Improve your seller performance to avoid limits on your account

yeslek

skintmumof3 wrote: »

ebay appear to be having a purge of restricting sellers accounts at the moment due to low dsr ratings, me included.
checkout the sellers discussions boards, lots of unhappy people.
hth
x

I've just been whacked with it when 2 star ratings are only 0.16% over what ebay want, but its the p&p thats 3.58% thats truly screwed me (personally I thought 5% was the limit so never thought to worry about it...has this changed or have I been going off false information)
also, bare in mind I'm a private seller and have sold 179 items in the last year (so it wouldnt take more than a few bad sales to screw me) AND ebay count claims raised (seems one's that have ended with my action, mutually or not have gone against me....but I've more than double non-payment claims I've had to raise. Do they take that into account> do they heck)

and I know its all because of 5 negatives (4 from one seller) of which were affected by my recent hospitalisation visits so I know they are judging me on that alone. My feedback was perfect and stars all good (2 4.9' and 1 4.8, except 4.7 at lowest on p&p which is odd as I listing in p&p restricted categories...its not like I could over charge if I wanted too :mad:)

Still, so long as stars aren't below 4.5 I consider that a good thing...private or high volume business sellers alike.

also, no warnings from ebay either, else I'd have tried to see what more I could do to improve my account (but to be honest, without taking a loss on free postage or essentially begging the recent neg's to amend their feedback, hoping they believe the truth - I know how it sounds...my grandfather died, the dog ate my homework etc but I was genuinely in hospital from 23rd april, in and out until end july) I dont know what else I could do. Ebay have been squeezing their sellers more and more
Luckily ebay have agreed that if I can send them proof I 'may' have a case of removing the suspension *sigh*

malkyh wrote: »

I have just started selling on ebay again after a time away and noticed that this P&P thing is a nonsense.

Fortunately I have not yet experienced a buyer complaining about postage costs but from what I have read on here is that a lot of buyers will look at the amount paid, and then if it is not the exact amount on the stamp will complain.

They fail to note the price of the envelope, and any other packaging materials you have used to send their item. They seem to forget that P&P does not mean postage only.

plus with so many retailers offering free postage as standard, many buyer begrudge paying postage costs at all

soolin

Yeslek, it pays to always watch your expanded dashboard. The moment you saw p and p becoming an issue you could have turned it round by going freepost for a while.

There will have been warnings as well, if you go look at the community boards there are lots of threads about this and the regulars there will tell you where you warnings were.

As for headline stars, most sellers maintain at least 4.7-4.8 which is by default 'average' at 4.6 sellers need to start panicking at 4.4 they face restriction.

If you can get any of the negs or poor stars removed you might just be able to recover. However you might have to change your business model. You mention capped categories for postage- you don't just use the full capped amount do you as that is a limit, not a target. I see too many sellers in categories assuming they can say charge £4 for an item of clothing, regardless of actually how much it actually costs.

yeslek

I have too use the full amount more than half the time, (eg for steelbook blu-ray's or multi-disc sets) but with things like magazines, I lower the postage as and when required.
also, checking my stars, I've got 2.16% in postage and comm's and apparently thats enough to ban me....when I've sold 139 items in the last 12 months...so 3 low ratings and I'm out. Not really fair IMO.
I dont sell enough volume wise to be able to absorb any poor ratings

ps my lowest star is 4.7 in p&p. I'm 4.8 in all others

charlies_mum

Ran my Seller Report yesterday, and I have been left a 2 * for item as decribed. Phoned Ebay Ireland and was told that it is the buyer's opinion.

What I sold is also sold by a major retailer, and I described it exactly as they do on their website. It is what it is and I have no idea how it could not be as described.

Just goes to show, you are totally at the mercy of your buyers.

Strapped

yeslek wrote: »

I've just been whacked with it when 2 star ratings are only 0.16% over what ebay want, but its the p&p thats 3.58% thats truly screwed me (personally I thought 5% was the limit so never thought to worry about it...has this changed or have I been going off false information)
also, bare in mind I'm a private seller and have sold 179 items in the last year (so it wouldnt take more than a few bad sales to screw me) AND ebay count claims raised (seems one's that have ended with my action, mutually or not have gone against me....but I've more than double non-payment claims I've had to raise. Do they take that into account> do they heck)

and I know its all because of 5 negatives (4 from one seller) of which were affected by my recent hospitalisation visits so I know they are judging me on that alone. My feedback was perfect and stars all good (2 4.9' and 1 4.8, except 4.7 at lowest on p&p which is odd as I listing in p&p restricted categories...its not like I could over charge if I wanted too :mad:)

Still, so long as stars aren't below 4.5 I consider that a good thing...private or high volume business sellers alike.

also, no warnings from ebay either, else I'd have tried to see what more I could do to improve my account (but to be honest, without taking a loss on free postage or essentially begging the recent neg's to amend their feedback, hoping they believe the truth - I know how it sounds...my grandfather died, the dog ate my homework etc but I was genuinely in hospital from 23rd april, in and out until end july) I dont know what else I could do. Ebay have been squeezing their sellers more and more
Luckily ebay have agreed that if I can send them proof I 'may' have a case of removing the suspension *sigh*



plus with so many retailers offering free postage as standard, many buyer begrudge paying postage costs at all

Sorry, but 6 low stars for P&P out of 179 items sold suggests to me that eBay have a point! (Even though I don't particularly agree with the P&P star rating, it's still their game so their rules).

If I were you I would close the account and start afresh. But only if you can improve the way you sell.

Crowqueen

Just goes to show, you are totally at the mercy of your buyers.

I'm making a general observation here, not a dig at you, but the same goes for any retailer or any website marketplace. eBay are strict but as a buyer I'd rather they kept tabs on sellers and didn't let them get to the point where it became a problem for anyone buying to feel there was too much risk involved. I buy from very few categories as it is, but increasingly I'm looking elsewhere online - eBay is not the one-stop-shop it used to be.

Some of the people being banned right now fully deserve it. Thank goodness they were at the mercy of their buyers.

yeslek

Strapped wrote: »

Sorry, but 6 low stars for P&P out of 179 items sold suggests to me that eBay have a point! (Even though I don't particularly agree with the P&P star rating, it's still their game so their rules).

If I were you I would close the account and start afresh. But only if you can improve the way you sell.

my mistake I sold 189 in 12 months
and it was 5 negatives (4 from one seller) = 2 bad transactions which as I say I hold my hand up to as I was taken ill earlier this year and didnt have access to the i'net in hospital. I accepted that sadly I'd have to put up with these and work harder to ensure there are no further issues (I've not found an ebay compatible app so I can at least PM buyers should I be taken ill again) but ebay are not even allowing me the chance to re-deem myself.

Someone mentioned earlier about a 3 month ban. Now that I could live with (even though I still feel its unfair that ebay dont take these kind of things into account with private sellers....they have lives outside of ebay that can sometimes get in the way)

Other than that my selling is perfect and has been for ages.

I dont want to start again as I've already had to do this once when they tried getting me to upgrade to business seller when all I do is re-list things like beanies, dvd's etc all second hand stuff that doesn't always sell the first time but in drips and drabs over time (started with 450 odd beanies 2 years ago and I'm down to the last 15ish - I rely on the free 99p listings to get rid of these. Even if these smaller items only get me about 50p in the end its still a help when added to the higher value items I may sell - for e.g. sold 2 old power ranger figures for £7.50 just over a week ago AND they were described and pictured with the obvious wear)

in all honesty, if I hadnt been stuck on SSP for the last few months of being ill I wouldnt be so desperate to keep selling on ebay but the off £20 one week £5 the next (or whatever) was going to help get me through xmas. If ever I needed the extra bit of money ebay brings, its now

Crowqueen wrote: »

Just goes to show, you are totally at the mercy of your buyers.

I'm making a general observation here, not a dig at you, but the same goes for any retailer or any website marketplace. eBay are strict but as a buyer I'd rather they kept tabs on sellers and didn't let them get to the point where it became a problem for anyone buying to feel there was too much risk involved. I buy from very few categories as it is, but increasingly I'm looking elsewhere online - eBay is not the one-stop-shop it used to be.

Some of the people being banned right now fully deserve it. Thank goodness they were at the mercy of their buyers.

but ALL buyer's have protection way above and beyond what sellers get and its not fair.

I never think twice about buying on ebay as I know that I need just raise a claim if anything goes wrong, and so long as I pay with paypal I'll be sure to get my money back if need be.

its the seller's that need to look far ahead before they take the proverbial leap an list on ebay

charlies_mum

Crowqueen wrote: »

Just goes to show, you are totally at the mercy of your buyers.

I'm making a general observation here, not a dig at you, but the same goes for any retailer or any website marketplace. eBay are strict but as a buyer I'd rather they kept tabs on sellers and didn't let them get to the point where it became a problem for anyone buying to feel there was too much risk involved. I buy from very few categories as it is, but increasingly I'm looking elsewhere online - eBay is not the one-stop-shop it used to be.

Some of the people being banned right now fully deserve it. Thank goodness they were at the mercy of their buyers.

Crowqueen, you have obviously never had an unfair low star left. I am quite happy to be rated by my buyers, as long as they understand what they are doing and leave a fair rating.

Due to the nature of what I sell, I knew there was no way that anyone could be so dissatisfied with the description that they would leave a 2 *

I spoke with Ebay customer services again, who now said that they could see the star had been left in error, and when I checked, the feedback that had been removed was glowing. The 2 * has been removed.

Because I don't sell in huge volumes I was told that I would need to receive 5 in 12 months to be banned, so a few more 'mistakes' by buyers, and I could lose my account !

Do you think the seller should be banned who has feedback of over 14,000, one negative and 13 low stars for despatch time despite putting in the listing the reasons why it takes longer to despatch ?

Strapped

yeslek wrote: »

my mistake I sold 189 in 12 months
and it was 5 negatives (4 from one seller) = 2 bad transactions which as I say I hold my hand up to as I was taken ill earlier this year and didnt have access to the i'net in hospital. I accepted that sadly I'd have to put up with these and work harder to ensure there are no further issues (I've not found an ebay compatible app so I can at least PM buyers should I be taken ill again) but ebay are not even allowing me the chance to re-deem myself.

Someone mentioned earlier about a 3 month ban. Now that I could live with (even though I still feel its unfair that ebay dont take these kind of things into account with private sellers....they have lives outside of ebay that can sometimes get in the way)

Other than that my selling is perfect and has been for ages.

I dont want to start again as I've already had to do this once when they tried getting me to upgrade to business seller when all I do is re-list things like beanies, dvd's etc all second hand stuff that doesn't always sell the first time but in drips and drabs over time (started with 450 odd beanies 2 years ago and I'm down to the last 15ish - I rely on the free 99p listings to get rid of these. Even if these smaller items only get me about 50p in the end its still a help when added to the higher value items I may sell - for e.g. sold 2 old power ranger figures for £7.50 just over a week ago AND they were described and pictured with the obvious wear)

in all honesty, if I hadnt been stuck on SSP for the last few months of being ill I wouldnt be so desperate to keep selling on ebay but the off £20 one week £5 the next (or whatever) was going to help get me through xmas. If ever I needed the extra bit of money ebay brings, its now


but ALL buyer's have protection way above and beyond what sellers get and its not fair.

I never think twice about buying on ebay as I know that I need just raise a claim if anything goes wrong, and so long as I pay with paypal I'll be sure to get my money back if need be.

its the seller's that need to look far ahead before they take the proverbial leap an list on ebay

Your numbers don't add up. You say that the P&P low stars were 3.58%. 3.58% of 189 = 6.8. That's not 5 items. I suspect that there is more to this than you are sharing on here. Anyway, I hope that you have recovered from your illness now, your health is more important than eBay so it may be better to take a break anyway.

yeslek

ahh I see where your going - I've no idea where the 6th star came from, as I've only had neg's from 2 people (as mentioned, 4 from 1 for a multi-beanie buy, 1 from another, no neutrals either) and thats what I thought mattered most. But ebay pull the star's issue (which positive FB left that low DSR I'll never know, but surely its contradictive to mark a big thumbs up then mark down else where)....regardless. If they can accept the proof of illness I can only hope they re-open my account and I can slowly rebuild my stars and feedback which I was in the process of doing thus last 6 weeks *sigh*

I just hate that its happened NOW when I need to lean on the extra cash the most ya know.

and thank you. I'm not quite 100% but getting there. sadly, I'm too sick to work, but not ill enough to function day to day so now not having ebay filling a bit of that time is a thumb-twidler if ever. I've actually more time to dedicate to ebay ironically. I'd even updated shipping from 3 days (when I was working) to 1 day now I'm not *double sigh*
we'll see what the ebay powers at large say about my email (in 3 days )