Why does eBay have this policy?
eBay knows that a seller’s reputation on eBay is an important factor in helping build a successful business. For this reason, it always wants your seller performance ratings and feedback to properly reflect the service you provide to your buyers, and will adjust these in situations where it finds that you were not at fault.
Most sales go smoothly. Your buyers will have a great experience and are more likely to buy from you again when you:
- Follow selling best practices
- Manage inventory and keep items well stocked
- Are helpful, friendly, and professional throughout a transaction
- Charge reasonable shipping, handling and packaging costs
- Ship within your stated handling time
- Specify your return policy and follow it strictly
- Promptly respond to buyers' questions and resolve customer issues
Occasionally, there may be an issue with a transaction. When certain transaction problems happen, you can track them in your Seller standards dashboard.
eBay adjusts your performance evaluation and feedback when it has objective information available in its system, or through carrier tracking that shows the seller fulfilled all elements of the transaction and the defect, feedback, or late shipment was not accurate.
How is selling performance measured?
Seller performance standards focus on what matters most to buyers-getting the item they ordered on time, and effective customer service to resolve any requests for help.
eBay measures seller performance using data from your seller account on:
- Transaction defect rate
- Late shipment rate
- Cases closed without seller resolution
Can defects, late shipments, or feedback be removed?
✅ Automatically removed
Based on the information it has, eBay automatically removes defects, adjusts your late shipment rate, and removes feedback in certain situations, including where it finds the buyer was at fault, if the problem was caused by an eBay site issue, or if there was an issue outside of your control like shipping service delays, or items being delayed because of an extreme weather event.
Automatic adjustments happen daily. You won’t need to contact eBay, but please allow up to 72 hours for changes to show in your seller standards dashboard or your feedback profile.
❌ Not eligible for removal
The following scenarios aren't eligible for removal:
- eBay may remove a feedback comment that violates eBay policy, such as containing profanity or links, but the feedback rating or any defects aren't necessarily removed
- Late shipment appeals for transactions without tracking to verify on-time order fulfillment or delivery
⚠️ Manual review
There are some circumstances where a defect, feedback, or late shipment can be manually reviewed. Sellers may appeal in these cases, but must make the request within 90 days of the transaction.
Example: you upload tracking, prior to the defect occurring, that confirms the item was shipped within the handling time or the item was delivered by the latest estimated delivery date, but the late shipment rate wasn't automatically updated because the tracking isn't integrated with eBay.
If you have a defect that can't be removed automatically, you can send an online request in Seller Help. Seller Help is a tool for sellers to resolve issues related to returns, cases, defects, and feedback left by buyers.
Activity on eBay is required to follow this policy, the eBay User Agreement and all applicable laws, as well as respect the rights of third parties. If it doesn’t, eBay may take action consistent with applicable laws and the eBay User Agreement, and may even be legally required to do so. Such actions may include, as an example only: Removing the listing or other content, issuing a warning, restricting activity or account suspension.