2012 Spring Seller Update
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Top-rated seller program
More chances to qualify for Top-rated seller status on eBay.ca & changes to the US program
Highlights
Lowered sales volume requirement for the Global Top-rated seller program on eBay.ca
- Starting June 1, the annual sales requirement for Top-rated status applicable to Canadian sellers on eBay.ca will be lowered from $3,000 to $1,000 to expand eligibility to more sellers who provide great service. No other changes are being made to the Global Top-rated seller program at this time.
Changes to the US Top-rated seller program
- The US eBay Top-rated seller program on eBay.com is also changing on June 1st. Sellers will need to meet new US program eligibility requirements in order to receive the Top-rated seller badge, 20% Final Value Fee Discount, and additional search exposure.
- In addition, sellers who achieve the US eTRS designation will be able to gain additional boost for their listings by meeting some additional criteria with their listings.
US Top-rated Eligibility
- Starting June 1, the annual sales requirement for Top-rated status on eBay.com will be lowered from $3000 to $1000.
- US sellers and most international sellers who list on eBay.com will be required to upload tracking on at least 90% of their listings in order to qualify for the program. But because tracking is significantly more expensive and less widely available for Canadians , sellers registered in Canada can still qualify as Top-rated in the US program even if they are not able to meet the 90% tracking requirement..
Qualifying for Additional Search Boost on eBay.com
- Sellers who have achieved the US eTRS designation can attain additional boost for any given listing if:
- The listing offers 1-day handling.
- The listing offers a return policy allowing a minimum of 14 days and a money back option.
- The seller has uploaded tracking on 90% of their listings during the prior evaluation period.
- Although Canadians can qualify for the US-top rated program without meeting the 90% tracking requirement, Canadians will still need to meet the 90% requirement in order to achieve this additional search boost.
As before, Canadian sellers who can achieve either the US eTRS designation on eBay.com OR the Global eTRS designation will receive the full 20% final value fee discount on their listings, whether they prefer to list on eBay.com or eBay.ca.
Also as before, Canadians that qualify as US eTRS will receive the program badge on their listings and be promoted in search on eBay.ca, even if they haven't met the Global eTRS requirements. But only sellers who qualify as US eTRS will be badged and promoted on eBay.com.
Special limited-time offer—extra 5% discount to help you get started
From March 1 through May 31, Canadians who are Top-rated sellers in either the US Top-rated program or the Global Top-rated program will get a bonus 5% final value fee discount for listings with 1-day handling and minimum 14-day return policy with a money-back option. Plus your usual 20% Top-rated seller discount will still be applied on these and all your listings. So start adding these services now!Tools to help you succeed
- Starting this week, you’ll be able to track your progress toward Top-rated seller status in your Seller Dashboard.
- Starting in April, you’ll be able to easily identify those listings that don’t include 1-day handling and a minimum 14-day return policy with a money-back option, and then edit those listings in bulk. This information will be available in My eBay >Selling, Selling Manager and Selling Manager Pro.
- Starting the week of May 2, sellers will begin getting access to business policies, a new way to manage your own custom settings for shipping, payments and returns from one central location, rather than specifying the information separately on each listing. Using business policies, you can create settings that qualify your listings for eBay Top-rated seller benefits and apply these settings to your listings—or to a specific group of existing listings—with just a few clicks.
Timeline for changes
Take Action
- Start now to think about how you can adapt your business practices to potentially qualify for the Global and US Top-rated seller programs and maximize your benefits.
- If you ship with tracking, please make sure you upload tracking information or Delivery Confirmation on all your US transactions within your stated handling time.
- Start now to add 1-day handling time and a minimum 14-day return policy with money-back option to your listings whenever possible.
- If you ship with tracking, please make sure you upload tracking information or Delivery Confirmation on all your US transactions within your stated handling time.
- Starting in April, start checking your Selling Reminders on the My eBay All Selling page or the new Listing Improvement section of the Selling Manager summary page on eBay.com to see which listings don’t meet the new service standards, and then easily edit those listings in bulk.
- If you currently offer 3-day or 7-day returns, be sure to update your listings to offer at least a 14-day return policy. Also, select “Money back” or “Money back or exchange” as your refund method before these options are retired the first week of May.
- To boost your efficiency in adding these services and managing returns, opt in to use the new business policies once it's available to you.
Best Practices
In general, the best practices for achieving and keeping eBay Top-rated seller status and for achieving the best possible position in Best Match, eBay’s default sort order for search results, are the same as always. Follow these additional best practices to make sure you’re prepared to meet buyer expectations for the two key services that earn you the top rewards:- Make sure you can fulfill your orders within the time promised and fulfill orders within one day when possible.
- Upload tracking on all of your orders. Purchase and print your shipping labels online using PayPal's online printing labels, and tracking will automatically be uploaded to eBay, if tracking is available for the shipping service you've selected.
- Offer a return policy that is 14 days or longer—30 days is optimal—and a money-back option
Frequently Asked Questions
The following change is being made to the Top-rated seller program eligibility requirements:
- The $3,000 annual sales requirement will be lowered to $1,000.
The following changes are being made to the Top-rated seller program eligibility requirements:
- The $3,000 annual sales requirement will be lowered to $1,000.
- The minimum average detailed seller rating (DSR) requirement (4.60) will be removed.
- PowerSeller status will no longer be required, however an active eBay account for at least 90 days and positive feedback rating of at least 98% are still required for Top-rated seller eligibility.
- To achieve and keep Top-rated seller status, tracking must be uploaded to eBay within your stated handling time on 90% or more of all completed transactions with US buyers over the past three months (Canadian sellers are exempt from this requirement).
- Canadian sellers with US Top-rated status who are able to upload tracking within their stated handling time on 90% of transactions will be eligible to receive the greatest exposure on listings offering 1-day handling and a minimum 14-day return policy with a money-back option.
- Listings from Canadian sellers with US Top-rated status that do not offer 1-day handling or minimum 14-day return policy with a money-back option will continue to get the Top-rated seller badge on eBay.com, but will not receive the maximum exposure in best match search on eBay.com.
- Canadian sellers with US Top-rated status who are unable to meet the 90% tracking requirement will not be eligible to receive the additional search boost in best match search on eBay.com. However, their listings will continue to have an advantage in search results relative to sellers who do not have Top-rated status. In addition, their listings will continue to show the Top-rated badge on eBay.com. As before, Canadian sellers with US Top-rated status will receive the 20% final value fee discount on their listings, whether they are created on eBay.com or eBay.ca.
All these updates take effect June 1, with the exception of the tracking upload requirement which goes into effect with the June 20 evaluation cycle based on sales beginning May 1. See complete timeline.
The performance standards for eBay Top-rated seller status will remain as they are today.
- 0.6% or less low Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs)
- 1% or less opened eBay and PayPal Buyer Protection cases
- 0.3% or less seller unresolved eBay and PayPal Buyer Protection cases
- 98% or better Feedback score
The performance standards for eBay Top-rated seller status will remain as they are today.
- 0.5% or less low Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs)
- 0.5% or less opened eBay and PayPal Buyer Protection cases
- 0.3% or less seller unresolved eBay and PayPal Buyer Protection cases
- 98% or better Feedback score
Buyers want to know when an item has been shipped and when to expect delivery. This has become the norm for ecommerce transactions. It also helps protect you in the event of a buyer dispute about receiving the item. Tracking information must be uploaded in order for eBay to know that an item shipped within your stated handling time.
While Canadian sellers are exempt from this requirement in order to qualify for the US Top-rated program, Canadian sellers are still encouraged to use and upload tracking if possible, because they can achieve additional search boost on eBay.com by doing so.
While Canadian sellers are exempt from this requirement in order to qualify for the US Top-rated program, Canadian sellers are still encouraged to use and upload tracking if possible, because they can achieve additional search boost on eBay.com by doing so.
You can track where you stand with the new “tracking uploaded” requirement in your Seller Dashboard.
No, you are not required to offer 1-day or better handling and a minimum 14-day return policy with a money-back option to keep your Top-rated status. However, only listings that include both of these services- and meet the 90% tracking requirement- qualify for the greatest on-average increase in exposure on eBay.com.
eBay will start counting transactions towards the new tracking requirement on May 1. That’s why it’s important to make sure you are uploading tracking information within your stated handling time on your transactions by that date. Canadian sellers who do not meet these requirements but meet the other US Top-rated program requirements will still receive a badge on their listings on eBay.com and the 20% discount. They will, however, not receive the greatest level of exposure on eBay.com.
Starting June 20, you must have tracking information uploaded on at least 90% of all your shipments to US buyers within your stated handling time for the period of May 1 through May 31 to receive the greatest level of exposure. The July 20 evaluation will count transactions from May 1 through June 30. Every evaluation after that will count transactions over the previous three months.
To protect a seller with a low number of transactions, we will not count the tracking upload percentage unless at least 3 transactions in that evaluation period do not meet the tracking requirement. If you have missed 3 or more tracking uploads and your tracking measurement is less than 90%, the new tracking requirement will apply.
To protect a seller with a low number of transactions, we will not count the tracking upload percentage unless at least 3 transactions in that evaluation period do not meet the tracking requirement. If you have missed 3 or more tracking uploads and your tracking measurement is less than 90%, the new tracking requirement will apply.
As a Canadian seller, you will need to qualify for the US Top Rated Seller Program on eBay.com to get the badge, maximum exposure and receive the 20% discount for any given listing if:
- The listing offers 1-day handling.
- The listing offers a return policy allowing a minimum of 14 days and a money back option.
- The seller has uploaded tracking on 90% of their listings during the prior evaluation period.
From March 1 through May 31, as an added bonus for early adoption, Canadian sellers who are Top-rated in either the US program or the Global program will receive an extra 5% final value fee discount for listings with 1-day handling and minimum 14-day return policy with a money-back option listen on either eBay.ca or eBay.com. Plus your usual 20% Top-rated seller discount will still be applied on these and all your listings. Learn more about this special promotion.
Since it was first introduced almost 3 years ago, eBay Top-rated seller status has helped many sellers improve buyer satisfaction and grow their business. However, ecommerce continues to evolve rapidly, and consumers today have new expectations for online purchasing. For sellers to be competitive and attract buyers, it’s important to offer these two in-demand services.
As a Canadian seller, if you are an eBay Top-rated seller, your performance is right in line with many important best practices for maximizing your position in Best Match sort. All your listings will still be recognized in Best Match as coming from a Top-rated seller with a great track record and will receive, on average, some boost. All of your listings will continue to have a prominent buyer-facing badge on eBay.com and makes you eligible to earn the 20% final value fee discount on all your listings created on eBay.ca or eBay.com.
No, there is no direct impact on your status if you do not offer 1-day or better handling and a minimum 14-day return policy with money-back option on all your listings. However, offering these two services are best practices for improving buyer satisfaction and for meeting the other performance requirements for Top-rated status. A 1-day or faster handling time and expedited shipping option will also help you earn automatic 5-star ratings for ship time, and a 14-day or longer return window with money-back option will help you resolve buyer claims that an item was not as described.
When listing your items in the Sell Your Item form, check “Returns Accepted.” In the options under “After receiving the item, your buyer should contact you within” choose 14 days or longer from the day the buyer receives the item. Under “Refund will be given as” choose either “Money Back” or “Money Back or Exchange.” You can specify that return shipping will be paid by you or the buyer.
If you select “Returns accepted” in your return policy, you are obligated to accept them for any reason—even if the buyer changes their mind—as long as the return occurs within your return window timeframe. You should select “No returns accepted” if you only intend to accept returns for items that are considered not as described.
These options will be retired during the first week of May. For your listings to be eligible for the Top-rated seller benefits, you will need to update them with a minimum 14-day policy.
No, you do not have to offer free shipping to qualify for the top rewards. However, if you offer free shipping, Best Match will recognize it as a best practice which helps you in search. Free shipping is also required to be eligible for the eBay Fast ‘N Free logo and for getting an automatic 5-star rating for ship cost if the buyer chooses free shipping.
When listing an item, choose a handling time of one business day. This means you will need to ship the item within one business day after receiving cleared payment.
Starting in June, you’ll also have the option of specifying same-day handling time. This means you will ship your item the same day you receive payment, as long as the payment is received by your specified time. Learn more about the new same-day handling time.
Starting in June, you’ll also have the option of specifying same-day handling time. This means you will ship your item the same day you receive payment, as long as the payment is received by your specified time. Learn more about the new same-day handling time.
After a buyer has paid for an item, you will have until 11:59:59 pm Pacific Time the following business day to upload tracking (that's the same as 2:59:59 am Eastern Time on the second day after the buyer pays for the item). Weekends and holidays are not counted as business days so if your buyer pays for an item on Monday at noon Eastern Time, you'll have until 2:59:59 am Eastern Time on Wednesday morning to uploack tracking information.
One-day handling means you upload tracking and ship within one business day—weekends and holidays don’t count as business days.
If you print shipping labels on eBay or PayPal, the tracking number will automatically be added to My eBay.
You can also enter tracking information for your items manually. To add a tracking number in My eBay:
You can also enter tracking information for your items manually. To add a tracking number in My eBay:
- Go to the Sold section of My eBay.
- Select the check box next to the item you want to add a tracking number for.
- Click the Add tracking number button.
- On the Add/Edit/Delete Tracking Number page, enter the tracking number.
- If we can determine the carrier you're using, such as USPS, UPS, or FedEx, we'll pre-fill that information in the Carrier box. Otherwise, enter the name of your carrier.
- Click the Submit button.
Any transactions offering freight shipping or when the buyer selects local pick-up as their delivery method will be excluded from the tracking uploaded requirement. Classified Ad format listings and Motors Vehicles listings are also excluded, as are any transactions that end in an unpaid item.
Yes, there are exceptions. You won’t be required to accept returns for listings in the Tickets, Gift Card, or Bullion categories (note: this is only for the Gold, Silver, and Platinum & Palladium sub-categories) to qualify for top rewards. These listings will need to meet the 1-day or faster handling time.