Suspended. Will I sell again?

[plant_hoarder]

I was recently suspended through faults of my own. I rang eBay and explained what I did. They could only look at one listing because the others were older than 90days. The listing was removed and my seller dashboard says my next evaluation I’ll be above selling standard. Does that mean I’ll be able to sell again?

[plant_hoarder]

The way eBay works really sucks sometimes, I was doing it the way I did it so I didn’t get negative feedback. No one wants to buy plants from someone that sends dead ones. Would I be better off saying buyer wants to cancel order?

[countessalmirena]

plant_hoarder, you would indeed be better off using that reason. Were I in your situation, I'd be contacting the buyer immediately post-sale with something like the following:

Dear [buyer]

Thank you for your purchase of [item]. Unfortunately, I've just double-checked that particular plant and it's not looking healthy at all, due to factors that were out of my control at the time. Rather than send you a plant that might be dead on arrival, I would prefer to cancel this sale and in a few weeks or so relist a similar plant in superb health, which you would be very welcome to bid on/purchase.

I do apologise for this inconvenience, and hope to see you again in a future transaction.

Best regards,

[name]

Then follow through with cancelling the transaction.

That way, you'll avoid the deadly Out-Of-Stock black mark (to be avoided at all costs).

[digital*ghost]

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@dazzledayz wrote:

There are really only 2 common events that will get you suspended on eBay:

1. Late delivery defects (so use a long handling time if post is slow from your location).

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Late shipments don't actually affect a seller's account that way - you can lose Top Rated status at 5%, but you can't fall below standard and be restricted from selling:

"If your late shipment rate exceeds 10%, we may restrict the options you have available for handling times. However, this won't cause you to drop "Below Standard"."

https://sellercentre.ebay.com.au/standards

The two things that can affect a seller's account that way are the transaction cancellations, as mentioned, and cases closed without seller resolution, which happens when a buyer escalates a request and is then found in their favour by eBay (you are only allowed 0.3% or 2 of the latter before you risk account restrictions, but for transaction cancellations, it's 2% or 4 instances).

[dazzledayz]

Thanks for pointing that out Digi, I completely forgot to mention case resolutions.

The thing with late shipment is actually a very grey area in that once your standard is assessed as low, your visibility will be impacted but to what extent is very unclear.

There are still enough sellers shipping from "Darwin" to lead one to believe the effect may not be that great but who knows?

As for the out of stock issue, I do notice a lot of the big UK booksellers sidestep this by marking items as posted, then some time later putting through a refund claiming damage or missing stock.

It does look as though once an item is marked as posted, a refund can be given later without penalty.

I suppose ebay is happy enough as they get to keep the fees.

These sellers rack up huge numbrs of Negs/Neuts but that doesn't affect them one iota.

[dazzledayz]

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@countessalmirena wrote:

plant_hoarder, you would indeed be better off using that reason. Were I in your situation, I'd be contacting the buyer immediately post-sale with something like the following:

Dear [buyer]

Thank you for your purchase of [item]. Unfortunately, I've just double-checked that particular plant and it's not looking healthy at all, due to factors that were out of my control at the time. Rather than send you a plant that might be dead on arrival, I would prefer to cancel this sale and in a few weeks or so relist a similar plant in superb health, which you would be very welcome to bid on/purchase.

I do apologise for this inconvenience, and hope to see you again in a future transaction.

Best regards,

[name]

Then follow through with cancelling the transaction.

That way, you'll avoid the deadly Out-Of-Stock black mark (to be avoided at all costs).

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Countess, that approach will still result in a strike as the reason for the cancellation is the sellers fault as far as ebay is concerned.

You are spot on about the rapid changes to seller evaluation; anyone returning from a break in activity will need to do a fair bit of research to be safe.

It's almost as bad for buyers too, what with all the changes to search and the site front end in general.

Consistency is a desirable thing s far s ordinary humans are concerned.

[meekamag2 · Accepted solution]

To cover yourself, just say, 'I assume you'd like to cancel the sale?' That way you can give 'Buyer wishes to cancel sale' for your reason for cancellation, and no marks against you.

[countessalmirena]

Dazzledayz, meekamag, as I re-read my post yesterday, I realised I'd worded the "message" in a way that I itched to reword. Yes, something like, “Would you like to proceed or would you prefer to cancel? Please let me know within 2 days; I will assume that you wish to cancel if I do not hear from you within that period.” Or that effect.

Then, as said, buyer requesting cancellation is the reason to select when cancelling.

[digital*ghost]

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@dazzledayz wrote:

The thing with late shipment is actually a very grey area in that once your standard is assessed as low, your visibility will be impacted but to what extent is very unclear.

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I believe that is true as well - if memory serves, another seller had this directly confirmed by an ebay rep on the phone, after getting a late shipment and sales dropping. I tend to take these things with a grain of salt, as I think sometimes conincidences can fuel confirmation bias, and ebay reps are well prepared for blaming the sellers actions or status for other events, but even though you can't face selling restrictions directly, the fact that it can cause loss of TRS (which definitely can affect BM rankings) would suggest it is tied to visibility in some way. 

Some accounts seem to be immune to it, though (or indeed, most eBay policies that thwart other sellers). Though, if they are high volume it might take a lot more to have an effect - eg with 1000 sales a month, at least 50 of those would need to have late shipments in order to lose TRS, and if they have uploaded a tracking number (which many do) the buyer may not ever be asked the question, even if actual dispatch within Australia didn't take place within their handling time. 

I think the UK booksellers tell buyers (if questioned) that they were out of stock or somesuch, but probably still use the buyer asked to cancel as the reason for issuing a refund (I've seen quite a few negs for such sellers that stated as much, at any rate). 

[countessalmirena]

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digital*ghost wrote:

I think the UK booksellers tell buyers (if questioned) that they were out of stock or somesuch, but probably still use the buyer asked to cancel as the reason for issuing a refund (I've seen quite a few negs for such sellers that stated as much, at any rate). 

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... which makes something of a mockery of the whole business, of course.

I can perfectly see that, since negatives don't impact a seller's ability to sell on eBay as far as punitive action by eBay is concerned, then the occasional unhappy buyers become less of a factor in the overall business model. Pleasing eBay becomes/is far more important, and that means avoiding the actions that attract eBay's Chief Whip. Perforce, it means choosing reasons for cancellations that aren't accurate or honest, because being accurate and honest would be like standing in the middle of a highway and freezing with dazzled eyes as a huge semi-trailer approaches at speed.

[digital*ghost]

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 wrote:

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I can perfectly see that, since negatives don't impact a seller's ability to sell on eBay as far as punitive action by eBay is concerned, then the occasional unhappy buyers become less of a factor in the overall business model. Pleasing eBay becomes/is far more important, 

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That's it exactly - eBay has created many situations where, because I have to protect myself from them, I also have to disappoint buyers in the process.  (I'm honest with my buyers of course, and don't ever mislead about postage etc, but there's still plenty of scenarios where my business decisions are made in light of ebay's consequences, rather than what I would do if that stick were not there).