Take heart sellers.

[Anonymous]

You are mostly in better standing than some of our biggest.

Apart from Masters no store in the panel holds TRS rating.

[aps1080]

What is TRS rating ?

[kizacks]

But the problem with that thinking is that they are not subject to the same standards/limitations as we are. We (smaller seller's) are always in a much more precarious position than the big boys who have signed off on exclusive back room deals with Ebay big wigs and have that added layer of protection knowing that they can screw up constantly and still build their business on Ebay. The big box Retailers will never feel the wrath of a limitation/restriction. Ebay may even fudge the numbers, so these big boys don't look as "bad"....

It's not a level playing field, anywhere, it's more like a potato field.

[cmcoins2000]

Top Rated Seller.

[amazonchicky]

Masters is no longer a TRS. 

[saarzi]

Yep. Big brands dont need to be top rated sellers. They have seperate contracts where ebay garuantees a rate of sales per month, among other things. The same thing happens in many industries - I used to be responsible for these types of contracts in business services and tourism industries. Different contracts for different types of businesses are normal in the business world.
They also dont seem to get banned forever when their seller standard falls below average.
These brands bring customers to Ebay.. whereas people like us dont - we get our customers from Ebay. They are not subject to the same rules, and its totally legal.

[blue_arroz]

"These brands bring customers to Ebay.. whereas people like us dont - we get our customers from Ebay. They are not subject to the same rules, and its totally legal. "

Big box seller's are not bringing new (or their) buyer's to Ebay, if they are, it's very minimal. As you say, they have their own customers. Ebay has no customers.

[artyandchic]

And I am not going to buy through eBay. I can go straight to the retailer either B&M store or their website and deal direct and get much greater value and customer service.