Lost Top Rated Status

Just got a note from eBay saying that I lost my Top Rated status because I don't provide tracking for 95% of my items sold.  That is the only defect I have, not on anything else. They are being totally unreasonable.  A lot of lower priced items are just not worth sending with tracking.  I don't really care about the 10% back on final fees as it doesn't amount to much or the Top Rated Badge.  But it is not fair to force you to use tracking on every item. They have very unreasonable standards to meet.

Message 1 of 20
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Lost Top Rated Status

Hi!

I'm not sure if you mean on .COM or on .CA

I don't see TRS on either at the moment.

You don't need to send with tracking to maintain your .CA TSR, only on .COM (I lost my TRS years ago on .COM when those new rules came in for the same reasons as you).

I've been TRS on .CA all along.

If you look at your service metrics, I suspect there might be something else that is causing it to be lost on .CA???
Message 2 of 20
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Lost Top Rated Status

On the darker or brighter side of things, depending on how you look at it eBay shares this piece of info with you on your page.

 

Top rated seller.JPG

 

First time that caught my eye I almost choked on my coffee.

 

-Lotz

Message 3 of 20
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Lost Top Rated Status

Sidenote. Why are US numbers in US dollars when listing on dot ca in Canadian with exchange rates fluctuating daily?

-Lotz
Message 4 of 20
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Lost Top Rated Status

95% tracking validation is only a requirement on eBay.COM for sales to US buyers.

 

 

  • 100 or more transactions and $1,000 in sales during the last 12 months with US buyers.
  • A defect rate less than or equal to 0.5%, with three or fewer defects from unique buyers.
  • Cases closed without seller resolution less than or equal to 0.3%, and two or fewer cases.
  • A late shipment rate less than or equal to 3%, and five or fewer late shipments.
  • Tracking uploaded within your stated handling time, and carrier validation for 95% of transactions to US buyers.

If using Small Packet USA, manually add the number under the bar code for eBay use. eBay apparently has enough clout to get the USPS scans, even though it is not a tracked service.

small-packet-usa.png

 

Message 5 of 20
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Lost Top Rated Status


@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:
Sidenote. Why are US numbers in US dollars when listing on dot ca in Canadian with exchange rates fluctuating daily?

I am guessing that you are referring to the Seller dashboard?

 

US region displays in US$

UK region shows in Pounds.

German region has Euros.

And the rest-of-the-world region (which includes Canada) is in US$

 

When items are sold, each sale has an exchange rate stored. That value does not fluctuate.

 

Only useful when comparing dashboard numbers, not of any use to those who use a different currency for their daily bread.

 

-..-

Message 6 of 20
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Lost Top Rated Status

I have Never sold on eBay.com only eBay.ca. This is the message I received.

Top Rated Seller status update

Hi ,

Unfortunately, your account no longer meets one or more of the Top Rated Seller requirements based on US seller performance standards and your grace period has ended.

Visit your seller standards dashboard to find out which areas need attention and get your account back on the Top Rated Seller track. For tips about maintaining your status, see these customer service best practices.

Thanks for selling on eBay. We look forward to welcoming you back to Top Rated Seller status very soon.

Message 7 of 20
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Lost Top Rated Status

@ypdc_dennis 

 

 

https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/Seller-Dashboard/td-p/393794

 

In the past, not sure how far back Global was showing in Canadian dollars. See post 7.  Now they are both in USD. USA and Global sales. Makes for an irrelevant number if this is truly considered the "Sellers Dashboard". If I sell to Bob or Freda in Timmins Ontario I am paid in Canadian dollars. If I sell to a US or International customer sale is converted once.  Profit on that sale does not go up or down. As noted elsewhere in that discussion, probably low on eBay's priority list, if at all.

 

-Lotz

 

PS. On the Global breakdown it shows number of transactions without a dollar amount. On US breakdown it shows the number of transactions & dollar amount in USD. Seems like inconsistent consistency?

Message 8 of 20
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Lost Top Rated Status


@ypdc_dennis wrote:

If using Small Packet USA, manually add the number under the bar code for eBay use. eBay apparently has enough clout to get the USPS scans, even though it is not a tracked service.


I do not think eBay has any deliberate intended clout with USPS to get the barcode scans for Canada Post Small Packets. Most likely just a USPS programming mistake caused by eBay having the privileges to get USPS Barcode scans allowed to eBay if the data exists and USPS mistakenly not blocking scans for Canada Post Small Packet packages with barcodes. This mistake may be corrected at any time by USPS to block the scans and nothing may show one day in eBay. Canada Post correctly blocks the information on their site for non-tracked Small Packets.

 

In the meantime Canadian sellers can take advantage of this programming bug.

Message 9 of 20
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Lost Top Rated Status

I agree that it's most likely an IT loophole, and those scans could be blocked at any time on Ebay.

I'm curious why CP blocks these scans? CP doesn't track them - it's no extra work for them. Do they think it would hinder Tracked Packet sales? Tracked packet comes with tracking in Canada and at customs, and provides insurance - so there's still advantages...
Message 10 of 20
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Lost Top Rated Status


@teenytrinkets wrote:
... those scans could be blocked at any time on Ebay.
I'm curious why CP blocks these scans? CP doesn't track them - it's no extra work for them. Do they think it would hinder Tracked Packet sales?

And Canada Post does scan Small Packet, there was a time you could see the Canadian scans on the Canada Post website, before management clued in and blocked them because it's not a tracked service.

 

-..-

Message 11 of 20
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Lost Top Rated Status

I have Top Rated Seller status for global and U.S., and have never shipped an item south with tracking.
In August, I received a message warning me that I was about to lose Top Rated Seller status and benefits in the US if I didn't reduce my shipping time to one day.
I already had the required sales quota.

After changing the handling time to one day, I received a follow up message, "You’ve now successfully met all the requirements for your well-earned eBay Top Rated Seller status and benefits in the US."
Message 12 of 20
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Lost Top Rated Status

That note doesn’t mention that you lost your status because of tracking. I suspect that it is because you have gone below 100 transactions with US buyers. On your seller dashboard For the US region does it show that you have 100 sales AND $1000 in sales to US buyers?  If your sales are below one of those numbers, that is why you lost trs.

 

When uploaded  tracking became required for US trs a few years ago, Canadians were exempt from that requirement and since both ricarmic and mcrlmn both have trs in the US without using tracking, I assume this is still true.  We only need to follow all requirements if we want to have the TRSPlus badge show on .com but that isn’t relevant to your situation since we aren’t talking about trsPlus.

 

 

Message 13 of 20
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Lost Top Rated Status


@mcrlmn wrote:
I have Top Rated Seller status for global and U.S., and have never shipped an item south with tracking.
In August, I received a message warning me that I was about to lose Top Rated Seller status and benefits in the US if I didn't reduce my shipping time to one day.
I already had the required sales quota.

After changing the handling time to one day, I received a follow up message, "You’ve now successfully met all the requirements for your well-earned eBay Top Rated Seller status and benefits in the US."

I still think that there was another reason for you getting back your status since there is no requirement to have 1 day handling to be a US trs.   You only need 1 day handling in order for your listings to meet US trsplus requirements, NOT to be a trs.  The link below shows that.

 

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/selling/seller-levels-performance-standards?id=4080&st=3&pos=2&que...

Message 14 of 20
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Lost Top Rated Status

You may be right but I really don't understand how this Global & US Region thing works. If I look at US Region it says 76 transactions & if I look at the Global Region it says 47 transactions. So I've been well below both regions for a long time. I should have lost the Top Rated Status a long time ago. Why now?  Sales have been so lousy on eBay. I would like to know what they expect us to do to improve that & get the top rating back.

Message 15 of 20
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Lost Top Rated Status

It's always worthwhile to ask what the actual value of TRS is.

 

Which is some egoboo and a 10% discount on your selling FVF.

 

If your 100 transactions were $100 each, that would mean you pay eBay $900 in FVF instead of $1000 in FVF.

But if your 100 transactions were $10 each, your savings would only be $10 in FVF.

 

How much would it cost you in tracking fees to save $10?  Or even to save $100?

Message 16 of 20
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Lost Top Rated Status

Yes, I think if Small Packet was tracked it would certainly hurt Canada post's Tracked Packet sales, I know I've stopped using Tracked altogether once I was aware of the "glitch".

As for your TRS status not being revoked earlier, this is eBay, nothing ever quite works the way its supposed to.

I imagine there is SEO benefits to having TRS but like all things related to eBay's algorithm, who really knows?


Message 17 of 20
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Lost Top Rated Status

I actually do not care one bit about the Top Rated Status. The few dollars they give back doesn't help me out one way or another. Just wondering why they bothered bringing it up now.

Also I track most of my items to the US. & all my packages in Canada.

Message 18 of 20
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Lost Top Rated Status

You can think whatever you like, and thanks for the nice link.

I'll repeat and possibly clarify...

 

I had already met my U.S. sales quota, I've never used tracking to mail to the U.S., I accept returns, and have no defects.

eBay's initial message advised I check my seller dashboard, which indicated handling time, set at 3 days, needed attention.

ebay.ca-2019.png

 

 

I changed the handling time to one day and I received the following message:

screenshot-111.png

 

 

Nothing else has changed.

 

Here's a similar topic you may recall:

https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/Got-this-today-1-Day-handling-time-default-quot-change-q...

 

Just like all the posers, I could care less of badges, trophies, and coloured stars, but only a fool would careless of a saving or discount.

Message 19 of 20
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Lost Top Rated Status


@2nd-time-around-jewelry wrote:

You may be right but I really don't understand how this Global & US Region thing works. If I look at US Region it says 76 transactions & if I look at the Global Region it says 47 transactions. So I've been well below both regions for a long time. I should have lost the Top Rated Status a long time ago. Why now?  Sales have been so lousy on eBay. I would like to know what they expect us to do to improve that & get the top rating back.


The transaction number in the US region reflects how many US buyers you have had in the last 12 months. The global transaction number shows the amount of buyers you’ve had from all other regions except from the US, UK, Ireland, Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

 

When your numbers go below the min. requirement you have 3 months before you lose TRS.  

Message 20 of 20
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