# Ebay's Top Rated Seller Status



## clovis (May 13, 2002)

I am so frustrated.

I just lost my top rated seller status on ebay, just before Christmas. What a nice present from my friends in San Jose, California.

We work our tails off trying to keep our TRS status. In fact, our lives revolve around shipping times. We _never_ miss our deadlines.

We have a few low cost items listed on ebay as a Buy It Now. Like most of our items, these ship first class. 

It costs us 45 cents to ship an instruction manual if we put postage stamps on it, but $1.67 if we pay through USPS on ebay and use the free tracking.

Since the USPS site that is tied to your ebay sales doesn't allow you to buy any postage less than 3 ounces, the minimum cost is $1.67.

Overall, I like the USPS free tracking stuff. I think it is a great idea. But, on the other hand, we have in essence taken a pay cut because of this. The USPS site doesn't allow for partial ounces.

For instance, if we use stamps on another manual, it costs 1.70, but if we use the tracking, the cost is now 2.28.

I know that a dollar here and 48 cents there doesn't sound like much, but when you are shipping 40 items a week, it starts adding up. Even at 20 items a week, at an average price hike of 50 cents each, I am losing $520 a year. Who enjoys taking a pay cut like that?

For whatever reason, we've sold a ton of the manual that costs .45 to mail using stamps. I've refused to give ebay and the USPS the additional $1.22 for tracking...and now they have pulled my TRS status.

Yes, I know there are a few shipping discounts when using the system, but yanking my TRS status over this just sucks big.

You would think that ebay would allow some grace on tracking items that cost less than $10, but can still ship via first class with less than 3 ounces.


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## rockrdude (Jul 18, 2012)

Ebay is all about making money for them, and they just use you to do it. I sold on eBay for 12 years, and for many of those years, it was lucrative and even fun, despite the constant policy changes. About 4 years ago, it got to the point where they were making all the money and I was doing all the work, so I stopped selling on eBay altogether. I had TRS status when I stopped, and sadly it didn't give me better placement in search or any real benefits, when all was said and done.

It was much more fun back when I could list 100 items and sell 99 of them for a good price. They made money, I made money, and everybody was happy... until the greed factor kicked in.

I hope you find a good way to work around this. I have things I want to sell, and I may have to try using eBay again to do it since it is the only venue where some of these items could sell. Admittedly, I am not looking forward to it, but I want some of these things out of here!


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

I sympathize, clovis. I lost my TRS for the month of October because I'd had three shipments in July that took two days instead of one. This summer was small enough volume that those three were just enough to drop my average once September's cycle came around. 

And it _killed_ me! Seriously. Do whatever you need to to get TRS back. 
My sales volume plummeted until I got TRS back in November's billing cycle because I no longer had my listings at the top of search pages. 
I know it sucks to have to pay more to use DC, but write it into your cost of doing business. 
You might easily lose more than that $500, just in exposure, having lost TRS.


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## happychick (Sep 20, 2010)

With our eBay store, it is a constant job to stay top rated - know what you mean. We ship EVERYTHING with USPS except very heavy/large items, which go UPS. It is worth the extra fee to ship with USPS instead of using stamps. Consider marking up either your shipping price and/or your item price to make up for the shipping difference...


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## clovis (May 13, 2002)

Thank you for the replies!!!

The other side of this ebay TRS issue is that I am buying less from ebay.

For instance, from time to time, we have purchased grocery coupons from ebay. I used to search for the items I wanted, and then chose those with TRS, as long as they were with in a reasonable price range. Now I am back to having to search out good sellers and having to check their feedback. More than once, I have simply said "forget it" due to the amount of work and time it took.

As for our own selling account, we are now seriously considering setting up a second ebay account for those items that are less than $10 and weigh less than 3 ounces. At times, these make up a good portion of our listings.

Again, thank you for the replies.


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## sisterpine (May 9, 2004)

looks like I am stepping back into a pile of dog poop! I am really sorry you lost your TRS deal. I know that is very important on Ebay. Doubt I will ever have that so I am not too worried about an extra day shipping as long as I get the item made and shipped inside of the 5 day window. I really don't know how you folks do it and I know you kill yourself to keep it up. Bless you all.


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## clovis (May 13, 2002)

sisterpine said:


> looks like I am stepping back into a pile of dog poop! I am really sorry you lost your TRS deal. I know that is very important on Ebay. Doubt I will ever have that so I am not too worried about an extra day shipping as long as I get the item made and shipped inside of the 5 day window. I really don't know how you folks do it and I know you kill yourself to keep it up. Bless you all.


It really isn't that hard. We are full time in the reselling game, and we just set our schedule to start on ebay shipments every day at 4:00. We can make the last truck of the day that pulls out of the PO, ensuring even quicker turn-around times.

This could be difficult for the person who is employed at another job 40 hours a week, but for us, we just make it a "drop dead time", so to speak.

Good luck on ebay!!!!!


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## sisterpine (May 9, 2004)

I see she said! Turned out the problems I was having were turbo lister/ebay problems not "old brain" problems like I thought. There sure are a lot of new rules since I was there last. But I think I got it figured out!


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

> It really isn't that hard....


That's pretty much how I work, too. I'm not full time by any stretch, but it's just another one of my part time jobs (my favorite one, truth be told). 
For me, I cut the day's orders every evening and print my labels first thing in the morning. Then they head out the door with me to whatever destination I have that day and get dropped in the mail. 
I've done it this way for years. The new "requirement" from eBay wasn't really a big deal, except on the rare occasions when it takes me two days instead of one. I'm now docked for it, when I didn't used to be.


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## sisterpine (May 9, 2004)

When I spoke with them I told them that each set of knobs was handmade after the order comes in and that it would take 5 days to make and quality check the mounting etc. I hope they don't expect me to get them out in one day! It takes 48 hours to heat set the epoxy!


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## happychick (Sep 20, 2010)

Clovis, Erin - would you mind adding your eBay shop in your signature link, or posting it in this thread? I learn a lot just seeing others shops, and I think there are several members here who would like to learn more about how you all do this.


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## Bandit (Oct 5, 2008)

Hi Clovis
Sorry to hear about Your problems with Fee Bay and Your TRS selling status , but it looks like You are NOT Alone .
Bob
These are from today's Seller-Central Forum

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/topic/Seller-Central/Help-With-Trs/5100126712 

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/topic/Seller-Central/New-Requirements-To/5100126703


http://forums.ebay.com/db2/topic/Seller-Central/They-Will-Give/5100126449


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

I have my regular web-store in my link because it costs me a LOT less in fees and consequently, I price my fabric cheaper. Therefore that's the one I tend to "advertise." 

However, here's my eBay store:
http://stores.ebay.com/The-Back-Gate-Country-Quilt-Shop

Mine is really basic, though. I'm pretty sure you don't want to look to me for ideas! :shocked: lol


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## JLMissouri (Dec 12, 2012)

I think Ebay is trying to push their sellers to the limit to compete with other market places, but in my opinion Ebay is suppose to be the flea market of the online world. I really liked the old Ebay, their greed may undo them going forward. Ebay tries to control a few sellers that are doing the wrong thing and everyone pays.

Due to the new standards I too lost my Ebay top rated status, and only have the powerseller perk which has already been guted by Ebay. For me it wasn't worth it. My items are usually the only ones of there kind on Ebay as they are hard to find parts. So I am the only listing or one of a handful. So I win by better price and low competition. I don't sell on Ebay to work every day, sometimes I have other work to do. I do miss the discount, but in the end freedom and lower stress won out.


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## GoldenCityMuse (Apr 15, 2009)

Don't forget ecrater as a selling venue. It is basic, but no listing fees.


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## Sturedman (Nov 18, 2012)

I sell books on eBay that are kind of unique and hard to locate. I have been selling since 1996 with different things. After too many years of constant changes to keep up with them, I gave up worrying about TRS and such. I am lucky not to need to be at top of searches. I think that's a carrot that they put out there, that seldom ever reach. It's the big box stores that eBay wants, not the individual seller. Once they clear us out, they think they can compete with Amazon.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

> I think that's a carrot that they put out there, that seldom ever reach


Not really. I'm a pretty small seller and I don't think clovis is a big box, either, but we both had/have TRS. :shrug:
And unless you're selling something REALLY unique, that top billing in searches is extremely beneficial.


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