Low DSR in "item as described" has me "below standard"...help?

eBayGRRRR · #1 08-23-2013

Well, I didn't think it would happen to me but it looks like it's finally caught up. I don't sell bogie products of any kind. In fact, I sell licensed real material and have never had a VeRO issue or any other type of copyright infringement problem.

My problem crept up slowly with the low 1 & 2 stars from the DSR ratings on "item as described." I purposely offer free shipping (this avoids anyone being able to fill in that DSR), 1-day handling (this avoids anyone being able to fill in that DSR as I always ship within that time frame), and the communication DSR is also blocked from being filled in as long as I respond within 24 hours.

That leaves the sole category of subjectivity as "item as described." Without going into too much detail, I had 4 buyers over the last 12 months leave me a low DSR rating and I have 297 transactions. That put me over the 1% threshold and into the "Below Standard" category.

I talked to the person who just left me the 1 star and they agreed to call in and have it removed. They did, and eBay says it will be 24-48 hours to have that reflected on the account.

I spoke to one of the other three that left it and they also agreed to have it removed. They have not done it yet, but they claim they will.

Until then, I will have 3 1 star DSRs in the "item as described" category, leaving me at 1.01% (and technically still a "below standard" seller).

I am a silver powerseller, have been active on eBay since 2002 and have over 500 positive feedbacks with a 99.4% feedback rating (only 1 negative and 1 neutral in the past 12 months...neither of those is going to change it. I got stuck with IMPOSSIBLE buyers which we all know happens from time to time).

So far, my account has not been limited. There were no selling limits on my account before now and the CR reps that I've talked to have actually been somewhat helpful. They are going to forward the case to be reviewed to see if it can be taken off the Below Standard sooner rather than wait a full 30 day cycle.

At the moment, they are holding the funds I receive from any sales for 21 days OR 3 days after the item shows as "delivered" on tracking data.

I have a couple of questions:

1) What can I expect, if anything, as a response from eBay? Will they actually help my account and try to help me get it back to above standard? I'm literally 0.01% off of that until that second person removes the feedback (if they follow-through).

2) I am looking at creating stealth accounts just to have backups. I had never really known how simple it would be for someone to destroy your eBay account. All it would take would be 3 eBay accounts created by competitors to buy something, and then leave a negative feedback with a 1 star DSR and then POOF...you're done. Wow. How simple is that?

Any advice would be welcome. Like I said, I'm not selling bootleg anything and have never had an issue before so I'm not ready to just abandon the account so easily, but, I'd like an honest assessment if I will be able to get anywhere with eBay.

Thanks in advance.

bmwsouthside · #2 08-24-2013

Be prepared for paypal to hold your money as long as you are below standard and that sucks because we need fast turn around in this business. Your item placement in search will be awful.
If you get them to do anything before 30 day review you will be very lucky. You will be lucky if they do anything after 30 day review. These accounts are very sensitive these days and they are coming up with ways to hold money for more and more things. Reason #1 you must have more accounts going at all times. Selling on other venues also helps.
They dont care if you are silver power seller or mickey mouse they will hold money any chance they get. ebay/paypal is evil if you didnt know. The customer service will lie to you to get you off the phone.

eBayGRRRR · #3 08-25-2013

Thanks for the reply. So after calling in a few times and killing them with kindness, they actually did get the DSR rating off the account.

Oddly enough, my funds were NEVER held by PayPal. Even a couple of times they said that the funds would be held, but so far, they haven't messed with them at all.

My account now reads green checkmarks in all categories for an "Above Standard" seller, though it still says "Below Standard" as the official rating.

To resolve this, I called today and spoke to Trust & Safety. Though they were in India or someplace other than the USA, I did manage to get through to the person and they submitted my account for additional review. They said that after 48 hours, the account would be "above standard" again.

This is definitely a strange experience but overall, I'm actually glad that it happened. One, it opened my eyes to how easy it is for someone to get a completely legit seller thrown off eBay in just a few days.

I actually operate two "stealth" accounts (I always referred to them as ghost accounts) and never use the same IP. In fact I operate these accounts from my mobile devices. The only question I have is, can eBay track you through their app if you log in through multiple accounts on it, or can they still only track through IP, cookies and user details?

rsot · #4 08-25-2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by eBayGRRRR

The only question I have is, can eBay track you through their app if you log in through multiple accounts on it, or can they still only track through IP, cookies and user details?

Yes eBay can track you through their app - don't use it is the recommendation.

They can also track through IP and cookies.