Loosing eBay top rates seller status

[Beachbum]

From the 20th July we have lost our ebay top rated seller status for the first time in 4 years.

Our not as described rating as been pushed up passed 0.5% due to a faulty product we were listing in April and got lots of "not as described". We pulled the product when we found out it was faulty. Our ratings since April have been well within top sellers preformance so we should get our Top Seller rating back in August when the new rating system comes in

Has anyone else lost their top seller rating recently? Did you see a drop in sales and a fall in product best match positions?

 

[a4labels]

I might be wrong but isn't there an insurance period of sorts, for those who have held TRS for an extended period. the plan was to protect against cases just like this.

 

[mtools]

i'm in a similar position. i will be losing my top rated seller status august 20th as my defect transaction percentage is over 2% (it's 2.77% and to get it under 2% I will have to sell another 500 items with no "defects"). the main reason is "opened cases for item not received". It seems eBay is encouraging buyers to open cases when a customer wants to know where an item is, even though it could only be 1 day late. totally ridiculous that I will lose my 15% discount because some berk can't wait more than a day for something they've bought. anyone know if there's a way to get any of them removed? i'm on 33 of 1193, 24 of which are the opened cases (all of which have been closed with buyer satisfied).

 

[fallschirmjaeger]

i'm in a similar position. i will be losing my top rated seller status august 20th as my defect transaction percentage is over 2% (it's 2.77% and to get it under 2% I will have to sell another 500 items with no "defects"). the main reason is "opened cases for item not received". It seems eBay is encouraging buyers to open cases when a customer wants to know where an item is, even though it could only be 1 day late. totally ridiculous that I will lose my 15% discount because some berk can't wait more than a day for something they've bought. anyone know if there's a way to get any of them removed? i'm on 33 of 1193, 24 of which are the opened cases (all of which have been closed with buyer satisfied).

Yes Ebay are definately guiding people to open cases, I'm seeing my rating drop, it is currently just Top Rated overall but below for US items. Its bizzare, things can be sorted out by Email but Ebay guide people to open cases and then rate the cases against your rating. Its just a way to reduce the Final Valuation Fee % discounts as far as I can see. I have pretty muched resigned myself to the fact that my rating will drop - hey ho!

In addition Ebay seem more reluctant to remove negatives, I've had 2 in the past 6 months both from Newbies and both buying things they did not want, in other words they did not read the advert. Again this will help them to reduce the FVF discounts. I will be trying today to get one removed so will let you know how it goes!

 

[fallschirmjaeger]

Well they called me and hey presto I managed to convince them to remove the negative rating! It was not easy though, they looked at every opportunity not to remove it, although they were pleasant about it!

I asked them about the 'cases' and they agreed it is now easier for customers to open a case than just to send an email as the email option is at the bottom of the 'contact' list - so if an item is missing the customer selects the 'item not received' choice before sending an email choice and yes this counts against top rated seller rating.

They sent me a link so that we can make suggestions. I've sent one in to suggest a change in this current set-up. sorry cant post link as i dont have 30 posts! PM me if you want it!

 

[dan@webpeasy]

I asked them about the 'cases' and they agreed it is now easier for customers to open a case than just to send an email as the email option is at the bottom of the 'contact' list

I used to buy and sell on eBay a lot (these days I only buy stuff), however that is a very bad practice. eBay are essentially guiding customers to make cases.

We all know that customers will do the fastest and easiest option to contact a business. If the customer is presented with a list, I can guarantee 90% of the time they're going to run with the first few options for contact (which is unfortunately to make a case). Only a very small majority of customers are actually going to go all the way to the bottom and find the email/message option.

In my opinion it should work like this...

Customer clicks contact seller > is presented with a subject and message box and can send an email to the seller. If the seller doesn't answer within a certain timeframe (3-4 days?) then the customer has the option of having the message escalated to a case.

eBay needs to encourage customers to work directly with the business to resolve issues first, before opening cases/disputes.

 

[The Byre]

If you are taking more than a day to answer a customer's query, you are asking for trouble!

Customers get shirty when they don't here from a vendor - so you have to react immediately and not the next day. By that time, they are already fearing the worst and wondering how they are going to get their money back!

You may think that is unreasonable, but that is how people are and you have to deal with them as they are and not as you wish they should be!

 

[dan@webpeasy]

If you are taking more than a day to answer a customer's query, you are asking for trouble!

The problem with eBay is that not everybody is a 'business'. So what eBay classes as a 'reasonable timeframe' for a responce would likely be anywhere up to 5 days.

Although I suppose if the seller has a business account then this could be differentiated to a shorter timeframe.

This is beside the point anyway, the 'contact seller' system should be overhauled to be simplified and cases only opened as a last resort if all else fails, not proactively offered.

 

[Pish_Pash]

slightly off...ebay ought to get their backside in gear & separate out product feedback vs. seller feedback. It sticks in the throat when I give impeccable service...then someone thinks the product sucks so leaves me negative feedback. Amazon have it right...product review & seller feedback...never the twain shall meet.

 

[paretowasright]

E-Bay seem almost anti seller these days. Considering the sellers pay the fee's its a very strange approach. I can only assume they just want the big retailers and don't give a stuff about the small businesses hence the stance

 

[14Steve14]

Ebay used to consider itself just the platform to allow sellers to sell. It is now interfering in this too much and is no longer just a platform, its a highly controlled area that is against sellers and favors buyers no matter how good the seller is. Ebay needs to rethink the whole thing and as to managed returns thats a real joke. Ebay should let sellers sort problems and all would be happy. if a seller didnt sort a problem then negative feedback and reporting that seller is what should happen and what is deserved.

Rant over..