Had accident, unable to ship and contacted buyers if they wanted to wait r refund

[philosophia7]

I am 76 live alone and have been selling my personal book collection on ebay for 20 years with an  above standard rating as well as 100% feedback But in the middle of December 2023 I silipped while taking out recyclables and broke my femur I had surgery and was hospitaized and then sent to a rehab home for severa weeks I did not accept home healthcare and it was awhie before I was strong enough to carry packages  I was able to contact my buyers and tell them the situation and ask if they would wait for their purchases or wanted a refund. Most I am happy t o say said they would wait . I finally shipped the last of them last week; It took the longest because it weighed 18 pounds 
2 days ago I discvered ebay had restricted my account,  drastically cutting the number of listings in my starter store  Since I am not a business and have a rather special collection of books I do not have high volume and cannot be sure when an item will sell Yet I do rely upon these sales to support my  retirement income 
I talked to CSR and explained that it was due to measures beyond my control that I had so many late and unfulfilled transactions but could not get any help with the restrictions on my account (they can see the messages between me and my buyers   see I had notified them and their replies ) I can also offer proof  of my injury and care They have no policy and procedure to frorgive a seller such as myself who worrked with their buyers t o complete the transactions but will still penaize me anyway? 
I have no idea what I have to d oto get my good rating back  I am unlikely to have many sales at this time of year  and it is even less likely now that I am restricted in my iisting .All I want is to have the 250 listings per month back  that I  have been paying for all pf these years Can anyone tell me who to appeal to?

[simba6]

You still have over 100 listed.  Could have been a lot worse.  You will just have to wait for the limits to ease off.  Sounds like you have done all you can speaking to eBay.

[dbfolks166mt]

     While you feedback currently looks fine eBay does seller performance evaluation on a monthly basis and I suspect your current seller ratings are below standard due to the late shipments and tracking not being uploaded on time. Take a look at your seller level to see what your level is I suspect the late shipment rate is above 0 and the tracking uploaded on time and validated is below 100. 

     You can also read through the following policy on when and how eBay performs the seller evaluation. As long as you do not have any more issues your seller rating should begin to rise after the next couple of evaluations depending on when the last issue took place. 

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-policies/seller-standards-policy?id=4347  

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/selling/monitor-improve-seller-performance?id=4785  

[fashunu4eeuh]

@philosophia7 what an ordeal you have been through. So very sorry for your injury. Glad to hear you are on the mend, though slowly.

Took a look at your listings and feedback. Thinking you must have put your listings on Time Away after the accident to prevent any sales taking place while you recuperated? So i take it that all the transactions were from before your injury.

As you discovered, eBay does not make exceptions, even for illness or injury. With millions of sellers, it cannot feasibly do so. This is not an act of heartlessness, it is just business. Most everything is automated. When items were not mailed within your stated handling time, it’s likely the bots kicked in as a response to the missed deadlines.

Still, it might be worth a try to contact customer service thru eBay for Business on Facebook. Send a private message to them to explain you worked with your buyers and handled your obligations responsibly. 

Wish you much smoother sailing ahead, and hope you heal soon.

PS—This should be a cautionary tale to all sellers of the need for an emergency plan. Have a designated friend or loved one to take over the reins should you face an inability to conduct your eBay business. Someone who can place your account on Time Away, get out any outstanding packages, and monitor Messages in case a buyer has an issue after a sale.

[philosophia7]

Thank you for your answer and your understanding! 

[philosophia7]

I did not knowaboutm"Time Away" Thank you!

[kensgiftshop]

If that happened in December and you're just now getting the orders shipped, you should have refunded the buyers and shut down until you were ready to start shipping again.

[jewelbiz]

I had catastrophic accident and was first in the hospital 🏥 and then the nursing home rehabilitation facility a total of 3 1/2 months.

Next I had Visiting Nurses at home 4 months + then went to out patient rehab 1 1/2 years 3x a week.

As soon as humanly possible I ended all my eBay sales.

I broke 7 bones 🦴 in my ankle and leg.

[sfau]

Wow you have some very nice buyers!!!!  I usually have one of my kids ship stuff out if there is an emergency, but it sounds like that may not have been an option?  Hopefully there is not a next time, but may you could hire a teen to pack and ship the items?

[lilyswan2]

wouldn't ebay then penalize him or her for refunding those orders as opposed to not shipping in time...they don't like it when you refund...sounds like either way ebay would penalize...if arrangements with the buyers were made and everyone was ok with waiting really there should be no penalty at all...

[noja-27]

You're right; eBay typically prefers sellers to fulfill orders rather than issue refunds, as refunds can impact seller metrics and potentially lead to penalties. However, if arrangements were made with buyers and everyone is in agreement about the delay, there shouldn't be penalties if the issue is communicated clearly. It's essential to keep open communication with eBay and buyers to mitigate any potential issues and ensure a smooth resolution.

[powell-memorabilia]

You are not being penalized for having an accident. You are being penalized for a failure to plan and a lack of knowledge of the tools that eBay offers to cover time away.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@philosophia7 wrote: ... I had surgery and was hospitaized and then sent to a rehab home for severa weeks ... I was able to contact my buyers and tell them the situation and ask if they would wait for their purchases or wanted a refund. Most I am happy t o say said they would wait .... .All I want is to have the 250 listings per month back  that I  have been paying for all pf these years  ...

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It's unfortunate that you did not have a backup plan and did not either use the "Time away" option nor just end your listings when it became clear that you could not fulfill your orders on time. You should read the basic Help pages regarding seller performance as linked in post #3, and here's info on the Time Away option:

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/selling-tools/time-away?id=5137

Just in case you have another setback, you should recruit a trusted friend or family member with the information that they need to access your account so they can either end your listings or activate "Time away".  If they're willing and capable, they might even ship items that have already sold.  Ended listings would be available for re-list for 90 days.

Finally, you should consider dropping the Starter store subscription, since you do not seem to be using any of the benefits that a store subscription provides.  Even sellers with no store get 250 free insertions each month. If you have an annual subscription there will be an "early termination penalty" fee, but that's still better than continually paying out $5 or $8 every month for no reason. The Store TOS (linked below) has a chart that shows the penalty fees, which are based on level of subscription and number of months remaining in your annual commitment.

Non-store fees: https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/selling-fees?id=4822

Store fees: https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/store-fees?id=4809

Store TOS: http://pages.ebay.com/stores/subscriptionterms.html

[philosophia7]

Yes I have had very nice buyers I think they were willing to wait because of the rarity of the books they bought The one who waited the longest was an illustrated set of DickensThe person I relied upon let me down

[philosophia7]

I hope you are fully recvered now Thanks