Transactions you canceled for being out of stock

[kontreal]

Can someone please explain why eBay penalizes you for a whole year when you cancel a item for being out of stock? The transaction defect should be removed between three and six options. As a seller who tries as much as possible to avoid canceling an order but sometimes unforeseen events happen. 

I'm just extremely frustrated with how eBay still does not work with sellers.

[woodland_gnome]

The lookback period for counting defects in your monthly review depends on your transaction volume over the past 3 months.   See     https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-policies/seller-performance-policy?id=4347

Keep in mind that your non-defect transactions during the period are also counted.  If it only went back 3 months for lower volume sellers then isolated recent defects would hurt a whole lot more.

[gosimus]

@kontreal 

< The transaction defect should be removed between three and six options >     

You can make suggestion here:  https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/member-behavior-policies/unsolicited-idea-submissions-policy?id=4...    When you get on the page, scroll down and click into the "Read our full policy" section.  The links for submitting suggestions are near the bottom.   

Just a question.  Are you having to cancel for "out of stock" so much because you're drop shipping, and your supplier(s) are the ones running out of stock?  

[kontreal]

Yes

[inceptions]

OK, well that is the price you pay when you deal with dropshippers instead of selling items you have in your possession.

eBay wants happy buyers and so do most sellers. When a seller takes the time to shop around, decide on an item, and place an order, and then finds out at some point that the seller was selling an item that wasn't even available, he has to start the whole process again. That is disappointing, aggravating, and it wastes the buyer's time. It drives business away from eBay. It's not only bad for the buyer, but bad for other sellers who could have serviced the customer, and it makes it bad for eBay's reputation.

So these are things you should consider when you think about why eBay's policy is what it is. (As well as things you should consider when using a dropshipper who you can't count on.)

[janet9988]

It is not unforeseen if you are drop shipping. It is a common thing.