Below Average Standard

[raver8755]

Hello,

I am new to Ebay (6 mo) and in my 2nd month I accidentally listed 7 items with free shipping. The items were purchased and when I noticed my error, I cancelled the orders and notified the buyers of my error. Subsequently I went from Above Average Standard and perfect feedback to Below Average Standard. I reached out to Ebay notifying them of my error but denied me an appeal. Any suggestions how to get out of this mess???

I have noticed a SIGNIFICANT drop in sales and do not know what to do at this point.

Thank you for your time and advice

[inhawaii]

All you can do is be more careful and don't cancel orders.  Eventually time will heal your wounds.

[krazzykats]

Monitoring and improving your seller performance | eBay

ᓚᘏᗢ

[raver8755]

Thank you for your encouragement 

[raver8755]

Thank you for your help

[slati_2013]

When you make such a mistake, you can't cancel. You have to ship anyway. Yes, it is an expensive lesson, but that is/was your only option. The only way to get back above average is to keep selling more stuff and do not cancel orders or do anything to make your customers unhappy. Even if it costs you money. 

[powell-collectibles]

I’ll be a bit harsh. I think you should stop selling on eBay. It isn’t because you made a mistake. It isn’t because you canceled an order. I don’t want sellers like you on eBay because you have the attitude that your mistakes are someone else’s problem. You listed with free shipping – you should’ve just shipped the item. Your mistake. You should feel a little bit of pain.

i’ve been selling for a long time. I still make mistakes. When it happens, I don’t just make the buyer whole, I go above and beyond, so that my mistake is a bonus for the buyer. And sometimes making it up to the buyer – and then some – is a little bit painful. That’s fine – that’s how I teach myself to get better and make less mistakes.

[pickapaper · Accepted solution]

@raver8755 

One thing in your favor is that you did not get any negatives from those buyers so that won't be a deterrent for anyone else buying from you. 

As others have said, just keep selling and eventually you will be fine.   You have already found out that cancelling orders in a huge no-no and not to do it again. 

Selling on eBay is hard; there are so many rules and regulations to learn and know about.  Even those of us who have been selling on eBay for years still learn all the time.   You did the right thing by coming here to ask about your situation and hopefully, you will do so in the future if questions arise.  The people on here are buyers and sellers like yourself, many with years of knowledge and experience, who are happy to answer questions and offer solutions and suggestions to any problems.

[fern*wood]

There is no way to easily reverse this situation, so if you want to keep selling you will have to wait until those defects drop off.  Sometimes you can sell enough that the math might allow you to get your status back, but seven cancellations is a big number to overcome.  This also has probably raised your final value fees as an additional penalty.  

If you aren't familiar with defects or your dashboard, it would benefit you to read up on that in order to not harm your selling ability further.  

[a_c_green]

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@raver8755 wrote:

Hello,

I am new to Ebay (6 mo) and in my 2nd month I accidentally listed 7 items with free shipping. The items were purchased and when I noticed my error, I cancelled the orders and notified the buyers of my error.

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@raver8755 : While you do acknowledge that this was your error, it was your buyers who were really inconvenienced. With 357 items listed as of right now, you should eventually be able to sell your way out from under whatever penalties have been imposed, especially once we're past the summer doldrums and people start looking for Christmas items. Just be prepared to eat the expenses and ship anyway if an accidental Free Shipping occurs again.

Speaking of doublechecking listings for errors, if you feel you must have AI writing your descriptions, be sure to check the results for accuracy. Picking some listings at random here, I see a 3-light snowman votive display with 3" candles that's 15" long overall, which the AI description has botched into calling "a set of large 15-inch candle holders" instead. A sterling silver ring with CZ rhinestones is described as "sterling crystal and silver," and "The 925 metal purity ensures a high-quality addition to your accessory repertoire, perfect for those who appreciate unisex design," as if the purity had anything to do with unisex design.

Your Item Specifics look pretty comprehensive, which is good as AI relies heavily on those when creating a description, but it does not always use them in any logical way, and sometimes gets things flat-out wrong, for which you will be responsible, so be sure to proofread everything it writes. Good luck.

[jdbelt1960]

I think you should have swallowed the cost of your error and be more careful. If you went to a store and they priced something wrong don't you think they should honor their mistake. 

[janet9988]

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@raver8755 wrote:

Hello,

I am new to Ebay (6 mo) and in my 2nd month I accidentally listed 7 items with free shipping. The items were purchased and when I noticed my error, I cancelled the orders and notified the buyers of my error. Subsequently I went from Above Average Standard and perfect feedback to Below Average Standard. I reached out to Ebay notifying them of my error but denied me an appeal. Any suggestions how to get out of this mess???

I have noticed a SIGNIFICANT drop in sales and do not know what to do at this point.

Thank you for your time and advice

---

What was the basis of an appeal? You admit that you canceled on purpose. Nothing to appeal. 

[todaysstyle]

I did almost the same thing. I listed the item and forgot to enter the item price. It defaulted to Ebays suggested price which was a laughable price as it was far below what I paid for the product. Needless to say the 2 items listed sold to the same buyer (as least I did not have to pay 2 shipping fees on it 🤣).  The price I received barely covered the cost to ship the 2 items to the buyer. I did not cancel the order as it is not the buyers fault I made the mistake and forgot to list the actual cost of the item.  I made the mistake so I ate the cost of that mistake. The only reason to cancel would be if something happened to the item such as I had one item listed and unfortunately I dropped it breaking the lid on the bottle. Thank goodness it had not sold so I was able to remove the listing. 😄

Bottom line is if you make the mistake the cost of that mistake is on you. 😜

[raver8755]

Yes, you’re absolutely right and thanks so much for your advice

[raver8755]

Thank you so much for your encouragement and support. I just retired and this has been such a great experience for me. I’ve learned to reach out for help when I need assistance. Thank you for your kind words