Below Standard 5% Penalty is Energizer Bunny of Fees... Keeps going and going and...

[buckdesign]

Upstanding member of eBay for 21+ years.  Last Summer (two Junes ago) I got really sick for a week.  Despite having a full time assistant and pleading with friends and family for help, nobody could do anything autonomously and some packages didn't go out on time.  My affected customers received refunds and the items but my seller performance was ruined.  It was unavoidable so I took it in stride and just soldiered through twelve long  months of additional fees.  I listed conservatively and eBay hid my listings so well I couldn't find them so it made the sentence easy to serve.  I was able to limit the damage to about $1100 in additional fees paid but my sales were over $20K lower than the previous year.  Needless to say I couldn't wait for July 20th to be reviewed and have the penalty fees and DE-prioritization  flags finally removed from my account.  The good news is over the last three days my sales have increased 300% with the same inventory.  The worrying part is that my performance rating status is now "Above Standard" yet I'm still being charged the 5% penalty on every order.  I chatted with "Customer Service" and the Rep told me it was because the items were listed when I was being punished.  Would eBay expect me to continue paying fees even when I'm in good standing because of the auction start date?  If so, then my only option is to cancel and relist each item in my store?  A year ago I would have thought that is ridiculous and certainly incorrect but we aren't dealing with a logical or equitable corporation anymore. Since anything is possible I listed a new item and was charged $3.18 for the penalty fee when it sold.  Then I called in to clarify my question and spoke with three different people.  Each of them had a different theory about why this is occurring.  None of them could find any policies regarding when the fee should be removed but unilaterally concurred I should wait at least another month before I worry about it.  Once they reached the end of their call script and conversational English abilities I was told I would receive a call back this morning with a resolution.  Phone never rang, no voicemails.  Has this happened to anyone else?  Does anyone actually know when they are going to stop stealing from me?

[duncanvr]

Don't call regular ebay CS reps they most of the time don't have a clue. Get onto Facebook and contact ebay for business and ask them why this is happening. Cancelling and relisting your entire store would only result in more fees. See what result you get from ebay on Facebook first. Good luck.

[luckythewinner]

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@buckdesign wrote:

Each of them had a different theory about why this is occurring.  None of them could find any policies regarding when the fee should be removed 

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If the numerous posts on this board on the subject are to be believed, eBay re-sets the penalty fees on the first of the month following your evaluation.  

So if you regained Above Standard status at your July 20th evaluation, your fees would reset on Aug 1. This seem consistent with how eBay says that they handle the application of the penalty fees: 

Sellers not meeting performance expectations
Additional final value fees may apply on sales in the following circumstances:

If your account doesn't meet our minimum seller performance standards for the US in the evaluation on the 20th of the month, you'll be charged an additional 5% on the final value fees applicable to sales in the following calendar month.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/selling-fees?id=4364

[shado-x]

Don't call regular ebay CS reps they most of the time don't have a clue. Get onto Facebook and contact ebay for business and ask them why this is happening.

You trust Mark Zuckerberg collecting your information over actually talking to eBay directly one-on-one?  Not me.

[katzrul15]

@buckdesign 

What has been shared up thread is what others have also shared on the boards - the new eval occurs on the 20th of each month.  E-bay "tends" to implement it starting the 1st of the following month.

However, others have posted it did not.  Duncan shared in his post to reach out to E-Bay for Business on Facebook.  Contacting e-Bay (hit the message button vs posting) was fruitful for us, even recently.  Others have posted of their success as well.

I would reach out tomorrow morning.  Not certain much happens on the weekends.

Your post is inspiring.  You have toughed it out for a year and are still here.  Many would have given up.  Congrats to you that you did not!

[buyselljack2016]

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@shado-x wrote:

Don't call regular ebay CS reps they most of the time don't have a clue. Get onto Facebook and contact ebay for business and ask them why this is happening.

You trust Mark Zuckerberg collecting your information over actually talking to eBay directly one-on-one?  Not me.

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As has been noted on many a post...........  talking to eBay directly one-on-one  with a CSR that has little clue as to what is going on is rather nonproductive.

[katzrul15]

I think those you can access via chat to call you are not empowered to assist, even if they want to. 

Reaching out on social media (facebook or twitter) accesses individuals who are.

[dash-1505]

Strangely enough, I never see a credit (that a boy type) for shipping EARLY!
Like Saturday! (non-business day) when that is spelled out in my shipping rules.

-Dave

[retailtechoutlet]

Wait till you get another 5% in fees for 'very high not as described' from scammers who don't want to pay return shipping. 

[gjs_16]

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@buckdesign wrote:

Each unilaterally concurred I should wait at least another month before I worry about it.  Once they reached the end of their call script and conversational English abilities I was told I would receive a call back this morning with a resolution.  Phone never rang, no voicemails.  

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I got a good chuckle out of that.

Let me be short, I *never* call CS.

I just won't do it.

It's a huge waste of time.

My time is worth money.

I can do better throwing said money away, at least it frees up the time I would've spent on the phone.

[obob501]

I find your comment interesting about scammers .

I am a one man show so I inspect ,check every thing I sell and pack every item and I find that the scammers really don't want to return an item they just looking for a refund so when I offer a refund and they only ship it back 40% of the time and then the request fades away.

[kh-stanley1]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread HERE if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.