Unfair Treatment: 1 Order Counts as 11 Strikes—Impacting My Top Rated Seller Status

[holounlimited]

Hello eBay Community,

I’m reaching out to share a frustrating experience I’m currently facing as a Top Rated Seller and to highlight an issue with eBay’s automated system that I believe needs to be addressed.

In the past three months, I’ve successfully completed 1,065 transactions with 100% positive feedback. I’ve worked incredibly hard to build my reputation, and my customers have consistently been happy with their purchases. However, I’m now at risk of losing my Top Rated Seller status because of one single order—a situation that feels deeply unfair.

Here’s what happened:

A buyer purchased 11 individual trading cards from my store in a single transaction. The shipment, which is going to a military APO address, has been delayed in transit. Tracking shows the package is still in Chicago, even though I shipped it from Tennessee. It’s well-known that shipments to APO addresses often take longer to arrive, but unfortunately, the buyer didn’t receive their cards within eBay’s expected delivery timeframe.

The buyer opened cases for all 11 cards, and as the buyer was submitting each case in real time, I immediately reached out to provide the tracking number and explain the delay. I assured the buyer that I shipped the items and offered to issue a full refund once the cards were returned to me. The buyer never messaged me back. However, even though the tracking number shows the item is still in transit, eBay stepped in and refunded the buyer automatically.

Now here’s the problem:

Although this was one transaction, eBay’s automated system is treating it as 11 separate cases without seller resolution, one for each trading card. This single order is enough to cost me my Top Rated Seller status, which will significantly impact my sales and potentially jeopardize my entire business.

I contacted eBay support to explain the situation, but I was informed that it’s nearly impossible to have these cases corrected or removed because they’re handled by an automated system. Unfortunately, I’ve been through a similar situation before, so I know this to be true.

A few years ago, I lost my Top Rated Seller status after an eBay customer service agent gave me inaccurate information regarding eBay's policy. I was told I could sell digital codes on eBay and that providing the code through eBay’s messaging system would count as proof of delivery. Relying on this guidance, I sold digital codes, only to find out that the information was wrong. As a result, I lost my Top Rated Seller status—not due to any fault of my own (I called to check and verify before selling the digital codes), but because of misinformation—my sales plummeted for months. It was a devastating experience, and I promised myself I’d never let it happen again.

Now I’m facing a similar situation. Despite doing everything I could to provide excellent service and resolve the issue, I’m being unfairly penalized due to the way eBay’s automated system processes cases. Losing Top Rated Seller status over a single delayed order—especially one that’s beyond my control—feels incredibly unjust.

I’m sharing this here to bring attention to this issue and to encourage eBay to address flaws in the automated system that unfairly penalize sellers.

If anyone in the community has faced a similar situation or has advice on how to escalate this issue, I would greatly appreciate your input.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Sincerely,
holounlimited

[714ricki]

If you sell 11 separate items from 11 different ebay item numbers, then ebay is going to treat each item as its own individual transaction. Regardless, if the buyer just paid in one lump sum.  As unfair as it sounds, eBay has every right to treat each item as its own unique transaction.

You never know where our military personnel are in the world at any given time. Hence, delivery delays to APO/FPO are quite normal. For all you know they were shipped out on a submarine or sent to some remote area around the world where internet connection isn't available or they have more important things to worry about. 

From a shipping perspective, did you include a US Customs Form? That could also be a reason for the delay if the Customs form wasn't included with the envelope.

✌️😎🙏

[wastingtime101]

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@holounlimited wrote:

The buyer made the purchase on December 14, 2024, and I shipped the order on December 16, 2024, using eBay’s Standard Envelope service.

The tracking status clearly shows that the package was delayed in transit, with the message: “Running behind, original estimate was Wed, Dec 18 - Mon, Dec 23.”

The buyer opened the cases on December 25, 2024, just two days after the original delivery estimate and on Christmas Day, 

On January 1, 2025, eBay decided the cases in the buyer’s favor, despite the clear tracking evidence that the items were still in transit.

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Here's the problem @holounlimited : eBay will grant an extension on an INR if there is a recent tracking scan.

When there hasn't been a tracking scan in the past week, eBay will force the refund if you do not volunteer it first. You'll get unresolved case defects and forfeit your eBay fees.

You should have refunded the buyer and you would have been credited the eBay fees. You can still file an insurance claim here after 30 days to recoup part of your financial loss, however there's nothing you can do about those unresolved case defects.

You'll now have to dig your account out of the Below Standard rating.** Looks like that rating will hit your account on Jan 20th which means the higher fee penalty will begin Feb 1st. Read more about that here.

And with 11+ INRs you need to check your Service Metrics here and check the "projected rate" to see if you are rated "very high" because if you are that means you will face other types of penalties, such as extra long delivery estimates which discourage buyers from making purchases. Read more about that here.

At this point you need to do the math and work out how many transactions you need to minimize the impact and get your account back to Above Standard, and you'll need to maintain that sales level for the next year until those defects drop off your account. Your concern should not be losing TRS, it should be losing your account and being permanently suspended from selling.

Were these mostly under $2? If so, you put your account in jeopardy because you weren't willing to refund approx $20.

** See this post for why Below Standard may not be applicable here!

Edit to add: I'm not offering any comment on the system being fair or unfair because that's irrelevant. I'm being blunt and getting to the meat of the matter, letting you know what you'll be facing and how you need to deal with it since that's what's most important right now.

[holounlimited]

Thank you for your response. I understand the point you’re making and appreciate the clarification regarding eBay’s Money Back Guarantee (Item Not Received) policy. However, I’d like to provide some context for why this situation unfolded the way it did and why I believe the system still treated this unfairly.

The buyer made their purchase on December 14, 2024, and I shipped the order on December 16, 2024, using eBay’s Standard Envelope service. The tracking information was automatically uploaded at the time of shipment and clearly showed that the package was delayed in transit, with the message: “Running behind, original estimate was Wed, Dec 18 - Mon, Dec 23.”

The buyer opened the cases on December 25, 2024, just two days after the delivery estimate and on Christmas Day, a time when postal delays are common. On the same day, I emailed the buyer for the third time, providing the tracking number again and including a screenshot of the tracking status showing the package was delayed. I explained the situation, apologized, and asked for patience while the package continued in transit. Unfortunately, the buyer did not respond and escalated the cases instead.

I acknowledge that eBay’s policy states sellers are required to refund buyers in these situations, but in this case, I believed it was reasonable to wait for the package to arrive, given the known delays with military APO addresses and the holidays. I had no intent to disregard eBay’s policy; rather, I was trying to handle the situation fairly for both the buyer and myself.

That said, this situation has highlighted a major flaw in eBay’s system. This flawed system makes it so that a Top Rated Seller can do everything right for years, as I have, and then make one single mistake on one order and lose their Top Rated Seller status. I made one single mistake, and now I’m losing my Top Rated Seller status. What message does this send to future potential eBay sellers?

If I had known this when I first started selling trading cards on eBay, I would have never tried to achieve Top Rated Seller status. And without achieving that status, I wouldn’t have had enough sales to build a successful business (trust me, I know the difference—sales plummet when you’re not Top Rated). If I had known how fragile the system was, I would have never started an eBay business in the first place.

Now, after spending years dedicating myself to building my store to make shopping easier for my customers—especially for trading cards, since variation listings are capped at 250 items—I’m losing my Top Rated Seller status over one mistake. This won’t just harm my sales for the next three months; it will also harm my reputation. Loyal customers who have trusted me will now see that I don’t have a Top Rated Seller badge and may assume I no longer provide premium service.

What eBay is essentially teaching sellers—especially trading card sellers—is that if you make one mistake, your business can be destroyed. That’s an absolutely terrifying reality. For me, it’s making me seriously consider moving my business to another platform where my years of hard work and dedication won’t be undone by one situation like this.

While I understand that a refund might have prevented the defects, the system’s handling of multi-item orders compounds the issue unnecessarily. I hope eBay reconsiders how these situations are processed in the future to ensure fairness for sellers and to encourage—not discourage—businesses to grow on their platform.

Thank you for taking the time to respond and share the policy link. It’s helpful to review and learn from this experience, but it’s also deeply disheartening to see how quickly a thriving business can be harmed by a system this unforgiving.

[gurlcat]

I don't want to keep harping on what you did wrong and hopefully you won't get a cascade of similar replies in the morning when most other members wake up, lol.  But just to say: the buyer waiting only 2 days after the end of the estimated delivery date range .... that may not seem like much, but it's not rare for buyers to file INR the next day or even the night OF the final day.  And ..... please don't take this the wrong way .... but how would you expect the buyer to respond to your emails?  Once they filed, the clock began ticking, and the buyer can't "pause" it out of empathy and understanding, even if they wanted to. 

In the future I would highly recommend watching your packages' tracking, and any time you see one stalled in one location for more than a couple of days, reach out to the buyer before they start to feel like you forgot them after you got their money. Yes postal handling is truly out of your control, but buyers like to feel like you're on their side and that you are just as disappointed as they are that their purchase isn't coming as fast as they hoped. 

-During the worst shipping period (probably ever) -fall and winter of 2020, the period I call 'Shipnado' -it was the perfect storm: Christmas traffic, pandemic home shopping traffic, postal workers on leave due to Covid, a huge surge in mail-in voting for the election, and a reduction in facilities and equipment due to the idiocy of the new Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy.  -Sellers were being utterly SLAUGHTERED with INRs, and many just shut down their stores until mid-January (if not forever).  But ..... and I'm not bragging but this was true ... I didn't get a single INR, because I simply wrote to any/every buyer with stuck tracking, a copy/paste of the same message, just saying basically: "I'm so sorry your item's taking so long. I just wanted you to know I'm watching and if it doesn't budge soon I will file a missing package case."  -You wouldn't believe how grateful some of them were, because they're not used to that kind of thing. People are used to being treated like cr4p by companies these days.  The great thing about being a real person is it's a chance to show how much better you are than a company. 

Now, about these ridiculous strikes.  Here's the best chance you have.  If you've never heard of doing this it might sound crazy, but it is really your best bet.  Monday (not over the weekend) you're going to go to this link (sign up for a guest account if you don't have a Facebook account of your own), and you'll use that blue MESSAGE button and pop-up text box, explaining your problem.  -Probably within hours, it will be answered by a real eBay employee who is an English-fluent, competent agent, with better understanding of policies and more power to perform changes than the overseas phone agents.  Include your eBay handle, and they may ask you for all those item numbers, I'm not sure.  But I would say this: don't  make it about whether you did anything wrong or not, in fact it would probably be better to just say something like "I misunderstood how INR works and I take responsibility for that, but because these were all in one order, the consequences to my Seller Level is catastrophic.  Is there any way you can reduce the damage?" 
https://www.facebook.com/ebay 

[holounlimited]

Thank you for your response and for explaining the situation in more detail. You’re absolutely correct—this wasn’t even for $20; it was for a $16 order. To be honest, I’ve refunded buyers for orders over $100 in the past when items didn’t arrive, and I’ve always been able to recover my money through insurance or the shipping carrier. I fully intended to do the same in this situation once I thought I had reached the appropriate point to act.

The truth is, I honestly thought I had more time. In the past, when situations like this have occurred—which happens quite frequently because eBay Standard Envelope shipping tracking is unreliable—I’ve always been able to resolve them. I receive multiple emails daily from buyers asking where their cards are, and almost always, the cards arrive the next day, a few days later, sometimes even a week or two later. I assumed this situation would play out the same way it always has: the items would arrive late, or eBay’s seller protection would step in because I had provided tracking information and proved that I shipped the order.

In my years of selling on eBay, I’ve never had an Item Not Received case escalate to this point because the items always arrive, eBay sides with me, or I issue a refund. I genuinely believed I was following the correct process and that eBay’s system would work in my favor. Clearly, I was wrong, and I’ve now learned the hard way how unforgiving eBay’s system can be.

If what you’re saying is true, and I’m going to lose the store I’ve poured years of time and effort into over one mistake on one $16 order, then this is it for me. There’s no way I’m willing to go through the emotional and financial toll of trying to dig my account out of this situation because of a system that I feel is fundamentally flawed.

I understand that eBay is a massive corporation worth billions and they don’t care about small sellers like me. But as a small business owner, I simply cannot operate on a platform where I have to live in constant fear that one mistake could completely destroy everything I’ve built.

At this point, I’d rather focus my energy on creating my own website, where I can have more control over my business, and leave eBay behind entirely. While I’ve appreciated the opportunities that eBay has provided in the past, this experience has shown me that it’s no longer a platform where I feel safe investing my time, money, and effort.

Thank you again for your insights—they’ve given me a lot to think about as I consider the future of my business.

[wastingtime101 · Accepted solution]

Yeah, I get it - I really do. Ultimately you have to do what's best for you and I'm sure you'll figure that out.

But I have to ask @holounlimited :

Did the buyer use the same ID for all items? Here's why I'm asking. eBay's policy says, and I'll link directly to it:

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

Minimum requirements

You're allowed up to 2% of transactions with defects within an evaluation period. You'll only be evaluated as Below Standard if your transaction defects are associated with more than 4 different buyers.

This is an important question because if the buyer used the same ID to purchase all 11 items, you should not be evaluated as Below Standard. You will lose TRS but you'll maintain Above Standard rating and keep your selling account.

[gurlcat]

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@holounlimited wrote:

If what you’re saying is true, and I’m going to lose the store I’ve poured years of time and effort into over one mistake on one $16 order, then this is it for me. There’s no way I’m willing to go through the emotional and financial toll of trying to dig my account out of this situation because of a system that I feel is fundamentally flawed.

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Oof this is really sad.  Please do at least TRY the approach I recommended in the last paragraph above ^ (message #19).  It certainly couldn't do you any more harm.  And we have seen those agents perform some pretty shocking things. 

[holounlimited]

Thank you for taking the time to provide such a detailed and thoughtful response. I genuinely appreciate the tip about contacting eBay through the Facebook link. That’s something I didn’t know about, and it would have been incredibly helpful if I had tried it earlier. Perhaps, when I’m feeling less defeated, I might give it a try. Right now, though, I’m 99% sure that these defects cannot be removed.

If what other eBay members have said is true, I’ve essentially destroyed my store over a single order because I didn’t fully understand a policy. And because of that one mistake, it feels like everything I’ve worked so hard to build has been wiped out. It’s absolutely heartbreaking.

I have dedicated every hour of every day to this store. I’ve given up so much to make it successful, spending thousands of hours researching data analysis, pricing trends, and building tools to optimize my business. I’ve created spreadsheets, automated scripts, and even systems to help teach others how to list on eBay in bulk. I’m part of eBay’s developer program, and I’ve amassed a deep and extensive knowledge of eBay’s platform over the years.

To think that one mistake on a single order has brought all of that to an end is something I’m struggling to process. I’m honestly shocked. I keep trying to convince myself that there’s a way to fix this, but based on my past experiences, I know how unlikely that is.

The only theoretical solution I can see would be upgrading to the Enterprise-level subscription at $3,000 a month and hoping that having a dedicated customer service agent might escalate this issue to someone with the power to fix it. But even then, it’s still highly unlikely—and completely unaffordable for me.

I feel heartbroken, defeated, and, to be honest, I don’t even know how to care anymore. Thank you again for your advice and for sharing the Facebook tip. It might be something I explore later, but for now, I just need to come to terms with what has happened and figure out what’s next.

[gurlcat]

No no no no, don't wait, ha!  I mean like I said, you can't reach them over the weekend anyway, so just have some good coffee or booze or baths or whatever soothes your nerves for the next couple days, then contact them Monday.  Like WastingTime said, the actual affects of this haven't hit yet, so the sooner you act, the better.  And I really do think it is possible the agent will remove some of those for you.  And all you have to lose is a few minutes of writing the message, that's not like investing $3k into a store upgrade! 

[wastingtime101]

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@holounlimited wrote:

If what other eBay members have said is true, I’ve essentially destroyed my store over a single order because I didn’t fully understand a policy. And because of that one mistake, it feels like everything I’ve worked so hard to build has been wiped out. It’s absolutely heartbreaking.

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Don't despair yet @holounlimited ! See my last post asking about the buyer ID.

It makes a huge difference if the buyer used the same ID for all 11 purchases, or if they used different IDs (like with Guest checkout).

If they used the same ID you should not be hit with Below Standard over this. If they used different IDs that changes things, but since it's technically the same buyer, even if they did use different guest IDs, you may be able to appeal.

Keep your hopes up. I apologize for being a bit premature with the Below Standard warning as I was looking at your screenshot in the danger zone and forgot to factor in this is probably all from the same buyer. Sorry about that. 😖

[gurlcat]

Hey, do you know if this is true, what @714ricki  says?

"You never know where our military personnel are in the world at any given time. Hence, delivery delays to APO/FPO are quite normal. For all you know they were shipped out on a submarine or sent to some remote area around the world where internet connection isn't available or they have more important things to worry about. "

-Not that it would change the INR's in this post, but just for future knowledge about APO's.  Like if Chicago was just the last hub before going to some offshore .... whatever ..... then it could just appear to still be in Chicago (you know how a lot of times the receiving facility doesn't acknowledge receipt to postpone when their clock starts ticking (hot potato syndrome, LOL).  And then if the delivery location really doesn't have scanning upload ability, couldn't a package appear indefinitely un-delivered??? 

If that's true I may have to consider blocking APO's.  I've had only a few ever before, but I don't want no hot messes! 

[wastingtime101]

I've shipped a lot of packages to military addresses. They are sometimes on bases here in the US and they are sometimes overseas. Stuff going overseas passes through the Chicago hub.

While they can take a while to arrive, I've so far *knock wood* never had a shipment to a military address that did not receive a delivery scan.

Then again, I've never shipped eBay Standard Envelope to a military address and ESE requires USPS sorting machines to scan them (not the same as regular tracking and cannot be hand scanned). Since you're not shipping ESE @gurlcat that's not a concern for you, but it may be for the original poster.

[ladyindecadence]

I believe that when a buyer opens an item not received case that you have 3 business days to deal with the situation before the buyer can ask ebay to step in.  So if the item does not get any new tracking scans within the 3 business days you are expected to refund and file a claim with the carrier.

In the event that the item is moving and does get a new tracking scan with in the initial 3 days you can call ebay and they will put the case on hold for 10 days to allow the package time to be delivered. If there are no new scans you will be expected to issue a full refund.

 So as long as a package shows movement within 3 days ebay will put the case on hold this applies to domestic shipments.  For international shipments they require a tracking scan with in at least 7 days to place a case on hold.

For the defects you do have 30 days to appeal them. However the only way you could win is if your package gets a delivered scan within that 30 days.  If the package does get delivered you then appeal the cases based on this new evidence of delivery and that ebay refunded the buyer prematurely on a package that was in transit and just delayed. In this case ebays policy is to decide the appeal in your favor  (because you now have evidence of delivery) and remove the defects and issue a courtesy refund to you.

[fbusoni]

@holounlimited 

I'd like to echo the advice from @gurlcat about contacting Facebook, and why you should do so immediately if not sooner.   I have contacted them a few times in the past the they are responsive and excellent and can cut through the automated red tape very quickly.  

The automated system cannot make judgments, and that is what you need right now.   

Two other thought come to mind as I read this thread:

--eSE is I believe tracked within eBay, but NOT within USPS.  When you use eSE, you are gambling that the buyer is not obsessive about knowing where his item is at any given moment.   Without the ability to track where his item is, I can see how someone who is the least bit anxious about receiving his purchase will reflexively spring into action at one minute past the estimated delivery date and file an INR.

--Your rationale for using eSE is one I would reconsider.  Over the many years I have sold here, I have found that the cheaper an item is, the greater the likelihood of attracting money-grubbers and cheapskates.  Such individuals have a greater than average penchant for being extremely problematic, not to put too fine a point on it.   In my experience on eBay, those are not the sort of buyers you want, under any circumstances, as selling to them is often like opening a can of worms.   

Personally, I will immediately add to my blocked buyer list anyone who messages me to ask for a discount of any kind.   I think that in the last 10 years I have made one exception, and that was because of the manner in which the buyer comported herself in her message to me.

Please keep us posted, I am confident that a message to eBay on FB will get this addressed for you.

[jg.mason]

I'm amazed that 11 cards in one eSE envelope even made from Tennessee to Chicago.

I had an order a while back for eight items and I remember thinking, I hope this doesn't get lost or destroyed on its way to the buyer. All I could see was eight defects and eight negatives, although I'm not sure if they could leave the eight negative feedbacks since it was one order.  

Hope you get it fixed.