eBay

rosscd57 · ‎03-11-2014

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.

__________________________________________________________

Old enough to know better. Young enough to do it again. Crazy enough to try

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-23-2014

@isis1313 wrote:
ohhh, thanks for that link, it did give me some more info, for instance a neutral that ebay removed IS still giving me a defect!! and one item that is showing is no longer in the system so I can't get any further info.

Quite a few sellers have reported defects on there that shouldn't be defects....such as buyer requested cancellations. I think that there are definitely some things that they need to fix before the new system starts.

rainbow71113 · ‎04-23-2014

judging by this link they are still going to do it for every 3 months....? the defect in .com is showing for the whole year. Anyone know which way they are going to do it? Also do we get a margin of time like right now to overcome any issues before they remove the top seller status etc?

rose-dee · ‎04-23-2014

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
However...I just had a thought. When you ask for a cancellation..isn't one of the choices 'buyer and seller can't agree to terms"? That is sort of an ambiguous reason..who really wants the cancellation in that situation? Perhaps they will take that choice away? Plus..I would be surprised if they keep the 'other' choice in there because it could mean anything as well. Or perhaps they will keep it there but it will require an written explanation??

Yes, "Buyer and I disagreed over terms" is indeed on the cancellation reasons list. I'm trying to imagine a situation where that would apply -- it seems to me that sort of disagreement would be a reason to issue a defect, since terms are supposed to be clearly stated in listings.

The option I really wondered about is "Buyer is unresponsive". This to me translates really as "buyer hasn't paid or contacted me". If you send a cancellation request under this reason, it would make sense to assume the buyer may not accept it (respond). According to Raphael, that option will not generate a defect, but will it? I wouldn't want to test it just to find out!

I'll be avoiding any cancellations for the time being, unless buyers specifically ask. I can see that cancellation issues may end up being a big quagmire for sellers.

asyahijab · ‎04-23-2014

Hi everyone, I have a question related this defect.

I have Item not described open against me now.

My buyer want full refund without returning the item which she claimed to be dirty.

I asked her to send me the picture of the item, but looks like she's play dumb (I'm sorry if this is not polite word).

Instead sending the picture, she replied me in resolution center can you answer me, which I answer her already (please send me the picture of the dirty part).

The open case is already count as defect, what best thing to do?

If she didn't send me the picture and escalate the case, is there is any chance for me to win, or if I refund immediately later on when case is escalated, will the case count as unresolved problem or not?

rose-dee · ‎04-23-2014

@asiahhijab wrote:
Hi everyone, I have a question related this defect.
I have Item not described open against me now.
My buyer want full refund without returning the item which she claimed to be dirty.
I asked her to send me the picture of the item, but looks like she's play dumb (I'm sorry if this is not polite word).
Instead sending the picture, she replied me in resolution center can you answer me, which I answer her already (please send me the picture of the dirty part).
The open case is already count as defect, what best thing to do?
If she didn't send me the picture and escalate the case, is there is any chance for me to win, or if I refund immediately later on when case is escalated, will the case count as unresolved problem or not?

It's hard to know whether this is a legitimate INAD or not. It would be simple enough, if this is a garment, to make a dirty mark on it and claim it arrived that way. The fact that the buyer isn't co-operating in sending you a picture seems to be an indication that she's not entirely honest about it. It's difficult to know for sure, but you're not obligated to refund until you get the item back.

If you want to reply to her, you can tell her that if she prefers not to send a picture, then send the item back to you for a full refund. See what response you get. Since you already have a defect, you might as well call her bluff.

If she escalates the case, eBay will tell her to return the item (at her cost) for a refund anyway.

It might be possible to get this kind of INAD case resolved in your favour by eBay if you have really good photos of how the item looked when it was shipped, but the buyer could still claim there was something about the item that was subjectively unsatisfactory -- a difficult issue to prove one way or the other unfortunately.

rose-dee · ‎04-23-2014

@asiahhijab wrote:
[...] or if I refund immediately later on when case is escalated, will the case count as unresolved problem or not?

Sorry, I meant to respond to this too. My understanding is that once a case is opened, it will continue to count as a defect unless resolved in the seller's favour by eBay.

So if you refund, and the case is escalated by the buyer, unless you can prove the item was as described (and as I said, I'm not sure how you would do that), it will still be a defect.

I suppose if you look at it that way, if the case is escalated, you've got nothing further to lose (except your time) by doing everything you can to convince eBay the item was in fact as described.

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-23-2014

The open case is already count as defect, what best thing to do?

If she didn't send me the picture and escalate the case, is there is any chance for me to win, or if I refund immediately later on when case is escalated, will the case count as unresolved problem or not?

If you haven't already done it, I think that the best thing to do now is to say return for refund. Apparently there is a return for refund and a refund choice..use the return for refund choice otherwise the buyer will get an automatic refund without return. If the buyer does not return and does not escalate, I believe that the case would time out and you would have a defect but not an unresolved case.

If the buyer did escalate after you said to return for refund, I'm not sure what would happen with regards to an unresolved case. It seems to be a gray area right now...

But if you did not say return for refund and just waited for a picture and the buyer escalates, chances are very good that ebay will rule in favour of the buyer and tell them to return the item. Then, you would have an unresolved case.

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-23-2014

So if you refund, and the case is escalated by the buyer, unless you can prove the item was as described (and as I said, I'm not sure how you would do that), it will still be a defect.

I suppose if you look at it that way, if the case is escalated, you've got nothing further to lose (except your time) by doing everything you can to convince eBay the item was in fact as described.

But if the seller lost, it would be a defect and an unresolved case

rose-dee · ‎04-23-2014

@pjcdn2005 wrote:

But if the seller lost, it would be a defect and an unresolved case

Yes, but only one defect would be counted against that transaction (and in fact only that will be counted if there are transactions with defects from at least 8 different buyers over the evaluation period) So as I said, I think there's nothing to lose in trying to have the INAD case decided in a seller's favour.

From the seller update:

What if I have more than one defect associated with a transaction?

A transaction can only count once toward your defect rate, even if multiple defects are associated. For example, even if a buyer leaves you a 2-star rating and opens an eBay Money-Back Guarantee case for item not as described, the transaction still counts only once toward your defect rate.

rose-dee · ‎04-23-2014

I wanted to add (and got timed out) -- I don't think resolved v. unresolved case matters anymore in terms of removing a defect unless the case is resolved in a seller's favour by eBay.

In other words, although it used to be that an opened case under the old system that was resolved by the seller (for example by refunding) would not affect seller status, my understanding is that resolution is now only relevant if eBay itself resolves the case, and only if it is found in favour of the seller (or found to be no fault of either the seller or the buyer). Obviously a more stringent yardstick.

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-23-2014

@rose-dee wrote:
@pjcdn2005 wrote:

But if the seller lost, it would be a defect and an unresolved case
Yes, but only one defect would be counted against that transaction (and in fact only that will be counted if there are transactions with defects from at least 8 different buyers over the evaluation period) So as I said, I think there's nothing to lose in trying to have the INAD case decided in a seller's favour.

From the seller update:

What if I have more than one defect associated with a transaction?
A transaction can only count once toward your defect rate, even if multiple defects are associated. For example, even if a buyer leaves you a 2-star rating and opens an eBay Money-Back Guarantee case for item not as described, the transaction still counts only once toward your defect rate.

Yes I realize that there is only one defect per transaction but defect and unresolved cases are two different things. If the seller lost the case they would have an unresolved case so unless the seller is confident that they will win the case, there is something to lose. A low volume seller may only be allowed 2 unresolved cases so I would be careful about taking the chance of getting one.

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. (Today Raphael confirmed that for low volume sellers would be allowed to have up to 2 cases before being penalized)

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-23-2014

@rose-dee wrote:
I wanted to add (and got timed out) -- I don't think resolved v. unresolved case matters anymore in terms of removing a defect unless the case is resolved in a seller's favour by eBay.

In other words, although it used to be that an opened case under the old system that was resolved by the seller (for example by refunding) would not affect seller status, my understanding is that resolution is now only relevant if eBay itself resolves the case, and only if it is found in favour of the seller (or found to be no fault of either the seller or the buyer). Obviously a more stringent yardstick.

If ebay finds that the seller is at fault in an escalated case, it is very relevant.

asyahijab · ‎04-23-2014

Thank you for the input rosedee & pjcdn.

If this thing happened before the spring update which open case doesn't count againt seller when the case resolve imidiately,I would happily close the case ASAP by issued refund.

But the rule now make me reluctant to do so.

Once case is opened,now matter what, it is a deffect unless ebay rulling in our favour.
In my case actually buyer don't like the item, but don't want to return it with reason it is expensive for her to return.

asyahijab · ‎04-23-2014

Another question, so if I chose return for refund, could the case to be escalated or not?

rainbow71113 · ‎04-23-2014

I had that problem, the buyer was in India and wouldn't return the book since it cost more than the book was worth to return it, ebay closed the case in my favour because she didn't return it but I still wound up with a negative feedback from the buyer. She didn't know how to do a variation listing and said the reason she left a negative was that she was frustrated.....every rep at ebay said they agreed I shouldn't have gotten the negative but at the time no one would remove it. Now under the new rules that may not be the case, I'm not sure, and since I still have a defect for a neutral that was removed by ebay I'm a little worried that what they say and do doesn't help. So I would definitely do a return request and if the buyer doesn't return it, ebay will close the case in your favour.

rainbow71113 · ‎04-23-2014

forgot to say, when my buyer wouldn't return the item I escalated the case when she left messages that she had no intention of returning the book.

rose-dee · ‎04-23-2014

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
@rose-dee wrote:
I wanted to add (and got timed out) -- I don't think resolved v. unresolved case matters anymore in terms of removing a defect unless the case is resolved in a seller's favour by eBay.

In other words, although it used to be that an opened case under the old system that was resolved by the seller (for example by refunding) would not affect seller status, my understanding is that resolution is now only relevant if eBay itself resolves the case, and only if it is found in favour of the seller (or found to be no fault of either the seller or the buyer). Obviously a more stringent yardstick.
If ebay finds that the seller is at fault in an escalated case, it is very relevant.

So, now we have this:

Any opened case is a defect, unless it is an escalated case determined in favour of the buyer, in which case it is still a defect, but is also an additional penalty (against the 0.3% allowance), unless it is resolved by the seller, in which case it is no longer a penalty against the seller's 0.3% allowance, but is still a defect, unless it is referred to eBay and eBay finds in the seller's favour (or finds it to be no fault of buyer or seller), in which case it is neither a defect nor a penalty against the 0.3% performance allowance.

That is, if you manage to get past any neutral or negative FB or low DSRs that result (unless for communication or shipping cost), which FB/DSRs, regardless of the best case scenario outcome above, will still result in a defect on the transaction.

Quantum physics is more straightforward than this convoluted web of rules.

downsizing2018 · ‎04-24-2014

I am thinking that buyers are encouraged to "open a case..." for whatever, in my case in the last month or so for item not received, in all cases i corresponded with the buyer immediately, negotiated a deadline, refund schedule in case of non delivery, and than followed through. In all cases I got a "defect". I could not figure out what was happening. I have never been below the 'magic number" sorry could not remember what it is off hand.

Maaannn i think the old system with its flaws is better than what this is going to bring down.

So i will loose my discount, than what selling privileges and what else..... what is the time frame for those penalties?

rose-dee · ‎04-24-2014

@pjcdn2005 wrote:

Yes I realize that there is only one defect per transaction but defect and unresolved cases are two different things. If the seller lost the case they would have an unresolved case so unless the seller is confident that they will win the case, there is something to lose. A low volume seller may only be allowed 2 unresolved cases so I would be careful about taking the chance of getting one.

rose-dee · ‎04-24-2014

@pjcdn2005 wrote:

Yes I realize that there is only one defect per transaction but defect and unresolved cases are two different things. If the seller lost the case they would have an unresolved case so unless the seller is confident that they will win the case, there is something to lose. A low volume seller may only be allowed 2 unresolved cases so I would be careful about taking the chance of getting one.

Sorry, my previous comments just vanished for some reason when I posted them.

I was going to say that I can see your point if the seller has the choice of referring (escalating) the case to eBay or not. In that situation, it might be folly to escalate and risk losing, especially in an INAD case which might be rather difficult to prove one way or the other.

But if the buyer has already referred the case to eBay for a determination, and if the seller does nothing, the seller will be assured of losing anyway, with the case counting against her as unresolved. In those circumstances, I think the seller might as well try to prove her side of the case. If she loses, she would be in the same position as she started; if eBay found neither party was at fault (which is conceivable in an INAD case), or she (the seller) was not at fault, the case wouldn't be counted against her 0.3% limit (of course, after the 2 allowable unresolved cases for low volume sellers). And, if I read the new rules correctly, the seller would also not have the case counted as an open case defect.

The more I look at these new seller rules, the more ridiculously complicated they seem. This is what happens when you try to layer new rules on top of an existing set of rules.