Ebay's new Seller Defect Rating taking a toll on me

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

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...

[Soadfan4ever]

USPS losing so many packages is unacceptable. You seem to have a particularly bad post office or hub. I've shipped around 2,000 packages with them and only ever lost one package. You've had this issue for a long time, have you spoken with a supervisor or the postmaster about it? You sell enough that you could probably tell them they are about to lose a good amount of business from you if they don't correct the problem.

 

The only other thought I had was to reevaluate your packaging, but I recall you describing some solid practices a few months back in your thread about the label printer.

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

Yeah I have talked to USPS until I am blue. They don't care. I mean, the couple in my town I go to seem to do ok, but there is a distribution center in Birmingham that is awful. And I have called and talked to them and they just say "sorry" after looking up the tracking and say that maybe it will turn up. When I talk to supervisor, they just tell me there is nothing more they can do.

 

Packaging I changed some already to account for some damages I was getting. I am not sure how much better I could do there. I don't think they are getting lost because of that.

 

I thought about using just bigger packaging so maybe it doesn't get stuck places? Tough because we are talking about a big expense, but maybe it would be worth it?

[jbacunn]

I have had a similar issue. I have had USPS lose 2 packages in the last 2-3 months and another buyer returned an item saying that it was defective even though it was not. The real problem is that eBay almost forces buyers to open a case when they try to message the seller. You really have to try NOT to open a case when you message a seller after payment has been made. I believe that eBay does this intentionally so that more cases will be open. In all cases I mentioned I made it right with the buyer even though it was not my fault but I still get the defect counted against me. The deck is so stacked against sellers on eBay it's crazy. It is ultimately why I believe they will go under eventually.

By the way, you might be able to appeal that low rating even though the feedback was good. You need Ms. Frog to provide her expert advice.

[fuzzy_bricks]

I have had a similar issue. I have had USPS lose 2 packages in the last 2-3 months and another buyer returned an item saying that it was defective even though it was not. The real problem is that eBay almost forces buyers to open a case when they try to message the seller. You really have to try NOT to open a case when you message a seller after payment has been made. I believe that eBay does this intentionally so that more cases will be open. In all cases I mentioned I made it right with the buyer even though it was not my fault but I still get the defect counted against me. The deck is so stacked against sellers on eBay it's crazy. It is ultimately why I believe they will go under eventually.

Sent from my iPad using Brickpicker

I've messaged a seller after the fact and unless I was lucky, or smarter than the average eBayer, I was able to easily contact the seller and work something out.  I didn't feel like they were pushing me to open a case.

 

They do try to get you to work it out with the seller if you are about to leave neutral or negative feedback.

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

Yeah I am waiting for that. If I don't immediately use the rating with the new system, I am pretty confident I will be ok. i just don't want to have to earn it again. I have been unlucky - but its silly for it to come to this.

 

Ebay really makes me mad. I love the marketplace because it has the best UI and the most buyers.

 

Unfortunately, the best UI doesn't mean anything - all of them suck. And they stack everything against the sellers. Its just getting stupid. I am at the point where I am more frusterated by Ebay than anything else.

 

Earlier this year, sellers may recall Shipping on listings getting messed up. I had to redo manually TONS of listings because the policies were messed up. On top of that, they didn't announce anything, didn't apologize.

 

As far as the secuirty breach, if anyone didn't know - Ebay knew about this over two months before they warned anyone which is incredibly irresponsible. 

[fuzzy_bricks]

Earlier this year, sellers may recall Shipping on listings getting messed up. I had to redo manually TONS of listings because the policies were messed up. On top of that, they didn't announce anything, didn't apologize.

 

As far as the secuirty breach, if anyone didn't know - Ebay knew about this over two months before they warned anyone which is incredibly irresponsible. 

I don't remember the statement for the security breach exactly, but it stuck out to me that they didn't apologize for that either.  Not a huge deal, and I don't expect an apology, but it was just "Whoops, change your password."

[justafrog]

I have had a similar issue. I have had USPS lose 2 packages in the last 2-3 months and another buyer returned an item saying that it was defective even though it was not. The real problem is that eBay almost forces buyers to open a case when they try to message the seller. You really have to try NOT to open a case when you message a seller after payment has been made. I believe that eBay does this intentionally so that more cases will be open. In all cases I mentioned I made it right with the buyer even though it was not my fault but I still get the defect counted against me. The deck is so stacked against sellers on eBay it's crazy. It is ultimately why I believe they will go under eventually.

By the way, you might be able to appeal that low rating even though the feedback was good. You need Ms. Frog to provide her expert advice.

 

You can ask them to remove the low rating and chance are good they will if the buyer left feedback that is in direct conflict with the low rating.

 

Re: the post office, we've had more problems this year with them than ever before - not enough to get us near a 2% defect rating, but I am not happy at all with the trend of their service right now, either.

 

And, everyone else is spot on - buyers have to become expert eBay users and contortionists in order to AVOID opening a case when all they mostly want to do is ask a question.

 

Fix the things you can fix - you should not be switching packages, that's fixable with your in-house procedures. Use packing slips, match them to labels, and triple-check yourself throughout the shipping process. The fact that the buyers with the switched package both dinged you for not-as-described is pure bad luck - most buyers are pretty reasonable if you get the right stuff to them even after a mistake.

 

You can try going up the chain of command at the post office - don't stop with the supervisor, tell him you want to talk to the regional supervisor, and if he won't help you do that, call the post office main number. Will it help? No idea. I haven't -quite- got to the point of being frustrated enough to try it.

 

And, if you are looking for lower fees (comparable to what you are getting with TRS plus) and less stringent seller standards, you're not going to be happy at Amazon. They are more expensive even if you lose TRS plus; and if you screw up there, you are permanently done. Don't even consider it until and unless you've sorted out your postal and in-house mis-fulfillment issues, is my advice.

 

I've had TRS and TRS plus since each of them started. I have a high enough volume to absorb occasional mistakes by me or the post office or buyers who don't read. But it would not shock me to find I don't keep TRS plus all the time under the new defect system. It's amazing how quickly it can all go pear-shaped.

[Jojoyojimbi]

my sentiments towards ebay would require profuse censorship to express

[legoman12323123]

Yeah I am waiting for that. If I don't immediately use the rating with the new system, I am pretty confident I will be ok. i just don't want to have to earn it again. I have been unlucky - but its silly for it to come to this.

 

Ebay really makes me mad. I love the marketplace because it has the best UI and the most buyers.

 

Unfortunately, the best UI doesn't mean anything - all of them suck. And they stack everything against the sellers. Its just getting stupid. I am at the point where I am more frusterated by Ebay than anything else.

 

Earlier this year, sellers may recall Shipping on listings getting messed up. I had to redo manually TONS of listings because the policies were messed up. On top of that, they didn't announce anything, didn't apologize.

 

As far as the secuirty breach, if anyone didn't know - Ebay knew about this over two months before they warned anyone which is incredibly irresponsible.

 my defact rating got effed .. last christmas season .. those morons lost about 5-10% of my packages and I was shipping alot of stuff over 1,000 each month. Luckly they were tiny minifigure orders ect and not expensive items. Now that holiday season is over they seen to be better about it maybe 1% missing lost packages. But this new system with defect rates ect totally f**ked me out of top seller.

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

Yeah basically I have been - since the beginning of my store - trying to fix things as I realize they are a problem. The labels thing unfortunately ends up being my worst nightmare - I have this knack to just screw something simple up somehow. I used to take Calc tests in College where I would get a 98 because I added 2 + 2 wrong. Silly.

 

But yeah I am working on a few new things that may help. I just wish there was a better way to tell the buyers what to do. And whats dumb is - buyers are going to get hounded. Anyone remember before when you would open a case and a buyer would get all bent out of shape and say "Why didn't you message me first!"?

 

Going to be a lot worse now.

[MartinP]

USPS losing so many packages is unacceptable. You seem to have a particularly bad post office or hub. I've shipped around 2,000 packages with them and only ever lost one package. You've had this issue for a long time, have you spoken with a supervisor or the postmaster about it? You sell enough that you could probably tell them they are about to lose a good amount of business from you if they don't correct the problem.

I agree that it is unacceptable. I have sent over 200 packages with USPS, and none got lost, but a few has been damage. That is it. It sounds like something is wrong with USPS in Alabama. The next best thing to do is switch to another shipping company. There is no point is staying with them if they keep losing packages over and over again.

[Brickrunner]

I too have had issues with Birmingham. I've had a couple packages just stall there for a week or two - then they resume on their happy way.

[Huskers1236]

Speaking of Top Seller status, I got it back again, and hadn't sold anything on ebay in about a month prior to that.  I have no idea what methods they use for this program, but it is screwed up.  With them constantly creating and changing rules to favor the buyer, the less I will sell there.  As for USPS, there is a reason it is losing billions in dollars each year, because they are terrible at what they do.

[Ed Mack]

eBay makes it hard to be a seller.  Although I don't sell on eBay, I buy plenty.  eBay makes it hard for the buyer to contact the seller after the sale.  Recently, I ordered two $5 ploybags and only one shipped.  No biggie.  I contacted the seller...they apologized and sent the item.  I left positive feedback.  A week later I get a message from eBay about a case being opened.  I never opened a case against this seller, yet eBay said I did.  I closed the case, but who knows if this affected the seller in anyway.

[Darth_Raichu]

eBay makes it hard to be a seller.  Although I don't sell on eBay, I buy plenty.  eBay makes it hard for the buyer to contact the seller after the sale.  Recently, I ordered two $5 ploybags and only one shipped.  No biggie.  I contacted the seller...they apologized and sent the item.  I left positive feedback.  A week later I get a message from eBay about a case being opened.  I never opened a case against this seller, yet eBay said I did.  I closed the case, but who knows if this affected the seller in anyway.

After the sale, most of the options you need to select to contact the seller will result in a case automatically being opened on buyer's behalf. There is no warning either, so buyer may not be aware of opening a case. IIRC, the only option that does not open a case is "miscellaneous" or "other"

[justafrog]

eBay makes it hard to be a seller.  Although I don't sell on eBay, I buy plenty.  eBay makes it hard for the buyer to contact the seller after the sale.  Recently, I ordered two $5 ploybags and only one shipped.  No biggie.  I contacted the seller...they apologized and sent the item.  I left positive feedback.  A week later I get a message from eBay about a case being opened.  I never opened a case against this seller, yet eBay said I did.  I closed the case, but who knows if this affected the seller in anyway.

 

It did - any item not received question will cause a defect. 

 

Just in case anyone thinks that Amazon is land of the friend-to-sellers here is their policy (some of which went into eBay's defect rating implementation this spring, Amazon's has been this way for awhile):

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=12880481

 

Bottom line is, it's hard to be a seller, period. And while I'm not happy with eBay changing this particular model to be more in line with Amazon and definitely think the blow-back on buyers is going to be worse than their "cure", there is reason for it: bad sellers make buyers abandon sites. And it's hard to come up with "perfect metrics" to identify and eliminate bad sellers without getting some marginal or even mostly-good sellers swept up in the net.

[Guest TabbyBoy]

I'm surprised eBay have lasted this long, if only they went back to the "good old days".  I'm just glad I'm now offloading my "buyers remorse" sets through local ads and by word of mouth.  A serious competitor to eBay can't be that far off, there's certainly a market for it!

[Darth_Raichu]

I'm surprised eBay have lasted this long, if only they went back to the "gold old days". I'm just glad I'm now offloading my "buyers remorse" sets through local ads and by worth of mouth. A serious competitor to eBay can't be that far off, there's certainly a market for it!

Like waiting for days for payment / check to arrive via snail mail and a few more days for it to clear ? :)

[asharerin]

I think ebay introduced the defect system to lower the number of TRS sellers, not necessarily to be more in line with Amazon. Currently 40% of sellers are TRS when they projected only 10% would be. The new defect system will bring the number down closer to 10%. I would not be too concerned about losing TRS status - just think of it as the usual annual fee increase. TRS boost in search is extremely minimal compared to sell through rate and price. Less and less buyers are concerned with TRS or feedback as they know they are covered by the MBG.

 

Off topic but just as important, how is everyone going to deal with dimensional pricing on all packages starting Jan 1st with UPS and Fedex? If you sell sets this will increase shipping costs roughly 30-50%.

[justafrog]

Like waiting for days for payment / check to arrive via snail mail and a few more days for it to clear ?

 

Wait... are you saying...

 

The good old days weren't always good

Tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems

 

Me and Billy Joel agree.

 

While there will probably sometime be a serious competitor to eBay and while eBay (like most companies) sometime might die off, those sorts of predictions are much like the flavor of the month Y2K/Mayan Calendar prophecies - there's always somebody claiming The End is Near. Sometime, one of them will accidentally be correct, but that doesn't make them a prophet.

[Darth_Raichu]

I think ebay introduced the defect system to lower the number of TRS sellers, not necessarily to be more in line with Amazon. Currently 40% of sellers are TRS when they projected only 10% would be. The new defect system will bring the number down closer to 10%. I would not be too concerned about losing TRS status - just think of it as the usual annual fee increase. TRS boost in search is extremely minimal compared to sell through rate and price. Less and less buyers are concerned with TRS or feedback as they know they are covered by the MBG.

 

Off topic but just as important, how is everyone going to deal with dimensional pricing on all packages starting Jan 1st with UPS and Fedex? If you sell sets this will increase shipping costs roughly 30-50%.

Typical eBay. Instead of focusing on how to get more foot traffic, they are penny pinching wherever they can while punishing good sellers in the process.

[seapotato]

I havent been posting as much on ebay ever since they got rid of the 50 free listings. Might be switching over to amazon and BL and CL for sales. :S

[Ed Mack]

It did - any item not received question will cause a defect. 

 

Just in case anyone thinks that Amazon is land of the friend-to-sellers here is their policy (some of which went into eBay's defect rating implementation this spring, Amazon's has been this way for awhile):

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=12880481

 

Bottom line is, it's hard to be a seller, period. And while I'm not happy with eBay changing this particular model to be more in line with Amazon and definitely think the blow-back on buyers is going to be worse than their "cure", there is reason for it: bad sellers make buyers abandon sites. And it's hard to come up with "perfect metrics" to identify and eliminate bad sellers without getting some marginal or even mostly-good sellers swept up in the net.

I never had a problem with eBay from 7-8 years ago.  I will be more careful next time in the way I contact the seller.  If sellers rectify a situation quickly, there should be zero penalty.  These new policies for sellers and affiliates are ruining a good thing.  

[Ed Mack]

Typical eBay. Instead of focusing on how to get more foot traffic, they are penny pinching wherever they can while punishing good sellers in the process.

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...