eBay help please - seller performance below standard?

Popppy_2

Hi all, I'm after a bit of advice if possible but I suspect there is nothing to be done.

I have an eBay account that is 9 years old, has 2000+ positive feedback and in all that time I have only had one neutral report.

I've always resolved any buyers niggles by my policy of instantly refunding 100% and writing it off to experience, even if I've felt the buyer is trying their luck, its paid off in the long run to keep everyone happy.

eBay have just sent me an email saying they are restricting my selling activity due to my account being below their minimum performance requirements.
I guess I have been given a 1 star on dispatch time, I always get items in to the post within 48 hours/2 working days, I'm a private seller who is using ebay to clear out my wardobe/kids stuff/etc, 2nd hand and low value. I think there are some buyers out there who expect me to be Argos.com - like the lady who bought and paid for an item on Saturday 22nd Decemeber then sent me a rudely worded email as it hadn't arrived in time for her to wear on Boxing Day....


Anyway! Is there anything I can do about this? Any recourse with eBay? How van they PROVE other than buyers star ratings how soon items arrived? I'm always quick to tick the "mark as dispatched" box and put on tracking where appropriate.
I have a couple of eBay accounts, one I use for buying etc, but this is my "main" account with great feedback, that I like to keep in tip top condition for selling things of higher value.


Any help, reassurance, suggestions much appreciated!

purple321

Have you been permanently restricted from selling (as in banned) or restricted to a certain number per month?

If you've been banned there's pretty much nothing you can do about it but if you can still list some items each month there may be a chance depending on when your lows drop off. What does your seller dashboard say? How many lows (the number and % in brackets)?

soolin

You need to find out where the problem is and then see if it can be resolved. Your expanded seller dashboard is the place to start, have a look at this thread
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4260911

Popppy_2

Not banned as yet, as far as I can see I am just told I need to improve performance otherwise I will be. Strangely, their wordy email only suggested I write better descriptions and communicate professionally (this is not something that I think is relevant, I am verbose and incredibly detailed at the best of times!) however when looking at the scores it is the dispatch time one that is showing up in red?

ETA, the ratings are:

Item as described 4.7 / 5
Communication 4.7 / 5
Dispatch Time 4.6 / 5
P&P Charges 4.6 / 5

They don't look horrific to me!!!

soolin

Popppy wrote: »

Not banned as yet, as far as I can see I am just told I need to improve performance otherwise I will be. Strangely, their wordy email only suggested I write better descriptions and communicate professionally (this is not something that I think is relevant, I am verbose and incredibly detailed at the best of times!) however when looking at the scores it is the dispatch time one that is showing up in red?

ETA, the ratings are:

Item as described 4.7 / 5
Communication 4.7 / 5
Dispatch Time 4.6 / 5
P&P Charges 4.6 / 5

They don't look horrific to me!!!

4.7 is a worry, 4.6 should have had you rethinking and starting to turn this around. Sellers should aim at 4.8 or above and if they drop below that take action immediately.

However, it can be turned around depending on what you seller expanded dashboard says, so see my post above and look at the following thread and tell us what that says- in particular number of 1 and 2 * in each category and percentage that those represent.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4260911

Incidentally, if you get restricted or banned as a seller on this account you cannot use any other account to sell again, so do go look at your expanded dashboard now so we can give you some advice.

You probably only have a matter of days to turn this around, by the time you get a proper warnign from ebay it is often too late- so time is important here.

xemmax

I had the same thing happen to me. Like you I have almost 2000 feedback and no negative's. Unfortunately I just had to wait for more feedback and star ratings to come in to bring my score back up.

soolin

xemmax wrote: »

I had the same thing happen to me. Like you I have almost 2000 feedback and no negative's. Unfortunately I just had to wait for more feedback and star ratings to come in to bring my score back up.

Unfortunately It isn't always as simple as that, if yours had been just on poor stars overall then yes, it is recoverable. Unfortunately if it is on the actual 1 or 2 * left then it is a great deal more difficult to recover and in many cases with a warning from ebay it is too late.

Until OP posts details of her expanded seller dashboard we can offer no advice about how to recover this. The one tip though is always to 'carry on selling' under no circumstances should sales be halted as that can make the percentages worse.

The expanded dashboard is my favourite soap box rant, it is the most important thing that a seller needs to keep an eye on yet ebay carry virtually no warnings at all to ensure sellers even know where it is.

cestlavie

as soolin says, it's something sellers need to keep an ey on, yet ebay itself do little to promote the overdue importance it can have. am sorry you have been caught out, really sometime ebay sucks to the unwitting seller (which is a huge majority of us who sell here and there to clear our lofts and make a few bob)

techspec

I assume you had a warning first - maybe last month?

xemmax

soolin wrote: »

Unfortunately It isn't always as simple as that, if yours had been just on poor stars overall then yes, it is recoverable. Unfortunately if it is on the actual 1 or 2 * left then it is a great deal more difficult to recover and in many cases with a warning from ebay it is too late.

Until OP posts details of her expanded seller dashboard we can offer no advice about how to recover this. The one tip though is always to 'carry on selling' under no circumstances should sales be halted as that can make the percentages worse.

The expanded dashboard is my favourite soap box rant, it is the most important thing that a seller needs to keep an eye on yet ebay carry virtually no warnings at all to ensure sellers even know where it is.

If the OP like me, had their selling activity restricted, you aren't able to list any more items until the ratings increase. This was the most infuriating part for me as how can a seller increase ratings without being able to sell?

soolin

xemmax wrote: »

If the OP like me, had their selling activity restricted, you aren't able to list any more items until the ratings increase. This was the most infuriating part for me as how can a seller increase ratings without being able to sell?

Restricted 'usually' means a very small limit of listings allowed, although of course with ebay it changes on a daily basis!

However, OP has obviously got it all sorted or is content to lose her account as she has not logged in again since posting 5 days ago.