"GRACE PERIOD" for Top Rated Seller, where is the grace period if they yanked it??

[elite-baby-nursery]

I have been a top rated seller for years now. Up until my last review in fact. On sept 20th, I was informed I didn't qualify because my sales were only 99 for the last 12 months.  So, I lost my top rated seller and placed on "standard" because of 1 missed sale?  What is this grace period about then? Why offer something to sellers if you aren't going to do what it says? Why was my status yanked?  I am extremely upset especially before christmas. I have great feedback, no claims filed against me, just short on 1 sale. 

I would like someone at ebay to answer why you offer a grace period if you aren't going to honour it.

Thank you

[pjcdn2005]

I'm not from ebay but it looks like the grace period is for TRS just on .com

http://pages.ebay.ca/sellerinformation/news/fallupdate2013/topratedgraceperiod.html

You would think that it would be on .ca too and even if it isn't,  it does seem silly to lose TRS because of 1 missing sale.

Perhaps Kalvin from ebay will see this and be able to help you out.

[rose-dee]

That was my understanding too, 'pj', at least based on the announcement of the programme -- US sellers only.  

Whether that includes Canadian-registered sellers who have achieved US TRS (as opposed to Global), I'm not quite clear about.  I just got my US TRS status, so I guess I'll find out if my rolling calendar sales ever drop below 100.  For US TRS, that threshold is based on sales to US-registered buyers only.  

It's unfortunate they didn't include Canada, but that's nothing new, is it?  I think sales have been lagging for a lot of us here, and a grace period would certainly help.  Maybe they felt that because it's much easier for a Canadian seller to get Global TRS, it wasn't as necessary, or maybe they just forgot us, who knows?

[recped]

Don't tell US sellers we Canadians get the fvf discount without having the 1 day shipping or tracking upload requirement, they would freak if they found out about that perk for Canadian sellers.

I'd swap that for the grace period any day.

[rose-dee]

Quite right --- shhhhhhhhh

[pierrelebel]

While at it, please do not tell Americans that we do not pay the 1.00% cross border fee to PayPal when shipping to the USA while they pay the 1.00% surcharge when shipping to Canada.

They may think we have an unfair advantage.

[elite-baby-nursery]

Well here is an update. I talked to Ebay for an hour and a half this morning.  My top rated was yanked because it wasn't 99/100 that was for GLOBAL, my US stats were 69 / 100  but I still never got the grace period since it was just introduced August 20th. And it is for Canadians only who ship to an address in the USA.  So now its MY fault that I haven't sold as many items to US buyers that I lost my Top Rated Seller 😞  How am I supposed to make US buyers buy my dolls?  Is that really fair?  I am going to have to resort to selling a bunch of little items like baby socks or pacifiers or whatever for a few dollars just to get another 28 sales before the 20th of this month to get my TRS back.  That is so not fair but whatever it is what it is.  They don't care that my sales were extremely high when they only require $1000 its the sales to the US they care about.

[recped]

So now its MY fault that I haven't sold as many items to US buyers that I lost my Top Rated Seller

You didn't list enough stuff that was interesting to US buyers! How could it be anything but your fault!

TRS stands for Top Rated Seller, you have to make some sort of effort to get that or do you think it should just be handed out to anyone thus making the whole concept pointless.

Two transactions per week is hardly a harsh requirement.

[elite-baby-nursery]

Do you know many buyers in the USA that would want to spend 450.00 on a doll?  Most of my sales are to the USA but also I sell a lot to Canadians and around the world. The TRS shouldnt be based just on US Sales but worldwide (Global).  And I HAVE sold over 2 dolls a week but not to US buyers obviously.  That is what I am saying it shouldn't be based just to US buyers but globally.

[rose-dee]

I don't quite understand what you are saying about TRS qualifications.  The TRS, as far as Canadian sellers go, is based on Global sales (including all your sales to the US), and gets you the 20% discount without the 90% tracking requirement.  

This is what the other posters were referring to when they said to keep it hush-hush -- US sellers have a higher bar to get TRS status.  I consider it a small concession to Canadian sellers for all the other disadvantages we have compared to American eBay sellers (it's one of the few areas where eBay is considerate toward Canadians).  I assume from what you've said that you still have your Global TRS status?  If not, that's easier to get back than the US TRS, and a lot more meaningful. 

Aside from having the TRS badge displayed on .com and (possibly) getting a somewhat better placement in searches (who really knows?), in my opinion the US TRS status is of dubious value to Canadian sellers anyway.  

You're right, that it does take selling a lot of little things just in order to make up sufficient numbers if you want to maintain the US TRS. And, if you want the placement boost too, you need to use tracking.  To my mind, those two factors are mutually exclusive - who is going to use tracking for a $10 item?  So, the way I see it, US TRS status is just an extra bit of window-dressing for Canadian sellers - nice if you happen to qualify, but not essential. The Global TRS status is what reduces your fees. 

[elite-baby-nursery]

The woman at ebay this morning told me I lost my TRS because of my sales to US buyers. I asked her over and over to clarify if it was my global sales or my US sales. She confirmed it was my US sales only which was 69 (100 is required for TRS) whereas my Global was 99/100 so maybe she doesn't know what she is talking about?  At first she didn't even know what I was talking about. She said there was no grace period at all and to show her proof. I told her I was reading the proof on ebay and she said there wasn't any. I had to tell her to log into ebay.ca to read it for her to finally believe me. Thats when she kept me on hold for almost 30 minutes to come back and tell me I lost it because my sales to US buyers was only 69 for the last year. That really makes no sense because I had TRS last month and I sold 13 dolls.  We will see come the 20th of this month as I have already sold 5 dolls since the 20th of Sept and if I get my TRS back it will be because of my Global sales and not just the ones to the USA. Its not possible for me to sell 31 dolls in a month to bring me back up to 100.

[rose-dee]

Again, I'm certain the grace period that was announced applies only to US sellers.  I don't think it extends to Canadian-registered sellers who list on .com. 

If you had 99/100 global transactions (which would include all your US sales), then yes, you would lose your Global TRS.  But you'll get it back as soon as the rolling 12-month count of sales goes back up over 100 (provided the total value is over the minimum, which I believe is now only $1,000).  

Rather than phoning eBay customer service, who I find aren't very knowledgeable, check the details on your Seller Dashboard, and especially look at the figures on both "Global" and the "U.S." views.  This should tell you exactly where you stand, and how many sales you have to make up to get the Global TRS back for next month.  I find the Dashboard very helpful  -- especially if you go down one or two levels through the screens, which will give you all your statistics.  

[elite-baby-nursery]

Well this is on the ebay.ca website...

As a Top Rated Seller, your proven track record for great service and your excellent ratings from buyers have earned you this well-deserved status. We know your Top Rated status and benefits are important to your selling, so as of August 20, a grace period will be added to the US program to help if you temporarily dip below the requirements for sales and tracking. Along with all the other ways eBay protects your hard-earned performance record, the grace period means you can jump into the holiday selling season with confidence.

Highlights

• Starting August 20 for your sales to US buyers, you'll have a grace period—time to get back on track without losing your status, discounts or benefits—if your annual transaction count falls below 100 transactions or your annual sales fall below $1,000.

• Sellers are evaluated on the 20th of each month for compliance with the requirements to be a US Top Rated Seller. If you don't meet the sales and/or tracking requirements at the time of evaluation, the grace period will give you two full evaluation cycles to get back on track. During this grace period, your listings will continue to be eligible for Top Rated Plus discounts and other benefits, as long as you continue to meet all other US Top Rated Seller performance requirements.

• You'll be entitled to a grace period as long as you've been a US Top Rated Seller for three consecutive months immediately preceding the evaluation and you meet all other performance requirementsof the US Top Rated Seller program. As a reminder, Canadian sellers don't need to meet the tracking upload requirement in order to qualify for the US Top Rated Seller status and receive the 20% FVF discount. However, those who do upload tracking on 90% of their transactions with US buyers will receive the Top Rated Plus badge on their listings and the maximum boost in Best Match on eBay.com.

• Coupled with all the ways eBay protects your seller ratings, including removing negative feedback and low DSRs when they come from just a few buyers and automatically awarding 5-star ratings when your performance is a matter of record, this new grace period will help give you the stability and backing you need for continued success.

To me that means its for Canadian sellers or am I wrong?

[tobyshitzu]

Its for canadian selleers for .com TRS only.  Op didn't have .com TRS so nothing to give grace period for

[elite-baby-nursery]

I had Top rated seller last month and had it for almost 2 years possibly more. I just lost it 2 weeks ago so yes indeed I did have it so there SHOULD be a grace period.

I received this email on Sept 26 from ebay

Unfortunately, your account no longer meets the eBay Top-rated seller requirements under the global seller performance standards program. To learn more, go to your Seller Dashboard.

Visit your Seller Dashboard and review the Top-rated seller and PowerSeller requirements and see how your eBay business measures up.

Thank you again for selling on eBay. We hope to welcome you back to Top Rated seller status soon.

Now that I re-read it.. it says Global seller performance so it MUST be the fact I have 99 sales out of 100 and not about just US buyer sales???

[rose-dee]

I am certain 'toby'  is right -- I think you're confusing Global with US Top-Rated Seller status.  

If you are a Canadian seller, you get Global TRS as soon as you reach 100 transactions to anywhere in the world, including the US, provided you meet the other criteria (DSR, FB, total $ sold, etc.), which are fairly easy to achieve and do not include a tracking requirement for shipping.  

As a Canadian seller, in addition to the other criteria, you can only get US TRS if you have 100 transactions to buyers in the U.S. AND at least 90% of those transactions had tracked shipping.  For a Canadian seller, this is very hard to achieve, but has dubious value for Canadians (we get the 20% discount with our Global TRS anyway). 

You don't need US TRS as a Canadian Seller in order to get the Global TRS status.  However, if for example, you had 100 transactions to only buyers in the United States during a 12-month period and met the 90% tracking requirement to the US, as well as all the other criteria for US TRS, you would also qualify for Global TRS.  

It sounds to me as if you have very little to worry about if you dropped to 99/100 transactions -- if you get back up over 100 next month (as long as your other stats remain consistent), you'll get your Global TRS back. 

The bottom line is that I'd forget about US TRS, and focus on the Global qualification -- that's the one that will actually be of some benefit to a Canadian seller in real dollars. 

[rose-dee]

Yes, and there is no grace period where Global TRS is concerned, which is why you weren't given a grace period.  Your Global TRS is not dependent on US sales alone.  

If you had had your US TRS status, you would have been given a grace period.  This tells me you had Global only.  There was no mistake on EBay's part.  

[elite-baby-nursery]

You are probably right. I just want my TRS back so I get more exposure. right now being at Standard, I am not getting any traffic. Right now I have 104 sales so we will see what happens on the 20th.

thank you for responding 🙂

[recped]

I just want my TRS back so I get more exposure

99% of the added exposure is a myth, TRS is one factor among dozens that affect exposure and it's not one of the more important ones.