Check Your eBay Seller Dashboard

Sometimes even diligent eBay sellers have trouble determining how well their customer service practices are working out. How well are you doing relative to other sellers? How does eBay feel about the job you're doing, and are you likely to encounter enforcement problems on eBay in the near future as the result of things you have or haven't done?

To answer these questions, eBay has a seller dashboard tool, available to all sellers, that can help you to evaluate your recent eBay performance and identify areas that need improvement.

Seller Dashboard Summary

At the upper left of your seller dashboard, you'll see the Seller Dashboard Summary, which clearly and simply shows your current status as an eBay seller vis-a-vis eBay's policies.

Your search standing determines how early your item will be displayed in eBay's "best match" search results when users search for items of the kind you're selling. "Raised" indicates eBay is actively promoting your items ahead of others; "standard" indicates that your item is appearing in its natural position in search results; "Lowered" indicates that eBay is actively underpromoting your items because of poor customer service and/or policy compliance.

If you participate in the PowerSeller program, indicates whether or not you're receiving a discount on your seller fees as a result of good seller performance, and if so, what the percentage of the discount is. Click on the small icon on to the left of the discount box to see details on what you'll need to accomplish to increase your discount.

You'll find a summary of eBay's perception of your policy compliance to date. All sellers should strive for a "good" rating, rather than a "fair" or "poor" rating here, as anything below "good" places you in line for potential account restrictions. Note, too, that even with a "good" rating, you can still be punished or suspended immediately for relevant offenses.

The Seller Dashboard is also where you can determine buyer satisfaction. It summarizes the level of satisfaction that buyers have reported to eBay after buying from you based on your feedback, some aspects of compliance, history of disputes and other relevant metrics. You'll find the details your current seller account status, showing any fees that you currently owe. 

You can click on any of the boxes in your Seller Dashboard Summary to see more information about how a given item is calculated, and how you can improve your standing in the area in question.

Seller Performance Numbers

The Seller Performance Numbers box shows a summary of your current detailed seller ratings (if you have received 10 or more such ratings) along with details on your low ratings (1 and 2-star scores). You can summarize the results as a moving average over either the past 90 days or the past 12 months by using the handy drop-down list at the top of the box.

Each of the standard detailed rating metrics is included in the graph: if the item was as described, whether the communication was good if shipping time was reasonable and whether shipping and handling charges were appropriate. 

Below the detailed seller ratings listings is a count of the number of disputes (buyer protection cases) that have been opened against you as a seller, followed by the number of cases for which you were not able to provide a resolution.

Summaries and Explanations

Below your Seller Dashboard Summary and Seller Performance Numbers is a box summarizing your lifetime of transactions on eBay—the total number of transactions and their total value in dollars.

Below this is a summary of your current status as a seller, and details on how to increase your status for better search standings, fees discounts, and other perks that accrue to the most accomplished or productive eBay sellers.

Minding Your Store

As a seller, you should be sure to refer to your seller dashboard often to ensure that your selling activity stands in good stead with eBay and that your recent customer service and compliance performance is helping, rather than hurting, the final values of in your sales.