Defect rate - from bad to worse

[rosscd57]

For those who have not seen this new eBay fiasco - here it is.

New way to measure performance rewards sellers providing great service

• Starting with the August 20 monthly seller evaluation, a new measure, the transaction defect rate ("defect rate"), will replace the current four individual detailed seller rating requirements in evaluating seller performance. This new rating may impact your status.
• The defect rate is simply the percentage of a seller's successful transactions that have one or more of the following transaction-related defects, the top predictors that a buyer will leave eBay or buy less:
  • Detailed seller rating of 1, 2 or 3 for item as described
  • Detailed seller rating of 1 for shipping time
  • Negative or neutral feedback
  • Return initiated for a reason that indicates the item was not as described
  • eBay Money Back Guarantee (previously known as eBay Buyer Protection) or PayPal Purchase Protection case opened for an item not received or an item not as described
  • Seller-cancelled transactions
• Starting with the August 20 evaluation, to meet eBay's minimum standard, sellers can have up to a maximum 5% of transactions with one or more transaction defects over the most recent evaluation period. A maximum 2% will allow a seller to qualify as an eBay Top Rated Seller. The  same requirements apply both to your Global and US seller performance  standards.
• The defect rate won't affect your status until you have transactions with defects with at least 8 different buyers (at least 5 different buyers to impact Top Rated status) within your evaluation period.
• Just as today, sellers can have a maximum of 0.3% of eBay Money Back Guarantee or PayPal Purchase Protection closed cases without seller resolution over the most recent evaluation period. That means the buyer opened the case, you weren't able to resolve it, the buyer reached out to eBay or PayPal to review it, and eBay found you responsible.
• Just as today, sellers with 400 or more transactions over the past 3 months will be evaluated based on the past 3 months and sellers with fewer than 400 transactions will be evaluated based on the past 12 months.

In general, the lower your defect rate, the better your position in Best Match search results

• By focusing squarely on what matters most to buyers, the new transaction defect rate allows eBay to recognize and reward sellers who consistently deliver the great service buyers expect—and to identify and respond to the experiences that erode confidence and drive buyers away.
• If you maintain a low defect rate, eBay will reward you with an enhanced position in Best Match search results, so your track record for great service can pay off in more visibility and potential sales.

[cumos55]

We have to ask ourselves what is more important...

Tracking or insurance...

We see that tracking is important, based on what is happening with USPS and with sellers on ebay.com.

US Sellers use tracking....  and most of the buyers accept tracking....

eBay sets the rules... Buyers learn how to beat the system...  those are the sellers eBay does not want...

Canadian sellers have to make adjustments, but are unable to do so because of certain limitations......... We need others to help us

Right now... without tracking we are caught on the wrong side of the fence..

The first thing I did years ago was look at the countries  where buyers gave me the most trouble..... For some countries it was ALL buyers.  That is when I started blocking countries...    and have continued to do so over the years.

Has it hurt me.... No way to find out.... but then I have made major adjustments in the inventory I sell... I also focus on everything Canada and Canadian  with some other minor categories.... but very productive... categories.

I am always searching for that something new

[rose-dee]

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@cumos55 wrote:

We have to ask ourselves what is more important...Tracking or insurance...

eBay sets the rules... Buyers learn how to beat the system...  those are the sellers eBay does not want...

Canadian sellers have to make adjustments, but are unable to do so because of certain limitations......... We need others to help us

Right now... without tracking we are caught on the wrong side of the fence..

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You make some very important points, 'cumos'.     

Cdn. sellers are now dealing with a double-edged sword: more potential for defects due to lack of tracking, and more difficulties caused by false (or premature) buyer INR claims. 

Some buyers (especially U.S.) may simply file a premature INR claim because they forget -- or may not even realize -- they've purchased from a different country (Canada), so they believe items should arrive as quickly as expected within the U.S.  Without tracking, the Cdn. seller is out of luck in every such instance.

I agree that eBay doesn't want buyers who deliberately start false or fraudulent claims, but so far they've done nothing to mitigate that problem.  It is a classic loophole.

I don't have much hope that anybody is going to help Cdn. sellers.  I think eBay brought in this defect system to pressure sellers to use tracking, which we all know is feasible if you're a U.S. seller, and irrelevant if you're a big volume commercial seller.  This pressure may end up shutting out smaller sellers of less valuable items who couldn't stay in business if they used tracking.  If they aren't shut out due to the cost, they'll be shut out due to the INR-related defects and/or "Shipping time" DSRs. 

This is the first time I've felt truly pessimistic about being able to adapt effectively to the changes eBay has made.  The new defect system means an almost impossible bar to jump over for Canadian sellers.  Does eBay not want any sellers except huge commercial retailers or larger volume U.S. sellers?

I'd say we Cdn. sellers are caught between a rock and a hard place and on the wrong side of the fence.

(Apologies for all the mixed metaphors!).

[cumos55]

Canadian sellers require a low cost tracking for any postal option does not normally have tracking.

Forget insurance 

Two points of tracking required...

(1) delivery to the postal outlet, and (2) delivery to the buyer....

USPS has done this to some degree. 

 Buyers have learned how to beat the system..... 

There are sellers who offer the lower cost shipping.... ship for a higher cost with tracking...

Buyer claims Item Not Received....  Seller provides tracking... Buyer shuts up...

[rainbow71113]

but here's the question, if the buyer closes the case does it become a defect?  I know one of mine is showing a defect where the buyer claimed item not as described realized her error and closed the case....but I still have the defect...so even if they open cases, receive the item, close the case we will have to appeal.  Come August wait until you see every seller phoning 5 -10 time a week to appeal...this will be fun....NOT

[cumos55]

A major problem on eBay.com is the

ask a question -open a case situation.

eBay has to make a adjustment

Buyer should be allowed to ask a question WITHOUT opening a case....

If buyer has not received an acceptable answer, and then after 3 days,  and ONLY after 3 days should the buyer be given an option of opening a case....

[faircrochet]

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@isis1313 wrote:

but here's the question, if the buyer closes the case does it become a defect?  I know one of mine is showing a defect where the buyer claimed item not as described realized her error and closed the case....but I still have the defect...so even if they open cases, receive the item, close the case we will have to appeal.  Come August wait until you see every seller phoning 5 -10 time a week to appeal...this will be fun....NOT

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As I understand it, just opening the case causes a defect.  Any time a buyer asks a question and ticks off "not described" or "not received" as the reason, it's a defect, not matter what their intention actually was.

[mr.elmwood]

Red Herring, INR is a myth. Yes, I know it happens. Once in a forever.

I have had two fake INR in the last year. Before that? Maybe a year or so before? Three is two years 1500-2000 parcels? Why is this even a topic of conversation?

My actual loss is the postage cost. Great, in two years I have lost about $60 (sixty).

"A nickel holding up a dollar"

[cumos55]

eBay has had to face a lot of commentary....

about this .....ask a question-open a case situation.....

Clarification is required..  separation is necessary

Sellers everywhere must be heard.....

[rainbow71113]

Mr Elmwood,

this is a topic of discussion because if you look at our past posts we are trying to figure out how we will be affected come August.  It's not looking good.  It's not the INR's that are opened that are the issue it's because most times when a buyer is just asking where their item is or when it was shipped or how it was shipped etc....it opens a case...and gives us a defect....regardless of the outcome of the question. 

[rose-dee]

Yes, I agree.  This wasn't an issue at all until the defect system came into place. 

Whether a legitimate INR, a nervous buyer who opened an INR too soon, or a "fake" INR, it used to be that such a case could be dealt with by the seller to avoid an unresolved case (by refunding, for example), and opened cases weren't counted against the seller anyway.

The defect rules have shifted the whole ground under our feet. 

Let's hope someone at eBay is listening.

[rainbow71113]

I feel bad for the reps on the receiving end of our calls.  I remember when postage had to be put into listings and they called me twice to remind me that 500 of my listings "weren't getting exposure because there was no shipping noted"  and the second rep got a blast from me to the affect of ...then come here and help me pull all those items, weight them and measure them..LOL..on the one hand it was nice of them to remind me -on the other annoying.  I still am dealing with those items because I had to just slap any shipping in there to get them off my back, and now I suddenly get a sale with shipping paid for $10 and it's costing me $19 to ship it.  

[mr.elmwood]

It is still not an issue as there are going to be "defects". Give each one any name you want, the system is being re-designed to eliminate those perfect sellers. It is impossible to be perfect.

In the overall scheme of things, global vision? Nothing has changed. They are just redefining how they measure the same thing, to get to the same result they always got to.

Some of you are saying that it is all different now. I say it is still the same.

[westernstargifts]

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@cumos55 wrote:

A major problem on eBay.com is the

ask a question -open a case situation.

eBay has to make a adjustment

Buyer should be allowed to ask a question WITHOUT opening a case....

If buyer has not received an acceptable answer, and then after 3 days,  and ONLY after 3 days should the buyer be given an option of opening a case....

---

And yet another INR case opened!!!!!

That makes a total of 4 in the past month.....plus one that did not open a case but only 1 of 5 seemed able to contact me without opening a case.

The buyer's message within the opened case today was angry.....Paraphrased....I just wanted to find out the status of my order.  I did not want to open a case.  This is wrong eBay!!

This buyer has over 1000 FB.

That is the reason, Mr. Elmwood, that we are having this conversation.  Defects can quickly put a seller out of business.

You are right cumos.  eBay must make an adjustment.

[rainbow71113]

perhaps the buyer should contact ebay and say...what the heck?  I would ask that the buyer, since they seem to be already annoyed..LOL,  pursue this with ebay.  In fact I'm going to ask every buyer who contacts me that way to contact ebay if all they

wanted to do was inquire

[rose-dee]

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@mr.elmwood wrote:
Some of you are saying that it is all different now. I say it is still the same.

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Mr. E, I agree that "perfect" sellers will no longer exist, but I disagree that it will be the same because I think we'll find that defects will add up a lot faster than we expected, and not through our own fault (which I think is the reason this issue is so important).

I'm happy to accept being punished if I've made a mistake that I shouldn't have made.  But being punished because eBay's seller-buyer communication system is poorly designed?  That's another story.

Remember too, that we now have to keep an eye on 7 possible areas of defect, whereas before it was only 4 DSRs.  Add the unresolved cases or cases found against a seller, and you have 8 possible pitfalls, rather than 5.

My concern, after years of a near-perfect record, is that a month of a few instances of just bad luck (with no fault on my side) could end my selling privileges.

[mr.elmwood]

Well, knock on wood, my questions are replacing cases. So, cases are not a factor.

Punished? By getting a tick mark? That is not a punishment and that is what i am saying. Too many are treating the tick mark as a punishment.

What has happened after every tick mark I have ever received? Nothing.

If nothing ever happens, how am I being punished?

[tobyshitzu]

You are being punished by not getting the TRS discount.  The rest of us are worried it is going to be much easier for us to lose it too with only  2% on the new defect scheme.

[rose-dee]

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@mr.elmwood wrote:
If nothing ever happens, how am I being punished?

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Mr. E., I think the DSR system, as flawed as it was, was more forgiving toward sellers than this system will be. 

I recall Raphael saying something about "raising the bar" for sellers, which to me translated as "more stringent". 

Many of us who have worked long and hard to get and maintain TRS will probably lose it easily -- for me, that TRS discount is very important, as it allows me to lower my shipping costs.  As I said, I could accept losing the TRS (or other selling privileges) over my own deliberate actions, but not as a result of trying to provide good service -- such as answering buyer questions after a sale. 

I have always maintained that following the rules, using Best Practices in listing, and offering great customer service was all that mattered to continue to make a success of selling on eBay.  I'm not so sure it's that simple now.

[mr.elmwood]

Mr. E., I think the DSR system, as flawed as it was, was more forgiving toward sellers than this system will be.

Words I never thought I would read. My perspective, on that, is the exact opposite.

The soon to be old system, you could be taken down, solely on:

- A DSR tumble

- A string of negs

- A string of cases

Now, my humble understanding, is that eBay will go "We, hang on a minute, maybe this is an aberration, let's give them some space. Instead of, for the sake of numbers and argument, 3 of 1 and yer out, we now have a cumulative sliding total of nine.

A good seller, doing good work, will not suffer.

[cumos55]

There was a discussion about the Seller Update on eBay.com.

The major part of that discussion dealt with the ...  ask a question-open a case ...reality...

The number of replies...

well OVER 2,000, and then the discussion was closed and is no longer visible.

The problem exists .....and a proper resolution of the problem  has to occur... if only to make it easier on those people that answer eBay's telephones....