The complete guide to eBay seller performance metrics and store health

Every eBay seller performance metric lives in one place: Seller Hub → Performance. That tab holds your seller level (Top Rated, Above Standard or Below Standard), your service metrics, and the traffic and sales data behind your listings. This guide shows exactly where to check seller performance metrics, what eBay's published thresholds are, how the monthly evaluation on the 20th works, and which day-to-day habits keep the numbers healthy. It uses eBay.com's own policy pages as the source for every threshold. Other eBay sites publish their own versions, so confirm the figures for your marketplace before you plan around them.

Quick answer: Check your seller level in Seller Hub under Performance → Seller level, and your "item not received" and "item not as described" rates under Performance → Service metrics. eBay evaluates both on the 20th of each month. To be Above Standard on eBay.com you need a transaction defect rate of no more than 2% and no more than 2 cases (or 0.3% of transactions) closed without seller resolution. Most slips come from three operational failures: selling an item your supplier no longer has, getting tracking up late, and listings that don't match what arrives. For dropshippers, our pick for stopping those at the source is Ecomli, a non-API browser extension that keeps your eBay listings in line with supplier stock and prices, places supplier orders within your buying limits on Pro and Scale, and converts supplier tracking into eBay-compatible tracking.

Key takeaways

• Your seller level and service metrics sit under Seller Hub → Performance. Check them weekly, and daily in the run-up to the 20th if a figure is close to a threshold.
• eBay counts the last 3 months of transactions if you had more than 400 in that period, and the last 12 months if you had fewer.
• The transaction defect rate has almost no headroom. At 2%, a store with 100 transactions in its window can absorb 2 defects.
• Top Rated needs a defect rate of no more than 0.5% and tracking uploaded within handling time on at least 95% of transactions.
• For dropshippers, the biggest controllable cause of defects is a seller cancellation after a supplier stock-out, which is why supplier stock monitoring matters more than any dashboard.

Where to check your seller performance metrics (exact click path)

Open Seller Hub on a desktop browser and select the Performance tab. Four areas matter, and sellers often confuse the first two.

• Performance → Seller level. Your current level, your projected level at the next evaluation, and each metric that decides it: transaction defect rate, cases closed without seller resolution and late shipment rate. This is the dashboard that sets your level.
• Performance → Service metrics. Your "item not received" and "item not as described" rates, rated against peers who sell similar items. These don't set your level, but a Very High rating has its own consequences, covered below.
• Performance → Traffic and Sales. Listing performance data: impressions, click-through rate, page views and sales conversion, plus sales totals over the period you choose. This is where you see which listings earn attention and which don't.
• Your feedback profile. Click your username to see feedback received as a seller and as a buyer, listed separately. Feedback is visible to buyers but is not one of the seller standards metrics.

eBay's seller performance overview and its guide to monitoring and improving seller performance both link straight to the seller standards and service metrics dashboards if you'd rather jump there directly.

The numbers eBay actually grades you on

Most guides describe these metrics without putting figures next to them, which makes them impossible to act on. Here are the thresholds from eBay.com's seller performance policy, read in September 2026.

Fall past any Above Standard limit and you drop to Below Standard. Note the asymmetry: the late shipment rate and the tracking rule only apply if you're aiming for Top Rated, but the defect rate and unresolved cases apply to everyone.

How the monthly evaluation works

eBay evaluates seller levels on the 20th of each month. The window it looks at depends on your volume. According to the seller performance policy, if you had more than 400 transactions in the past 3 months, eBay counts all of those. If you had fewer than 400, it counts all your transactions from the last 12 months.

That rule has two practical effects.

1. Small stores carry mistakes for a long time. Below 400 transactions a quarter, a defect stays in your 12-month window for a year. A new dropshipping store that cancels three orders in its first month is still carrying them next spring.
2. The headroom is tiny. At 2%, a store with 100 transactions in its window can absorb 2 defects. At Top Rated's 0.5%, the same store can absorb none, because half a defect isn't possible. Top Rated also caps defects at 3 different buyers.

The 20th is also a planning date. If a metric is close to its limit on the 10th, you have a known window to add good transactions and avoid new defects before the next evaluation, which is a much better reason to check the dashboard than general worry.

Service metrics: "item not received" and "item not as described"

Service metrics measure how often buyers report that an item hasn't arrived, or request a return because it doesn't match the listing. eBay's service metrics policy compares your rates with sellers who have similar sales activity, items and business policies, including transaction volume, price range, categories and shipping destinations. They're evaluated on the 20th, with the same 3-month or 12-month window as your seller level.

Each rate is rated Low, Average, High or Very High against that peer group. eBay describes Very High as rates that are "significantly worse than those of your peers". The consequences it lists include possible limits on your selling activity, extended delivery dates and higher final value fees until performance improves. For "item not as described", the policy also says that at Very High you can't deduct amounts from refunds for used or damaged returns.

For a dropshipper, "item not received" usually traces back to tracking: a parcel that is moving but shows no valid tracking on the eBay order looks, to the buyer, like nothing is happening. "Item not as described" usually traces back to the listing: a title or description that promised something the supplier's product doesn't deliver.

Listing performance data: what the Traffic report tells you

Seller level tells you whether eBay trusts you. Listing performance data tells you whether buyers want what you list. The Traffic view in the Performance tab shows impressions, click-through rate, page views and sales conversion for your listings over a chosen period. Three patterns are worth acting on:

• High impressions, low click-through rate. Buyers see the listing and skip it. The title, main photo or price is the problem. Our guide to eBay listing title best practices covers the title side.
• Good click-through, low conversion. Buyers open the listing and leave. Check price against competing listings, postage cost, delivery estimate and return terms.
• Almost no impressions for months. The listing isn't earning a place in search. It may be worth ending and replacing it with a product that has sales evidence, rather than letting dead listings pile up.

Performance data and seller level connect. A store that keeps defects and service-metric rates low avoids the selling limits and higher fees eBay lists for Very High rates, and has more room to test and replace listings. Our guide to increasing eBay sales covers the demand side in more depth.

What makes each metric slip, and the fix

Every metric above traces back to one of a handful of operational failures. The table puts the cause next to the manual fix and the Ecomli feature that works on the same cause.

Defects from seller cancellations

Canceling an order because you can't supply it counts as a seller-canceled transaction, one of the two parts of your defect rate. For a dropshipper, the usual cause is a supplier stock-out that the eBay listing didn't reflect. Our guide to keeping eBay listings in stock covers the mechanics, and if you do have to cancel, our walkthrough on how to cancel an order as a seller explains the options.

Cases closed without seller resolution

If a buyer opens a request and you don't resolve it, eBay steps in and decides. That counts against you whatever the outcome, and it's the metric with the least room: no more than 2 cases, or 0.3% of transactions, on eBay.com. The fix is speed. Answer requests the same day, offer a refund or replacement when the fault is yours, and keep your eBay return policy clear enough that buyers know what to expect.

Late shipment and tracking

Your handling time is a promise. If your business policies say one business day and your supplier regularly takes three to ship, you will be late on paper even when the buyer is happy. Set handling times that match how your suppliers actually ship, which our business policies setup guide walks through, and add tracking as soon as it exists. Our guide on how to add a tracking number on eBay covers the manual steps.

Top Rated and Top Rated Plus

Top Rated is the highest seller level. On eBay.com it requires at least 100 transactions and $1,000 in sales with US buyers over the past 12 months, plus the stricter thresholds in the table above: a defect rate of no more than 0.5%, a late shipment rate of no more than 5 transactions or 3%, and tracking uploaded within handling time on at least 95% of transactions.

Top Rated Plus is not a fourth level. It's a benefit on individual listings from Top Rated sellers. According to the seller performance policy, listings with same-day or 1-business-day handling and free returns of 30 days or longer qualify for a 10% discount on final value fees. For a dropshipper, same-day or next-day handling is hard to promise unless your supplier ships fast and your tracking arrives quickly, so decide whether the fee discount is worth tighter handling times before you change your policies. Our explainer on how much eBay takes on a sale shows where that discount lands.

How to protect these metrics in Ecomli

Ecomli is a non-API browser extension for eBay dropshippers. It works through the eBay seller account already signed in to your desktop Chrome browser, so there's no API connection to authorize. It doesn't show your seller level, which stays in Seller Hub. What it does is work on the causes in the table above. Here's how to set it up with your metrics in mind.

1. Turn on Stock Monitoring first. Stock Monitoring checks supplier stock and prices for your Ecomli listings on Amazon and AliExpress and updates the eBay price and quantity, or ends out-of-stock items, using your rules: markup, restock quantity, price-change tolerance and an out-of-stock rule that sets quantity to 0 or ends the listing. If a supplier read fails, the listing is held unchanged instead of being ended. It runs while your desktop browser is open. This is the feature that most directly reduces seller cancellations.
2. Set buying limits, then choose your ordering mode. Starter uses manual ordering. On Pro, you click Auto Order and Ecomli places the supplier order in your own browser. On Scale, once you turn it on, Advanced Auto Ordering runs on Ecomli's servers and places the supplier order for new eBay orders without a click, as long as each order is within your buying limits (a maximum purchase price and a maximum loss). Orders outside those limits come back to you. A supplier order placed sooner leaves more of your handling time for the parcel and its tracking.
3. Convert tracking. Tracking Conversions turns supported AliExpress tracking and Amazon TBA tracking into eBay-compatible tracking and adds it to the eBay order after its automatic checks, so the buyer can follow the delivery from their order. It isn't instant, and not every parcel converts, so keep an eye on the Needs-attention view.
4. Write listings from supplier facts. Create Listings prices each item with your markup and writes optional AI titles and AI descriptions from the supplier's own product facts, then applies your description template. Copy drawn from the supplier's facts keeps what the buyer reads closer to what arrives, which is the root of most "item not as described" returns.
5. Screen before you publish. Safety Shield screens products, AI copy and the eBay draft for flagged brands (VeRO-type rights-owner risk) and restricted items before a listing goes live, with Soft, Balanced and Strong settings. It's a checkpoint, not a guarantee, but catching a risky listing before it publishes is far cheaper than a takedown afterward.
6. Keep buyers informed. Auto Messages sends rule-based buyer messages for purchase, shipping and feedback events. Feedback requests wait until after delivery, and buyers with open issues or existing conversations are skipped. It can't promise feedback outcomes, but a clear shipping update answers the question before the buyer opens a request.
7. Prune dead listings (Pro and Scale). Auto Pruner ends listings by your rules, such as zero views or zero sales over 15, 30, 45 or 60 days, using fresh Seller Hub reports. Advanced Auto Pruner on Scale relists removed products with fresh supplier data and a new AI title and description, and relisted items get new eBay item IDs.

Plans start at $29 a month on Starter, with Auto Ordering on Pro ($99) and Scale ($199). You can compare what each plan includes on the pricing page before the next evaluation date comes round.

How to recover from Below Standard

Below Standard isn't permanent. Your level is recalculated every month, and old defects fall out of the window as time passes. Recovery is mostly about not adding new ones.

1. Find the metric that failed. Open Performance → Seller level and see which figure crossed its limit. The fix for unresolved cases is different from the fix for cancellations.
2. Trace the pattern. Are the defects from one supplier, one category or one shipping service? Once you know, pause or end the listings that keep causing trouble.
3. Fix the upstream cause. Tighten stock monitoring if cancellations are the issue. Lengthen handling time if you're late on paper. Rewrite listings that attract "not as described" returns.
4. Add clean transactions. If you're under 400 transactions a quarter, your window is 12 months, so each clean sale dilutes old defects slowly. Keep listing and fulfilling carefully.
5. Watch the 20th. Check your projected level before each evaluation so a single bad week doesn't surprise you.

A clean record also affects how much you can list. Our guide to growing your eBay selling limits explains how the two connect.

Who Ecomli suits, and who it doesn't

It suits eBay dropshippers who source from Amazon or AliExpress and whose defects come from stock-outs, slow supplier ordering or late tracking. Those are the causes its features work on. It also suits sellers who want one place for product research, listing and supplier orders alongside the Overview dashboard, which shows sales, fees, Promoted Listings costs, refunds and recorded profit by period.

It doesn't suit sellers who hold their own stock and ship it themselves, sellers who list on channels other than eBay, or anyone looking for a performance-reporting tool. Ecomli doesn't replace the Seller Hub dashboards, and it can't resolve buyer cases for you. For a broader view of tools by job, see our comparison of the best eBay seller tools and our overview of eBay dropshipping software.

Frequently asked questions

How do I see my seller performance on eBay?

Open Seller Hub in a desktop browser and select the Performance tab. Seller level shows your current and projected level with each metric against its threshold. Service metrics shows your "item not received" and "item not as described" rates against your peer group. The Traffic and Sales views show listing performance data such as impressions, click-through rate, page views and conversion.

Is 97 percent good on eBay?

It depends on which figure you mean. If it's your positive feedback percentage, buyers will see it on your profile, but feedback isn't one of the metrics that set your seller level. Your level comes from your transaction defect rate, cases closed without seller resolution and, for Top Rated, late shipment and tracking. Those are measured as small percentages where lower is better, so a seller with strong feedback can still fall to Below Standard on defects.

What are the three seller levels on eBay?

Top Rated, Above Standard and Below Standard. Above Standard means you meet eBay's minimum standards. Top Rated needs stricter thresholds and at least 100 transactions and $1,000 in US sales over 12 months on eBay.com. Below Standard means at least one metric has crossed its limit. Top Rated Plus is a listing-level benefit for Top Rated sellers, not a fourth level.

How often does eBay evaluate seller performance?

On the 20th of each month, for both seller levels and service metrics. eBay counts the last 3 months of transactions if you had more than 400 in that time, and the last 12 months if you had fewer.

What is the slowest month to sell on eBay?

eBay doesn't publish a single slowest month, and it varies by category. A garden furniture store and a gift store peak at different times. The reliable answer for your store is in your own data: set the Sales and Traffic views to a 12-month range and look for the dips. Use those quieter weeks to fix listings, review suppliers and clear any defects before the next evaluation.

How do you see your buyer rating?

Click your username to open your feedback profile, where feedback received as a buyer is listed separately from feedback received as a seller. Buyers don't have defect rates or seller levels. Your buying history has no effect on your selling performance dashboard.

Do cancellations requested by the buyer count against me?

The defect rate counts seller-canceled transactions. If a buyer asks to cancel and you process it correctly, it's handled as a buyer request. If you cancel because the item is out of stock, that's a seller cancellation. Check the reason you select against eBay's cancellation guidance, because the reason decides how it's counted.

Does late shipping always count against me?

The late shipment rate only affects Top Rated status on eBay.com, where the limit is no more than 5 transactions or 3%. It has no requirement for Above Standard. Late shipping still matters for every seller, though, because late parcels drive "item not received" requests and unhappy buyers.

Can software fix my seller metrics?

Software can't change a metric directly, but it can remove the causes. Ecomli's Stock Monitoring reduces cancellations from supplier stock-outs, Auto Ordering on Pro and Scale places supplier orders within your buying limits, and Tracking Conversions adds eBay-compatible tracking after automatic checks. Unresolved cases, listing accuracy and realistic handling times are still your decisions.

The bottom line

Your seller performance metrics are in Seller Hub → Performance, and they're evaluated on the 20th of each month. The defect rate and unresolved cases leave very little room, so the work is upstream: don't sell what your supplier can't ship, get tracking on the order inside your handling time, and describe items the way they arrive. For dropshippers, Ecomli is our pick for doing that work at the source, with Stock Monitoring, Auto Ordering within buying limits and Tracking Conversions. The dashboard then shows the result.

Ready to run this on your own eBay store? Get started with Ecomli → Plans from $29/month · 7-day money-back guarantee on your first payment · cancel any time.