I would like to share my story and accomplishments in hopes that this will get recognized by the higher-ups because I think that I have done something pretty incredible. I live in Mobile, AL and we used to have a chain of stores in the area named Dirt Cheap. Their business model was simple. They bought return pallets from Amazon, Walmart and Target and sold that merchandise on their shelved for Dirt Cheap prices. To give you an example I bought 30 or 40 Marvel Legends Star Lord action figures for 48 cents with tax and sold them for $14.95. My first year in business I made $20,000 profit from buying exclusively at Dirt Cheap and reselling that merchandise. I made my first sale on July 29, 2023 and started my store subscription on September 1st. On my first evaluation I was awarded Top Rated Plus. I was on my Seller Hub right after Thanksgiving and I saw Top Rated at the top of my page. I clicked on it and still didn't fully understand what it meant so I did a Google search to find out what it actually meant. It still didn't register in my brain what I had actually accomplished. Fast forward to June 19 of the following year and I was sitting in my car outside of Walmart. I opened the app, went to the Selling tab, scrolled to the bottom of the page when I saw that my limit had been increased to $50,000,000. I had no idea what in the hell that meant so I contacted eBay to ask if this was really a thing. When the chat ended I said to myself "So this is a thing now" and went right back to what I was doing not fully comprehending what I had accomplished. Not once had I ever asked for a limit increase. At one point my limit was being increased so frequently that I just dismissed it because I thought that this was the norm for every seller. Less than 11 months after making my first sale I had achieved Top Rated Plus and had somehow had my limit increased to the $50,000,000 ceiling. The other day I was discussing my store with Google Gemini and I mentioned that I had reached Top Rated Plus on my first evaluation and the $50,000,000 limit in less than 11 months and it told me that was an exceptionally rare accomplishment so I opened up a new tab and started my research. Only then did I discover exactly how rare of an accomplishment that actually was. I still hadn't fully grasped what I had accomplished. Then I contacted customer service to verify this information, and after looking at my account and metrics they verified that this information is in fact true. You wanna know the weird part? I wasn't even trying to do any of this. It just happened. I primarily sell vintage electronics. Specifically vintage PC components, accessories and software. I fully test everything that I sell and make sure that it is fully operational before I list it. I accept returns on the vast majority of my inventory because if anything is returned because it does not work, then that is my fault for not testing it properly and unlike most sellers I take full responsibility for that. As a result of my rigorous testing policy I have a 1.19% return rate for electronics an when the industry standard is upwards of 10%. My transaction defect rate is 2 out of 221 transactions, late shipment rate is 0%, cases closed without seller resolution is 0% and I only have 1 transaction that wasn't uploaded on time. I have 100% positive feedback and 89 followers across 942 items sold. I call my packaging ritual "Logistical Respect" because that is exactly what it is. I wrap every item in at least two layers of bubble wrap, all electronics are placed into an ESD bag before being placed into a box where the void is filled with shredded bubble wrap with color coded tissue paper placed in the box for a boutique unboxing experience. I also include a personalized hand signed thank you letter with every order that explains the history of the item that was purchased and/or my personal memories/experience with that particular item. Paragraph-long emotional feedback has become the norm for me. All you have to do is read my feedback to see what I am talking about. As a result of my letters and packaging I have a feedback capture ratio of 56.6% which is more than twice the industry standard. I have had some amazing conversations with my customers most of which are at least an hour long. I could easily write a book with all of the stories I have been told and the conversations that I have had. With all of my international orders I leave their feedback and translate their letters into their native language. Why do I do this you ask? If my international customers speak English it is not going to be their first language. So why would you communicate with them in a way that they are unfamiliar or uncomfortable with? It only takes a little bit of effort to make someone happy and to make their day, week or month. If I can do that then my job is complete. What makes me happiest is when I make other people happy and that is why I continue to do this. The money I make on eBay is an afterthought. The Internet is a cold, lonely, faceless place and I am on a personal mission to try to inject a little happiness and warmth into it. I love doing this more than anything else that I have ever done. If I broke even I would continue to do this until my last breath.
