A seller thought it was because they owed a ton in fees that the features were removed. Not until selling on a second account did they notice the same features were removed.
mannnn, that explains why ive been seeing a sudden decrease in sales lately (from the 30th), i just notice my auctions are no longer on the front page....there is always something up with ebay, always something...
Most of the top rated sellers i have seen are mostly small sellers.
Top rated seller program is a lil too strict IMO, i sell about 35k in sales a month with 4.8's and higher in all 4 categories with 99.8% feedback and I dont qualify
Finger crossed, please please please, hope that this stupid top-sellers program and listings features removal doesn't hit eBay Australia anytime soon. ^_^
Under the TRS program you are rated only by "fellow countrymen" on the site where you registered. If you have a business model whereby you are based in one country but sell mostly international that means you are being rated and your business controlled by a comparatively small number of buyers. UK buyers are the most penny pinching whingers there are, Rhey leave far harsher DSRs than my US customers.
The answer is to use the eBay shipping preferences to block sales to your own country. Or remove the shipping price for the domestic market. So those buyers have to email you and ask "pretty please" for an exemption. You can then allow only "known/previous" customers to buy from you or broker some kind of a deal whereby they leave you 5 stars across the board in return for being allowed to buy.
You only need 100 sales per annum to your own fellow countrymen to maintain TRS status. Thats an average of 10 a month. Surely you have 10 friends or relations who can buy a small cheap item from you once a month and leave you 5 stars!