Hey there Zikkers!
So, one of the first things an eBay seller or drop shipper focuses on when starting on their journey is their profits and revenue.
And for good reason, taking a look at your profit and overall revenue, especially during the kickoff of your eBay store, gives you an insight into how your store is performing in terms of your cost-efficiency and your total sales performance.
That said, there is something that we believe is fundamental to your success as a seller that we would like you to encompass into your daily routine that will take your store from “making a few sales” to a full blown income producing eBay business that is making sales for you daily.
That is, focusing on improving your eBay seller rating. This article will touch on 6 tips to increase your eBay seller rating QUICKLY in 2023.
Quick Navigation
Reduce negative feedback
Focus on “high-end” sales
Take care of ALL cases
Use accurate item descriptions
Provide stellar customer service
Review your detailed seller rating
WATCH: Quick guide on how I increase my seller rating quickly
What are eBay seller ratings?
So what are eBay seller ratings and how do they affect me? To start off, your seller rating is actually a ranking calculated by eBay that puts you in one of 3 possible seller “levels”.
You can see your detailed seller rating in your seller dashboard on eBay.
This part is important because your feedback rating as a result of your seller performance will basically decide how much and how often your store will be show in the search results to potential buyers.
Its important to note, that eBay re-calculates this rating on the 20th of every month, so if you suddenly find your seller rating dropping – it’s not the end of the world!
Based on eBay’s feedback rating, your sales performance, and the quality of service you provided, you will be assigned to one of the following seller levels:
😊 Top-rated
🙂 Above Standard
😞 Below Standard
Becoming a top-rated seller should be the goal if you are looking to start selling on the platform. Just getting started? you can check out our recent guide on how to sell on eBay for beginners.
But, what are the necessary steps that you can take to really become top-rated? Of course, Zik Analytics has got you covered. Check out our top 6 tips to increase your seller rating below.
Tip 1:Â Reduce negative feedback
First things first, as an eBay seller you need to take understand how to minimize and remove negative feedback.
Now, depending on if you are a dropshipper or a seller you may or may not have control over your inventory.
If you are a drop shipper, there is always a risk of receiving negative feedback from time to time due to a slow shipping time or other inventory issues.
We know that negative feedback can arise from a range of reasons, but the main thing that you need to know as seller is that you are in control of setting your buyers’ expectations which can help avoid negative feedback.
How to reply to negative feedback
In this scenario, let’s say that our buyer has left you neutral or negative feedback. An important first step is to reply to the buyer’s feedback on your feedback profile with something simple like:
We are sorry for the poor experience you experienced at our store, and we would love to make it better.
Or something similar along those lines.
Replying immediately to the negative feedback says to your future buyers that “we care about your experience and we strive to continuously improve our customer services”!
This way, you are not trying to actively hide the negative feedback and that you’re taking it as constructive criticism.
Should I request a revision from eBay?
After replying to the negative feedback, we recommend avoiding requesting for a revision from eBay as a next resort because, as much as possible, we don’t want eBay to get involved as it may overcomplicate stuff for your store. This is especially true if you are a drop shipper.
Messaging your buyer
What you can do instead is to directly message the buyer that left the negative feedback.
Here, you can again, apologize for the bad experience causing them to leave negative feedback and let them know what actions you can do to compensate them, maybe even a cash rebate or waiving shipping costs.
In a lot of instances, this may result in positive feedback and can actually improve your eBay feedback rating.
Tip 2: Get more positive feedback by focusing on “high-end” sales
This next tip is for you to focus on high-end sales to increase eBay feedback and provide your buyer with a positive experience.
Why high-end sales? We have found these kinds of products are the most likely to have buyers leave feedback.
But, how exactly does this work?
To do this, you need to harness the power of ZIK analytics! From the ZIK website, select product research. In the search bar, you are going to search for a certain brand that we know certain suppliers carry.
You can select any type of brand or product that you want. The goal here is to find items that are on the higher end of the price range and that actually sell a lot.
So what you can do is select a couple of these items and you are also going to be scanning a couple of these sellers as well while searching for your high-end items. When searching for these high-end items, you should also make sure that the price is above $50.
Once you find a good product that has a lot of feedback, you can safely assume that adding it to your store will help your improve your feedback percentage.
It is important to understand that you may end up losing a bit of money on this strategy, however we count this as basically buying your positive feedback and is a form of a controlled loss strategy that has other positive impacts on your store.
Tip 3: Take care of ALL eBay cases
The next tip is to handle all of your cases the right way. Through your eBay account, the resolution center shows you all of your cases, which can be cancellations of orders, or buyers’ requests and disputes.
You will need to take care of all of these cases.
How to deal with eBay order cancellations
Let’s first tackle order cancellations. Firstly, we have to make sure that if we were to cancel any orders, we’re doing it for all the right reasons and that we have to let our buyers know why we are canceling certain orders.
Canceling orders is important for drop shippers, but doing it because you might be losing money doesn’t sit quite well with eBay.
In canceling an order, you should almost always say that the reason for the cancelation is that the buyer asked to cancel. You do still need to communicate with them directly to encourage buyers not to buy the product in question.
This may be done by offering free shipping, discounts, or other types of compensation for them to chose a different option.
How to deal with requests and disputes on eBay
Going to the requests and disputes section of your eBay account, you should always aim to have zeros across the board. If you do happen to have any items on this particular page, act on them immediately.
You want to make sure that your cases have a seller resolution, as you do not want eBay stepping in! Doing this is extremely important because this has a strong impact on your eBay seller ratings.
Tip 4: Use accurate item descriptions
Next, adjust your item description to be a more accurate to reflect the actual product. What does this mean, though?
Well, making your listing description as direct and as informative as possible so that your buyer has everything in front of them ensures that they know what they are actually buying and lessens the chances for any kind of negative feedback to your store.
Accurate and informative item descriptions wouldn’t also be complete without clear pictures of the product itself.
In the end, this will leave your buyers fewer questions about that particular product, or any product for that matter, that you are trying to sell on eBay.
Why is this part super important? Well, it is important for your buyers first of all.
You have to have some type of relationship with your buyers to encourage a positive feedback score and repeat business.
It’s also important for you as it actually saves time when you give out all of the information about the specific item that you’re selling. This reduces questions and returns due to unclear expectations about the product.
But thirdly, a very important piece of this puzzle as to why we put all of this information there is because eBay wants the buyers to have the best experience when using eBay, and rightfully so!
Tip 5: Provide stellar customer service!
As much as possible, we, as eBay sellers must give the best service possible! The most important thing that we have as sellers on eBay is the customer support section of your eBay page.
We can not emphasize this enough, but as a seller, it is ESSENTIAL that you answer every single one of the messages that you receive, and this has to be done in a quick and efficient way because we don’t want to take any chances with this.
Avoiding a message will mean that we automatically get negative feedback and this is something that we want to avoid at all costs, so when we answer our clients’ messages quickly, then we give them the best customer service.
But, when we provide everything at our best and full capabilities, and we fully allow our buyers to leave detailed seller ratings: we are providing our buyers a great shopping experience!
Tip 6: Review your detailed seller rating
The detailed seller rating is a breakdown of important information like:
- The item description accuracy
- How quickly the item arrived to the buyer
- If the buyer thought the shipping and handling charges were fair
- How well you communicated with the buyer
It is important to review these items thoroughly to ensure that you are not being marked down for any of these categories.
If you do see that this is happening, you will need to take steps to fix this such as offering free shipping where possible and following the rest of the tips 1 through 6 in this guide.
Final thoughts
Being a profitable eBay seller is no different to running a brick and mortar business. Your online reputation is KEY.
In eBays standards, your online reputation is your seller rating. For this reason, it is important to do everything you can to protect and improve that rating.
As the Zik Analytics team has always emphasized, customer service is the bread and butter towards your goal of increasing your overall rating!
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean to be a top-rated seller on eBay?
Being a top seller means that you are one of eBay’s best sellers providing exceptional quality customer service. As well as, that your eBay business is meeting the minimum sales requirements for the this seller level.
If you’re a part of the prestigious and sought-after league of top-rated sellers, you are also eligible for the top-rated plus listings benefits as long as you meet the needed listing qualifications.
On top of that, you can also actually be rated as Top-Seller plus! This means that you qualify for the following benefits:
- The Top Rated Plus seal will be showcased prominently in your feedback and in the item descriptions of your products.
- A 10% discount on your standard fees including shipping and tax.
Is it possible to increase eBay Seller Rating quickly?
Yes, it is possible to increase your eBay seller rating quickly, as eBay recalculates your seller rating every month.
You will need to take quick decisive action and take steps to reduce negative feedback, increase positive feedback to bring up your average feedback scores.
You will also need to make sure to close all cases and overall provide a stellar customer experience
What is an above Standard eBay seller rating
Being an above-standard eBay seller means that your customers also leave positive feedback on your store, that you’re meeting eBay’s minimum standard for sellers, and that you are looking after your customers well.
What does it mean to have a below standard eBay seller rating
If your store needs more eBay feedback and you’re struggling to meet one or more of eBay’s minimum requirements for customer service quality, eBay’s automated feedback reminder will most likely put you in the category of Below Standard eBay sellers, which is not ideal.
What is a good seller rating?
A good seller rating is the top rated status because it gives you unique benefits on top of encouraging customer confidence due to a high seller rating.
What is a bad seller rating?
In terms of a bad seller rating, it is always the below-standard seller rating. Primarily because it means that you’re not meeting the minimum requirements for customer service quality.
This may mean that buyers are discouraged from buying from your shop because of your low seller rating.
