A unpleasant message from eBay

[dantwocats]

just had this message from ebay a final reminder to improve to your seller performance & We wanted to send you a final reminder that you’ll need to make improvements to your seller performance in global markets by 20 May to prevent further action being taken against your account.+  If your seller performance doesn’t improve, there’s a risk that the selling limits will be lowered on your account, and in some cases, you may be permanently restricted from selling on eBay. Learn more about our policies for the restriction of accounts. what ??  i jump to by dashboard and all still above standard ( as it has mostly been for the last 25 years so what are they up to totally unneeded message and had more cancelled sales do to simply delivery over charging postage on me and customers ( which does not show up anywhere) 

[jow1995]

With over 25k of sales and over7k listings maybe an idea to upgrade to a business account so simple delivery will not apply.

[papso22]

Did you look at your international (global) performance,  it's a different tab.

[fribblecollectables]

You may now be on eBay’s radar.

I don’t know the exact reason for the messages you’ve received, but one possible issue could be linked to the type of account you are using.

You appear to be listing through a Private account. A private account is generally intended for selling personal items you no longer need, such as things from around the house, the loft, cupboards, and so forth.

If any of the items you are selling were bought with the intention of reselling them on eBay for a profit, then eBay expect you to use a Business account instead. With around 7,600 items listed, eBay may view that as more than ordinary private selling.

eBay gives the following guidance for changing a personal account to a business account:

“To change your eBay account from a personal to a business account, follow these steps:

Go to Account settings in My eBay.
Select Personal information.
Select Edit next to Account type. You may be asked to sign in again.
Select Confirm to upgrade to a Business account.
Specify whether you operate your business as a legal entity or as a sole proprietor and select Continue.
Enter your business information such as name, contact information, and returns policy, then select Save.”

You can still have a separate private account for selling your own personal odds and ends, but stock bought for resale would need to go through a Business account.

[suelel1968]

Hi @dantwocats Do you sell internationally? Could you just switch off that option?

As I understood it, neutrals make no difference, but 8 in one month is alot. I obviously don't know the percentage of sales, but perhaps count yourself lucky that they weren't negatives. The difference between a neutral and a negative when I give them out is often the mood I am in, or the efforts someone went to to put it right. 

[4_bathrooms]

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@suelel1968 wrote:

Hi @dantwocats Do you sell internationally? Could you just switch off that option?

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It's international seller performance standards. On this page you should be able to see a "Region: UK, Ireland" drop-down box. If there have been international sales an international region can be selected from that drop-down - I haven't had any recent international sales so I can't provide the exact link to it.

What is odd is that whenever this happened previously the threats/restrictions only applied to the international region but the message received by the OP suggests being "below standard" for international sales now has the same effect as being "below standard" domestically.   

[4_bathrooms]

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@4_bathrooms wrote:

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@suelel1968 wrote:

Hi @dantwocats Do you sell internationally? Could you just switch off that option?

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I haven't had any recent international sales so I can't provide the exact link to it.

 Actually, I think I can. I believe this is the link; it will simply show a message about eBay "missing you" if you don't have any recent international sales.

[the_book_seekers]

ebay has been handing out this kind of punishment to private sellers who, in their eyes, underperform. Business sellers get 6% added on to their FVFs, but as private sellers no longer pay FVFs ebay has felt it necessary to find some means to deal with private seller's underperformance, and it is being done by restricting accounts. There have been other threads from sellers who have had their ability to list reduced to as low as 3 per month and had hundreds of items unlisted. Whether they were permanently removed or ended up in inactive wasn't entirely made clear or what might happen for underperforming internationally rather than domestically, but this isn't something to be dismissed.

[arcadehouse]

Just for prespective, we received the same email yesterday for domestic postage.

So it is not only private sellers as we are a business account and have been for many years.

Upon checking the issue is showing as being "high" on INR's however that actual number was 12 in 1000 sales

All Royal Mail 2nd Letters funnily enough, and also after checking the downloaded eBay report 4 of those 12 sales are showing delivered, so along with all the other tech issues this just maybe another.

That said just make sure your account and all sales are in order is all you can do.

[l12-tradings]

You're not a private seller, change it to a business account and avoid simple delivery.

[eyewear247]

As a business seller if I listed 7,600 items like the OP it would cost me best part of £500 per month in listing fees alone not to mention FVF's which would add many more £100's. Returns that a business seller is obliged to offer also cost 

The OP is looking for advice.... Maybe the it's time to start trading legally, paying your fees and start accepting returns like the majority of honest law abiding business sellers and you might find you will stop getting "unpleasant messages from eBay" ! 

[fribblecollectables]

After reading the advice given so far, if I were the original poster, I would be changing the account to a Business account straightaway.

With around 7,600 listings, I would not want eBay taking a closer look and deciding the account is being operated as a business while still labelled as private.

It may not be the reason for this particular warning, but it is a risk sitting there in plain sight. If eBay lowered the selling limits, restricted the account, or removed a large batch of listings, the damage could be far worse than simply changing the account type now.

Relisting 7,600 items from scratch would be a nightmare. That is not a weekend job, or even a one-week job for most people.

If the selling activity is effectively business selling, then the account needs to reflect that. I would rather deal with that now than wait for eBay to decide the matter for me.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Relisting 7,600 items from scratch would be a nightmare. That is not a weekend job, or even a one-week job for most people.

Not that I don't disagree with you about the account, but generally when you find that people have this amount of listings, they are held on a file.  And in actual fact will only take minutes to relist, depending on how busy the systems are when uploading.

It's how the massive dropshippers do it.

[marco@ebay]

Hi dantwocats, thanks for your post.

Just to add to the above, and confirm, we wouldn't send that message if you are above standard, and to eco what others have said, you can change your region in your performance level page. If you see UK only being ok, then change it to global, and you can see your current rate. 

If the global one is the problem, please note that Simple Delivery wouldn't have much to do with it since Simple Delivery is for the UK only, unless you have GSP enabled then Simple Delivery would only cover the first leg from your place to our hub. You will be able to see a breakdown of your report to see where to problem is anyway, and from there you can start working on it, so you know what areas you can start to prioritize more going forward.

Thank you,

Marco

[arcadehouse]

Hi Marco, just wondering is there any system in place for the issue we seem to of faced?

We are a buisness account seller and we also received the message. When checking the report it shows our INR rate as 1.3% being 13 in 1000 sales, yet on that same report it shows 4 of the items as being delivered. So the metrics are still punishing us for a higher percentage, even though ebay are satisified the delivery has occured.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

If they have subsequently been delivered, then you need to raise it with support and get them removed.

[arcadehouse]

Hi Renewal,

See now interestingly the last one we noticed was marked as removed, so the INR was early Jan and Mid Jan it was delivered so we contacted CS and it was removed, it clearly shows in the defect report as being removed on the 14th of Feb yet according to that downloaded report which is encompassing the past 12 months and giving us the bad rate still has the INR case on it, along with the others.

I would of assumed CS removing it would mean being removed but according to what I am reading on the spreadsheet apparently not.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

At a guess, it probably won't update until the next month.  So on/around the 20th of next month.

[4_bathrooms]

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@arcadehouse wrote:

Just for prespective, we received the same email yesterday for domestic postage.

So it is not only private sellers as we are a business account and have been for many years.

Upon checking the issue is showing as being "high" on INR's however that actual number was 12 in 1000 sales

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INRs are not counted in seller performance. Your "late delivery rate" is but this only prevents you being Top Rated if it is higher than 3%; there is no further punishment to your seller standards level. A "very high" INR rate does affect your Service Metrics but this is an entirely different stick.

If you go to your seller standards dashboard what is your current seller level; is it "below standard"?

[arcadehouse]

Hi 4_bathrooms,

No we are top rated seller and the late delivery rate is 4 of 754 at 0.53% so am really confused as to what would be the issue, I've attatched the message from eBay, quite clearly says INR's are the issue, which we still believe to be wrong anyway