I wanted to post my comments from another thread here, because they will apply to any seller who has, or is hoping to get, US TRS+ status. Keep in mind that this is the standing that is particular to the US site and US sales. It doesn't apply to Global TRS, which is much easier (so far at least) for Canadian sellers to achieve.
The question of how eBay was going to validate (or not) tracking numbers -- and more importantly when they were going to have this in place for Cdn sellers -- wasn't mentioned by Raphael the other day when the subject was first brought up, and I think it's absolutely critical.
There is going to be a "dead zone" for Canadian sellers who might want to get (or maintain) US TRS+ until eBay gets their act in gear. Why they couldn't have set up the validation process first, and then introduced the change to the US TRS+, I can't understand. Cart before the horse, as usual. I can only hope that at least this may mean they'll give us a free pass to continue on as before until the proper validation software is in place. Or maybe not?
Read all the details in this link: http://pages.ebay.ca/sellerinformation/news/springupdate2014/sellerstandards.html#howvalidate
but I've copied the most worrisome points underneath:
Well, I just read the "fine print", and as usual, the devil's in the details. Here for example:
As a Top Rated Seller, will I have better placement for my listings in Best Match search results as a result of these updates?
Best Match will take the defect rate into account. In general, the lower your defect rate, the better your position in Best Match search results. With the confidence-inspiring extended holiday return policy, your position and sales can be further enhanced. Remember that many factors go into determining the Best Match sort order for search results including the relevance of your listing to the buyer's search and the price of your item.
So, really, no guarantee that all that cost (for tracking), at least where Canadians are concerned, will necessarily result in enhanced positioning. I'd call these weasel-words.
And here:
How will eBay validate tracking numbers?
When you upload a tracking number to My eBay, eBay will automatically check for carrier scan information indicating that the item is either on its way or delivered. Today, only tracking numbers from USPS, UPS, FedEx and DHL Global Express will be validated with scan information. We are expecting to launch validation support for Canada Post tracking numbers later this year.
(I've put those words in bold) This means, obviously, there is going to be a (big) gap for Canadian sellers. Uh-oh. Judging by how long it took them to sort out the Paypal debacle last year, now I know I'm probably going to lose my TRS+ no matter what I do, until this gets sorted out.
And one more little not-so-comforting detail:
How will I know if my tracking on a transaction was invalid?
Starting the week of April 16, you'll be able to see the percentage of your transactions that did not meet the valid tracking requirement in your seller dashboard preview. Then, starting the week of August 20, you'll be able to see the percentage and you'll also be able to create a report to see which transactions did not meet the requirement.
Well, at least they'll start telling us what we don't want to hear first!
Basically what all of this means is that Canadian sellers are going to be out of luck where the US TRS+ is concerned, for quite some time. Sad but true. As if we needed another disadvantage.
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