2012 Fall Seller Update
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Seller protections
New safeguards to protect sellers
We know you work hard to deliver great service to your customers. This fall, eBay will be making some updates to the way our systems work to benefit and protect sellers.
What is changing in the way the Buyer Protection process works?
Why is eBay making this change?
How does this change benefit me?
How will I know if a buyer contacted me about an item not received or not as described through member-to member communication?
What is eBay doing to make it easier for me to resolve these situations before a case is opened?
What if a buyer doesn't allow enough time for an item to arrive before contacting me?
What if the buyer does open a case after three business days?
Will an opened case still count against me?
Will closed cases still be included in my US performance rating?
Will there be any changes to the number of closed US cases that will affect my rating?
Should I expect changes to my seller dashboard?
What about cases now on my record that were opened prior to this change?
How will I know if my seller rating will change when opened cases are no longer counted?
What's changing with the seller reporting hub?
How can I find the seller reporting hub?
Can I report a buyer now, before these updates to the hub are made?
What else is changing to make reporting easier?
Will the buyer know about my report?
What does eBay do with these reports?
What does eBay do to protect sellers from these buyers?
Under what circumstances should I report buyers to eBay?
What do I have to do after I report a buyer?
Why is it important for me to report these buyers?
What if my issue isn't one of those listed in the reporting process?
I've submitted many reports but I still see the buyers active on eBay. Why haven't they been suspended?
Highlights
Buyers must contact you first before opening a case. Open cases no longer count
- eBay has always encouraged buyers to contact sellers to resolve any issue with their purchase. To ensure sellers have the opportunity to serve their customers before eBay gets involved, starting in February, eBay.com buyers will be required to contact you first through a new contact channel in the Resolution Centre specifying 'item not received' or 'item not as described' before opening a Buyer Protection case.
- Buyers will be required to wait at least three business days for you to respond and attempt to resolve the issue.
- If a buyer does contact you, you'll be notified as usual via My Messages. All your contacts from buyers regarding items not received and items not as described will be in one place in the Resolution Centre, making it easy to track and respond without having to monitor My Messages and the Resolution Centre. Plus you'll have the tools you need to resolve issues quickly—for example, you can provide tracking, issue a refund, invite a return, or just communicate with your buyer.
- If the buyer does open a case at least three or more business days after contacting you, it will be sent to Customer Support for a decision (for items purchased on eBay.com).
- Also starting in February, just having a case opened by a buyer will not be counted toward your US performance rating. Only cases found in the buyer's favour will count.
Faster ways to report buyers
- eBay has very clear policies and monitoring systems in place to prevent buyers from misusing Buyer Protection, Feedback and returns. Starting in October, a more accessible and enhanced reporting hub will make it easy for you to contact eBay directly to report buyers in violation of those policies. eBay uses these reports as part of the monitoring system to identify and stop these buyers to protect sellers, including removing any negative or neutral Feedback or low detailed seller ratings that are in violation of eBay policy.
Take Action
- Check the Resolution Centre and your email from eBay regularly so you'll know right away when a buyer contacts you regarding an item not received or an item not as described. Do your best to resolve the issue, and provide as much detail as possible in your response. This information will be referenced by Customer Support if a case is created (for items purchased on eBay.com).
- If you suspect a buyer is misusing the eBay Buyer Protection system or violating any eBay policy, let eBay know through the seller reporting hub. Report an unpaid item, Feedback extortion, or any other problem. The information is kept confidential. eBay evaluates these reports and uses them to identify patterns of inappropriate behaviour. We can then take action to stop these buyers and remove any negative or neutral Feedback or low detailed seller ratings that are in violation of eBay policy.
- You can and should report buyers now from My eBay, Selling Manager, or the link at the bottom of the drop down menu for each transaction. eBay already uses these reports as an essential part of our efforts to maintain a fair and safe marketplace. Starting in October, you'll be able to access the seller reporting hub easily from more places on eBay including the "More actions" dropdown on the Sold Items view in My eBay, on the Leave Feedback page, and during the process of accepting returns.
Best Practices
Responding promptly to buyer issues is important, but it's even more important to focus on providing great service upfront so buyers don't need to contact you. That's the kind of service that helps you win loyal repeat customers. Follow these best practices to minimize the need for buyers to contact you and to make sure you're protected if there is an issue:- Ship with tracking and always upload the tracking information to eBay, ideally within 24 hours of the buyer making payment. The tracking information that you upload will help prevent early contacts about an item not received.
- Ship using Signature Confirmation whenever possible for transactions over $250 to protect yourself in the event of an item not received case.
- Always describe your listings as completely and accurately as possible. Use the Item condition notes area to describe any wear and tear on your used items, and upload plenty of high quality photographs to show the item details.
- Check your Messages in My eBay daily and respond to buyers right away.
Frequently Asked Questions
Buyers must contact you first before opening a case. Open cases no longer count
Starting in February, before opening a Buyer Protection case, eBay.com buyers will be required to contact sellers first through a new contact channel in the Resolution Centre specifying the reason for the contact as 'item not received' or 'item not as described'. Buyers must then wait at least three business days to allow sellers to respond and resolve the situation before a case can be opened.
eBay is making this change to the Buyer Protection process to improve the experience for both buyers and sellers, as well as to ensure that sellers always have the opportunity to resolve an issue before a case is opened.
You'll be alerted to issues and have the opportunity to resolve them before eBay gets involved.
You will receive email notification from eBay and a notification in My Messages. You'll also be able to see these communications in the Resolution Centre so it will be easier to track and respond to them.
When you receive a communication from your eBay.com buyer about an item not received or not as described, you'll have all the tools available in the Resolution Centre to quickly and easily resolve the situation. For example, you can verify tracking information, issue a full refund, or offer a partial refund as soon as the buyer lets you know there's an issue.
There are some situations in which we will ask a buyer to wait prior to contacting you in the Resolution Centre. For example, a buyer won't be able to contact you about an item not received until after estimated delivery date has passed.
If you're not able to come to a resolution within three business days, and the eBay.com buyer opens a case, it will be sent immediately to eBay Customer Support to review the details and make a final decision.
Only cases opened on eBay.com that are not found in your favour will be counted against you. Your seller performance rating will not be affected by a buyer contacting you in the Resolution Centre.
Yes. Closed cases without seller resolution will continue to be counted toward your US performance rating. Of course, cases where you are not found at fault will not count.
No, to meet eBay's US performance standards, sellers may have closed cases without seller resolution on no more than 0.30% of transactions—the same threshold as today.
Yes. Once opened Buyer Protection cases are no longer included as a measure of seller performance, the opened case requirements will be removed from the US seller dashboard.
As soon as opened Buyer Protection cases are no longer used as a measure of US seller performance, no opened cases will be counted, including any cases opened prior to this change.
You can evaluate whether or not your US seller performance rating will change by reviewing your seller dashboard. If your performance in the US market on the Last Evaluation tab shows that your account is Below Standard or missed Top Rated status exclusively due to too many opened cases, your seller rating is likely to improve. Of course, your rating is still dependent upon your overall performance since the last evaluation. You can see this in the Daily Performance tab of your seller dashboard.
Faster ways to report buyers
eBay is making it easier for sellers to report issues with buyers by adding more links to the reporting hub to My eBay, the Feedback page and other locations on eBay. We're also streamlining the reporting process based on feedback from sellers so that you can report problems and issues in just a few clicks.
You can access the hub directly at http://www.ebay.ca/reportabuyer . Youâll also find links in the following locations:
- My eBay, Selling Manager, Selling Manager Pro Sold Item View: On the far right, there is a drop-down for more actions. "Report a Buyer" will be listed as one of the options.
- Selling Manager Leave Feedback
- Leave Feedback pages on the "Rate this transaction" line.
- Feedback Profile page
- Member to Member Communication within the message header
- Resolution Centre under the help page
- In the returns process: When you accept a return, you can also report that transaction.
Absolutely and we encourage you to do so. eBay already uses these reports as an essential part of our efforts to maintain a fair maketplace for sellers. You can report a buyer by from My eBay or Selling Manager. You'll also find a link to Report a Buyer at the bottom of the drop down menu for each transaction.
If you report a transaction through one of these entry points, the transaction details will automatically be filled in for you.
No, buyers do not see these reports.
eBay uses these reports as part of monitoring systems that include reports submitted, member-to-member message content, and buyer activity patterns to identify and take action against buyers who violate policies or take unfair advantage of the system.
In addition to taking action to stop these buyers when we see a pattern of behaviour, eBay also removes any negative or neutral Feedback, low DSRs or Buyer Protection cases received by sellers in these situations.
Please report any buyers who you believe are violating eBay policies. In general, you should report the following types of policy violations:
- Buyer hasn't paid
- Buyer made unreasonable demands
- Demanded a change to the shipping method or location
- Demanded a change to the payment method or timing
- Demanded a partial refund or discount
- Demanded additional items or services
- Requested that the transaction be completed off eBay
- Buyer left inappropriate Feedback
- Left abusive Feedback
- Malicious Feedback left by a suspected competitor
- Buyer abused the buyer protection program
- Misused the program to claim an item was not as described
- Misused the program to claim an item was not received
- Buyer misused returns
- Did not return original item
- Returned a damaged or used item
- Did not follow other terms of your return policy
- Other problems
- Buyer used foul or offensive language
- Buyer requested false information on customs forms
There's nothing you need to do after reporting a buyer. Reporting takes less than five minutes.
Your reports can go a long way to help us more quickly identify and stop buyers who violate policies.
If your problem is not related to any of the listed topics, you can also contact Customer Support or visit the Seller Protection Centre for additional information.
Depending on the severity of the infraction, suspension is one action that may be taken. Other actions may be taken such as restrictions on activities. It is also possible that we assessed the reports, but determined that they did not represent a violation of policy. To learn more about Seller Protection please visit our Seller Protection Hub.