Opening a new store on eBay is never a bad idea, but it is not as easy as a newcomer might think it is. For instance, when starting from scratch, the first limitation a new eBay seller faces is the eBay selling limits. In the beginning, your store will be limited to 10 items that are valued at no more than 500$. This limit was created by eBay to let sellers demonstrate their credibility before getting wider access.

Let’s dive further into this starter’s limit. You will be given a 10-item limit – this means you can list 10 items only throughout that month. Whether you choose to list one product with a quantity of 10 units, or 10 different products each with only 1 unit/variation – it will still count the same.

Furthermore, if you listed ten items and one of them was sold immediately, your monthly limits will reduce from 10 to 9, until the limit bucket renews next month. Let’s demonstrate the eBay limits using an edge case: if you are to list just one item worth $500, your eBay store’s limit will be reached as well and you won’t be able to list more items, even though you listed just the one.

How to find my eBay selling limits?

There are two pages on which you can see your monthly selling limits on eBay. The first is your All Selling page. It is showing right after the “your performance” box. There you will get to know how many items you have sold and for how many $$, how many items you have listed and their value in $$, and how many items you can still list in both quantity of items and volume.

Screenshots from my eBay account

The second place to find your selling limits is the Overview page of your seller hub. I prefer to work with the seller hub as it is much more pleasant on the eyes and easy to navigate. It will look like this:

If you are new to the Seller Hub and just opted in for the first time, there’s a chance you won’t find it straight away. In that case, go to customize on either the top right corner or the bottom of the page and click on the Monthly selling limits.

Remember that eBay seller limits are not directly connected to the level of your account subscription. So if you will buy a bigger store subscription, it will not automatically increase your eBay seller limits. How can you increase your seller limits on eBay then? 

Will eBay increase my selling limits automatically?

Overall, eBay reviews the sellers’ accounts on the 20th of every month and can update your selling limits without you even asking for it. They will reset the existing account limits at the end of the month.

The automatic increase usually happens after 90 days for new sellers, in case they meet eBay criteria and show active selling metrics and performance.  Though,  you should never wait for it: “We’ll review your account every month and adjust your limit automatically based on your sales volume and the feedback you get. eBay on selling limits.”

But new eBay dropshipping sellers who are trying to start a business online are often selling products at a rate that is higher than 10 per month. Methods to increase the selling limits were developed by dropshipping experts over the years and made it possible to grow faster regardless of eBay’s automatic evaluation process.

How to increase my eBay seller limits?

There are a few ways to get your selling limits raised. The easiest one is to click on the Request to list more button right under your Monthly limits information:

Requesting to increase your limits will direct you to at least one of the two options:

1. Contact via phone – You will be presented with a number to call and a one-time passcode to enter for verification.

2. Contact via text – There you could write an application explaining why you would like to request a limits increase 

If you choose the call, which is the recommended option, you will be asked to give some personal & business information about you and your store, like your email address, business address, what kind of items are you selling, and where you get them from among other questions. They are basically trying to verify your identity and make sure you’re not selling anything prohibited and that your suppliers are reliable.

You should probably consider avoiding mentioning the word dropshipping and rather refer to them simply as suppliers you work with. 

Take into account that if you haven’t produced your first sale, or have yet to reach that initial limit, there’s a good chance you will be denied. Worry not, despite what some would think, nothing stops you from calling again after a day or two.

In the case you already have an established account with bigger limits and a selling record, you can contact eBay using the same way, identify yourself as that account holder and ask to link the new store to it, or by clicking on the request button.

However, there are some qualifications to which eBay pay attention in reviewing your request: 

• that your selling account is open for at least 90 days; 
• it has no open cases;
• your buyer feedback;
• it has a high/active selling performance;
• PayPal verification;
• not violated eBay policies;
• No comments from your buyers about the product’s authenticity.

 Although, failing to reach the mentioned criteria doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t at a minimum ask.

The increase of eBay selling limits was declined. What to do?

It can happen. In case of a refusal, you can request an increase of your account selling limits in a few days again, for example by calling them. In general, you are allowed to request higher selling limits once in 30 days, but anyway keep attempting more often than that, especially if your sales are growing.

Tips: In order to be able to request the increase of your account limits, you need to sell as much as you can and get feedback. How can you do it? 

• Try to sell cheap products on demand at very competitive prices. It will raise your chances of sales. 
• Remove the products that didn’t have a sale for a long time and list a new one.
•  If you have a product with multiple variations, you can also remove a few of them to get more space for well-selling products. 

Please remember: eBay does want you to increase your limits since the bigger amount of listings you have, the more you can sell and eBay will get more money and buyers.

Why does eBay have selling limits?

Trust. A seller has to prove that he can deliver, and not just sell before he can get a chance to scale up. The limits are applied to all new selling accounts and are protecting both sellers and buyers from scammers and make people look to start a side hustle like eBay dropshipping to grow slower. That method helps to minimize the risks of bad buying experiences and policy violations, so buyers will keep coming back for more.

Obviously, it’s not only delivering the packages that count. Sellers also have to prove their customer service skills and the handling of after-sales requests like returns or cancellations. Oh, and the products they sell must be authentic and accurate according to their descriptions, titles, and images.

eBay & PayPal payment holds (The “PayPal Jail”)

During your first three months of selling on eBay using PayPal, you will witness some payment holdouts. These apply to sellers that have yet to complete 25 transactions, haven’t reached $250 in gross sales, and are rated below standard. The holds will last for one of three options:

• Payments can be released after 3 days from the confirmation of the item delivery, using the validated tracking information that was uploaded by the seller.
• They can also be released just 7 days after the seller’s estimated date of delivery.
• In the case that the seller has failed to upload tracking information but did mark the item as shipped and the buyer hasn’t opened any complaints, the payment will be released 21 days after the buyer paid.

Besides completing 25 transactions successfully, reaching $250 in sales, or waiting 90 days, sellers can also try to improve their seller rating, offer fast shipping and handling, upload validatable tracking numbers and provide excellent customer service in order to be relieved of those payment holds.

This article originally appeared in DSM tool

Author: Shai Weisbrod

Link: https://blog.dsmtool.com/start-dropshipping/about-ebay-selling-limits/