So if anyone has listened (I don't blame you if you don't), you might know I have mentioned I have quite a big problem with USPS now and in my past en devours with the company. 

 

Well them and Ebay are finally getting together to really take it to me with this defect rating. So I sort of need some advice from people.

 

The major issue: When the new defect rating goes into effect, if I lose top rated status for the first time, will I get the time to get back within the stated areas like I would if I normally lost it?

 

Since the rating came out, I have been hovering just over 1%. I certainly make a mistake every once in a while - get packages switched, etc - but maybe 1 every two months or so. I average 1-2 cases a month for items not received which are always either lost or delayed through USPS (in Birmingham which seems to be run by morons).

 

Unfortunately I have hit some back luck the last 3 weeks of pretty bad proportions. I currently have 10 defects (putting me just over 2% line)

 

- 3 Items not described cases: 1 for USPS destroying an item, 2 are my fault (switched packages)

- 6 Item not received cases: 4 cases item was lost in shipping and I gave the customer a new item AND a freebie for the trouble. One was lost for about 5 days then delivered. The other was the buyers fault as their address was wrong and it was returned - they opened a case anyway.

- 1 low detailed rating: It was a minifigure and he left glowing positive feedback so I am not sure why he gave me a low rating.

 

The main problem with Ebay's approach - Sellers open cases without ever messaging someone first. If they changed this to where a user could only open a case if they sent a message to a seller (seller has 2 days or something to respond), people wouldn't get penalized for this stuff.

 

I have never had a buyer that was really dissatisfied after talking to me. If there was a way to retract cases, I guarantee 99% of my buyers would have done it. Its just silly.

 

So right now:

 

- Will I be penalized at the beginning of August (the newest ones wont go off before then in the 3 month period)?

- Anyone have some good ideas about what I should do? I am going to try to give Ebay some feedback on this, but i doubt that matters. I have loaded up on cheaper, easier to ship, new stuff and am going to have a firesale on that to get my transactions up - but I have the same problem with USPS. If they lose my packages, Im finished.

 

 

Though it wouldn't kill my store to lose top rated, I would currently lose over 100$ a month before factoring in lost sales for less promotion in Ebay's search function. I will most likely end my Parting out and Ebay business at that point and move to Amazon which I have been considering anyway since Ebay obviously doesn't give a crap about their buyers.

 

Sorry to rant - I am actually pretty calm - just want to explain and see if people on this site may have some good ideas, advice, etc. for this. I would be able to deal with it so much easier if I just felt like it was in my control...

eBay does care about foot traffic.  Their new affiliate program(which we are members) pays out half as much as the old one and is heavily weighted on how many new customers we send their way, not how much the old ones spend.  Go figure...

I stand corrected. Perhaps their revenue forecasts are based on actual number of users multiplied by average $ spent. So it makes sense to bump up the actual counts to up the projected revenue.

eBay assumes once new people join, the endless cheap craps from China will keep them from leaving.

ETA: edited after re-reading Ed's post ;)

Wow, I had no idea that was the case, that is some major BS.  I've used the "other" method so hopefully I didn't screw a seller.

 

You did not screw the seller, ebay did. The simple fact is they have to cut 75% of current TRS and they need to get the huge number of listings back to less than 10 million (currently 23 million) to survive. They will do this by adding defects wherever possible, banning sellers outright, and by charging insertions fees. If you can survive there will be alot less competition and higher prices for all sellers. Going to be a very painful year ahead though.

You did not screw the seller, ebay did. The simple fact is they have to cut 75% of current TRS and they need to get the huge number of listings back to less than 10 million (currently 23 million) to survive. They will do this by adding defects wherever possible, banning sellers outright, and by charging insertions fees. If you can survive there will be alot less competition and higher prices for all sellers. Going to be a very painful year ahead though.

 

It's an interesting theory, but it's not reasonable to call it "the simple fact" when it's not. It's a theory and an opinion.

 

I don't see any sign personally that they're trying to cut down on the number of listings - they are trying to force out old listings, but are actively pursuing new ones in the form of regular free listing specials to replace them.

You did not screw the seller, ebay did. The simple fact is they have to cut 75% of current TRS and they need to get the huge number of listings back to less than 10 million (currently 23 million) to survive. They will do this by adding defects wherever possible, banning sellers outright, and by charging insertions fees. If you can survive there will be alot less competition and higher prices for all sellers. Going to be a very painful year ahead though.

Just curious why they want to cut down on listings?  Bandwidth and server space?

It's an interesting theory, but it's not reasonable to call it "the simple fact" when it's not. It's a theory and an opinion.

 

I don't see any sign personally that they're trying to cut down on the number of listings - they are trying to force out old listings, but are actively pursuing new ones in the form of regular free listing specials to replace them.

It appears that asharerin is the resident expert on Lego production schedules and inventory and now knows of eBay's internal business plans.  According to this guy, he might be right.  

 

DNIM, I'm right there with ya, hovering a little over 1%.  I'll take my lumps if it comes to it, but I will contact EBay if I lose my Top Rated Seller status.

Just curious why they want to cut down on listings?  Bandwidth and server space?

 

When a buyer searches for an item they are thrown a large number of irrelevant and below standard results. This turns buyers off. For example if you want to purchase  a new 10211 you will get 155 results on ebay. Only 47 of those are nib sets. That means a buyer has to wade through minifgs, used sets, instructions etc. Contrast that shopping experience to amazon where you are quickly shown 1, and only 1, result. JD has stated many times the direction ebay is moving and what the current problems are. They are not internal plans or private knowledge. They want a buyer to see minimum quality listings for new items fulfilled by quality sellers. That is what generates sales and that is what makes shareholders money. 23 million listings is a disaster for sell thru rates which has plummeted in recent years.

When a buyer searches for an item they are thrown a large number of irrelevant and below standard results. This turns buyers off. For example if you want to purchase  a new 10211 you will get 155 results on ebay. Only 47 of those are nib sets. That means a buyer has to wade through minifgs, used sets, instructions etc. Contrast that shopping experience to amazon where you are quickly shown 1, and only 1, result. JD has stated many times the direction ebay is moving and what the current problems are. They are not internal plans or private knowledge. They want a buyer to see minimum quality listings for new items fulfilled by quality sellers. That is what generates sales and that is what makes shareholders money. 23 million listings is a disaster for sell thru rates which has plummeted in recent years.

Thanks for the answer.  I hate how everything has to be catered to lowest common denominator. 

When a buyer searches for an item they are thrown a large number of irrelevant and below standard results. This turns buyers off. For example if you want to purchase  a new 10211 you will get 155 results on ebay. Only 47 of those are nib sets. That means a buyer has to wade through minifgs, used sets, instructions etc. Contrast that shopping experience to amazon where you are quickly shown 1, and only 1, result. JD has stated many times the direction ebay is moving and what the current problems are. They are not internal plans or private knowledge. They want a buyer to see minimum quality listings for new items fulfilled by quality sellers. That is what generates sales and that is what makes shareholders money. 23 million listings is a disaster for sell thru rates which has plummeted in recent years.

If that is the case, then how do you explain thousands of listings for cheap and cheaply made items from China? Isn't the goal you mentioned easier to achieve by culling those cheap / knock off stuffs?

If that is the case, then how do you explain thousands of listings for cheap and cheaply made items from China? Isn't the goal you mentioned easier to achieve by culling those cheap / knock off stuffs?

No. You are talking about a subset of a subset of a subset of a subset that would require a person to actively monitor listing. Ebay is taking an operant conditioning approach ... or in other words, they are "fixing the glitch" and letting the rest work itself out.

No. You are talking about a subset of a subset of a subset of a subset that would require a person to actively monitor listing. Ebay is taking an operant conditioning approach ... or in other words, they are "fixing the glitch" and letting the rest work itself out.

Not seeing the distinction:

They want a buyer to see minimum quality listings for new items fulfilled by quality sellers. That is what generates sales and that is what makes shareholders money. 23 million listings is a disaster for sell thru rates which has plummeted in recent years.

First, since when cheaply made items from China are associated with quality. Secondly, since when 8+ days to fulfill an order is associated with quality sellers ?

In other words, how are thougher selling rules going to help cure the problem when the problem never plays with the same rules to begin with ?

Wrong definition of quality. A quality listing to ebay is one that sells quickly. They want their insertion fee and vig with as little listing up time as possible. I wouldn't be surprised if they have metrics related to gross/aging. They would rather something sell for 30 dollars in 1 day than the same item sell for 40 dollars in 4 weeks. You know that "price trending" metric? I am fairly confident that it their algorithm's sweet spot for ebay profit / listing age.

 

Taking it one step further, they would rather see high volume / quick turnover of $5 knockoffs than legit $15 items that sit and sit.

 

IMO, of course.

Yes by quality I don't mean the quality of the item. I mean item specifics filled out, accurate title and description and easily readable on a mobile device, and that item fulfilled by a seller with little or no defects, 1 day handling, return policy etc. 

Wrong definition of quality. A quality listing to ebay is one that sells quickly. They want their insertion fee and vig with as little listing up time as possible. I wouldn't be surprised if they have metrics related to gross/aging. They would rather something sell for 30 dollars in 1 day than the same item sell for 40 dollars in 4 weeks. You know that "price trending" metric? I am fairly confident that it their algorithm's sweet spot for ebay profit / listing age.

 

Taking it one step further, they would rather see high volume / quick turnover of $5 knockoffs than legit $15 items that sit and sit.

 

IMO, of course.

Makes sense.  eBay wants more quality sellers and listings and most of all...properly priced items.  I guess they don't want overpriced BS clogging up their site.  Amazon does a nice job at pointing people to the lower priced items, which helps move product.  More sold items...more money.  

Wrong definition of quality. A quality listing to ebay is one that sells quickly. They want their insertion fee and vig with as little listing up time as possible. I wouldn't be surprised if they have metrics related to gross/aging. They would rather something sell for 30 dollars in 1 day than the same item sell for 40 dollars in 4 weeks. You know that "price trending" metric? I am fairly confident that it their algorithm's sweet spot for ebay profit / listing age.

Taking it one step further, they would rather see high volume / quick turnover of $5 knockoffs than legit $15 items that sit and sit.

IMO, of course.

Ok, it makes sense now. Also to add, less listing time = less server time (ie. less bandwidth is needed per listing)

Welp.. pretty sure I just lost my top rated status for the next 8 months or so. Had a 5th case opened that puts me over the edge, and I don't sell enough volume to bring my percentage in line or to qualify for 3 month evaluation periods, so I think I have to wait until 12 months after the date of the first case opened, putting that at March 2015. 

 

The worst thing is as mentioned in the OP- buyers don't bother to contact you before opening a case. And it doesn't help that eBay funnels buyers towards opening a case, no matter how small the issue, with the way the contact seller options are laid out.

I am in the same boat. Losing TRS plus because of too many cases opened for stuff that should have just been a message sent to me. Look at it on the bright side, this is happening to many other sellers and it takes away the pressure to offer holiday returns into January.

Does the seller get dinged if we open a case?

It'll definitely knock a lot of sellers out of TRS Plus, which one theory figures was their plan.

 

I'm closer to losing it than I've ever been, by far, and it would shock me to be able to keep it reliably from here on - I figure some months I'll have it, some I won't.

 

eBay has great timing, though - less and less of my business is there anyway and more and more on Bricklink. I'm totally relaxed about whatever they do, up to and including waking up one day with the new rule "no frogs allowed". Whatevs, boys. I don't need you any more. 

Does the seller get dinged if we open a case?

 

Generally. For item not received cases, not as described cases, and returns, yes. I'm not looking at the list, so there may be more. Right now asking a question under "Other" doesn't ding us, but that could change, too.

I am in the same boat. Losing TRS plus because of too many cases opened for stuff that should have just been a message sent to me. Look at it on the bright side, this is happening to many other sellers and it takes away the pressure to offer holiday returns into January.

I have already decided against doing the extended Christmas returns so I don't really care if I keep my TRS discount or not. I never intended to get TRS anyway, just sort of happened one day.

It'll definitely knock a lot of sellers out of TRS Plus, which one theory figures was their plan.

 

I'm closer to losing it than I've ever been, by far, and it would shock me to be able to keep it reliably from here on - I figure some months I'll have it, some I won't.

 

eBay has great timing, though - less and less of my business is there anyway and more and more on Bricklink. I'm totally relaxed about whatever they do, up to and including waking up one day with the new rule "no frogs allowed". Whatevs, boys. I don't need you any more. 

 

Regarding the ebay motive - One of the higher ups at ebay accidently stated at some public function that the % of TRS plus sellers was higher than they had expected, and that the new changes were expected to bring it down in line with the projections that they were looking for.

 

I don't know what happened to this person, but I would guess there is a good chance that he also lost his ebay status.