How to not get suspended

[solefoodbk]

I have been doing this for over 10 years now, and made plenty mistakes along the way.

After observing accounts, and knowing my own history I firmly believe INRC are by far the leading indicator that causes restrictions. When I first started selling I began to saturate sales unknowingly by selling easier items over time, or just low value things. That diluted my metrics but I stopped doing it after a certain point.

Every account I have lost since 2020 has been due to INRC. The MC011 never say this, but having gone through this process over 5+ times, which is extremely costly because that kills a years worth of revenue if you lose an aging account.

Maybe I say things to some that is obvious knowledge however, the secret sauce to beating this

1) Prevent claims being opened. Even when I ship all my packages on time I still get customers open claims saying they don't have it with package marked delivered. So there is only so much you can do.

2) Dilute sales. Have easy to sell items that bring in little or no profit that offset potential complaints from customers so your metrics are always solid

3) The game changer is get above 500 sales per 3 months valuation. The reason why this is so important is because your claims reset every 3 months.

I did not realize until recently but if you have 10 claims or less eBay adjusts your metrics to categorize as "average". My category for example is like 0.20% ratio for average which is completely unrealistic for me. I could ship every package same day and still not be average under these metrics because customers will open claims because they are stupid.

If and when you exceed 500 sales eBay will always categorize you as "average" for item not receive claims, which will PREVENT the periodic reviews. I don't get those reviews unless there is a problem. That review is a major red flag something is wrong on your account. Solve this problem and you fix the biggest concern eBay has. It is not item not as described complaints. I am watching numerous shops as a test and you can push customer dissatisfaction to extremes, what you cannot do is test late shipping which results in item not receive claims opening.

This is something I have struggled with for a while because I want to grow my account too quickly, then it leads to out of stock items I need to replenish, those turn into claims and it snowballs as I scale. If you don't get to the 500 sales per 3 months before this happens, and can't manage to stay under 10 claims per 3 months, then you are doomed to fail. Stay under that metric, and don't push 30% more month over month once you pass 10k per month, then keeping an eBay account should not be hard.

MC011 are algorithm based. Which means we must always remain with perfect metrics, and stay out of ALL high risk categories eBay finds as high risk, because algorithms will flag them more and more. That is the problem, but also our friend. I see zero reason to be Top Rated other than it is another additional level of security against algorithms that can flag your account. I know this from selling on other marketplaces, being in these groups eases the level of security attributed to the account relative to algorithms searching for problems.

[murdered_by_ebay]

you are correct but it is not universal and this should be told clearly , it is only for people selling expensive items and getting claims for such items

those who do not have such items can disregard most of what you wrote. they only need to make sure that any dispute is closed quickly , if they have valid USA tracking they add it and if it shows arrived they do not communicate with buyer but escalate the case

needless to say that volume should rise slowly or else

dilution only helps if there are no problems with expensive items

5 day review is not connected to 500 sales , you get it either because you have bad performance or the bots start it on withdrawal , each manual withdrawal ignites a check by bots

review will be no problem if turnover rises slowly and you do not amass disputes and if you do not have a high % of disputes in in money terms in relation to your turnover

[solefoodbk]

Maybe, I can only speak from my experience. When I had accounts that were evaluated at 500 sales for every 3 months, and I passed the 10 claims threshold, that’s always when I started seeing periodic reviews happen. I went from $0 to $10,000+ sales on an aged account in less than 4 months with zero reviews.

I’m currently managing the sales not to exceed $13,000 for at least one years time on a monthly basis.

Essentially my point is, once eBay views your metrics in high thresholds it’s the bots that can target you. Each year eBay will only become more reliant on algorithms to push restrictions. I don’t see that changing.

I remember in 2018 I had a 10%+ return rate for a period. I know that is horrible. I am watching accounts right now that I know have something similar, with currently sub 90% feedback and still active.

If you are not careful and don’t have lots of sales claims can stack up easily. Out of all the claims I’ve had recently, only one was due to me actually not shipping. My fault for being out of stock. I have 4 others from customers have tracking on their order and showing delivered still open claims.

[SaiJin]

This is a good guideline for everyone especially beginners.

Hmmm.... I'm tempted to sticky this thread

[murdered_by_ebay]

Originally Posted by solefoodbk

Maybe, I can only speak from my experience. When I had accounts that were evaluated at 500 sales for every 3 months, and I passed the 10 claims threshold, that’s always when I started seeing periodic reviews happen. I went from $0 to $10,000+ sales on an aged account in less than 4 months with zero reviews.

I’m currently managing the sales not to exceed $13,000 for at least one years time on a monthly basis.

Essentially my point is, once eBay views your metrics in high thresholds it’s the bots that can target you. Each year eBay will only become more reliant on algorithms to push restrictions. I don’t see that changing.

I remember in 2018 I had a 10%+ return rate for a period. I know that is horrible. I am watching accounts right now that I know have something similar, with currently sub 90% feedback and still active.

If you are not careful and don’t have lots of sales claims can stack up easily. Out of all the claims I’ve had recently, only one was due to me actually not shipping. My fault for being out of stock. I have 4 others from customers have tracking on their order and showing delivered still open claims.

you are certainly right that selling expensive items alone in small quantities is dangerous so unless you can make sure there will be no problems you better add more cheaper items otherwise a couple of disputes for whatever reason may destroy the account

[solefoodbk]

Originally Posted by murdered_by_ebay

you are certainly right that selling expensive items alone in small quantities is dangerous so unless you can make sure there will be no problems you better add more cheaper items otherwise a couple of disputes for whatever reason may destroy the account

I don’t know what you classify as expensive. My average sale is $70 with ranges from $10 to $300+.

My point is not the dollar value, it is that if you are getting item not received claims over 10 in a yearly based review chances are you’ll be in the high or very high threshold.

For all these MC011 I genuinely don’t think they have much to do with sale spikes, or return disputes. If they were why would eBay allow accounts with sub 90% feedback? If you have that feedback your return rate implied is defiantly 10%+.

There is never a direct reason usually but if you read most people on here, number one thing that has to be resolved first is orders have tracking, and show delivery. Number one thing to pass MC011 is first resolve this. I don’t think that is by mistake, rather it’s highlighting their actual biggest concern for an account in review by a human. But the algorithms flag it first.

It can be extremely easy to have 10 or more item not received claims on an account in a years time, and be in the high or very high threshold and not even even know you are.

Then once you are there, each new claim can trigger the bots to do the reviews is my point. You are on a slippery slope after that.

[rsot]

Great experience contribution OP

[murdered_by_ebay]

Originally Posted by solefoodbk

I don’t know what you classify as expensive. My average sale is $70 with ranges from $10 to $300+.

My point is not the dollar value, it is that if you are getting item not received claims over 10 in a yearly based review chances are you’ll be in the high or very high threshold.

For all these MC011 I genuinely don’t think they have much to do with sale spikes, or return disputes. If they were why would eBay allow accounts with sub 90% feedback? If you have that feedback your return rate implied is defiantly 10%+.

There is never a direct reason usually but if you read most people on here, number one thing that has to be resolved first is orders have tracking, and show delivery. Number one thing to pass MC011 is first resolve this. I don’t think that is by mistake, rather it’s highlighting their actual biggest concern for an account in review by a human. But the algorithms flag it first.

It can be extremely easy to have 10 or more item not received claims on an account in a years time, and be in the high or very high threshold and not even even know you are.

Then once you are there, each new claim can trigger the bots to do the reviews is my point. You are on a slippery slope after that.

these 10 claims may only apply if you mean not resolved claims where ebay sent a refund but even then it depends on volume / price and it always has

for example if those 10 disputes have a total value of $200 and you otherwise sell loads of of such items they will not play a significant role

expensive is anything above 30-40 usd , above 100 is very expensive

[murdered_by_ebay]

the biggest weakness of what you wrote is failure to connect sales volumes with item prices

if you sell many items you can afford getting many disputes , especially if you resolve them on your own but the total value of disputes matters , if you receive them for expensive items while most of the volume is for cheap items you are gonna have a problem

also the item location is a factor , if it is USA you can get an almost 100% protection against disputes. I know what I am talking about as parts of my inventory are sold there , if I have a valid USPS tracking number that shows that the item arrived I do not even try to negotiate with the buyer who filed a non receipt for that item , I just wait until the system shows on ebay status as "delivered" and as soon as the dispute can be escalated I do it myself. although if you added tracking in advance the ebay system should usually already display the status as delivered so the buyer would need to file non receipt on an items being displayed as delivered

[solefoodbk]

Originally Posted by murdered_by_ebay

these 10 claims may only apply if you mean not resolved claims where ebay sent a refund but even then it depends on volume / price and it always has

for example if those 10 disputes have a total value of $200 and you otherwise sell loads of of such items they will not play a significant role

expensive is anything above 30-40 usd , above 100 is very expensive

No I am talking about directly INRC that get opened. Just like if a customer opens a return request and you resolve it, it still counts towards your metrics. Defects are what you're implying, which is not what I am saying. The claims themselves under service metrics are rated.

Again, all I can speak from is my own experience, we all operate differently so take it with a grain of salt. But I know for a fact now for me, having viewed the chain of events of 10 years of failures, mixed with successes, my only MC011 came from INRC not return requests, or VERO. I know this for certain. It is the number one problem eBay has with a seller. Assuming you don't have other issues like bad account set up, strictly relating to keeping an account active for a long time, eBay is fairly lenient IMO for bad customer service, just not late shipping/non deliveries.

I will go a step further in saying now I review all orders nightly to make sure they are delivered, and if I see a RETURNED SENDER, I just refund the customer. I don't wait, I proactively fix it. If there is a delay I actively refund them something. These things I used to do, but then got a ton of money and stopped doing it. I had enough sales that keep my metrics very nice unknowingly.

I don't know how easy it is for some to have 500 sales in 3 months. I have to push sales to reach this currently, but I can do it. Again, if you don't operate in this window, then it is very easy to have 10 INRC get opened IMO, if you sell 500+ times over a yearly basis. Then assuming that, you probably are in the high threshold for INRC, and at risk for bots and periodic reviews.

[solefoodbk]

For all the claims I have had opened this year, my current account I had 12, 2 were actually for late shipping because I was out of stock. The others were packages delivered. You can win the claim, it still counts negatively in your metrics NOT defects, service metrics. So regardless of me doing everything I could in that scenario it still counts towards my metrics, but since I'm under the 3 months timeframe now, those old claims don't count so I'm still considered to eBay average as long as I keep under 10 claims per 3 months.

Back when I was running hot was 2017-2019, and I was under the 3 month timeframe adjustment. After 2020 whenever I tried to scale into that, I always had too many INRC disputes, over 2% which is "VERY HIGH", about the time I would be categorized as this under the review, the future claims I would then receive draw a parallel to periodic reviews. And I find with my accounts, that was always a precursor to an eventual MC011.

I'm pretty sure there are some people who never think about this but it could be a reason why they've had problems. It's taken me all this time to realize it myself.

[murdered_by_ebay]

the only values that matter are these:

Current seller level
If we evaluated you today
Transaction defect rate
Late delivery rate
Cases closed without seller resolution

transaction defect rate mostly comes from unresolved cases and refunds for orders without claims

[solefoodbk]

100% disagree.

So service metrics don't matter at all? Really? They just made that an entire section for no reason?

You seem to not understand I am not talking about defects, and never have. Therefore I'm done replying. If I sell on Poshmark it does not matter if I have 10 return requests in one month, and all 10 return requests are closed by my customer. Poshmark will flag the account and suspend you.

What I have said is once you are categorized as "VERY HIGH" for claims being opened, you are putting yourself at risk. Not sure how this is even debatable.

If you honestly think service metrics don't matter at all, and if you want to test being in the "VERY HIGH" category, good luck.

Too each is own.

(PS this is my 10 years of experience of highlighting my own failures, it's not me bragging about anything. I know for a fact every MC011 I ever had was related to shipping. And I have enough data to look at that suggests everything always began to turn on my accounts after I was deemed "VERY HIGH" for these claims. There is no other correlation for why I would receive periodic reviews, or MC011)

[murdered_by_ebay]

metrics matter but not as straightforward as you have described it

on ebay it is all about quantity/price/turnover being examined from various angles this is the reason why some people get kicked out being top seller and others continue selling with bad performance

I have a couple of accounts where I had bad luck with disputes but I resolved them all and the accounts are still selling. but I also had accounts that did not have disputes in any meaningful quantity and they were restricted. although I managed to get all except one reinstated but the point is that ebay do not work in a straight line - it is quantity/price/turnover - you sell large quantities of some trash items you can easily afford many disputes , you sell expensive items you better watch out , 1-2 disputes may be enough to bring you down

and no , the bots are not programmed to bring down people with bad performance by default , they always measure the value of disputes. and there are also different types of restrictions , on many low priced items the chances of reinstatement are significantly higher than with sellers who sell a little but at high prices. that is why there were so many people here that got taken down for selling iphones , watches etc. although they had tracking

[murdered_by_ebay]

Originally Posted by solefoodbk

For all the claims I have had opened this year, my current account I had 12, 2 were actually for late shipping because I was out of stock. The others were packages delivered. You can win the claim, it still counts negatively in your metrics NOT defects, service metrics. So regardless of me doing everything I could in that scenario it still counts towards my metrics, but since I'm under the 3 months timeframe now, those old claims don't count so I'm still considered to eBay average as long as I keep under 10 claims per 3 months.

Back when I was running hot was 2017-2019, and I was under the 3 month timeframe adjustment. After 2020 whenever I tried to scale into that, I always had too many INRC disputes, over 2% which is "VERY HIGH", about the time I would be categorized as this under the review, the future claims I would then receive draw a parallel to periodic reviews. And I find with my accounts, that was always a precursor to an eventual MC011.

I'm pretty sure there are some people who never think about this but it could be a reason why they've had problems. It's taken me all this time to realize it myself.

by the way , is your ebay actually registered in the US? that is one question I forgot to ask because what you are describing is the BBE policy for certain asian and middle eastern countries