot message the buyer. The message will always default to the previous message chain. Since eBay cuts off coms with the buyer after 90 days, it will not let you send a message. The same is happening on the buyer's end. Even though it's a new transaction, it will default to the original message and will not create a new one. The only way I can get in touch with the buyer is by going to his ebay, contact and choose "this is not about an item"?? If I choose item number or select an item it won't work either.
This is just great. I have a repeat buyer, but I cannot communicate with them. Makes me look really good. Thanks eBay.
christworks
·5 months ago@plw_electronics_repair
While you may wish eBay operated differently, it doesn’t. As you admitted, even though eBay allows services, it’s not properly set up for them. You’re not the only one who’s complained about this.
eBay is right about one thing: you missed your chance to appeal because you weren’t paying attention to your metrics. That’s nobody’s fault but your own.
What you need is either your own website or look into Shopify. While that’s still a retail platform, it’s better designed to handle services than eBay. You could also look into Fiverr. It’s generally meant for digital services, but you could market yourself as someone who offers electronic repair consultations for a fee, then work out an arrangement for the client to mail you their item. You said you’re already on other platforms, so you may already be aware of these options. If so, it may be time to rethink eBay entirely.
Instead of offering repairs on eBay, you could sell electronics you’ve already repaired. I’m not sure how their refurbishing program works, but that might be worth looking into. You could also source items being sold for parts on eBay, repair them, and flip them back on the platform. I don't think you have to give up eBay. I think you need to adjust and use it for retail instead of services since that has not worked out well.
plw_electronics_repair
OP5 months agoYes, I admitted that eBay is not set up for mail in services like this. It's pretty obvious. eBay reps also agree. Yes, I'm sure I'm not the only one. That's why it should be fixed. I might have missed my chance to appeal but the issue is not a policy issue. This did not involve inventory or a product, but eBay treated it as such. Since we both agree, eBay is not setup for services and treated these items as products and not services.
I do have a Shopify store. Yes, working great, as I have control over my business. It is time to rethink eBay, because no matter how hard I try, they always seem to screw me over somehow. This is not the first time, but it will be the last.
I have done what you mentioned about 6 years ago. With a physical product, this issue is non existing if you follow the basics. That's because eBay is built for the seller to act first in a transaction. A buyer buys your item and you as a seller react and ship the item. Done. With a repair service, the buyer needs to act first, so eBay is confused as to why I'm not shipping.
I would buy broken electronics, laptops, game consoles, cellphones, etc. One year I grossed 223k. Following year 190K. It was good, but a lot of work to do by myself. I applied to eBay refurbished program TWICE without a response at all. At least send me a message, sorry we can't accept you. NOPE just no response, crickets.
It came to a point that most devices were not repairable, and I ended up with a lot of parts, which I either sold or wrote off as Inventory. The major problem I had was that eBay sellers were very dishonest. I had to be careful who I buy from. I was also buying pallets from Best Buy liquidation, but they were always bid up with very little room for profit. It came to a point that I was writing off more than I was making because most of these devices were beyond repair.
Now I had a lot of parts, as to why I got into just repairs.
It's not like I'm doing something evil, wow. I'm actually being a good seller and refunding buyers' money for a service that was not fulfilled. eBay makes it sound like I took someone's money. But I get it. The system is setup to protect, eBay and then the buyer, but fails to understand when the buyer has to act first.
Anyone have any idea how I can sell services on eBay without it affecting my seller performance.??
kensgiftshop
·5 months agoNot sure, but you might be able to list as a Classified Ad.
They do charge every month for them and buyers are not covered by the MBG.
plw_electronics_repair
OP5 months agoGood Idea. Thank you.
kensgiftshop
·5 months agoIf you canceled them as buyer requested, when they didn't, they could have reported you to Ebay.
Unless the buyer ask to cancel, you have to use the OOS option.
plw_electronics_repair
OP5 months agoThank you for your reply. I canceled only one, as buyer cancelled. It still shows as out of stock. The buyer bought the wrong item. I canceled the order and the buyer purchased the correct listing the same day. I have eBay messages confirming this. I don't think the buyer reported me, but I understand where you're going with this. My question is how I cancel orders that buyers do not respond, without it affecting my Seller Performance?
albertabrightalberta
·5 months agoYour own post says otherwise:
"My question is, how do you deal with buyers that purchase, and never respond? Again, there are buyers that are not responding, so the service cannot be completed. To avoid a late ship strike, I have to cancel these orders. I have been canceling and choosing Buyer canceled, or sending a refund, I would choose Other Adjustment and send the entire amount. I canceled and refunded 7 orders within the past 9 months."
And just so you know, even if buyers aren't reporting that you've lied about the reason for the cancellation, ebay is able to look at your account and see that your buyers haven't requested to cancel.
IMO, you're lucky that you're even still allowed to sell.
Admittedly, you aren't violating policy by listing your services here but the site isn't set up for what you do and it's impacting your account. I think you need to find another venue better suited to what you offer.
plw_electronics_repair
OP5 months agoAnd just so you know, even if buyers aren't reporting that you've lied about the reason for the cancellation, ebay is able to look at your account and see that your buyers haven't requested to cancel.
Only one cancelation I choose buyer canceled, and that was in agreement with the buyer that they purchase the wrong listing. All interactions are in messages. The other 6 were cancelled as a refund, "other adjustment" with a note to buyer explaining the "we haven't heard from you, handling time has passed, and they are welcome to repurchase the service at any time in the future". Little did I know, this will affect me in a negative way.
IMO, you're lucky that you're even still allowed to sell.
Yes, I'm so lucky with 100% feedback, and all other metrics at peak.
Admittedly, you aren't violating policy by listing your services here, but the site isn't set up for what you do and it's impacting your account. I think you need to find another venue better suited to what you offer.
I did, Shopify, long time ago, and now I'm done with eBay because no one can answer a simple question.
My question is how I cancel orders that buyers do not respond, without it affecting my Seller Performance?
plw_electronics_repair
OP5 months agoI know. It's like a catch 22. Why would I have to choose OOS option. When I'm clearly not out of stock, and buyer canceled would trigger a lie. I've sold thousands of items and very rarely did I not fulfil an order with a physical product to be shipped, and the rule worked just fine. I could understand how this works for a physical product, but for a service, when the buyer is required to act first, the algo will work against the seller always, at no fault of the seller.