if i become a ebay top rated seller

[bonedaddy101]

I have been invited by ebay to be a ebay top rated seller on a stealth account.

I have a few question about this,

Could I just keep my stealth address as my return address, what if I refund them and tell them not to send and then they send anyway would this flag anything?

if I am a top rated seller do ebay give you more chance to improve you're performance compared to normal sellers? like return rates etc and in regards to performance?

[jakobrockz]

In my experience eBay treats you better, but you're always at risk of being suspended etc.

Before being suspended, you'd lose top rated seller status. You get a 10% discount off fees (used to be 20% but they're greedy) and a few other benefits.

Just keep selling like you have been and you'll be fine

[phaz0rz]

I've had a top-rated account suspended before so being top-rated doesn't guarantee you won't be suspended. Being top-rated does mean your metrics are in great shape so the chances of you being suspended for bad metrics would be lower. But they can still come in and shut you down on the spot if you're doing something really bad.

If you look at your dashboard you'll see how being top-rated helps pad your metrics. Being top-rated means you're at the top of the scale and are as far away as possible from being "below standard". For this reason being top-rated gives you more of a chance to improve your selling metrics if anything ever goes drastically wrong.

On my first stealth account I never changed the stealth address to my own. It sold cheap stuff so 90% of the time I would refund the buyer without requiring a return. The other 10% of the time I email a return shipping label directly to the buyer, and upload the return tracking number to eBay. That way I can get returns back without adding my actual return address to eBay. It's safe to never change your stealth address to an actual address of yours.

Aren't sellers required to upgrade to a business account in order to become top-rated in UK?

[bonedaddy101]

Originally Posted by phaz0rz

I've had a top-rated account suspended before so being top-rated doesn't guarantee you won't be suspended. Being top-rated does mean your metrics are in great shape so the chances of you being suspended for bad metrics would be lower. But they can still come in and shut you down on the spot if you're doing something really bad.

If you look at your dashboard you'll see how being top-rated helps pad your metrics. Being top-rated means you're at the top of the scale and are as far away as possible from being "below standard". For this reason being top-rated gives you more of a chance to improve your selling metrics if anything ever goes drastically wrong.

On my first stealth account I never changed the stealth address to my own. It sold cheap stuff so 90% of the time I would refund the buyer without requiring a return. The other 10% of the time I email a return shipping label directly to the buyer, and upload the return tracking number to eBay. That way I can get returns back without adding my actual return address to eBay. It's safe to never change your stealth address to an actual address of yours.

Aren't sellers required to upgrade to a business account in order to become top-rated in UK?

Yes sellers are required to upgrade to a business account in order to become top-rated in UK.

Okay thanks for your helpful response. just feel by offering money back guarantee as a result would have more claims and cancelations as they would be more likely to buy and just refund if they change their mind etc. so feel that ebay should accommodate for the accurately.

[phaz0rz]

You'll probably be better off waiting for a UK member's input before making your decision, just because of the many differences between the top rated program on UK and US eBay.

Since the "money back guarantee" is offered by default on all US eBay accounts (it's not just a requirement for top-rated), that's not something I considered when making my comparison earlier. There very well may be some kind of extra leniency afforded to UK top-rated (business) accounts but that's not something I have experience with.

[bonedaddy101]

Okay thanks very much for the advise phaz0rz I think your right about needing someone from uk!

Any uk business seller able to advise?

Phaz0rz post is spot on.

You do have to legallly offer 'change of mind' returns but they are few and far between. Plus even on a private account a buyer can force a return by opening a case anyway.

All my accounts are business top rated seller accounts. I've never had one dip below standard so can't say if you get extra leniency.

[bonedaddy101]

Originally Posted by just_smile

Phaz0rz post is spot on.

You do have to legallly offer 'change of mind' returns but they are few and far between. Plus even on a private account a buyer can force a return by opening a case anyway.

All my accounts are business top rated seller accounts. I've never had one dip below standard so can't say if you get extra leniency.

Hi just smile thanks for replying to my thread I have a few more questions if you could answer I would be grateful.

If someone open a case( not undelivered) and you refund them straight away does this count as a defect on your account?

I just feel by having top rated seller would attract more scammers due them knowing them leaving bad feedback or opening case could leads to me losing my top rated seller status.

What do you do about the addresses? I can see that you could just send them an email with real addressee. but what If they send the item to the stealth addressee by mistake. is my stealth addressee even a real addresse I mean does someone actually live there? (I bought this account of James north didn't make it myself.

Could I just use a second addressee that has never been linked to an ebay?

Thanks

[phaz0rz]

If someone open a case( not undelivered) and you refund them straight away does this count as a defect on your account?

No. Only "cases closed without seller resolution" count against you.

I just feel by having top rated seller would attract more scammers due them knowing them leaving bad feedback or opening case could leads to me losing my top rated seller status.

It attracts some but it's not a big problem. eBay does a good job keeping scammers off the site.

What do you do about the addresses? I can see that you could just send them an email with real addressee. but what If they send the item to the stealth addressee by mistake. is my stealth addressee even a real addresse I mean does someone actually live there? (I bought this account of James north didn't make it myself.

If there's a way to do it where you live email the buyer a prepaid shipping label and not just the return address. I've had returns delivered to stealth addresses..

Could I just use a second addressee that has never been linked to an ebay?

Yes. You can even add it to eBay as a return address and use eBay return labels.



Just my £.02. Let's see if there are any differences between US and UK.

Phaz0rz advice is spot on again.

[dallis]

Just to clarify... being a TRS doesn't mean they cut you any slack on your metrics.

Your rating is the same whether you are a TRS or not.

In the past I've felt that TRS sellers are more subject to blackmail than others, I've gotten a fair number of emails across the years saying "I'd HATE to see you lose your TRS because you gave me cruddy service..."

I stopped accepting it a while back, so I don't know about today.

[phaz0rz]

^^That's inaccurate.



Being "Top Rated" literally means your rating is in the highest possible percentile because you have good metrics in your seller dashboard. Your rating can't possibly be the same "whether you are TRS or not" because "Below Standard", "Above Standard", and "Top Rated" and the only 3 possible ratings, with each having it's own set of standards.

Your account does get more slack because you are higher up on the defect rate scale than you would be if you were only "Above Standard".

I'm always top rated on all the accounts I care about and I've never had a problem with blackmail. On the handful of occasions it has happened I just called eBay.

Being Top Rated is not something that you "accept" on US accounts. It just happens when you're meeting all of the obligations eBay rates you on in your seller dashboard.

[dallis]

Reading TRS, thinking 'power seller', sorry, dead brain cell somewhere...