Top-Rated Plus Seller Requirements

[grammascountryhouse]

I have been a small-time seller on Ebay for many years.  My motivation as a retired person is to make enough money to buy Christmas presents for my nine grandchildren.  I have worked hard to be a great seller and have 100% positive feedback.  I offer 1 day shipping and accept returns and, until recently, received a 20% discount on final value fees - enough to make it worth it to work hard and be responsible.  Every time Ebay changed policies (charging a fee on shipping charge as well as item, raising 1 day shipping compliance from 90% to 95%, raising the cost of a store from $15.95 to $21.95, not offering any extra free listings, etc.) I sucked it up and worked even harder.  But now Ebay has created a new category -Top Rated Plus. l must now offer "Free Returns" in order to still receive a discount (10%) on FVF and to have the Top-Rated seal on my listings.  As a small-time seller, Free Returns could have a disastrous effect on my bottom line.  There is now no motivation to maintain a Top-Rated status since there is no benefit to be earned.  What is the point of trying so hard?  Buyers do not see "Top-Rated" anywhere on my listings, so what is the point of shipping out items within one day?  With the increase in USPS postal rates and the decrease in Ebay benefits, my sales have fallen off and my income (never great) is decreasing.  

[hioctane62]

Lots of sellers (myself included) refuse to jump through this latest hoop for the ever decreasing TRS+ benefits. Someone posted in another thread that during several searches yesterday, they determined that roughly 7% of the listings offered free returns. The risks now outweigh the benefits.

[hioctane62]

I should add that this place seems to be a ghost town with Amazon Prime day being tomorrow. If we're lucky, maybe we can get a few sales after that's over.

[paudoh-16]

Money is being made on the backs of all sellers, no matter how big or how small. Taking away these extra perks is the only thing they can do because they don't own anything. When it comes to the actual sellers on here, we are being driven lower and lower. I don't understand the end game. 

Lose sellers, lose fees, lose all the sellers who were once buyers. How can that be a sound business model. Lay off employees. Well, could be a good move if they actually got out true dead wood and egomaniacs, but I doubt that happened. The requirement for hiring no longer includes performance or ability. They don't want the best or the brightest, they want the cheapest. 

The old adage still rings true. You get what you pay for.....unless you're a seller.

[fern*wood]

There is no handling time requirement to retain your TRS status.  I changed mine to 2 days.  At least I still get the small shipping discount on ebay for priority shipments as a TRS.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@grammascountryhouse wrote:

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 ... now Ebay has created a new category -Top Rated Plus....  

The TR-Plus badge, with its associated requirements for returns and handling time, was introduced in 2012.  And that's also when the original basic TRS badge disappeared.  Over the years the requirements for TR-plus have gradually escalated.

[newview]

You are absolutely 100% correct. There comes a time when chasing the carrot is just not worth the possibility of even catching it.

22 Year eBay member here, joined in 1996 ... I made all necessary adjustments and jumped thru all the hoops required to maintain TRS+ for the last two years, shipped Same Day 95% of the time, sometimes making 2, 3 trips to the Post Office daily, have a 100% feedback and have NEVER had a negative. Then eBay said I have to provide Free Returns to maintain TRS+.

Nope ... not gonna happen.

My Customer Service, Shipping and Feedback speaks for itself. 

They can KEEP their miserable 10% monthly discount and their stinkin' badge.

I'm not interested in dealing with buyers whose priority is Free Returns and whose first action is to toggle a Free Returns filter on any Search.