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How to Find
a Trusted Seller

Seller ratings and feedback scores can
help you shop with confidence

There's such a huge variety of items to choose from on eBay - and sometimes it can be hard to know which seller to buy from. To make it easier for you, we continuously monitor and measure seller reputation and make that information available to help you decide.

This article will guide you through how we evaluate a seller's trustworthiness with the seller rating and feedback score, and where you can find these indicators and other important information to help you shop with confidence on eBay.

We'll look at three main places to find information about a seller: in the search results, on the view item page or on the seller's page.

In Search Results

Once you have entered the name of the product in the search box and clicked Enter, eBay will provide you with search results:

These three indicators will help you evaluate the seller's reputation:

Top Rated Seller badge shows you that this seller consistently delivers outstanding customer service, meets all eBay requirements and seller standards, and offers the same or 1-business-day handling time and 30-day or longer free returns. Read More about Top Rated Status

Sold Items quantity shows you how many buyers have already purchased the item from this seller.

Watchers number shows you how many buyers are interested in the item and have added it to their Watchlist.

How to search for items from specific
sellers only

If you want to shop from a specific seller, use the Advanced search option.

Check the “Only show items from” box, then select one of the options.

On View Item Page

On the View Item Page, in addition to item details, such as price, condition, and shipping options, you can also find information about the seller that will help you shop with confidence.

The design of the View Item Page may vary slightly depending on your device settings, but the important information about the seller will be there.

Star rating is the star and the number visible in brackets next to the seller's name that helps you quickly identify sellers with higher ratings. Read More about Star Rating

Feedback Score is the rate of positive feedback, displayed as a percentage (e.g. 99,5%) of the total feedback scores left by buyers (100%). Read More about Feedback Score

The Top Rated Seller Badge shows you that this seller consistently delivers outstanding customer service, meets all eBay requirements and seller standards, and offers the same or 1-business-day handling time and 30-day or longer free returns. Read More about Top Rated Status

The eBay Money Back Guarantee program means you're protected if the item you ordered didn't arrive, is faulty or damaged, or doesn't match the listing. You'll get your money back. Read More about the eBay Money Back Guarantee

Never agree if a seller offers to complete the transaction outside eBay.

We will be able to protect your purchase only if the transaction was made on eBay.

You may see some additional information about the seller, such as how long the seller has been registered on eBay or if they accept returns. Another helpful indicator is looking at how many buyers have added this item to their Watchlist or how many items have been already sold.

Product Rating Feature:
if you see Product Rating (stars) under the item title, click on it to see the detailed feedback about this specific product.

If the product is popular and many items have been sold, you can find buyers'feedback next to the number of sold items.

On the Seller's Page

Finally, you can access the seller's page by clicking on the seller's name. On the seller's page you will find even more detailed information, including the number of followers, how long they've been selling on eBay, or detailed feedback ratings. Here you can even see all the feedback that other buyers have left, which may be especially important when considering more expensive or complex products.

Star rating is the star and the number visible in brackets next to the seller's name that helps you quickly identify sellers with higher ratings. Read More about Star Rating

Feedback Score is the rate of positive feedback, displayed as a percentage (e.g. 99,5%) of the total feedback scores left by buyers (100%). Read More about Feedback Score

Number of followers shows how many buyers have saved this seller. If shoppers keep coming back to buy from the same seller, it's probably because the seller provides excellent experience to them.

The Save this seller feature makes it easy to:

  • View all your saved sellers in one place
  • Access all items available for sale from a selected seller
  • Add personal notes about a seller you liked
  • Manage email communication with your favorite sellers
  • Use the My saved sellers list option in Advanced search.

Member since shows when the seller started selling on eBay.

Detailed Seller Ratings show you specific buyer feedback, such as description accuracy, communication, reasonable shipping cost and shipping speed, with 5 stars being the highest rating. Read More about Detailed Feedback Ratings

On the seller's page, click the See all feedback button to go to the Feedback Profile where you can read the full text of a buyer's feedback and see even more detailed seller ratings.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Star Rating?

Next to the seller's name, you can see a colored star in brackets. This helps you quickly identify sellers with higher feedback scores. An especially good indication is a Shooting Star, which guarantees that the seller has a good reputation.

The stars are color-coded, as shown below:

The seller's rating depends on how many buyers have left feedback for a seller. You can see this number right near the star, in brackets next to the seller's username.

What is a Feedback Score?

You can view a seller's feedback score on their listings beneath their username - it's displayed as a percentage. If a seller has a score of 99.5%, it means that 99.5% of the buyers who left feedback for that seller had a positive experience.

The positive feedback percentage is calculated based on the total number of positive and negative feedback ratings for transactions that ended in the last 12 months, excluding repeat feedback from the same member for purchases done within the same calendar week. This could mean that the number of ratings used for this calculation is different from the number shown in the recent ratings table on the left.

When you buy an item on eBay, please rate your experience with the seller.

It will help other buyers find the best and most reputable sellers on eBay. The ratings you give are factored into the seller's overall feedback and detailed seller rating scores.

What are Detailed Seller Ratings?

For a better view of a seller's performance, you can also view their detailed seller rating. You'll find stars next to the four different aspects, with 5 stars being the highest rating.

What does Top Rated status mean?

eBay best sellers earn Top Rated status, which means they consistently deliver outstanding customer service. Sellers can become Top Rated, provided they meet eBay's highest levels of customer service.

A seller has to have an active eBay account with many transactions and meet all eBay requirements for defect rate, cases closed without seller resolution, and late shipment rate. This means that the Top Rated Seller quickly handles the order, sends the package without delay, and takes responsibility for the proper quality of the items.

Top Rated Sellers can also receive the Top Rated Plus badge on their listings. The Top Rated Seller badge is awarded to the Top Rated Seller only if they offer the same or 1-business-day handling time and 30-day or longer free returns. The Top Rated Plus badge is displayed in search results and in the item description.

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