eBay is about to change.. for better? (Sellers)

[BartJr]

In case you did not see it yet:

From 20 February 2016, the following will no longer count towards your defect rate:

• Buyer Feedback.
• Detailed seller ratings (DSRs).
• Returns requests that are successfully resolved with your buyer.
• Items not received requests that are successfully resolved with your buyer.

Instead, we will use only the following existing criteria to determine your defect rate:

• Seller-cancelled transactions.
• Cases that are closed without seller resolution.

 

[Chris34]

It definitely appears to be a step in the right direction. I've held back on buying stock recently because of the defect rate rising (risk of being blocked from selling).

As long as you don't cancel any transactions then it should be very straightforward, virtually zero risk of getting your account suspended. Any out of stock items that you mistakenly sell will be hit hard by this though so getting the stock quantities correct will be crucial. If you get it wrong it would be best sending out an incorrect cheap item to the customer rather than cancel the transaction. The reason is that you would no longer get a defect for 'Item not as described'. Just let them keep the item and fully refund them.

The only issue I would have is the added rating score for 'Item Delivered On Time'. I send out all items untracked so depending on the response of the ratings I might have to look into sending out some of them tracked. Although the new DMO (Royal Mail) that will be fazed in next year would probably contain the correct info to upload to Ebay to prove the parcels have been despatched to the addresses.

Overall it looks like a big step in the right direction though. Certainly will make it less risky.


Chris.

 

[Chris34]

Actually thinking about it, it might be possible to mark the item as despatched, then contact the customer telling that the item is out of stock asking them if they want an alternative or refund, if they then want a refund then that might not class as being a cencelled transaction as it was already marked as despatched.

Also to note is that the defect rate is being reduced from 5% to 2%


Chris.

 

[JPMiddleton]

Actually thinking about it, it might be possible to mark the item as despatched, then contact the customer telling that the item is out of stock asking them if they want an alternative or refund.

As a buyer I personally find this very irritating. If I've been told it's on the way, I'm now confident there were no stock issues.

As a seller I do everything I can to avoid this scenario by getting stock levels right as much as possible. Prevention rather than cure and all that.

Sounds like some seller friendly changes are on the way.

 

[Firmtec]

My only concern is our franked mail does not show as posted until it has been delivered. I would hate to have to go to the post office just to keep eBay happy as currently we have a collection. Reading the details made it appear they check the despatch date not delivery date on tracked items.

 

[Gaz Walker]

The only issue I would have is the added rating score for 'Item Delivered On Time'. I send out all items untracked so depending on the response of the ratings I might have to look into sending out some of them tracked. Although the new DMO (Royal Mail) that will be fazed in next year would probably contain the correct info to upload to Ebay to prove the parcels have been despatched to the addresses.

Yes I believe this wouldn't have happened without the RM 2D Barcode proving that items have been dispatched. I would imagine eBay will be one of the first companies to get access to the info from RM.

Fingers crossed this all works as planned!

 

[e-vulture]

I think these changes could be really bad for sellers of low value items that can not go tracked.
These sellers will be at the risk of the "Did it arrive on time?" question. Ebay's delivery estimates are far too short to start with, and they can't be trusted to to take into account holidays and weekends.

Ebay seem to only allow 2 - 3 days for second class, while Royal Mail say upto 5 days for second class. So even if everything gets dispateched on time, there's still a good chance you won't come close to meeting the ebay standards. Even Amazon have the good sense to allow 3 - 5 days for second class, not the 2 - 3 days ebay state.

It will all depend on what sanctions ebay takes against sellers for not performing on the delivery front. If they force non performing sellers to only offer tracked postage, then that will be as good as being banned for sellers of low value items.

 

[TMGG]

Instead, we will use only the following existing criteria to determine your defect rate:

• Seller-cancelled transactions.

I hope this doesn't mean where the buyer has asked the seller to cancel because they've changed their mind.

 

[TotalWebSolutions]

If only they would also allow UK merchants to add their own payment gateway for online transaction processing (like they can in the US)

 

[TMGG]

If only they would also allow UK merchants to add their own payment gateway for online transaction processing (like they can in the US)

I recently bought something on ebay from a UK seller and was given an option of using my credit card or Paypal. First time I've seen that.

 

[TotalWebSolutions]

I recently bought something on ebay from a UK seller and was given an option of using my credit card or Paypal. First time I've seen that.

As far as I am aware UK Sellers can only use it with a Virtual Terminal for MOTO (Mail Order/Telephone Order) as per the help section on the eBay UK website:

"If you want to accept credit cards, you'll need to make sure that you can process the buyer's payment. (Credit card payments aren't integrated into checkout on eBay.co.uk or eBay.ie.) You'll need both a merchant account and a virtual terminal solution.

The buyer will need to contact you during checkout with their credit card details - for example, by phoning you. You can add these instructions when you list your item, in the Additional check out instructions section."