Understanding the benefits of becoming a recognized seller
When you browse through items on eBay, you’re bound to notice a Top Rated Plus icon next to a member’s User ID. To the uninitiated, this may look like an award given to a seller for selling thousands of items on eBay — but it’s not. The eBay Top Rated Plus status is given only to those sellers who uphold the highest levels of professionalism and customer service on the site. Take a look at mine in Figure 3-1.
FIGURE 3-1: My Top Rated Seller Plus badge as proudly displayed on an item page.
There are three levels of upgraded status for eBay sellers:
PowerSellers: These members have to maintain certain levels of gross merchandise sales (total dollar amount of eBay sales — GMS in eBay-speak), and they must get there by providing excellent customer service.
Top Rated Sellers: eBay sellers at this level don’t have to have as large a volume of sales as an eBay PowerSeller, but they face stricter customer service requirements.
Top Rated Seller Plus: Only the sellers who fully commit to their businesses get this status. In searches, only Top Rated Plus sellers have badges next to their listings.
You may notice that many sellers on the site with feedback ratings in the tens of thousands do not have the Top Rated Plus badge on their listings. That isn’t a comment on whether they’re good people; it’s just that some of their transactions may have gone not-so-good. In this case, be sure to check the seller’s feedback and thoughtfully evaluate it. Many times buyers do not read the seller’s policies before they buy — and then give negative feedback (as in the case of buyers not reading the seller’s warnings when buying liquidation merchandise). See Book 4, Chapter 4 for more on that type of product.
In this chapter, I tell you what it takes to join these exclusive eBay sellers — and the benefits that the status offers. To check for new updates on these seller requirements, visit eBay at
Aside from the benefits mentioned throughout this chapter, consider this very important reason to be recognized on eBay: eBay’s Best Match search algorithm weighs every item and every seller. Attaining recognition as a seller who is in business seriously makes a difference in how prominently your listings are displayed on eBay.
Joining PowerSeller ranks
The ranks of PowerSellers have five levels of membership, depending on your monthly sales, as shown in Table 3-1. Each PowerSeller tier gives the seller more privileges from eBay. One of the most valuable benefits is that when an issue needs to be addressed with eBay, PowerSellers can access priority customer-service support.
To become a PowerSeller on eBay, you must fulfill the following requirements:
Be an active eBay member for at least 90 days.
Sell a minimum of $1000 in sales and 100 transactions, over the past 12 months.
Buyer Protection cases must have no more than 0.30 percent of transactions result in the eBay Money Back Guarantee and PayPal Purchase Protection cases closed without seller resolution.
Maintain at least a 98 feedback percentage in the past 12 months.
Keep your eBay account current.
Comply with all eBay policies. To obtain or keep PowerSeller status, you must not exceed the following:
Bronze level: 4 violations in a 90-day period
Silver/Gold levels: 5 violations in a 90-day period
Platinum level: 6 violations in a 90-day period
Titanium level: 7 violations in a 90-day period
Maintain a minimum rating of 4.5 or higher for the past 12 months in all four Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs). Occurrences of 1s and 2s on DSRs with U.S. buyers may not exceed the following rates and counts:
Items as described: 3 percent and a count of 3
Communication: 4 percent and a count of 4
Shipping time: 4 percent and a count of 4
Shipping & handling charges: 4 percent and a count of 4
Run your business by upholding eBay’s community values (see the earlier sidebar).
PowerSeller eligibility is reviewed every three months. You can track your progress on your Seller Dashboard. (I tell you more about Seller Dashboard in Book 2, Chapter 5.)
Becoming a Top Rated Seller
Becoming a PowerSeller is good, but Top Rated Seller status gives you better ranking in searches and more benefits (read on). Top Rated status is reviewed monthly. As a Top Rated Seller, your Feedback profile page will show your ranking (Figure 3-2 shows an example).
FIGURE 3-2: Feedback profile page of a Top Rated Seller.
To become a Top Rated Seller on eBay, fulfill the following requirements:
Be an active eBay member for at least 90 days.
Complete 100 or more transactions with U.S. buyers within the past year.
Sell a minimum of $3,000 in annual sales to U.S. buyers.
Buyer Protection cases must be less than .5 percent of your total number of transactions with U.S. buyers.
Maintain at least a 98 feedback percentage.
Keep your eBay account current and comply with all eBay policies.
You must have less than 3 percent of your transactions show late shipping.
Your defect rate is the percentage of your transactions that close with some violation of the eBay Money Back Guarantee or the PayPal Purchase Protection. No more than .5 percent of your transactions may have one or more defects.
Tracking numbers must be uploaded to eBay/PayPal for at least 95 percent of your transactions within your promised Handling Time.
1 Business Day Handling Time. Handling time is measured in business days (Monday through Friday). You must upload tracking information no later than 11:59:59 p.m. Pacific Time the next day. If purchases are made on weekends, tracking must be uploaded Monday before 11:59:29 p.m. Pacific Time.
All the above shipping requirements are based on whether your carrier (USPS, FedEx, or UPS) has scanned the package into its system. Sometimes the USPS is lax in this regard. Be sure to ask the person receiving your package to scan it. I often stand there and watch them. No, really. It matters. eBay receives this electronic information from the post office and bases your ratings on the scan times and dates.
Top Rated Seller eligibility is reviewed every three months. You can track your progress on your Seller Dashboard (more on the Dashboard in Chapter 1 in this minibook).
Getting highlighted on eBay: Top Rated Plus
To align with evolving consumer expectations, eBay updated the Top Rated Seller status to “Plus.” These are the only sellers that receive a badge; the Top Rated Plus seal (see Figure 3-3) appears on all these seller’s listings.
FIGURE 3-3: The eBay Top Rated Seller Plus badge appears in item search results.
Also, on the Feedback profile page of all Top Rated Sellers, this recognition is displayed: “Top Rated: Seller with highest buyer ratings.”
It isn’t a very big jump to attain “Plus” status after you’re a Top Rated Seller. After you meet the Top Rated Seller requirements, you have to meet only these two additional requirements:
One-day handling: Include one-day handling in your listings (meaning you ship within one day of purchase) and post the tracking.
Many sellers find these last two requirements too onerous and don’t even attempt Top Rated Plus status. That’s a bit short sighted. Read on to find out about a benefit that affects your bottom line.
The Benefits of Membership
As an eBay recognized seller, you get a few perks that can help you build your business. The efforts you put into servicing your customers and selling on eBay are rewarded through the PowerSeller and Top Rated Seller programs.
PowerSeller perks
As a PowerSeller member, you have privileges. There are several invitation-only PowerSeller groups and you benefit from things that boost your bottom line like unpaid item protection.
In addition to participating in their own discussion board, eBay PowerSellers get other benefits:
Unpaid Item Protection: PowerSellers not only get credit for the Final Value Fee and listing fee when faced with a non-paying buyer, they also get a credit for any Listing Upgrade Fees (for example, Buy It Now, Bold, or Subtitle) — you know, all that extra fluff. It adds up.
Shipping rate discounts: You can save on UPS, USPS, and FedEx shipping when printing through eBay Labels. Please note that the Commercial base pricing may be cheaper when printing your own labels.
Top Rated Seller benefits
Top Rated Sellers have entered a high level of eBay benefits. They get the Unpaid Item Protection as PowerSellers do, as well as access to the discussion board and the shipping discounts. There are added benefits:
Increased visibility in Best Match search: Now eBay gives the advantage to the listings of the upper half of sellers in terms of buyer satisfaction. Sellers with highest detailed seller ratings within the last 30 days receive more exposure than the average seller.
USPS Commercial Plus pricing: Top Rated (or sellers who ship 300 or more transactions per month) get this rate when you print labels on eBay.
Top Rated Seller Plus benefits
When you have met all requirements and attain the Top Rated Seller Plus status, you get these additional perks:
Badge: eBay will display the Top Rated Seller Plus badge on your listings.
Higher search ranking: You get maximum exposure in searches.
10-percent discount on Final Value Fees: eBay discounts the Final Value Fees on the monthly bill to those who maintain high standards and meet the Top Rated Seller Plus requirements.
Moving up the tiers
All the above shipping requirements are based on whether your carrier (USPS, FedEx, or UPS) has scanned the package into its system. Sometimes the USPS is lax in this regard. Be sure to ask the person receiving your package to scan it. I often stand there and watch them. No, really. It matters. eBay receives this electronic information from the post office and bases your ratings on the scan times and dates.