eBay users at risk of losing PowerSeller status as a result of eBay's new feedback policy are being given a 60-day grace period to improve their scores before being stripped of their PowerSeller title and benefits.
In a post on eBay's announcement board Tuesday, Brian Burke, global feedback policy director, says sellers who have fallen below the 98 percent threshold will retain PowerSeller status for now, but must get their positive scores back up by July 20.
After the initial grace period, eBay will go back to enforcing a 30-day window for PowerSellers to improve their standing if feedback and Detailed Seller Rating scores fall below the thresholds defined under the new feedback policy.
The temporary reprieve should help pacify anxious sellers who saw their positive feedback plunge overnight after eBay activated its new feedback system. The system now counts neutral feedbacks as negatives and includes repeat feedbacks from the same buyer, with overall scores calculated based on the past 12 months.
Best-selling eBay author, Auctiva contributor and Gold PowerSeller, Skip McGrath, was among those who had a rude awakening. "When I went to bed on Sunday, May 18th, my feedback rating was 100-percent positive," McGrath reports in his latest newsletter. "When I woke up on Monday, May 19th, it had dropped to 99.9 percent."
The culprit was a single neutral feedback—one he had received six months ago, but that previously did not count against his overall score.
"Under eBay's new policy, in November when the neutral becomes 12 months old, we will theoretically be back at 100 percent, assuming that we don't receive any negatives or neutrals in the meantime. But I suspect we will never see 100 percent again, as there are no longer any reasons preventing the small handful of irrational and impossible-to-please people from leaving a neutral or negative," McGrath writes. "eBay lost thousands of PowerSellers when the policy changed earlier this week," he says.
Meanwhile, some of the updated feedback scores are out of sync with reality, while eBay itself plays catch-up with the new system. Burke notes that eBay has not yet removed negatives and neutrals left by members who are currently suspended. That process is expected to take "a few weeks," starting in late May, he says.
Auctiva staff writers constantly monitor trends and best practices of those selling on eBay and elsewhere online. They attend relevant training seminars and trade shows and regularly discuss the market with PowerSellers and other market experts.
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