Are Top Seller Requirements unreasonable?

[moviemem]

I have been getting messages in myebay saying that I should update all my listings to meet Top Seller requirements.

One of the things I am being asked to do is offer Free Postage.

Does this mean that to be a Top Seller you absolutely must offer Free Postage? If so, this seems unreasonable. Some sellers cannot possibly offer free postage, particularly when they are running auctions with very low starting bids. It also depends on what you are selling. Those who sell large items that require specialised packaging cannot offer Free Postage. Does that mean they will never qualify for Top Seller?

I would be interested in what others think about this.

[clarry100]

We have been TRS for a while and also got these notices a while back. As I understand it you won't have your TRS status revoked if you don't comply.

But you won't get the little Premium Service badge on each of your listings either.

They say to make these changes will improve your rankings and presumably this means improve your chance of sales.

So we changed all our listings in both our stores to comply with ALL their requirements.

Apart from now getting the Premium Service badge we have not be able to notice any change in search rankings or sales since we made the changes. In fact sales dropped hugely in Sept just after we did it and since then have recovered to what we believe are normal levels again.

[moviemem]

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@clarry100 wrote:

So we changed all our listings in both our stores to comply with ALL their requirements.

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I guess that you must have factored in the shipping to the selling price. Some sellers can do that, particularly if you are selling small items, but there is no way others can do it. In any case if you include shipping in buyitnow price, the actual selling price must be increased by definition.

[clarry100]

Yes that is what we did.
But of course you lose some of that increase because in doing that ebay charge FVF on the embedded postage as well. So its all about extra cash for them of course.

[harley_babes_hoard]

I lost my top seller rating and I won't be changing my listings to get the premium service. My sales haven't suffered one bit since losing the top seller rating.

[moviemem]

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@clarry100 wrote:
Yes that is what we did.
But of course you lose some of that increase because in doing that ebay charge FVF on the embedded postage as well. So its all about extra cash for them of course.

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Thats the real reason why they are asking for free postage. They just want the FVF. Nothing at all about actually being a "Top Seller".

[clarry100]

I thought TRS rating was based upon your sales performance in terms of volume and $$$ over a specified time rather than if/not you changed your listings.

[*crikey*mate*]

I think the free postage thing is for top rated seller plus.

I'm a *cough*top rated seller*cough*, (got the little logo next to my score an effryfink) but I only have free post on about 10% of my things? Maybe less by now (was just on one line that was cheap to post, so I listed free post to help me DSR's out.)

[digital*ghost]

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@clarry100 wrote:

I thought TRS rating was based upon your sales performance in terms of volume and $$$ over a specified time rather than if/not you changed your listings.

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It is, and still displayed on the feedback profile but not anywhere else. TRS+ is listing specific, and gets the eBay Premium Service badge on listings if you're a TRS and all the right things are offered on an individual listing (free post, an express option and 30 day money back returns).