eBay

lobbiesforme · ‎11-04-2021

I got an email this morning, stating my seller performance has fallen 'below standard', meaning that either 'your defect rate is above 2%' or 'your cases closed without seller resolution is above 0.3%'. additinally, the email said my 'search rankings for my items are lowered', 'you may be charged a higher final value fee on items sold in this region', 'you will not be able to use the partial refund tool to resolve buyer claims'.

I called ebay customer service. I was told that I had seven cancellations over the last 12 months (7 out of 331 during last 12 months). I explained that I had some cancellations due to my items (i sell movie collectibles) becoming damaged or being already sold. This happens rarely but when it does, i write to the customer and explain and offer them a complete refund immediately.

However, this type of thing doesn't happen every day or every week-- it happens once in the blue moon, that is, SEVEN out of 331 sales during a 12 month period.

The Ebay customer service person continued to say that she was getting complaints similar to mine all morning from other ebay sellers; that lots of ebay sellers were getting similar messages from ebay stating that their "seller performance has fallen 'below standard', " and I shouldn't worry, that is, I am NOT at risk of losing my seller privileges. Of course, I then asked why I received a threatening email from eBay. Didn't get much of a reason, or a response, or a promise that all would be OK. I reiterated to her that I have been selling on ebay for 21 years, and I never had a problem like this before; that sometimes (once in a blue moon), I have to cancel an order because the items I sell are usually one of a kind, and if I do not have it, or if it got damaged in some way, I cannot send it to the customer and I cannot go to the store and 'buy another one'. The only resolution is to send a refund. and, it really happens quite infrequently. I have no negative or neutral ratings. I had one customer a few months ago that tried to scam me, but I was able to prove it and ebay closed the case in my favor, and two days later the buyer (an ebay member for 30 days), was no longer a registered user.

Has anyone else gotten one of these messages from eBay? Am i over-reacting here? Ideas on what to do next?

Thanks!!

justafemster · ‎11-05-2021

I get you. I really do. I cross-list over multiple platforms too. BUT I have a program that tells me immediately when something has sold, on what platform and what other platforms the item is listed on, so I can IMMEDIATELY end those listings.

Yeah, imputing the information is a pain, but I learned a valuable lesson when I got the buy box on amzn and oversold...a lot. It took less than 12 hours for me to go from 5ish orders a day to 50+ a day. Such a hard lesson learned. I handled it...with the help of my family and the grace of a LOT of ebay sellers who were willing to ship to my amzn customers after I explained the mess I'd gotten myself into. I'm still in contact with a few years later.

You can get yourself out of this. Go through ALL your listings RIGHT NOW. Don't put it off. RIGHT NOW. Any you can't find, end the listing. Any with damage, change the listing to state the damage or end the listing. ALL OF YOUR LISTINGS.

This is important if you don't want to lose your account. And you still could. The ebay rep told you anything they could to get you off the phone. They would have promised to send you diamond encrusted gold bars, if that's what it took to get you off the phone.

We're not going to bu77 you here. We're volunteers, not even acknowledged volunteers. We get no accolades, rarely a pat on the back and it takes time away from our own businesses. Isn't that who you want actually giving you advice?

jathibo-12 · ‎11-05-2021

I third this option, you have to play play the numbers game. Find somethin cheap, that people use often and set the price where your basically giving away a few cents per transaction. You need volume here. Forever stamps are good here, $2 bill or something like that but stamps are your best bet. Never cancel a sale for out of stock. Happened to me accouple of times, once immediately after a hurricane hit us and items took on water damage and a stupide mistake on my part shipping off the wrong item to a buyer who opened a return, then having to wait for it to get back to ship to the correct buyer. Each time, communicating with my buyers resolved everything.

luckythewinner · ‎11-05-2021

@lobbiesforme wrote:
I explained that I had some cancellations due to my items (i sell movie collectibles) becoming damaged or being already sold.

However, this type of thing doesn't happen every day or every week-- it happens once in the blue moon, that is, SEVEN out of 331 sales during a 12 month period.

You just stated that you canceled for "out of stock" more than 2% of the time, which exceeds the threshold and places you below standard.

Sorry, them's the rules. If you had been watching your seller dashboard, you could have recognized this and corrected it. But you chose not to.

evel_schoe · ‎03-28-2023

Yes. I received this as well. How many people are receiving messages like this. ?

kh-cathy · ‎03-28-2023

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.