Strategies to avoid defect rate on cancelled listing

[service-des-courses]

Howdy!

New to the board but I have been selling on eBay for more than 15 years.

I was checking my seller dashboard and I noticed that thing called transaction defect rate, which affects your seller level and if am reading well 3 defects and you're getting into trouble zone. I have one defect already because I cancelled a listing for the reason that the item wasn't available anymore.

I am not a store, just a hobbyist in many things, and guess what eBay I also sell on other platforms. That is right, there are forums out there with classifieds sections. Who would have thought?

What's happening now is I am ready to sell an item I have listed on eBay to a fellow forum member. So any tips to end an item without being hit with another defect? 

Thanks much!

[ricarmic]

The way you get a defect is if it is cancelled after someone purchases it with any reason other than buyer changed their mind.

If you cancel an unsold item there is no defect.

[service-des-courses]

Are you sure? I cancelled an item because I sold it elsewhere. I marked it as out of stock and got a defect.

[ypdc_dennis]

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@service-des-courses wrote:

Are you sure? I cancelled an item because I sold it elsewhere. I marked it as out of stock and got a defect.

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That shows you cancelled a transaction (either something that has been sold. or an auction with bids). Not the same as closing a BIN or auction with no bids.

-..-

[pjcdn2005]

You don't get a defect for cancelling bids and ending an auction either.  But if you do it more than once a year eBay will still charge you final value fees.

[cumos55]

You can click to get a full report to determine which transaction is involved.  Available on the Dashboard  next to Transaction defect rate...   once you click on the arrow...

I had a transaction with a defect given in error.  Paypal was refunded,  and buyer made a local pickup and paid cash on pickup....

There was never a cancellation of the transaction...Transactions were never cancelled.  . In this case it was two purchases... two transactions, for a local pickup by the same buyer.

The most important part of this situation  that I had communicated with the buyer with instructions for a local pickup using eBay's messaging.... eBay had a record of this communication on file.

eBay had assumed that with a Paypal refund  the transaction was cancelled...  with no stock available for the buyer.

Important...

Make all communication with the buyer through eBay messages....in all situations

[i.am.vivian]

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@service-des-courses wrote:

Are you sure? I cancelled an item because I sold it elsewhere. I marked it as out of stock and got a defect.

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Correct.  EBay has determined that one of the things that annoys buyers most and makes them leave the site and not want to shop here anymore is buying an item and then getting told they can't have it after all.  To me at my age that's not a big deal, but to the "Want It NOW" generation that drives most of eBay's sales, apparently not getting a desired gadget is just about the worst thing in the world that could possibly happen.  

As the others have explained, you get a defect for having an item listed that it not available at the time for a buyer to purchase.  Meaning that if you sell on multiple sites you have to be VERY vigilant about checking every email and selling account and the instant an item sells on one, waste no time in removing that listing from everywhere else.  

It makes selling in lots of places a real chore, which is why so many people just stick with eBay only  since that is going to be where most sales come from.  

That said,  Welcome to the boards and I hope we will get to see a lot more of you.  Visit often!   🙂