Seller performance and defect removal policy overview
Most sales go smoothly. When you follow selling best practices and make sure the items you list are in stock, you work with a customer when an issue arises and you send items within your stated handling time, your buyers will have a great experience and are more likely to buy from you again.
Occasionally, there may be an issue with a transaction. When certain transaction problems happen, you can track them in your Seller Dashboard.
This policy outlines when we adjust your seller performance evaluation.
How is selling performance measured?
Our seller performance metrics focus on whether sellers are sending orders promptly, ensuring buyers get the item they ordered, and resolving any issues.
On the 20th of each month, we take a look at your recent transactions to work out your:
- Cases closed without seller resolution
- Transaction defect rate
- Late shipment rate
- Service metrics and peer benchmark
For full details of how your seller level is evaluated, please read our Seller standards policy article and Service metrics policy.
Can transaction defects or late shipments be appealed?
We automatically remove defects and adjust your late shipment rate in the instances described in the guidelines below.
We'll only remove 'Item not received' reports or 'Item not as described' return requests from your Service metrics when they fall under our automated seller protections
What are the guidelines?
Automatically removed
We automatically remove transaction defects and adjust your late shipment rate when:
- The buyer didn't pay for an order and you cancelled the order using Buyer hasn't paid as the reason
- The defect or late shipment was the direct result of an eBay site issue or program error
- The delivery estimate shown in the listing was shortened, but tracking shows the item was delivered by the carrier's longest delivery estimate
- We take action against a buyer for violating the Abusive buyer policy
- We take action to close an eBay Money Back Guarantee case or appeal request in favour of the seller
- We instruct you to hold a shipment or take action to cancel the transaction
- We can determine through valid tracking that the defect or late shipment was the direct result of systemic delays in delivery or communication. Examples include wide-scale postal service delays, items stuck in customs, power outages due to extreme weather, or natural disasters. These may be listed on eBay Announcements - opens in new window or tab
Not eligible for removal
Late shipment appeals for transactions without tracking to verify on-time order fulfilment or delivery aren't eligible for removal.
Manual review
There are some circumstances where a defect or late shipment can be manually reviewed. Sellers may appeal in these cases, but must make the request within 90 days of the transaction.
Examples include:
- You upload tracking, prior to the defect occurring, that confirms the item was sent 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
- In cases where there is an attempted delivery, we consider this "delivered" for the purposes of adjusting late shipment rate
Tip
Visit Seller Help to resolve any incorrect defects.
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.
Why does eBay have this policy?
We adjust seller performance metrics when we have objective information available in our system, or through carrier tracking that shows the seller fulfilled all elements of the transaction and the defect or late shipment was not accurate.
