Simple Steps to Becoming a Top Rated Sellers on eBay
Running short of time? Get PDF of the blog in your mail.
When you become a top rated seller on eBay, you open a pathway to one of the best ways to establish credibility and trust among the buyers. It not only makes you a reputed seller but also helps you get more sales as eBay ranks your listing higher to help buyers shop confidently.
When you start selling on eBay, it provides you with one of the seller levels based on the customer service and sales history of the products, which includes,
- Top Rated
- Standard Rated
- Below Rated
What is a Top Rated Seller on eBay?
eBay has set a standardized set of prerequisites. Sellers who deliver and maintain the required standards get the Top Rated Seller tag.
One must provide excellent customer service to become a top-rated seller. Being a top rated seller has unique benefits that can increase the visibility of your listing, improve conversions, save money, and help protect you from abusive buying behavior and other events beyond your control.
Seller Protections and Benefits for Top Rated Sellers
Once you become a top rated seller, you qualify for exclusive benefits. These benefits kick in once you start offering the same day handling along with a 30 days or longer return policy. The major benefits that you can experience include:
#1. The Top Rated seal. The seal appears in search results and a listing description on your listings.
#2. Discounts. Also, you get a 10% discount on the standard final value fees calculated on the total sale amount. However, you should remember that eBay does include its $0.30 per order for the final value fee. The discount of 10% is applicable only when you are a resident of a country where you have become a top rated seller.
Become a top rated seller on eBay
eBay has set some basic and simple rules for sellers to become top rated sellers. Comply with the rules set by eBay and maintain the standards and exemplary customer service, and you’ll be awarded the eBay top seller status.
Here are the prerequisites to attain the top seller status,
- Maintained an active eBay seller account for over 90 days.
- Complete a minimum of 100 transactions. Also, you need to complete sales worth $1,000 in the last 12 months
- Maintain a low transaction defect rate, keep the number of open resolution center cases low, and minimize the late shipment rate.
Once you start maintaining the given standards, eBay automatically updates the Top rated seller status on successful completion of the next evaluation.
#1. USA
A 90 days or longer period of active seller account is necessary for sellers selling in the US market.
To become a Top rated seller in the USA, you must fulfill the following requirements:
- Over 100 completed transactions.
- $1,000 in sales in the last 12 months with USA buyers.
- Less than 0.5% in transaction defect rate (transactions closed without a proper resolution to out of stock, canceled orders, and other issues)
- Less than 3% late shipment rate.
- Do not leave more than 0.3% of cases without a seller resolution.
#2. UK and Ireland
A 90 days or longer period of active seller account is necessary for sellers selling in the UK market.
To become a Top rated seller in UK and Ireland, you must fulfill the following requirements:
- Over 100 completed transactions.
- £1,000 in sales in the last 12 months with UK and Ireland buyers.
- Less than 0.5% in transaction defect rate (transactions closed without a proper resolution to out of stock, canceled orders, and other issues)
- Less than 3% late shipment rate.
- Do not leave more than 0.3% of cases without a seller resolution.
#3. Germany, Austria, and Switzerland
A 90 days or longer period of active eBay Business seller account is a necessity for sellers selling in the Germany, Austria, and Switzerland markets.
To become a Top rated seller in the Germany, Austria, and Switzerland you must fulfill the following requirements:
- Over 100 completed transactions.
- €1,000 in sales in the last 12 months with Germany, Austria, and Switzerland buyers.
- Less than 0.5% in transaction defect rate (transactions closed without a proper resolution to out of stock, canceled orders, and other issues)
- Less than 3% late shipment rate.
- Do not leave more than 0.3% of cases without a seller resolution.
#4. Global eBay Top Rated Seller
The global markets comprise all the regions in which eBay operates, excluding
- US
- UK
- Ireland
- Germany
- Austria
- Switzerland
To become a Top rated seller in the Global Market, you must fulfill the following requirements:
- Over 100 completed transactions in the last 12 months across the world.
- Less than 0.5% in transaction defect rate (transactions closed without a proper resolution to out of stock, canceled orders, and other issues)
- Less than 5% late shipment rate.
- Do not leave more than 0.3% of cases without a seller resolution.
Defect rates that affect your seller rating
Defect rates are one of the biggest deciding factors affecting a seller’s top-rated rating on eBay. Make sure to avoid getting caught up in these to keep yourself on the path to claiming the top seller badge.
#1. Transaction defect rate
A transaction defect rate is determined by the number of defects in the transaction.
#2. Cases closed without seller resolution
Cases, where eBay reviewed the case and found that the seller was responsible, are closed without seller resolution.
#3. Late shipment rate
eBay charges a late charge on transactions where the item was not shipped within your handling time or the item was delivered after its estimated delivery date.
#4. Tracking uploaded on time and validated
The carrier scanned the shipping label before or after the handling time you stipulated and uploaded your tracking details before or after, which are on time and valid.
eBay Top Rated Seller Best Practices
When you know what to do and how to achieve it, getting a top rated seller badge becomes easy. The rule of thumb for eBay is to meet buyers’ expectations,
- Be Available and provide quick resolutions to all problems. It includes regularly interacting with your buyers.
- Make sure your product listing is perfect. Follow all the optimization rules, including clear pictures and the item specifics.
- Try shipping the orders on the same day or within the promised time. You can use the International Shipping Program to ship out items quickly.
- Enter the shipping details for each order after shipping them. eBay automatically updates the order tracking details in the case of the International Shipping Program when you print the shipping labels.
- Provide a return policy that implies the orders you ship. Be open and honest with how to return and what to expect with the return process.
Start Multichannel Selling: Sell on eBay from Shopify
Becoming a Top Rated Seller on eBay isn’t an uphill battle; instead, it requires focus and sheer determination to provide utmost service and satisfaction to your customers. Having a store on Shopify helps you get only halfway through on the path of success and sales. However, a marketplace like eBay becomes of paramount importance to expand and grow.
The process is simple, once you establish your Shopify store, look for the marketplace that suits your needs the best, for instance, eBay.
To start your operations on eBay,
- Create a seller account on eBay (Opt for a Business account).
- Get yourself a store subscription (depending on the years of operation of your Shopify store).
- Install an Integration app for eBay from the Shopify App store (to help you keep everything streamlined between eBay and Shopify).
- Optimize Shopify listing for eBay marketplace from the app.
- Start selling on eBay from Shopify.
Conclusion
The Top rated seller badge by eBay is a really impressive badge to acquire. It becomes a great tool to impress shoppers but often comes at a price.
To become a top rated seller on eBay you need to begin by sticking to the basics like providing same-day handling time, free returns, free shipping, and maintaining low defect rates. These simple steps can impact the profit margins and often relieve sellers’ stress levels.
Although the steps involved in getting the top seller badge need dedication, time, and money, it will drive more sales. In the long run, it becomes a worthy investment, especially considering eBay’s added benefits to its top-rated sellers.