I started selling on eBay Jan 1, 2022. In my first year I did $44K gross in sales as a part time hobby.
I have over 1400 transactions on my account with a 100% feedback rating.
I took a break from eBay in March 2023. I was going through some very difficult personal circumstances and needed to slow down in life. During my 15 months of reselling I had three occasions where eBay stepped in to resolve an issue. The first was a shipping matter. In my ignorance, I thought the buyer had to take a case with the USPS since I shipped the item with tracking through eBay. I was wrong. I did not know I should have appealed this ruling since, again, I thought it was an issue between the buyer and USPS.
The second issue was I neglected to refund a buyer on time. The third issue was I neglected to cancel an order on time. These two issues were when I was going through a difficult time and needed a break. Totally my fault for not addressing these issues sooner. I took all the items in my store down in March 2023.
I came back to the platform August 1, 2023. I realized that on July 20, 2023 my account was downgraded from Above Standard to Below Standard. The reason for this downgrade is because of attrition. Since I pulled no sales for four months, my amount of items sold has decreased. I am below standard because I have a 0.34% rate (3 of 871 transactions). I am not below standard because of continued negligence or inconsistency with products delivered. As a new seller who grew fairly quickly, I was not aware the three strikes on my record could be appealed.
My point in writing this thread is to vent my frustration and share my discouragement. The solution to the problem is to have 400 transactions in 90 days or to wait until one of the marks on my record falls off. To reach 400 transactions in 90 days will be incredibly difficult since I am starting from 0 with no ability to use promoted listings at 2% and with eBay already taking an additional 6% cut from my fees. If I had been a consistent seller with these issues, then it could be resolved quickly. Since the first mark on my record was on December 20, I have to wait until Christmas for this issue to clear.
I am incredibly discouraged and am simply asking if there is anyone at eBay I could submit a formal appeal due to sales attrition and not continued negligence of customer experience.
Thank you.
