How to Fix Below Standard on eBay

Is your eBay account below standard?

Any serious eBay seller knows how important it is to meet and exceed seller standards to attract more potential buyers and boost sales!

If your account has a low seller rating, customers will prefer to buy elsewhere, resulting in poor sales and low ratings! But there is a way to fix this problem and reverse your way to become one of eBay’s top-rated sellers!

After online selling for many years, I’ve seen first-hand how seller reputation can directly impact customer buying decisions. If not addressed promptly, this could lead to irreversible damage, and you may lose the potential to win over your customers again.

This guide will show you how to fix eBay’s below-standard status and provide tips on preventing it from happening, as it can significantly impact your online business.

The good news is that it is possible to address this problem, so don’t fret if it happens to you! The critical thing to remember is to address it immediately to attract more customers and increase your store visibility!

Are you ready to learn more? Keep scrolling…

Key Takeaways

• There are three eBay seller level statuses that you can have when selling on the platform: Top Rated Seller, Above Standard, and Below Standard.
• Being a Top Rated and Above Standard seller on eBay offers unique perks and benefits to increase your sales volume and profits.
• Being a Below-Standard seller has negative consequences, including reduced search exposure, higher selling fees, selling limits, and restricted access to eBay promotion tools.
• Fixing a Below Standard seller level entails evaluating your transaction defect rates and requesting eBay seller support to remove those mistakenly added to your account. Document evidence supporting your request to avoid bringing your seller level down.

Understanding the Implications of eBay Seller Levels

What are the eBay seller levels, and what do they mean? Understanding the seller level and its implications is vital to growing your online business and attaining top-rated seller status.

The best way to define the eBay seller level is that it is a rating given based on the shopping experience you provide buyers. It is an overall evaluation or performance metric of your customer service, estimated delivery and dispatch times, and other issues directly involved in buyer transactions within your business.

The average of the ratings from your buyers will determine which of the eBay seller levels you belong to.

Now, there are three eBay seller levels:

• Below Standard
• Above Standard
• eBay Top Rated Seller

Every 20th of the month, eBay evaluates the ratings on your eBay account. The evaluation period considers the cases closed on your eBay account without a seller resolution, defect rate, and late delivery rate.

These factors could bring the ratings up or down for eBay sellers.

Let’s examine each eBay seller level and what they mean.

Top Rated Seller

The eBay top rated seller status is the highest level on the platform. Sellers who reach this status consistently meet eBay’s performance criteria for selling on the platform, which include a low transaction defect rate, prompt shipping, and excellent customer service.

Ensuring you meet the said criteria as an eBay seller has some fantastic perks! What are they?

First, you can enjoy higher visibility within the eBay search results for your product listings. If buyers search for a particular product using a relevant keyword, any relevant product from your listings will appear first or among the top results for the specific search.

And any eBay seller knows what higher visibility means, which is a higher chance of making more sales!

In addition, if you are a top rated seller on eBay, a top rated badge is visible on your profile. Seeing a top rated badge suggests to your customers that you are a trustworthy seller with an excellent reputation. The more trust customers have in your store, the more likely they will buy from you over another eBay seller listing the same product as you.

Some buyers are even willing to spend a bit more on a similar product if it means they get the reassurance of buying from a reputable seller.

Meanwhile, sellers can enjoy additional benefits from eBay, including a discount on the final value fees. This means you can earn more for every sale and maximize your profits!

Now, let us understand the requirements to become a top rated eBay seller. Here are the important requirements to become a top rated seller:

• Must have at least 100 transactions on eBay
• Must have at least $1,000 in sales in the past 12 months
• Must have a very low transaction defect rate
• Must upload tracking information on time for a high percentage of orders

Do you have what it takes to become an eBay top rated seller? This seller level is a dream for many, but only a few can achieve it. The following eBay seller level is the most common one.

Above Standard

The Above Standard seller level is the most common for eBay sellers. It does not mean that achieving this seller level is easy because you must meet specific requirements to reach this level.

However, new eBay sellers can aspire for a Standard seller-level status, and many are able to maintain this status throughout their selling career on eBay.

While you don’t have the perks that Top Rated sellers enjoy, you can still get good visibility on search results for your products. In addition, you are not subject to the same penalties that sellers with a Below Standard rating often have.

Essentially, the Above Standard eBay seller is the standard you must work hard to achieve as an eBay seller to ensure success with your online business.

Maintaining the Above Standard status on eBay requires a transaction defect rate of under 2%. On the other hand, the cases closed on eBay without seller resolution should be less than 0.3% of the transactions on your eBay account.

Regarding shipping orders, Above Standard sellers must avoid or keep late shipments low. Maintaining a positive rating on delivery and shipping is especially important if you ship the items from local warehouses or suppliers.

Now that you understand the importance of the various eBay seller levels, you can take the steps to become a Top Rated seller. Or, if that’s not achievable, it is crucial to maintain an Above Standard status on your eBay business.

These seller levels allow you to have fewer selling limits and restrictions on your eBay account and optimize your selling on the platform.

If you want to know more, reviewing the eBay seller standards policy is a good practice to ensure you can meet or exceed these requirements.

Below Standard

A Below Standard level seller is the lowest eBay seller level. This level means your performance is below the standard metrics that eBay set for its sellers. In summary, your performance has fallen short of eBay’s expectations.

All sellers must aspire not to reach this level. Otherwise, you could face stiff penalties or deprive your eBay account of the two higher levels’ perks.

Consequences of a Below Standard Status on eBay

So, what are the consequences of failing to meet eBay’s specifications and requirements for selling?

Reduced Search Exposure

The first drawback to having a Below-Standard status on eBay is reduced search exposure. If your seller performance falls below the eBay standard, it affects the search algorithm and lowers your ranking in the search result listings.

This means that other sellers’ products will be shown to buyers before your product listings for relevant searches.

The lower search ranking is part of eBay’s commitment to encouraging sellers to maintain positive performance. Therefore, sellers with better performance will get better rankings than those with a Below-Standard level.

Unfortunately, sellers with Below Standard status will have their products seen less by potential buyers. Without visibility on eBay, you also lower your chances of making sales.

This directly impacts your sales volume and earnings on eBay.

Higher Selling Fees

As if it’s not bad enough that you’re getting fewer views on your products and possibly lower sales volume, sellers that are below standard in level must pay higher final value fees. Specifically, you must pay 5% on final value fees within a Below Standard status.

Due to this, a larger portion of your sales profits go toward eBay fees instead of in your own bank account.

The higher selling fees can impact your store’s overall profitability, cutting through your profit margins for every sale. They further limit your eBay business’s ability to grow and scale.

Selling Limits

If you need additional motivation to maintain quality performance on your eBay account, having a Below Standard status could impose additional selling limits.

To start, eBay imposes selling limits on the number of items you can add to your eBay store. The limits for your Below Standard account can prevent you from adding new products to your online store or expanding your inventory.

Selling limits on your eBay account can directly impact your sales performance. When you have fewer products to showcase on eBay, you cannot reach your target customers, further decreasing your chances of making sales.

This results in a snowball effect on your sales potential, which puts you in a precarious situation about selling on eBay.

Restricted Tools

Finally, having a Below-Standard eBay status can restrict access to valuable promotional tools on your eBay account. eBay offers these tools to sellers to help them promote their products and stores. Among these tools are Promoted Listings and Special Marketing Campaigns.

Now, if you are a Below-Standard seller, you won’t have access to these promotional eBay tools. This further limits your chances of increasing visibility for your products because you cannot promote them, and you’re already low in the search result rankings.

These consequences of falling Below Standard in your eBay seller level status can harm your online business. it is vital to review eBay’s seller standards policy to be informed about how to improve and maintain your performance metrics.

You can avoid the negative impacts on your business when you maintain the ideal seller-level status.

Checking Your eBay Account Status

While it’s crucial to avoid falling into the Below Standard seller status, knowing how to check your eBay account status allows you to address any issues affecting your seller performance promptly.

This guide will show you how to check your eBay status and the metrics directly impacting such rating.

First, go to the Seller Hub and find the section labeled “Seller level forecast.” Directly beneath that, you will see your seller-level status. Click on it for more detailed insight into your store’s performance metrics.

The first thing you will see is a history of your seller level status, such as your past and current seller levels. You can also find additional information, such as the following:

• Transaction defect rate
• Late shipment rate
• Cases closed without seller resolution
• Tracking uploaded on time and validated
• Transactions and sales

Bonus Tip:

The defect rate calculates all transactions in your eBay account, including cancelled orders due to out-of-stock products.

You can prevent this from negatively affecting your seller-level status by implementing software that will provide real-time and updated information on your stock levels from your supplier’s website.

This tool is beneficial because it will automatically update the stock levels on your product listing so that customers know when a product is currently out-of-stock.

Although the other metrics mentioned above might not directly impact the evaluation of your account, causing you to reach Below Standard status, they can still prevent you from reaching Top Rated status. Addressing these issues is still a good selling practice if you want to enjoy the benefits of being a Top-Rated eBay seller.

Strategies to Recover a Below Standard Account on eBay

Since I’ve shown you how to check your eBay account status, I suggest you monitor it regularly. This will allow you to be proactive in improving your seller status level and give you pointers on what you can do to become a Top-Rated or Above-Standard seller.

The first step to fixing your Below Standard status on eBay is to check the transaction defects rate and look into the specific defects you have on your account.

To do this, go to your account, check your ‘Seller level forecast,’ and go to ‘Cases closed without seller resolution.’

This section details all the cases closed without your resolution. I suggest you look into each case to understand what caused the defect rate to be high.

For example, did you fail to refund a buyer when they opened a case for refund? Did you forget to provide the buyer with a return label? Or did you fail to issue the refund within the agreed time?

Keep a record of all cases and issues that caused a defect on your account. This will make it easier to analyze what you could have done differently to address the cases better and avoid negatively impacting your seller status.

Also, try to assess why eBay had to step in and resolve the case.

In rare cases, defects can happen in your account when a buyer files a return case on an order. As soon as the seller returns the item to you, the seller will reach out to eBay to issue a refund on your behalf, even before you can send the return shipping label or issue the refund.

In such cases, it can result in a defect in your account because eBay had to step in, even though you have not yet reached the due date for resolving the case.

When reaching out to eBay seller support, pay close attention to similar cases so that you can improve your eBay seller level. You must also collect any evidence in your account so the eBay representative can remove it.

Once this information is documented, the next step is to contact eBay.

Three options are available when contacting eBay support:

1. Call eBay seller support
2. Chat with eBay seller support
3. Direct message seller support via the eBay Facebook page

When speaking to an eBay representative, be polite and professional. It is also recommended that you request a prompt response and emphasize the urgency of your request. A timely resolution is crucial to removing your Below-Standard level status before the next evaluation period.

Conclusion

There you have it—the steps to fix Below-Standard seller-level status on eBay! Prevention is always better than cure, so monitor your performance metrics. Staying on top of your seller metrics enables you to improve your seller performance and boost your business.

Given the stiff competition on eBay, every factor counts in ensuring you can boost your sales volume and profitability! Hopefully, you can use these tips to remove or prevent any defects in your account.