BELOW STANDARD due to COVID-19 issue in March and April.

[jgoebert2012]

I have been top rated for years. I have had the 1000 item store for the last 4 years.
I use the computers at my local library and do not have a smart phone.
When the library closed in mid-march, I did not have access to the internet. I thought, at the time, the the library would reopen after "15 days to slow the spread".
A few weeks later Ebay ended all my items and refunded buyers and I could not list any more items.
When my county went into the GREEN PHASE in May and the library was still closed ; I purchased a laptop and am currently sitting in my car using the local library's Wi-Fi which is now on consistently.
I contacted when I had access again and Ebay granted me full access still showing my TOP RATED status. I have sold a few hundred items since then to all satisfied buyers.
That is until the current new evaluation...now I'm BELOW STANDARD.
Soooo, What do you think ??

[dippitydoo]

Hello, and welcome back to selling!  I must be blunt, though I don't mean to offend, but if you are running an Ecommerce business but you don't possess the very tool necessary for running said business, and you lose profits, customers, etc. because of it....well, perhaps not the best business model for you.  In order to keep up with your sales, customer inquiries, creating shipping lables, checking tracking...you've GOT to have a computer to keep up.  I'm glad you finally purchased one for yourself, but those months out of action is why your metrics dropped below standard,  

The good news is you can get your numbers back up!  Create lots of listings for small inexpensive things that will sell quickly and it will bump up your percentage numbers so that next evaluation you might be raised back up.

Best of luck!

-Dippity

[slippinjimmy]

I think the day you found out you would not be able to complete the sales you were making you should have found a way, any way, to end all your listings.

Taking money from buyers but not shipping their orders is NOT the way to operate on eBay or for that matter any type of business.

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

Just curious? How did you download your pictures on a library computer? Or?? How did you....oh my..how did you run your entire ebay business at the library? Wow! I'm really just wondering that's all?

[golfingaddict]

Sorry, trying to be sympathetic but it just seems like having a store with 1000 items does not seem practical if you do not have a computer or adequate access to the internet.

 If you could not ship, you shouldn't sell.  ebay has the same rules for everyone and they did give sellers a break because of Covid, but you really should have had a back up plan.  

[jgoebert2012]

My camera uses an SD card.  I have a SD card USB device.  I just plug it in.

[jgoebert2012]

Hind sight is 20/20.

2 days after the library closed, I had my sister turn on my vacation settings...still thinking that the library would re-open after t"15 days to end the spread".

I agree though...After 7 successful years and over 9000 sales, my business model is unsustainable.

Fortunately my store contract with Ebay ends in October.

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

Oh ok my camera does too but seriously a top rated seller with no desk top, no printer and no Wifi???? You sound like you really enjoy selling... go to the store and go buy yourself...or better yet "treat yourself"  to a nice printer and get WiFi because you already have a lap top? The library is for reading and researching not for EBay top sellers! Now go to the store!!!!! Run!!! Lol!

[gamersbaystore]

While I get the arguments of others here, given your statements I take it you simply cannot afford things like internet, smart phones, etc, and are just trying to make things work the best you can. I can relate, as I can barely keep the lights on here myself. But others are right, you should have been more proactive in pausing your store if you knew there were problems.

Something else to note, you're doing an awful lot of work for nothing! Practically every listing you have is a $1.99 to $2.99. At these prices you are literally working for free just so you can pay ebay. At the rate you're going with over 1,000 listings, you'd have to get hundreds of sales a month just to break even.

I think you are shorting yourself. Charge more! Its great to have bargains, but giving everything away for free makes no logical sense to me.

[jgoebert2012]

You are correct, I do not make a penny doing this.

I absorb the cost as part of my entertainment expenses.

I am retired and enjoy having something to do and interacting with people.

I don't need a printer because I use an "old fashion" black marker to write addresses.

Except for the two weeks between the library closing its doors and Ebay shutting down my account I have only had happy buyers.  But at the end of those two weeks I had 28 sales that Ebay had to end.

Good-till-cancelled didn't help me either...

[jgoebert2012]

I'm retired on a fixed income.  I can't add bills.

Maybe I'll just go back to my previous hobby of producing small press underground/alternative comix to keep busy.

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

I understand jgoebert2012! Geez I was really starting to enjoy you..."the top seller library man"! What is the post ebay hobby you're going back to? Please stay safe and we'll and I wish only the best! ..Lisa

[upgradedendmills]

I don't know rather to laugh or cry!!!!! Much more productive ways to give things away. Even hobbies need to be self supporting.

[hyperrush]

With a few dollars you can buy a used pc or smartphone.You need to preasure your costumers with time to do things.

[aldente28 · Accepted solution]

I have what I think is a related issue with my Seller Metrics.

I have no way of knowing, of course, but it seems to me there is an issue with covid-related seller protections expiring. I assumed "protection" meant that some dings to seller accounts during Covid lockdowns would not count against sellers, nor would they ever.

However, now I am wondering if "protections" simply means the dings on seller accounts that happen during Covid are only hidden from view during Covid, and that they will return (and be counted against you) as soon as the protection period ends.

This is just a guess, based on 1 anecdote, so take it fwiw. I asked a question yesterday on the message boards regarding this issue, but as of now there are no definitive answers.

Hope this helps, at least a little.