Regards,
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adsteam@ebay While I truly understand the Seller Level concept the issue with it and any other internet sales company that relies on certain metrics is the origin of where some of those metrics come from because they are subjective to say the least.
Some metrics are more verifiable then others (but not infallible) like Late Shipping defects ... those rely on a scanned code by a 3rd party and to me that is more verifiable then other metrics.
The INAD metric is probably the most subjective one I see ... it relies on the honesty or dishonesty of the Buyer so therefore in my opinion it is NOT a reliable metric. Consider the history of the INAD return. eBay created that to give Buyers a work around to the No returns accepted OR Buyer pays return shipping setting Sellers used AND it would force the Seller to pay the return shipping. Buyers learning this would then use that to avoid paying return shipping on what perhaps SHOULD HAVE BEEN a Remorse return. Therefore, the processes eBay put in place encouraged Buyers to lie to avoid paying a justifiable return shipping cost and why should a Seller be penalized for that? Well, they shouldn't.
The Return rate metric is another one I see as subject since Sellers are compared with other Sellers BUT eBay does NOT issue a list of those other Sellers we are in comparison with to make sure it is an apples to apples comparison. Selling in Collectibles would be a good example and I will use trains since I sell a lot of them ... there could be 20 Sellers ALL selling the exact same 1950s Die Cast Steam Locomotive BUT each and every one of those engines could be different from an operation, appearance, completeness, etc. standpoint ... its not like comparing 20 Sellers who are ALL selling Fruit of the Loom Men's Medium White Under Ware NIB. The Return Rate metric should ONLY apply to specific categories where Sellers can be compared on identical items ...
So again, while I understand the concept and need for Seller Ratings, in this case, I think a number of the metrics that Sellers are graded on are too subjective to be highly accurate and therefore Sellers should not be punished for them ...
Regards,
Mr. L
@ckimodog wrote:Bravo Mr. L !!
I lost my TRS during the height of the pandemic due to late shipping penalties. However most of my items were shipped timely and in the time frame ebay required to keep my rating. Now I'm just above average through no fault of my own, but at the hands of others short comings. 😥 Not fair.
And that @ckimodog probably happened to many Sellers and therefore, during those unprecedented times THAT particular Seller Metric should have simply been suspended until those 3rd party carriers recovered with proper staffing to provide the services we paid for. I know we scrambled on quite a few INR claims caused by carrier deficiencies ...
eBay has gotten a lot better about protecting Sellers (their metrics of course) due to weather and natural disasters like wild fires, floods, etc. BUT I think they may have missed the boat during Covid, ESPECIALLY when more people were forced to use the internet to make purchases ...
@somanypostcards wrote:The tracking metric is practically an unacceptable choice for sellers of high volume, low cost, light weight items such as stamps, trading cards, postcards, badges, etc. due to the enormous price differential between a first class letter and a package. Keeping shipping rates low for buyers results in an Above Standard rating instead of a Top Rated rating. Though the eBay standard envelope now provides tracking at a low cost, its restrictions still make a Top Rated rating problematic at best. An example is the limit of 3 postcards mailed in a non-rigid envelope. I can mail three times that many postcards in a first class letter with the hand cancel option for $.98 vs. a USPS package costing over $3.00.
When eBay first introduced this shipping with tracking metric, I created a second selling ID. To retain my TRS status I provided tracking on all my original selling ID postcards, mailing using USPS packages with tracking. On my second selling ID I did not provide tracking, mailing using USPS standard shipping in First Class letters. Results: Sales dropped so dramatically on my original selling ID that eventually I had to stop providing tracking to remain a profitable business.
So in other words @somanypostcards you could point to eBay's Metrics negatively influencing "HOW" you tried selling and growing your business ... per my first post on this thread I eluded to the fact that the current Seller Metrics may not be applicable to ALL categories. eBay may have to rethink those metrics based on categories, seller size, etc. There is no "one size fits all" set of metrics that will cover ALL Sellers ...
@dbfolks166mt wrote:EBay revenues must be down considerably to push/put what amounts to an add for promoted listings on the seller forum.
@dbfolks166mt That may be true but for myself I use PLS Campaigns about once a quarter and for what I use them for they are great. Years ago I tried a number of the canned Promotions eBay offered but none of them worked ... then PLs came along and I approached it simply this way: put EVERY Fixed Priced Listing on the Campaign for about 30 days and pick ONE Ad rate between 5% - 10% for every item ignoring eBay's "Trending rates". Lets say on one Campaign I picked 7% Ad rate ... to me what I was willing to do was sell every single FP listing (now GTC) for 7% off to 1) move older inventory, 2) drive traffic and 3) increase sales.
I see more long tail items sell during PLS Campaigns then any other time. My higher priced items I typically sell Auction style so the Campaign will help drive traffic where a potential customer might look at my other items and wind up bidding on an Auction. Up until late last year PLS Campaigns have performed great ...but since the Nov 2021 Category shuffle and the Feb 2022 Item Specific roll out they are performing more poorly ... but the causes for that would be better for a different thread ...
