Here's the posting:
Our business has been recently suspended from selling on Ebay for having
just 11 low DSR ratings out of 1,044 transactions this past year. We
have been on Ebay for over 5yrs, with 4897 feedbacks at 98.8% positive
and consistently ranked as Top Rated Seller. Our overall DSR ratings
are 4.8's and 4.9's (with one 4.7 for shipping charge, buyers just don't
understand that) One day out of no where we realized all of our
listings have been removed and we have been "indefinetly suspended"
All because in one month we got hit with several "low ratings", yet all
feedbacks were positive. We were .05% over the "performance"
threshold. That results in just 1 low dsr rating from the entire year
that put us over the "performance" threshold. We have tried everything
to appeal this case but Ebay does not care anything about the sellers.
They have deemed us to be "unsafe" for the buyers. How is 98.8%
positive rating out of 4897 and 4.8/4.9 DSR ratings be bad for a buyer?
This is completely wrong and I have found this is happening to a WHOLE
LOT of sellers. This was a huge source of income for a small local
business. Jobs have been lost because of this. All because of .05%
over the threshold for one month. We have been consistenly ranked as
Top Rated Seller until this happened. This is absolutely wrong of
Ebay. How can 98.8% of your 4897 feedbacks be positive, yet the seller
gets suspended for a ridiculous rating system.
A review of that seller's feedback confirms the overall picture, but illustrates just what goes wrong when B&M sellers start selling on Ebay.
Seller was selling from a pawnshop, and selling among other complex things, high end electric guitars. They mostly worked, and life was good, but maybe 5% had some issue. Seller had a very responsible return policy (although didn't always answer complaints immediately).
In the B&M world, this is a good business. Customers are mostly happy, and when stuff goes wrong, they get their money back and aren't mad. Everyone knows that carp happens once in a while. All is well.
On Ebay, it will get seller kicked off of ebay.
There are two aspects to that result.
1. The standards for Ebay sellers are counter-intuitively high. A 5% carp rate is unacceptable, and gets seller kicked off.
2. The rating system is not designed to allow seller to react to the need to make changes. The first notice is often the last notice, "take your business elsewhere, we wish you well".
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Friday, February 28, 2014
Ebay Business Policies riddled with glitches and one major glaring defect
Ebay business policies are a cool plan which has suffered an incompetent implementation.
Business policies cover three aspects of a listing.
1. Payment
2. Shipping
3. Returns
The idea is awesome. Create classes for such policies. Assign one of the classes to each listing. If you need to, edit the class.
In practice, the glitches overwhelm the goodness.
The source of the glitches seems to be an implementation which pushes the class information out to the browser, where it can be manipulated, and subsequently sent back. This is done by the Sell Your Item form (SYI).
Fine in concept.
However, a significant amount of the time, the SYI form proceeds without collecting the existing data. A "revise" can't be completed, for example, because the policies have disappeared.
The worst however is when the SYI form shows one thing, but the listing ends up with something else. This happens as glitches, but it also happens in one totally repeatable context. Relist you item allows changing all aspects of the listing. In this way, it's like Sell Similar. Relist varies in that the item is automatically removed from the visible unsold list, as a way to help seller keep track of what has been relisted and what has not been relisted.
However, Relist silently discards all policy changes, and the relisted item ends up with exactly the same policies as the original listing.
This effectively blocks relisting a BIN/IPR item as an auction item. THe defect can be worked around by using Sell Similar, then delete from unsold list, but this is not only unnecessary effort, it's also error prone, and subject to yield multiple listings of the same item.
Business policies cover three aspects of a listing.
1. Payment
2. Shipping
3. Returns
The idea is awesome. Create classes for such policies. Assign one of the classes to each listing. If you need to, edit the class.
In practice, the glitches overwhelm the goodness.
The source of the glitches seems to be an implementation which pushes the class information out to the browser, where it can be manipulated, and subsequently sent back. This is done by the Sell Your Item form (SYI).
Fine in concept.
However, a significant amount of the time, the SYI form proceeds without collecting the existing data. A "revise" can't be completed, for example, because the policies have disappeared.
The worst however is when the SYI form shows one thing, but the listing ends up with something else. This happens as glitches, but it also happens in one totally repeatable context. Relist you item allows changing all aspects of the listing. In this way, it's like Sell Similar. Relist varies in that the item is automatically removed from the visible unsold list, as a way to help seller keep track of what has been relisted and what has not been relisted.
However, Relist silently discards all policy changes, and the relisted item ends up with exactly the same policies as the original listing.
This effectively blocks relisting a BIN/IPR item as an auction item. THe defect can be worked around by using Sell Similar, then delete from unsold list, but this is not only unnecessary effort, it's also error prone, and subject to yield multiple listings of the same item.
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
The classic scam directed at a newbie seller
Newbie sellers face a variety of scams, but none so likely as this one.
Seller lists first item, either fixed price or auction. The item is medium value, such as down-generation smart phone or some higher end sneakers.
Sure enough, the item sells.
Newbie seller confuses the fact that the item has sold, believing that the item has been paid for. Newbie seller ships the item, and the scam is complete.
The deeper analysis.
Most straight out scams on Ebay are perped by young people who crave stuff they cannot afford. This scam is by far the easiest to try, because it requires nothing more than a free email address and an Ebay account, to give it a go. A Paypal account is not required. The crook will take shots at many items, hoping one might fall.
The defense.
BIN/IPR. Buy It Now, Immediate Payment Required. This means that in order to play at all, buyer has to pay for the item. Someone with no money just can't get across that barrier.
Note that BIN/IPR requires seller to cross two hurdles.
1. Seller's Paypal account must be a "business" account. This is free, and doesn't seem to have any purpose, but it does allow IPR.
2. By default, IPR is not shown on the sell your item form. When setting up payments, there is a "show more options" link. The IPR option can be selected from the choices presented.
Seller lists first item, either fixed price or auction. The item is medium value, such as down-generation smart phone or some higher end sneakers.
Sure enough, the item sells.
Newbie seller confuses the fact that the item has sold, believing that the item has been paid for. Newbie seller ships the item, and the scam is complete.
The deeper analysis.
Most straight out scams on Ebay are perped by young people who crave stuff they cannot afford. This scam is by far the easiest to try, because it requires nothing more than a free email address and an Ebay account, to give it a go. A Paypal account is not required. The crook will take shots at many items, hoping one might fall.
The defense.
BIN/IPR. Buy It Now, Immediate Payment Required. This means that in order to play at all, buyer has to pay for the item. Someone with no money just can't get across that barrier.
Note that BIN/IPR requires seller to cross two hurdles.
1. Seller's Paypal account must be a "business" account. This is free, and doesn't seem to have any purpose, but it does allow IPR.
2. By default, IPR is not shown on the sell your item form. When setting up payments, there is a "show more options" link. The IPR option can be selected from the choices presented.
Monday, January 27, 2014
MC999 sudden death: fear comes to dominate Ebay seller experience
Starting in October, 2013, thousands, maybe tens of thousands of active sellers have been indefinitely suspended from selling on Ebay.
Ebay suspends sellers every day, and it's not news, because they needed to be suspended.
What makes this death wave different is that the sellers who are being axed are long term, medium sized sellers whose infractions are either minor or non-existent.
The list of common factors:
That part isn't news. The part that catches sellers unaware is how few such bad scores it takes to kill. Unresolved cases are especially costly, and sellers end up with unresolved cases when they are willing to resolve the case but expect more time.
Bottom line: 4 bum stars can kill. 3 bum stars + 1 unresolved case can kill. Three unresolved cases are almost always fatal.
How could I go from TRS and all good stars to dead overnight?
The Ebay business model would confound anyone who seeks to analyze. Several counter-intuitive factors catch sellers unaware:
This is particularly devastating to those who sell branded merchandise where the brand pursues real violations. Some brands routinely challenge the authenticity of any listing using their brand. Dunkin Donuts brand coffee for example claims than DD brand coffee is always counterfeit unless sold directly by DD. Sellers have been offed because they found a bargain on DD coffee at Walmart, and started listing what they bought on Ebay, only to find their listings taken down, and then, the permanent axe falls.
Ebay software behavior does not match Ebay policy
Mid 2013 Ebay made a change in how cases get filed, in a well intentioned effort to suppress inappropriate buyer demands for refunds. When buyer contacts seller, a case is now automatically filed. At the time, it was explained that the case being filed would not affect seller's standing, unless seller lost the case. That remains the policy today.
However, by many credible reports, the number of filed cases has been used as the basis of permanent seller suspensions.
Ebay Customer Service reaction.
Ebay customer service is largely uninformed about the climate change of the past three months. Common reaction when a seller contacts Customer Service is to be told two clear statements.
Is this ever going to be fixed, and if it does, what about currently suspended sellers?
What is going on now is beyond any logic, and thus, we can expect it to be fixed. All sellers, except those who are protected by special arrangements with Ebay, are currently threatened. As these sellers see their business taken down, some competitor will inevitably rise to pick them up. Somewhere along the line Ebay will wise up, and fix what is broken.
It remains to be seen when that will occur, and what Ebay will do regarding their discarded sellers.
What can sellers do to avoid sudden death?
I for one continue to sell, but I am exceptionally wary. Here's some concepts.
Ebay suspends sellers every day, and it's not news, because they needed to be suspended.
What makes this death wave different is that the sellers who are being axed are long term, medium sized sellers whose infractions are either minor or non-existent.
The list of common factors:
- Seller misjudging the effect of low stars and unresolved cases.
- Sudden transition from Top Rated Seller to indefinitely suspended.
- Accusations by buyers that the seller is selling fake or counterfeit items.
- A change in Ebay software which automatically opens a case whenever buyer contacts seller to inquire about the purchased item.
That part isn't news. The part that catches sellers unaware is how few such bad scores it takes to kill. Unresolved cases are especially costly, and sellers end up with unresolved cases when they are willing to resolve the case but expect more time.
Bottom line: 4 bum stars can kill. 3 bum stars + 1 unresolved case can kill. Three unresolved cases are almost always fatal.
How could I go from TRS and all good stars to dead overnight?
The Ebay business model would confound anyone who seeks to analyze. Several counter-intuitive factors catch sellers unaware:
- The evaluation period is back-loaded. Seller is being judged today on things which occurred up to a year ago.
- Feedback is by nature delayed. The bum star which takes a seller down may have involved a sale from two months ago.
- For most, there is no intermediate sanction. You're alive and among the best, then you're dead. This is the most dumbfounding aspect. We're not discussing crooks here, even in Ebay's evaluation. At most we're discussing sellers who need to be making some tweaks to their business model.
- Even when seller can see it coming, often there is no possible way to avoid the grim reaper.
This is particularly devastating to those who sell branded merchandise where the brand pursues real violations. Some brands routinely challenge the authenticity of any listing using their brand. Dunkin Donuts brand coffee for example claims than DD brand coffee is always counterfeit unless sold directly by DD. Sellers have been offed because they found a bargain on DD coffee at Walmart, and started listing what they bought on Ebay, only to find their listings taken down, and then, the permanent axe falls.
Ebay software behavior does not match Ebay policy
Mid 2013 Ebay made a change in how cases get filed, in a well intentioned effort to suppress inappropriate buyer demands for refunds. When buyer contacts seller, a case is now automatically filed. At the time, it was explained that the case being filed would not affect seller's standing, unless seller lost the case. That remains the policy today.
However, by many credible reports, the number of filed cases has been used as the basis of permanent seller suspensions.
Ebay Customer Service reaction.
Ebay customer service is largely uninformed about the climate change of the past three months. Common reaction when a seller contacts Customer Service is to be told two clear statements.
- Permanent means permanent.
- We wish you well selling anywhere but Ebay.
Is this ever going to be fixed, and if it does, what about currently suspended sellers?
What is going on now is beyond any logic, and thus, we can expect it to be fixed. All sellers, except those who are protected by special arrangements with Ebay, are currently threatened. As these sellers see their business taken down, some competitor will inevitably rise to pick them up. Somewhere along the line Ebay will wise up, and fix what is broken.
It remains to be seen when that will occur, and what Ebay will do regarding their discarded sellers.
What can sellers do to avoid sudden death?
I for one continue to sell, but I am exceptionally wary. Here's some concepts.
- Contest any low star to the logical limit. Many low stars can be removed, understand the rules regarding such removal
- Learn from the low star, even if it is removed. Stop putting all blame on buyer, see if buyer might have a point. Bum stars are a major threat, and the primary defense is to avoid them.
- Do not ever allow an account to accumulate three low stars. Once you're selling with three bum stars, a variety of bad luck situations can take seller down. Sell on another account.
- Resolve cases by refunding early. Do not bet that Ebay will see your side and protect you.
- Do not trust Customer Service when they send you into some kind of battle with the promise that you will win the case. Dead sellers can tell you why. That CS rep has not interest, let alone the power, to revive a permanently suspended seller.
- Avoid contested brands. It's unfair. UnAmerican. All of that. But you want to sell or do you want to be a crusader?
- Ship fast, either today or tomorrow when buyer pays. If you feel you can't do that, you may not be suited to selling on Ebay here in 2014. You're going to take too many incoming complaints, and those complaints are going to take you down.
- Don't charge sales tax whenever possible, and if you do, make it very clear up front that the tax will be charged. You'd rather lose the sale than take the bum star.
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Finally, a way to not leave feedback and not be bugged about it.
I've blogged about this issue before.
It's been a real pain. Buyer requests no feedback, but Ebay reports that feedback needs to be left.
For those of us who ship multiple times per day, this meant we had to remember that special request every time we shipped, for 60 days. And if we forgot, we could expect negative feedback.
Yesterday for the first time, I gave the new way a try. The transaction was canceled by buyer's request, and I'd prefer to just let sleeping dogs lie.
Having clicked on "need to leave feedback for 3 transactions", the transactions appear in a list.
Each item in the list has a checkbox, on the left.
Having checked that transaction, click the "delete" button on the bottom of the list.
Voila. Gone.
It's been a real pain. Buyer requests no feedback, but Ebay reports that feedback needs to be left.
For those of us who ship multiple times per day, this meant we had to remember that special request every time we shipped, for 60 days. And if we forgot, we could expect negative feedback.
Yesterday for the first time, I gave the new way a try. The transaction was canceled by buyer's request, and I'd prefer to just let sleeping dogs lie.
Having clicked on "need to leave feedback for 3 transactions", the transactions appear in a list.
Each item in the list has a checkbox, on the left.
Having checked that transaction, click the "delete" button on the bottom of the list.
Voila. Gone.
Ebay: sell me 100 listings for $10
January is here.
That's the beginning of my intense Ebay selling season. The season lasts until Memorial Day.
It's also the season of listing cost stress.
In the really old days, listings were 5c. All was well.
In the medium old days, up until about a year ago, Ebay gave us 50 free auction listings.. BINs were 50c. After the 50 frees were used up, auctions cost varied based on beginning minimum bid. 99c auctions were 10c to list.
Now, the 50 frees are useful for any listing, which is great. However, after that, listings cost 30c, which is painful.
To reduce the pain, Ebay gives away lots of free listings, but they do it in an unpredictable way which can't be depended on. The freebies can however be waited for, and listings held in reserve until the freebie offer comes. That time management of listings is one complication for a modern seller.
The second technique available to us small timers is to sell on more than one account. That gets a 2nd 50 freebies, but at a different kind of management burden. Seller has to be willing to manage multiple accounts. Perhaps more importantly, this can mitigate the value of crossover, where a buyer sees an attractive item listed, and checks out what else the seller might be selling.
Wouldn't it be nice to not have to do all of that?
I do understand the value of pricing listings. For one, it keeps a lot of pure nonsense from being listed, listings which just aren't attractive to anyone except perhaps victims of dementia.
So here's the suggestion to Ebay.
Sell us blocks of 100 listings for $10. Good listings, the same as the current 50 freebies.
Fair enough that the listings have to be used in some time frame, say 30 days. Then they expire unused.
That's the beginning of my intense Ebay selling season. The season lasts until Memorial Day.
It's also the season of listing cost stress.
In the really old days, listings were 5c. All was well.
In the medium old days, up until about a year ago, Ebay gave us 50 free auction listings.. BINs were 50c. After the 50 frees were used up, auctions cost varied based on beginning minimum bid. 99c auctions were 10c to list.
Now, the 50 frees are useful for any listing, which is great. However, after that, listings cost 30c, which is painful.
To reduce the pain, Ebay gives away lots of free listings, but they do it in an unpredictable way which can't be depended on. The freebies can however be waited for, and listings held in reserve until the freebie offer comes. That time management of listings is one complication for a modern seller.
The second technique available to us small timers is to sell on more than one account. That gets a 2nd 50 freebies, but at a different kind of management burden. Seller has to be willing to manage multiple accounts. Perhaps more importantly, this can mitigate the value of crossover, where a buyer sees an attractive item listed, and checks out what else the seller might be selling.
Wouldn't it be nice to not have to do all of that?
I do understand the value of pricing listings. For one, it keeps a lot of pure nonsense from being listed, listings which just aren't attractive to anyone except perhaps victims of dementia.
So here's the suggestion to Ebay.
Sell us blocks of 100 listings for $10. Good listings, the same as the current 50 freebies.
Fair enough that the listings have to be used in some time frame, say 30 days. Then they expire unused.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Classic mismatch of expectations: seller expects death in family trumps Ebay obligations
I'm not sure what they were thinking.
Seller doing about 10 sales per day seems to have just abandoned Ebay for 1.5 weeks. Comes back to find angry buyers, and two weeks later, an angry Ebay.
Our account was just Suspended "Indefinately" after having a family hardship. We have been loyal to EBay for 15 YEARS. Both buying and selling. We have always maintained excellent customer service and customer satisfaction as our number one goal. Our company was actually founded in 1958 by my Grandparents. My Father who also worked with us passed away from Terminal Cancer on December 29th. EBAY COULD CARE LESS ABOUT SMALL FAMILY RUN BUSINESESS!!!
Lets see how long this post stays on here before they delete it! I pleaded with them to talk to a supervisor. They would not let me. I asked to appeal the decision and they would not let us do so. They did not care about anything.
Maybe this is a blessing from God that we are being suspended from such a tyranical big brother type company that is only out for profit.
Seller doing about 10 sales per day seems to have just abandoned Ebay for 1.5 weeks. Comes back to find angry buyers, and two weeks later, an angry Ebay.
Our account was just Suspended "Indefinately" after having a family hardship. We have been loyal to EBay for 15 YEARS. Both buying and selling. We have always maintained excellent customer service and customer satisfaction as our number one goal. Our company was actually founded in 1958 by my Grandparents. My Father who also worked with us passed away from Terminal Cancer on December 29th. EBAY COULD CARE LESS ABOUT SMALL FAMILY RUN BUSINESESS!!!
Lets see how long this post stays on here before they delete it! I pleaded with them to talk to a supervisor. They would not let me. I asked to appeal the decision and they would not let us do so. They did not care about anything.
Maybe this is a blessing from God that we are being suspended from such a tyranical big brother type company that is only out for profit.
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