Ebay New Seller Performance Standards Coming

I haven't done a lot of ebay this past year but will probably getting back into it soon. It seems that the best way to handle a dispute was for a buyer to open up a case and then I would basically give them what they requested in that case. Trying to work out a solution outside of that seemed to be a problem but could be done if you were just giving a partial refund and e-mail would show the agreement. I have an account there with my wife and another there with my son. Both show 100 per-cent positive feedback but that is hard to keep. It was really getting to be a buyer's market and I assume it has gotten worse.


If they open a case and you satisfy them where they close the case. You still get a defect for a case being opened on you. A negative feedback gets you a defect too.
 

Defect List


Defect count
Low detailed seller ratings for item as described
Opened cases for items not as described
Return requests: items not as described
Low detailed seller ratings for shipping time
Requests: items not received
Neutral or negative feedback
Transactions you canceled
Buyer Protection Cases
Closed cases without seller resolution
Tracking Summary
Tracking uploaded within handling time and validated by carrier
Tracking uploaded
Tracking uploaded within handling time
Tracking uploaded and validated by carrier
 

I sell vintage & collectible items. Since the defect system started I've been awarded 3. The 1st one was for a guy that marked item not as described when he made a return. When the guy returned it he left me positive feedback & told me that after we messaged that he agreed it was as described. The 2nd was where I had an item that I thought was one thing & it turned out someone had swapped out parts. When the guy pointed it out to me I offered a full or partial refund, we agreed on an amount & he gave me 3 out of 5 stars for item as described. The last one happened in early December. The post office sent a first class package to the wrong state & then returned it. I let the buyer know & reshipped. When it disappeared in the postal system for another 10 days without tracking updates the buyer got nervous & filed an item not received request which is a defect. The item got there 2 days later & I'm stuck with the defect.
 

I'm kind of an outsider looking in. In the last year I've purchased 5 items off ebay, and I have a total feed back of 216, of course all but 5 of them are over a year old, and the truth is, the majority go way back to when ebay was first starting, I got some really good buys, and sold some stuff, and got great feedback on everything. I think I only got one negative in all those years. After reading over this thread, I'm thinking ebay makes most of their money on fees when people buy, and if a seller does something that causes a buyer to purchase less, then ebay is going to whack the seller. Appears to me they don't care at all about the seller, they want lots of buyers shopping with them. I used ebay a lot (for me) years ago, but then Amazon came along, and it's rare I find a better deal on ebay than Amazon. My last buys are a couple of camera lenses, and I found them brand new on ebay for considerably less than Amazon. Every time I get crazy thinking I ought to list a couple of things on ebay, I come here and read a few posts, and that talks me out of it. Ebay was great in the beginning, but I guess nothing is forever.
 

I'm kind of an outsider looking in. In the last year I've purchased 5 items off ebay, and I have a total feed back of 216, of course all but 5 of them are over a year old, and the truth is, the majority go way back to when ebay was first starting, I got some really good buys, and sold some stuff, and got great feedback on everything. I think I only got one negative in all those years. After reading over this thread, I'm thinking ebay makes most of their money on fees when people buy, and if a seller does something that causes a buyer to purchase less, then ebay is going to whack the seller. Appears to me they don't care at all about the seller, they want lots of buyers shopping with them. I used ebay a lot (for me) years ago, but then Amazon came along, and it's rare I find a better deal on ebay than Amazon. My last buys are a couple of camera lenses, and I found them brand new on ebay for considerably less than Amazon. Every time I get crazy thinking I ought to list a couple of things on ebay, I come here and read a few posts, and that talks me out of it. Ebay was great in the beginning, but I guess nothing is forever.

I'm pretty sure you have nailed ebay's thought process. Their "research" shows if there is any sort of issue buyers might buy less. That could even be true.....but it hasn't stopped Amazon from growing their business.
 

I work my butt off trying to get my defect rate below 2%, but I have been at 2.2%-2.5% for months. I think if I was selling all new merchandise it would be a lot easier, but selling used or vintage stuff it's difficult for me.

Let's say out of 100 sales:
1 item gets broken in shipping and buyer opens a case.
You mess up the description on 1 item and buyer opens a case.
Buyer doesn't read the description and opens a case.

You are at 3%, and you've only really made a mistake on 1 item out of 100.
 

It'd be fun to know how many sellers are still classified as "top rated" after the first year of these new standards. I'll bet those numbers will never be made public.
 

I'm still top rated but I'm at 1.82%. Pretty sure the first defect goes off on Feb 20th. I stopped selling when I realized USPS was overloaded in mid-Dec or I would be willing to bet I'd have lost mine.
 

I'm still top rated but I'm at 1.82%. Pretty sure the first defect goes off on Feb 20th. I stopped selling when I realized USPS was overloaded in mid-Dec or I would be willing to bet I'd have lost mine.

I figured the same, but was wrong... I noticed 0 delays in first class shipments all of December, even the Monday before Christmas I had a package go from NH to TX in 3 days (good for 1st class) in time for Christmas. Not saying all packages made it equally, but i was pleasantly surprised to not see delays like I expected. knock on wood and all that
 

I had a 1st class package leave here before Thanksgiving & go to Tampa when it should have gone to PA. It came back a week later so I reshipped immediately. It finally got there 20 days after I put it in the mail the first time, which was 2 days after I got a defect due to the buyer requesting tracking through the ebay system. When I realized it was taking that long I upgraded my last 5 packages from 1st class to priority at my own expense. Delivery time on those varied from 7 to 10 days. One was supposed to go to North Alabama(I'm in central Alabama) & it went to Indiana & back.
 

ha!! check this priority out. This was my beauty of the holiday season. Was taken and scanned at the PO on 12-15th all 30 of my packages that day never showed the PO scan. One week before first scan appeared


Delivered
Jan-02-15, 09:16 AM, RIVERTON, WY 82501

Out for Delivery
Jan-02-15, 07:11 AM, RIVERTON, WY 82501

Sorting Complete
Jan-02-15, 07:01 AM, RIVERTON, WY 82501

Arrival at Unit
Jan-02-15, 06:36 AM, RIVERTON, WY 82501

Arrived at USPS Facility
Jan-01-15, 00:39 AM, DENVER, CO 80217

Departed USPS Facility
Dec-31-14, 04:28 AM, PHOENIX, AZ 85043

Arrived at USPS Facility
Dec-31-14, 01:19 AM, PHOENIX, AZ 85043

Departed USPS Origin Facility
Dec-29-14, 14:34 PM, PHILADELPHIA, PA 19116

Arrived at USPS Origin Facility
Dec-22-14, 10:00 AM, PHILADELPHIA, PA 19116

Accepted at USPS Origin Sort Facility
Dec-22-14, 08:45 AM, AUDUBON, NJ 08106

I shipped this priority on Monday to Minnesota


Departed USPS Facility
2015-01-07, 12:35:00, SAN JUAN, PR 00936

Arrived at USPS Facility
2015-01-07, 08:22:00, SAN JUAN, PR 00936

Departed USPS Facility
2015-01-07, 05:08:00, CATANO, PR 00962

Arrived at USPS Facility
2015-01-07, 01:53:00, CATANO, PR 00962

Arrived at USPS Origin Facility
2015-01-05, 23:32:00, PHILADELPHIA, PA 19116

Departed Post Office
2015-01-05, 17:15:00, OAKLYN, NJ 08107

Picked up by Request
2015-01-05, 16:01:00, OAKLYN, NJ 08107
 

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