Why does eBay evaluate your service metrics?
When a buyer purchases an item on eBay, they expect it to arrive on time and as it was described in the listing. Return requests for “items not as described”, and “item not received” can be both time-consuming and costly for sellers to resolve. eBay provides service metrics and benchmarks as a tool for sellers to stay informed and to minimize return requests of this type.
Every month eBay takes a look at how many times your buyers reported that they didn't receive an item or requested a return because their item wasn't as described. eBay counts all opened cases because even if you resolved the issue promptly, it indicates that the transaction didn't go as smoothly for the buyer as it could have.
There are many factors which can influence the number of cases in your service metrics (such as types of items or seasonality), so eBay doesn't set limits for these. Instead, it takes the average rates from other sellers with similar sales activity — or “peers” — as a benchmark to evaluate your performance. eBay also has some safeguards in place to protect sellers and ensure fair evaluation.
It's important to check your service metrics regularly so that you can see how you compare to other sellers. On your Service metrics dashboard, you can see details of your service metrics, including your projected rate for the next evaluation. Note that this projection may change if more cases are opened.
To check your Service metrics dashboard:
- In Seller Hub, go to the Performance tab and choose Service metrics from the left menu or top dropdown menu
- Or use the quick link
If your rates of “'Item not received” or “Item not as described” have increased, or are considered high compared to your peers, it's important to focus on minimizing these issues as soon as possible — this will help to improve your rating at the next evaluation. For more help, read the article How to monitor and improve your seller performance.
How does eBay calculate these metrics?
On the 20th of each month, eBay takes a look at your recent transactions. To make sure it is getting a fair picture, eBay will adjust how far it looks back (the “evaluation period”) depending on how much you've sold recently:
Low-volume sellers
< 400 sales transactions in the previous 3 months
12-month evaluation period
(all your transactions for the last 12 months will be counted)
High-volume sellers
≥ 400 sales transactions in the previous 3 months
3-month evaluation period
(all those transactions will be counted)
For your service metrics, eBay counts how many times your buyers have either:
- Reported that an item hasn't arrived
- Requested a return because an item doesn't match the listing
Peer benchmarking means eBay looks at how your rates compare with those of other sellers who have similar sales activity, items and business policies:
What this means
The percentage of your transactions where a buyer reported that the item didn't arrive or was not available for collection.
You are compared to other sellers who:
- Have a comparable volume of transactions, with the same evaluation period
- Sell items on the same eBay site with a similar price
- Ship to the same destinations (see below) with similar expected delivery timeframes
Shipping categories
When comparing “Item not received” rates, eBay takes into account where sellers are shipping their items:
- Domestic: The item location and shipping address are in the same country
- International — Matured region: The shipping address is in one of the following regions:
- United States and its territories
- Canada
- Australia
- China
- Hong Kong
- Taiwan
- Japan
- New Zealand
- South Korea
- Israel
- United Arab Emirates
- Singapore
- Most European countries and British Territories
- International — Emerging region: The shipping address is neither “Domestic” nor “International — Matured region”
Calculation examples
These examples illustrate how eBay compares and evaluates sellers for each type of service metric.
“Item not received” service metrics example
Let's look at some low-volume seller on eBay. The seller uses tracked labels, but can generally only make it to the post office once a week to drop parcels off, meaning some items take a little longer than expected to arrive.
| Low-volume seller | Peer group | |
|---|---|---|
| Evaluation period | 12 months (1,000 transactions) | |
| Listing site | ebay.com | |
| Shipping category | Domestic | |
| Average selling price | $53 | $50-100 |
| Average delivery time frame | 3-7 days | Less than or equal to 10 business days |
| “Item not received” report rate | 1.1% (11 of 1,000 transactions) | 1.8% (avg. % of sellers' transactions) |
| Service metrics rating | ✅ Low | — |
“Item not as described” service metrics example
Let's look at some family businesses on eBay. Over the past couple of years, they've been increasing their sales on eBay and it's now an important part of their turnover. But recently they decided to try a new supplier, and unfortunately many of the goods were defective, which led to a high number of returns.
| High-volume seller | Peer group | |
|---|---|---|
| Evaluation period | 3 months (1,000 transactions) | |
| Listing site | ebay.com | |
| Category | Jewelry & Watches | |
| Average selling price | $127 | Over $100 |
| Item condition | New | |
| Return policy | Return accepted | |
| Average delivery time frame | 3 days | Less than or equal to 10 business days |
| “Item not as described” return rate | 7.8% (78 of 1,000 transactions) | 1.3% (avg. % of sellers' transactions) |
| Service metrics rating | ❌ Very High | — |
The meaning of service metrics ratings
Your service metric ratings for “Item not received” and “Item not as described” give you an indication of how well you're preventing buyer issues, compared to your peers.
What happens if your rating is very high?
If your service metrics evaluation on the 20th of the month shows that your “Item not received” and “Item not as described” rates are significantly higher than your peers, eBay may put measures in place to help manage buyers' expectations when ordering from you.
Some limitations are applied straight away after the evaluation, while others take effect from the 1st of the following month.
Very High “Item not received” rate
Directly after the evaluation:
- For the shipping categories where you are currently evaluated as Very High, eBay may add extra time when showing buyers an expected delivery date for your items
- Funds from your orders may be placed on hold until tracking information shows that the item is on its way to the buyer
- You may be unable to deduct an amount from the buyer's refund if an item is returned used or damaged
Very High “Item not as described” rate
Directly after the evaluation:
- You may be unable to deduct an amount from the buyer's refund if an item is returned used or damaged
From the 1st day of the month following the evaluation:
- You may be charged higher final value fees. For full details, please see fees pages:
Fair evaluation, seller protections and appeals
eBay's service metrics are in place to protect the interests of all users, and are intended to look at your performance in context, rather than being specific to individual transactions. eBay understands that some types of items will see more returns than others, and that international deliveries usually take longer than domestic ones. Peer benchmarking helps identify sellers whose rates of “Item not received” reports or “Item not as described” returns are statistical outliers.
Fair evaluation
To ensure your ratings are based on valid statistics and fair comparisons, and that eBay only places limitations on selling activity when significant differences are identified:
- eBay only benchmarks you against sellers with similar sales activity, items and business policies
- eBay may adjust a rating in certain circumstances so that it won't affect your account. When it does this, you'll see a message in the service metrics dashboard. For example:
- Your sales have grown and you've changed from a 12-month to a 3-month evaluation period and peer group. If this results in your rating becoming Very High, eBay will adjust your rating and limitations won't apply for one evaluation cycle
- A service metric rating is High or Very High, but the rate of reports/requests is less than 1% of transactions
- A Very High rating won't affect your account unless it involves at least 10 reports/requests with 10 unique buyers
Seller protections
eBay has safeguards in place to protect your ratings and help you in case you have a problem. For example:
- If eBay determines that a buyer has violated the Abusive buyer policy, it will automatically remove any “Item not receive” reports or “Item not as described” return requests they had filed from service metrics
- eBay may extend expected delivery dates and/or remove 'Item not received' reports from service metrics when things happen that cause widespread delays, such as severe weather or carrier disruptions
While these protections are available to all sellers, some of other eBay's protections are dependent on meeting specific eligibility and/or seller performance criteria. Learn more on how eBay protects sellers
Appeals
eBay will only remove ”Item not received” reports or “Item not as described” return requests from your service metrics when they fall under our automated seller protections.
Your service metrics ratings need to be statistically meaningful and substantially worse than your peer group in order for limitations to be applied, so individual reports/requests shouldn't adversely affect your account standing.
If you believe a buyer is not following eBay's policies, you can report the buyer and eBay will look into it. Learn more about appealing defects