Powersellers getting more benefits

ArmitageShanks

Thinking about it, we actually had that with two accounts at one point, before we manually had to opt in to the PS scheme on one of them.

We're on 4.63 for postage this month so it touch and go whether we'll get it anyway. Which could make it two months on the trot.

Foreign sales.:rolleyes:

soolin

ArmitageShanks wrote: »

Thinking about it, we actually had that with two accounts at one point, before we manually had to opt in to the PS scheme on one of them.

We're on 4.63 for postage this month so it touch and go whether we'll get it anyway. Which could make it two months on the trot.

Foreign sales.:rolleyes:

I sell quite a bit overseas and sometimes you just look at the winning bidder and want to:wall:

At least I haven't had the usual comments from my US buyers recently about being surprised that London UK is not in The USA and how comes they are being charged overseas rates when they are in the USA and not therefore overseas....

My listings on ebay.com say at least 4 times in various places 'this item is comicng from the UK/England?overseas' (whatever) and will be sent airmail as we are not in the US.

ArmitageShanks

It's tricky because the stuff we send via courier gets there (US) in 3 days, so I don't want to make an issue of us being in a different country as that might put people off. But of course that increases the chances of getting marked down on postage cost.

But on Airmail it's the opposite. With Destination Sort, it only costs 31p/100g to the US, so cost is not a problem. But delivery time is. However we're still 4.82 (30days) for that. Which I suppose just underlines how useless the postage DSR is.

custardy

ArmitageShanks wrote: »

Thinking about it, we actually had that with two accounts at one point, before we manually had to opt in to the PS scheme on one of them.

We're on 4.63 for postage this month so it touch and go whether we'll get it anyway. Which could make it two months on the trot.

Foreign sales.:rolleyes:

strange question and of dubious morality but whats the break even point for a PS to make fake purchases from themselves to keep their star ratings high enough to 'enjoy' the best discounts?

does that even make sense?

ArmitageShanks

custardy wrote: »

strange question and of dubious morality but whats the break even point for a PS to make fake purchases from themselves to keep their star ratings high enough to 'enjoy' the best discounts?

does that even make sense?

Can you not do it anyway, then just do mutuals? Or once cancelled does that cancel all DSRs given? But I suppose just doing low value items makes it easily worth while, considering we have just under £100 riding on it.

Has crossed my mind, but so fearful of the ebay gestapo.

custardy

it was pure theory but for a big seller who was borderline there must be a point where the fee's on the fake sales are worth it for the discount on the real sales

StaffsSW

ArmitageShanks wrote: »

Vaguely on this topic, do PS FVF discounts apply to sales made on ebay.com etc?

Sadly not - the discounts only apply to sales made on the site that the membership is registered on

custardy wrote: »

strange question and of dubious morality but whats the break even point for a PS to make fake purchases from themselves to keep their star ratings high enough to 'enjoy' the best discounts?

It is classed as an offence under the Feedback Manipulation policy, BUT only if feedback is left. This is why sub 99p listings and digital delivery items have been banned.

Manipulation, misuse or any actions which undermine the integrity of the eBay Feedback system is prohibited. The following actions are in breach of this policy:

- Leaving or receiving Feedback, including Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs), where the Feedback’s primary value is to obtain site privileges or artificially enhance a reputation rather than provide commentary and ratings on genuine transactional experience. eBay will view the recurrence of listings which are uncharacteristic of a reasonable business model to be in breach of policy.
- Offering to sell, buy, barter, or give away Feedback
- Registering multiple accounts (or working with others) in order to exchange feedback to artificially increase your feedback score
- Purposefully manipulating a competitor’s Detailed Seller Ratings through a combination of repeat purchases and low DSRs in order to reduce another user’s Feedback scores.

What is more common is inflating best match relevancy by "shill BINing" - it only takes 3 or 4 recent purchases to get front page or even top of search results placement. One it is at the top and making regular sales, the original "shill" items can be mutually withdrawn.

As BIN listings are not liable under the Shill Bidding policy - yet...

Because family members, flatmates and employees of sellers have a level of access to item information which is not available to the general Community, they are not permitted to bid on items offered by the seller – even if their sole intent is to purchase the item. Family members, flatmates or employees may purchase items from a seller without breaching this policy simply by using purchase options – such as Buy It Now – which do not involve bidding.