posted on September 21, 2010 08:21:34 AM new
Yesterday I lost my Top Rated Seller status. I got dinged on 3 DSRs for shipping time. My bad I went on vacation for 5 days. I set my store up just like I always have twice a year for the past 11 years, using ebays vacation setting never a problem.
Anyway, today a previous ding dropped so now I quailify Top Rated Seller IN 30 DAYS!!!
Really eBay I have 4.9 across the board. I guess we eBay servants don't get vacation. Do I lose use of the company gym too? There goes my chance at that eBay company car. Dang it all to heck.
Yeah yeah call ebay and get the same blah blah blah. Too funny. OK thanks for letting me rant.
posted on September 21, 2010 08:41:33 AM new
Lost mine too - it sucks! I too went on vacation - for 3 weeks. I closed my store but somehow 37 people managed to buy from me in my absence (when you close your store it doesn't come up in search but people can still find it through saved "watches" and Google - they are not prevented from buying.) I apologized for the delay when I got home, refunded s/h to compensate for the delay, offered to cancel if delay was unacceptable - still got a couple low DSR.
I am the same seller I have been for the past 8 years. I am honest and I extend an absolute guarantee - you aren't happy in any way with the transaction, you get a full refund. Doesn't matter - if a couple of buyers capriciously decide to rate you a 1 or 2 for shipping time you no longer are a top rated seller. Ridiculous! There are low feedback shysters selling as top rated sellers and simply set up a new id when the old one catches up with them. Those folks are favored in search over time tested honorable, diligent sellers? It makes no sense at all.
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posted on September 21, 2010 08:45:06 AM new
I just checked my dashboard - I qualify next month again - 2 cases must have dropped off. Funny how that happens the DAY after evaluation isn't it?
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posted on September 21, 2010 08:48:50 AM new
I sent this email to Mr. Donahoe - doubt that he will even get it (not even sure I had the right email address) but I feel better:
Dear Mr. Donahoe
I haven't really done anything like this before but I just feel so FRUSTRATED I feel I have to "sound off" on an issue that is hurting the kind of sellers you want to promote on the eBay site. I would like you to take another look at the Top Rated Seller system. I don't think it is returning the kind of results you would like to see in all cases. I can't speak to anyone else's situation but I can let you know a little bit more about mine.
I have been selling on eBay for 8 years with over 40,000 feedback received. I am a good, honest, hard working, diligent seller. I am the same seller in September that I was in August. I am the same seller that I was during all the months when I was a Top Rated Seller and yet I am not a TRS this month. Sellers with 1 sale in the last month and 150 overall are TRS and I am not - does this make any kind of sense at all?
I closed my store for three weeks in July while I traveled to Europe and yet still managed to sell 37 items! Imagine my surprise! Instead of blocking buyers from clicking the "buy" button, evidently my items just didn't appear in an eBay search. Well guess what? People still saw cached Google searches or had the items on watched lists or ... ? I apologized, refunded s/h fees to compensate for the delay and yet I am sure there are buyers who left me lower marks on the time of delivery. Because my store was closed - my numbers are down and that coupled with the inevitable lower ratings pushed me out of TRS territory.
I don't care much about the 20% discount - it's nice but not the reason I am writing. The idea that my 12,000 items will appear lower in search than those from a seller of 150 items because that seller is TRS and I am not is CRAZY! I am a tested seller with quality product. I have never, not once, tried to get the better of any customer. If they are not happy with the transaction, I offer a full refund AND they keep the item. I did this before this whole rating system was implemented. Search is my livelihood - you take that away and my sales directly suffer.
I know that next month I will probably again be TRS - that's not the point of this letter. Next month will not put groceries on the table or pay the mortgage THIS month (my situation is not that dire but it could be for another seller)! There should be some allowance for time tested, trusted sellers in categories where fraud is not an issue who are not likely to "go bad" in a month. I don't expect you to single me out but would like you to take a look at the thousands of sellers like me who at any time could have their business destroyed by capricious buyers who don't really understand the weight the rating system has on our ability to run our businesses!
Thanks for your consideration.
Mary Ann Kolb
eBay seller "neglus"
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posted on September 21, 2010 10:50:14 AM new
It is ridculous for Ebay to judge sellers expecting sellers to know everything he/she is selling,communicating,shipping etc.
We all know most sellers work alone and are jack of all trade putting in long hours,how many of us can afford to hire help?
The only way to avoid being dinged is to sell less,treat it like a hobby and list a few items at a time.
*
There is no 'Global savings glut',only wild horses and loose bankers.
posted on September 21, 2010 11:34:37 AM new
I am thinking this is a way for ebay to get more fees. Couldn't trip up enough sellers with the original goofy Seller Rating System so they had to come out with the DSRs which hmmm measures the same friggin' stats. I am down to 99.8% feedback because some idiot can't read and called me a "layer" not a liar but a layer, because he thought he was buying a real gun not an ad. Clearly states "ad" 6 times in my listing. The best part is I pay eBay for this abuse. I sell less, eBay charges me more in fees to make up for their losses. Appears I am the only one taking the hit.
posted on September 21, 2010 11:43:30 AM new
The Ebay model is broken,since they took the company public and let anyone ,everyone sells anything everything.
How do you police a venue which sells everything from A TO Z and sellers coming from all over the world and open for business 24 hours/day,every day of the week,month and year.
They should expand the role of Ebay assistants and let these local sellers act as buffer .
*
There is no 'Global savings glut',only wild horses and loose bankers.
posted on September 21, 2010 01:22:52 PM new
I lost my TRS status the beginning of this month as well. I have 4.9 5.0 4.9 & 4.9 DSRs. I've sold 4 times their required $ amount but only sold 97 domestic items in 12 month. I probably had 10 to 20 international items during that time, but they don't count.
I don't really care about the discount either but since the 1st of the month my sales have dropped to about 10% of my normal amount.
Neglus that is a great letter. I feel the same way - I'm the same seller I was last month and the month before. For that matter I'm the same seller I was 11 years ago when I first started. Maybe I'll write a letter too.
posted on September 21, 2010 03:28:50 PM new
Hmmm, I am getting very suspicious with the number of experienced, successful sellers getting their TRS status pulled. With the lack of transparency related to the stars, how do we really know it is legit??
Saving 20% might be an incentive for some tinkering.
posted on September 21, 2010 03:54:33 PM new
Sure seems suspicious when I qualify for next month the VERY next day and so does ggardenour! I have 5.0 5.0 4.9 4.9 DSR and 100% pos FB and my FB is 31,997 with total positives of 40,436.
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posted on September 21, 2010 04:04:01 PM new
ebabestreasures,
what is the reason for losing your top rated status,how many domestic sales needed ?
*
There is no 'Global savings glut',only wild horses and loose bankers.
posted on September 23, 2010 06:25:54 AM new
I had an interesting event to make me wonder whether TSR really is any big deal except for the discount. Everyone frets about the search, but here is what happened to me.
I now have 2 accounts to compensate for the discounts given to nonstore sellers. I listed identical items in both of my accounts, identical listings and start time. The nonstore, non TRS ended $3.00 higher than the TRS item and the non TSR had a higher shipping fee.
So, does TRS status really make a difference?? I don't know.
posted on September 23, 2010 07:06:13 AM new
If you are away and cannot fill the order and do not have any backup,cancel the order and return their payment.
You can always contact them when you are back and ask if they still want the item.
Before I left for overseas trip,I packed the auction items with me,but it is not possible to pack all the store inventory!
*
There is no 'Global savings glut',only wild horses and loose bankers.
posted on September 23, 2010 07:52:32 AM new
Neglus, I also discovered the problem with the vacation settings still allowing the items to be sold the hard way.
Luckily for me I had a very understanding (international) customer, who even read the (almost invisible) eBay blurb about the seller being away for three weeks. So no harm on that one.
Ebay's advice, when questioned about how this happened, was to contact the customer and explain, yada, yada. Fat lot of good that will do with a different customer, not to mention, I am ON VACATION, for goodness sake, and should not have to explain why eBay's system doesn't perform effectively!)
I will be taking another trip again this winter, and for a longer time period, and
am concerned about the possible repercussions from eBay's ineffectual "Vacation Setting" mode.
The fact that the items can still be purchased when we close our Store because we are away is totally ridiculous!
posted on September 23, 2010 09:00:21 AM new
If most of your items are fixed price, I would recommend just removing all of them from eBay before you leave. You can relist them when you return.
If you're running auctions, then let them expire before you leave and relist upon return.
I know its not the most effective way, but in reality you want those items not to appear to avoid these problems.
I am going to start writing an article regarding these issues with eBay in hopes of shedding light on eBays faults for sellers. One part will be the DSR ratings and how ineffective they are. Another will be about the loopholes buyers have to scam sellers. Finally, the third will be how these changes are costing buyers more money too.
One experience I had was a scammer that switched cameras and filed a dispute to get a full refund. Ironic that under new eBay rules, I get scammed, I lose the money, I lose the camera to resell, and I am punished b/c eBay now "counts" disputes as part of their DSR system.
I hope when the time comes some of you will be willing to share your experiences about this so I can cite them in the article. I will keep you posted.
posted on September 23, 2010 09:00:25 AM new
I had the same experience with a customer buying while I was away in August.
Luckily I was only away for a week and sent her an e-mail explaining and she was great and told me to take a nice vacation.
She had had my items on her Watch list and finally decided to buy them and they were fully visible to her.
This is SO wrong. It should not be happening especially to great Sellers!
Neglus, Good for you in sending that letter. It will be interesting to see if you receive a reply from 'His Nibs' or anyone at all.
I still have my TRS (for now) but I truly think that those of you who have lost it should embark on a letter writing campaign directly to him.
posted on September 23, 2010 09:11:36 AM new
I just put my store on vacation. I chose the one that does not let anyone see the items.(Now, also picked all 3 options) It shows up as 0 items in my store. I realize if people have the items bookmarked, they can still see the items, I also put a large notice in one of my boxes about being on vacation in case they got to the store.
Also, I set the email notice that we are on vacation in case they email me about anything. Whew, hope this works.
posted on September 23, 2010 09:31:30 AM new
I did all of that too Merrie and also posted a notice in all my listings via an image in my description that I use for announcements...but we all know people can't or don't read. I set up my auto notices to tell people of the vacation when they paid (through Vendio post sale payment received notice). The thing is, what an, excuse the French, half assed way for eBay to approach this! They should disable to "buy" button so people truly can't buy! Do they think they are the only search engine on the internet??
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posted on September 23, 2010 09:39:29 AM new
neglus, you are right. I have experimented with this and if you have the item # or bookmarked the seller, etc, you can still buy the item. It did not used to be that way. I remember when I attempted to buy something from one of my favorite sellers some time ago, the item came up, but when I went to buy it, it gave me a message that the sellers was away and I couldn't buy it until they removed their vacation settings. What the heck!! Why does this company consistently change things that WERE working.
posted on September 23, 2010 12:12:10 PM new
I wonder if some day those of us who have stores would be expected to have backup,like another person to man the store in our absense?
In the real world,if you have a retail store,you hire another person to man your store in your absence.
Closing your store means making no sales while the rent,phone,insurance expenses are still being accrued .
I know on AMZN,if you cant ship or cant fill the order,do it too many times,and you get suspended .
*
There is no 'Global savings glut',only wild horses and loose bankers.
[ edited by hwahwa on Sep 23, 2010 12:13 PM ]
posted on September 23, 2010 02:13:49 PM new
If I had a back up to man my store while on vacation, I wouldn't put it on a vacation stop. It would be business as usual. If Ebay offers a vacation option, it should not let people buy things from you unless that is what you want.
posted on September 23, 2010 02:41:37 PM new
what Neglus is saying even tho she puts her store on vacation,the buyers come via Google search.
So this is an Ebay problem,but she can always cancel the order,refund their payment and then they cant do anything to her rating.
They have internet cafes in Europe,and she may be bringing her laptop with her.
*
There is no 'Global savings glut',only wild horses and loose bankers.
posted on September 23, 2010 02:45:31 PM new
When I do a search,it will default to best match and all the TRS items show up,they are usually higher priced and better pictures.
So I changed it to ending soon or lowest price,so I dont know if being a TSR seller helps much??
*
There is no 'Global savings glut',only wild horses and loose bankers.
posted on September 23, 2010 02:49:02 PM new
hwa - I am home - this happened this summer. I did not want to have to worry about my store while I was gone. In the past I have left it open and explained to people about delays and all was well - no negatives. I thought that closing it completely would protect me from DSR but that is not the case. Next time I will leave it open and take my hits - at least I would have more money coming in!
I did bring my netbook with me but didn't find many "hotspots" where we traveled and didn't want to hunt down internet cafes.
posted on September 23, 2010 03:02:07 PM new
When I was overseas,I set my store so people can order ,just that I wont ship until I return and I stated on item page when I will return to ship their items.
One person waited and then asked me to refund her money,another person gave me a low rating on shipping,saying it takes too long to ship her item?
They either dont read or they dont remember when they leave feedback.
Having a backup may not work,how many backups knows where you place those items?
*
There is no 'Global savings glut',only wild horses and loose bankers.
posted on September 27, 2010 06:05:50 AM new
Well it has been a week since I was downgraded to "I Suck" errr I mean "Above Standard" . Sales have remained steady. Traffic is down a bit.
Losing the 15% grates my a$$ but not enough to stop me from going on vacation. I went to the UP of Michigan because I knew and wanted very limited internet access.
Oh well, 3 more weeks and I should be able to reclaim the coveted Top Rated seller title. I'll be back in line for the ebay company gym memebership in no time.
posted on September 27, 2010 07:03:22 AM new
No reply Bill - I sent it to three email addresses I found when I Googled - maybe he changed it - but none were returned to my email - so who knows! It was the same day they announced Lorrie resigned - maybe he was a little busy
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posted on September 27, 2010 07:04:59 AM new
Adding insult to injury - I did get this loverly email this morning:
Dear neglus,
We're writing to let you know that your account no longer meets the eBay Top-rated seller status requirements. Your PowerSeller status may or may not have been affected. Please visit your Seller Dashboard for all Top-rated seller and PowerSeller requirements. If you have questions, please contact us for additional information.
We want to help you succeed! eBay continues to offer the greatest rewards to PowerSellers of all sizes who consistently provide great service to their customers through the eBay Top-rated seller status. To stay on track to maximize your rewards and improve your status, check your Seller Dashboard regularly. We'll notify you of any changes to your PowerSeller status.
Thank you for participating in the PowerSeller program--we hope to soon see you return to eBay Top-rated seller status.
Sincerely,
eBay PowerSeller Team
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