Detailed explanation of eBay platform rules: helping you avoid risks and improve business performance

As a world-renowned online marketplace, eBay has a huge group of buyers and sellers. In order to ensure fair competition, protect consumer rights and maintain order on the platform, eBay has formulated detailed policies and rules. This article will introduce the important rules of the eBay platform from multiple dimensions to help sellers better understand and comply with these regulations, thereby improving the credibility of the business and chances of success.

1. Account management policy

Registration requirements

eBay requires sellers to provide accurate personal or business information, including identity verification, contact information and payment information. Sellers need to ensure that the information provided is true and reliable and promptly update any changes.

Multiple account management

eBay encourages sellers to manage their accounts appropriately and prohibits any unauthorized transfer or sharing of accounts. In addition, eBay does not allow one seller to control multiple accounts, especially when the products sold by two stores are highly similar, which will be regarded as a violation by the platform.

2. Transaction Behavior Policy

Transaction dispute handling

eBay provides a dispute resolution center to handle transaction disputes between buyers and sellers. Sellers should actively participate and cooperate in resolving disputes to ensure fair and objective solutions.

Sellers are strictly prohibited from completing a transaction without selling

When a buyer successfully bids, the seller must fulfill the transaction obligations and may not refuse the actual transaction or refuse to ship the goods after receiving the payment. If there are special circumstances, it is necessary to communicate with the buyer in a timely manner and provide solutions.

Sellers are prohibited from raising their own prices

Sellers are not allowed to register new accounts or manipulate other seller accounts to make false bids in order to raise the price of goods.

Buyer Communication Rules

eBay prohibits sellers from using bad language, spamming emails without permission, and abusing eBay’s contact features.

3. Item description and intellectual property policy

Accurate description

Sellers should provide accurate, detailed and clear information in product descriptions, including product features, defects, usage conditions, return and exchange policies, etc.

Intellectual property protection

eBay strictly protects intellectual property rights and prohibits the sale of infringing goods. Sellers should ensure that the goods sold do not infringe other people’s intellectual property rights such as trademark rights, patent rights or copyrights.

4. Logistics and distribution policy

Logistics preparation

Sellers should process orders within the specified time and deliver goods in a timely manner, and provide effective logistics tracking information. Timely communication and resolution of logistics issues are key to ensuring smooth delivery.

International Shipping

For cross-border sellers, it is very important to understand the relevant regulations and requirements for international shipping. Including tariffs, import restrictions, prohibited goods, etc. Sellers should comply with relevant regulations to ensure smooth international delivery.

5. Violations and penalties

eBay takes severe penalties for violations of platform policies and rules, including restricting account functions, suspending or permanently closing accounts, etc. Common violations include, but are not limited to:

• Selling Counterfeit Products: If you are found to be selling counterfeit products, eBay will suspend the seller’s account.
• Duplicate listing: eBay prohibits sellers from repeatedly listing the same product or highly similar products.
• Manipulating store indicators: Increasing sales and positive reviews through fake orders, cashbacks, etc. will be considered a violation.
• False bidding: During the auction process, sellers are not allowed to make false bids through relatives and friends to raise the price.
• High shipping costs: Sellers are not allowed to set product prices low and shipping costs high to avoid transaction fees.
• Keyword Abuse: Sellers may not use irrelevant keywords to attract buyers.

6. Seller performance measurement standards

The performance of eBay sellers is measured by the Defect Rate. The bad transaction rate is the number of bad transactions divided by the number of successful transactions for a seller in one or more of the following situations:

• Buyers gave a rating of 1, 2 or 3 for “Item as described”;
• Buyers gave a 1-point rating for “Shipping time”;
• Buyers leave neutral or negative reviews;
• The buyer requested a return, and the reason was related to “the product does not match the description”;
• The buyer opened a dispute about the product not being received or the product not as described through eBay Money Back Protection or PayPal Purchase Protection;
• Transaction canceled due to seller’s fault.

The evaluation date is the 20th of each month. When the transactions in the past three months reach or exceed 400, the evaluation period is the past three months; when the transactions in the past three months are less than 400, the evaluation period is the past one Year.

7. Search sorting system

eBay’s search ranking system standard is called Best Match, that is, the products recommended to buyers are what the buyer really wants. Factors influencing the best match include:

• Recent sales conversion rate;
• The time when auction items will be removed from the shelves;
• The performance of service ratings, including product quality, delivery speed, logistics time, and after-sales service;
• Buyer satisfaction;
• The relevance of the product, the match between the keywords searched by the buyer and the keywords in the product title;
• The price and shipping cost of the item.

Sellers need to cater to buyers to improve their best match rankings. The following are areas that can be optimized:

• Accurate titles, beautiful pictures, precise classification and positioning, competitive prices and preferential logistics costs;
• Provide good service and after-sales service to improve customer satisfaction;
• Use the auction form rationally and set the auction end time reasonably;
• Free shipping.

Conclusion

As a seller on the eBay platform, understanding and complying with the platform’s policies and rules is the key to successful business. By following policies and regulations on account management, transaction behavior, item descriptions and intellectual property rights, logistics and delivery, sellers can build a credible brand image, attract more buyers and improve business performance. At the same time, following the rules can also avoid the risk of account being restricted or closed. Therefore, in-depth understanding and compliance with the policies and rules of the eBay platform are essential knowledge and operating guidelines for every seller.