Best Practices
Best Practices
Protect yourself — great customer service is the key
There are a number of actions you can take to ensure all your transactions go as smoothly as possible.
To help ensure you are protected, follow these best practices [Expand all | Collapse]
Create detailed item descriptions within your listings
- Include an accurate item condition such as Used, New, or Refurbished.
- Clearly describe any flaws, like scratches, dings, functional problems, missing parts, or smells (cigarette or pet odors, for example).
- Include multiple pictures of the item in your listings, from multiple angles— especially if there are flaws.
- Have (or be able to provide) clear documentation that the item was described accurately and consistently throughout the listing and all associated communication
- Use lots of pictures. You get 12 free pictures per listing (excluding Motors Vehicles Listings)
Ship within 1 business day of when your buyer pays
Buyers want their items fast. Specify same-day or 1-business day or shorter handling time whenever you can, and use more than 1-business day handling time for exceptions and special items only.
Upload tracking to eBay on all of your packages
"Where's my item?" is one of the most common buyer questions. When buyers can track the progress of their shipment, you spend less time answering buyer questions. Make sure to upload tracking information to My eBay for all your items by the end of the next day following receipt of cleared payment. You can do it for virtually any carrier. When you pay for USPS and print labels on eBay, the tracking information is automatically uploaded for you. Once you upload tracking, your buyers will receive automated emails from eBay with tracking information and status on their orders, and they can access it from My eBay. No need to send additional emails to your buyers with tracking and order status; eBay takes care of this for you.
Use signature confirmation for transactions of $750 or more
For transactions of $750 or more, Signature Confirmation protects you from eBay Buyer Protection cases (Note: for PayPal Buyer Protection cases, items costing $250 or more require proof of the recipient's signature.)
Help us help you – Report buyers who break the rules
Report problems with buyers via the Reporting Hub. eBay uses your report along with other detection methods to identify and take action against buyers with patterns of behavior that indicate they're breaking the rules or misusing the system. By letting us know what's happened, you can help us prevent buyers from doing the same thing again. You can access the reporting hub directly at www.ebay.com/reportabuyer and from the following handy locations:
- Feedback Profile page
- Leave Feedback page on the "Rate this transaction" line
- My eBay, Selling Manager, Selling Manager Pro Sold Item View: On the far right, as a drop down for more actions, “Report a Buyer” will be listed as one of the options
- Member to Member Communication within the message header
- Resolution Center under the help page
It's important to differentiate between difficult or demanding customers—dealing with them is part of doing business—and those who violate policies or intentionally take unfair advantage of the system. Read our recently updated Buying practices policy to learn about expectations for appropriate buying behavior.