By Erin Wawok

Feb

26

How to Become a Top Rated Seller on eBay

Acquiring the coveted title of “Top Seller” on eBay not only means that you’re providing quality service as an eBay member, but it will also generate much more future revenue for you. As with any online store, eBay shoppers want to make sure that they’re not getting scammed. Top seller status ensures that customers can trust your profile and makes them more likely to do business with you.

Unlike amassing copious amounts of followers and friends on Twitter or Facebook, being a top seller on eBay requires genuine hard work. A series of strict requirements are reviewed every month by the company to keep top sellers legitimate and to remove any members that no longer make the cut. In this article, we’ll go over the necessary top seller requirements and talk about some helpful ways to improve your chances at getting it.

The Prerequisites

Ebay has a standard list that it regularly reviews in order to determine if a seller is top tier or not. To become a top rated seller, you must:

  • Have an active eBay account for at least 90 days
  • Have at least 100 transactions and $1000 in sales with US buyers in the last 12 months
  • Comply with eBay’s selling practices policy
  • Have less than 0.30% of Money Back Guarantee and PayPal Purchase Protection cases closed without seller resolution
  • Have a maximum 0.5% of transactions with one or more transaction-related defects for last 3 months (12 months for sellers with less than 400 transactions)
  • Have less than 3% of transactions with late shipping

As you can see, these rules are no joke. Ebay is quite strict about how efficient and fair your sales are. This means that you have to show a solid track record of successful transactions in order to qualify. As with any physical or online store, outstanding customer service is what will put you above the competition.

Four Top-Rated Selling Tips

Unfortunately, there’s no real “fast track” to attaining the top seller logo next to your profile name on eBay. This is because the rules in place emphasize a consistent history of good service. That being said, there are a few ways that you can increase your odds of meeting the requirements sooner rather than later.

1. Sell more

The most surefire way to boost yourself towards the 100 transaction prerequisite is to keep selling. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you can afford to sacrifice quality service in order to keep moving shipments, but you’ll want to have a fairly regular transaction rate in order to establish yourself as a top seller. Expand your selection and list more items.

2. Create reliable and complete listings

Not only do your listings have to be diverse, but they should also give the customer a good idea of what they are. Incomplete product listings are some of the most frustrating things that consumers come across on sites like eBay. The chances of them buying a product are significantly lower if they have to go out of their way to ask you more about it first. While writing a product description, put yourself in the customer’s shoes to determine what you would like to see.

3. Post on a regular basis

A steady stream of product postings can do two things: For one, it shows the potential customer that you are an active member of the eBay community. Seeing frequent and recent postings will put them more at ease when they consider buying something from you. The second benefit is that you’ll quickly build up a more varied selection of products to sell. This will aid in improving your transaction rate as well as your customer satisfaction since there’s a greater chance they’ll find something they like.

4. Prioritize customer service

Ebay’s requirements emphasize great service, and for good reason. With so many online scams and fraudulent transactions these days, keeping ecommerce spaces secure is a top priority. In the event that one of your shipments goes wrong or a customer doesn’t get what they want, great customer service skills can save you lots of money and headaches.

Sell More. Work Less.

Visit Listing Mirror for more tips on how to optimize your online sales and operations.

Erin Wawok

Erin is the Co-Founder of Listing Mirror.