Recently eBay has made some major changes that will impact sellers greatly! You may have heard about some of these changes in the Spring Seller Update, but I had a chance to talk with an eBay employee yesterday, and she reinforced the fact that eBay is stepping up their protection for the sellers. I was very pleased to ask all of my questions about the update, and her responses were quite comforting. I thought it would be appropriate to outline the major Seller Protection updates.
For one, I am huge on international selling, but I have heard from many sellers that they have backed off because of negative feedback they would receive. Most of the time, if an international buyer left a negative feedback, it was because of the time it took to get through customs. Also, customers would complain that they had to pay for import tax. Normally I would have a quick notification in my listing to set this expectation, but eBay now says to remove it from our listings. eBay recommends removing all customs related messages from our listings because they now automatically add a customs notification message under shipping details on the item page for international transactions. This is good for us, because now, any negative feedback that is directed towards delay in customs or the import duties / brokerage fees will quilfy for Feedback removal. Gone are the international feedback fears!
Secondly, say a customer bought an item and never paid. Then they were brave enough to leave you a negative comment stating that they never got the item. How Dare They! It happens.. a lot! Some buyers are scammers, and they try to mess up your ratings just because they can. Well as of April 23rd, if a buyer does not pay then the feedback will be automatically removed. Of course, this is if you followed eBays criteria. First you have to require eBay checkout (duh), and you require an eBay approved electronic payment method (duh). Sorry scammers, no more free feedbacks 
.
Lastly, eBay has provided some best practices for an automatic 5-star DSR for communication:
- Provide buyers with all the relevant information they need in your listings.
- Process orders quickly – within 1 business day.
- Upload tracking information on all orders within one business day.
(Big Sigh of Relief) Now I feel better! These are some really great updates that eBay has made this year, and I am already starting to see the benefits play out in real life. Just remember to play by eBay’s rules, and they will protect you, the seller!
For more eBay tips and tricks, check out The Keys to a Successful eBay Business HERE
*I am still trying to figure out what is going on with the daily emails. I am hoping that it is fixed really really soon!
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
‘Provide buyers with all the relevant information they need in your listings.’
Care to elaborate? The auto 5 score I read on communication was if no communications are given, you get an auto 5 score on that DSR. The tracking/shipping part relat to shipping DSRs and TRS requirements, not communication.
Provide buyers with all the relevant information they need in your listings. Clearly describe your items, list your item specifics, returns policy, shipping information, and payment methods so that buyers don’t need to contact you with questions before making a purchase decision. New business policies make it fast and easy to include this information.
Process orders quickly—within 1 business day. Buyers want their items fast. Specify 1-business day handling time whenever you can, and use more than 1-business day handling time for exceptions and special items only.
Upload tracking information on all orders within 1 business day. “Where’s my item?” is one of the most common buyer questions. When buyers can track the progress of their shipment, you spend less time answering buyer questions. Make sure to upload tracking information to My eBay for all your items, if possible. You can do it for virtually any carrier. When you pay for USPS and print labels on eBay, the tracking information is automatically uploaded for you.
Once you upload tracking, your buyers will receive automated emails from eBay with tracking information and status on their orders, and they can access it from My eBay. No need to contact your buyers with tracking and order status; eBay takes care of this for you.
Wanted to add a tidbit on the international part. Anytime I ship anything internatinally, especially if it’s going first class, I send a message the day I shipped it, and remind them that because its first class mail, they should expect to receive their package between 3-4 weeks. I have had a lot of ppl thank me for letting them know how long to expect it, and a lot of times they will say no worries, I understand it takes a long time. But its like if I didn’t tell them that, they’ll try and message me two weeks into it, and say where’s my package? Really, you’ve never had anything shipped to your first class mail from the US? I had this guy, about a month ago that messaged me every day wanting to know where his pacakge was and why I didn’t have a tracking number. I explained to him 5 times in the begining alone, that the costs would be double to include a tracking number for international shipping. That’s its not me, its what his country costs to track it. And I said I say nothing about tracking numbers on my auctions because I know I cannot provide them for international shipping. After about 2 1/2 half weeks he started threatening to report me and cancel his transaction. I said if you do that I will fight it, because Paypal and ebay both know it can take up to 4 weeks to ship internationally. I mean its like you have to try and butter them up as much as possible but when they start demanding you have to still be nice but stand your ground. The guy ended up getting it a week later, said it was better than he expected and worth the wait, go FIGURE!
Also wanted to add, I know you’ve encouraged for your sellers to ship internationally, and I just want to add that your sales WILL go UP if you start shipping internationally. Yes, its a bit of a headache sometimes, but worth it because I get people that will pay way more than its worth, but because they can’t get it in their country, if you have a good price, they’ll buy it from you. Things to note that have sold well for me internationally: camera equipement (35mm camera lens), Magazine back issues, and clothing.
Do you know when these new seller protection policies go into effect? As someone who has sold on eBay on/off for well over a decade, eBay definitely has the “protection” slanted in favor of the buyers, so it’s about time they start taking care of the small sellers who have made them a multi-billion dollar company. In my opinion, we have Amazon and others who are keeping eBay honest in this regard. They realize that they are losing business and sellers to Amazon and are finally starting to cater to the sellers once again.
Guys, you all realize none of these changes really protect us in these of securing our investment/profit in the transaction. There are only 2 real protections a seller can take. Use a fully traceable/trackable delivery service like USPS registered mail or use a third party insurance program like U-PIC.
In my opinion UPS/DHL/FedEx are not realistic international delivery options. The service is prohibitively expensive. Registered mail adds just 11.75 to the transaction included door to door tracking and insurance and my sales tanked when I made it mandatory.
The best solution is third party insurance. Most packages cost less then $3 to insure and I have found customer appreciate that I am protecting them. The downside is the average 45 day waiting period for lost packages. Make sure you communicate that up front.