Service standard policy — bad buyer experience rate

• What you need to know?
• Evaluation metrics
• Relation to Items Not Received
• How are you being evaluated?
• What you need to do?
• FAQ

eBay is committed to provide a trusted marketplace and a world-class customer experience. eBay therefore requires that sellers place great importance on buyers' experience and work hard on product and service quality control to reduce the bad buyer experience rate (“BBE”).

What you need to know?

Starting December 11, 2023, sellers will be evaluated on the number of transactions with bad buyer experience. The sellers whose BBE rate is much higher than the peer market average may be subject to a range of actions, including, but not limited to: 

1. Administratively ending or removing listings, 
2. Adjusting selling limits, 
3. Holding the payment, 
4. Enforcing buying or selling restrictions, or 
5. Suspending the relevant accounts.

Evaluation metrics

eBay will evaluate the rate of transactions with BBE defined by four evaluation metrics below:

1. Significantly Not as Described (“SNAD”): a buyer returned an item and gave a return reason that indicates “Item Not as Described”, including “Doesn’t work or defective” / “Doesn’t match description or photos” / “Wrong item sent” / “Missing parts or pieces” / “Arrived damaged” / “Doesn’t seem authentic” / “Doesn’t fit my vehicle”;
2. Stock-Out Cancellation (“Stock-Out”): a seller canceled a transaction because they no longer had the item, or the item was never shipped, and the buyer's money was returned;
3. Low Detailed Seller Ratings (“Low DSR”): a buyer left a Detailed Seller Rating score of 1, 2, or 3 for “Item as Described”; or
4. Neutral/Negative Feedback (“NNFB”): a buyer left Neutral or Negative feedback for a seller.

A transaction is considered a BBE transaction when any of the above happens and one transaction will be only evaluated once. The BBE rate is defined as the percentage of BBE transactions out of all transactions in the evaluation window.

Relation to Items Not Received

Note that your reputation as an eBay Seller will also be impacted by any “Items Not Received” (“INR”) complaints associated with your listings. 

Further details about how you will be assessed for INR can be read at the INR policy page.

How are you being evaluated?

Evaluation Scope: Sellers having their registered address in Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Azerbaijan Republic, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burma, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde Islands, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of the, Congo, Republic of the, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cote d Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Croatia, Democratic Republic of the, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), Fiji, Finland, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon Republic, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Jamaica, Jan Mayen, Jersey, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, South, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Reunion, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Svalbard, Swaziland, Sweden, Tahiti, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Virgin Islands (U.S.), Wallis and Futuna, Western Sahara, Western Samoa, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Evaluation frequency: every wednesday

Evaluation window: 12 weeks period commencing on the last Saturday before the last week of the evaluation date. For example, where the evaluation date is Wednesday, 13th December, we will review all your transactions during the period commencing Sunday, 10th September, and ending Saturday, 2nd December.

Evaluation consequence:

• Compliant: the BBE rate is lower than the peer market average
• Non-Compliant: the BBE rate is higher than the peer market average, but eBay may not take action due to:
  • Account is currently restricted by other eBay policies, or
  • Other reasons
• Warning: the BBE rate is higher than the peer market average. Sellers must strengthen the product and service control and improve buyers’ buying experience, otherwise eBay may take action
• Action Taken: the BBE rate is much higher than the peer market average. eBay decides to take action. Sellers may be subjected to various actions as specified above

Evaluation result: Please visit your Seller Dashboard to find out more details.

What you need to do?

As a seller, you should always strive to provide your buyers with items that match up to their expectations. Most of the time when something goes wrong, it could be due to mismatched expectations or lack of visibility related to the details or specifics of the item. You’re expected to follow these best practices:

• Be accurate and detailed
• Use images that are clear and sharp
• List down all the product specifications clearly
• Include size and measurements to prevent any misconception
• Add in the usage guidelines
• Be honest with the condition of your item — state all the flaws and imperfections like scratches, discoloration and dents (if any) for used items
• Manage inventory and end out of stock listings in time
• Ship items within your specified handling time

Links that may help you

• Item not received issues
• Shipping performance policy — Item Not Received rate
• Service metrics policy
• Seller levels and performance standards