Loss of promotion ability

[rgbsr65]

I'm misplaced a sold item and contacted the buyer and canceled the lot. I Eventually found it and contacted the buyer again and he purchased again. eBay has taken away my ability to promote auctions because of this. I don't understand.

[hartungcards]

Well....then why not just sell those items for a little less and not spend the money on promotion?  I mean, selling for promoted is about the same as selling for a little less unpromoted.

As for "not playing the game correctly."  The only thing you're not doing "correctly" is fulfilling orders.  You don't go Below Standard for one case of "I couldn't find it."  There had to have been others to drop you below Above Standard.  It wasn't just this one instance.

[rgbsr65]

Promotions make a big difference when you are competing with dozens of other sellers for the same customers. And you want them to see you're lot before others.

[rgbsr65]

But customer service only mentioned that one when I contacted them 

[hartungcards]

That's because it was the most recent one, the one that put you Below Standard in addition to the previous ones.  You mentioned earlier you've had 5/720 defects.  This last one was #5.  And customer service doesn't have the best grasp of the English language.

[chapeau-noir]

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@rgbsr65 wrote:

Promotions make a big difference when you are competing with dozens of other sellers for the same customers. And you want them to see you're lot before others.

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I'm in pre-owned clothing - I compete with many thousands of other sellers. I understand that promotions do help, but I don't use them continuously and haven't decided if I'll continue to use them or not because, TBH, if you have what people want and NOT the same stuff as everyone else, they're really not necessary. *when I struggle for inventory, I'm stuck using them because I can't find the unique items.

ETA: But I encourage you to just keep going - this is the time to bring out your best stuff, not neglect it.

[hartungcards]

Being an eBay seller, I often find myself in pre-owned clothing as well.

[buyselljack2016]

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@rgbsr65 wrote:

Below standard.  0.69% 5 of 720

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where is that?

Is it Cases closed without seller resolution?

OR transaction defect rate?

[rgbsr65]

Most, but not all, of my sales are for small lots under $5. I'm quite busy with 10-15 sales weekly. That has nearly dropped to zero. I'm 79, not a business. Just an old former collector selling off his hobby collections. Lol. I really do however appreciate the feedback. 

[rgbsr65]

Transaction detect rate.

[buyselljack2016]

Are any defects close to dropping off?

As they drop off it will help, but unfortunately as defects drop off with time the good sales do as well.

[rgbsr65]

I personally deliver all of my sales in the envelopes or boxes to the Post Office clerk. I do not drop anything in the mailboxes. of the 5 defects. I've got,  3 have been lost in the mail. One was received after refund was given and buyer didn't report it.  The last one I found, relisted and sold to the same previous buyer after contacting him to let him know that I was relisting at same price 

[hartungcards]

"I'm quite busy with 10-15 sales weekly. That has nearly dropped to zero."

You've had about 25 sales in the last 10 days.  If you do the math....

[rgbsr65]

Yes, I did the math.  since August 11th I have mailed 206 different sales.

Over a 14 week span, which is 14.7 sales per week average. exactly what I estimated. I'm not trying to embellish or diminish my record. It is what it is 

[hartungcards]

Well great, so your sales haven't "nearly dropped to zero."  Don't sweat this no promotion thing, and just keep going.  You're averaging 2 sales a day.  If you have a couple of days with no sales, it's not a crisis, it's just a bump in the road.

[buyselljack2016]

When an item is lost in the mail it does not result in a defect unless the refund is not handled properly by the seller.

If eBay has to step in to do the refund the seller gets a defect.

How did you handle the 3 lost in the mail ones?