What are the eBay Top Rated Seller requirements?
Top Rated Seller has four performance thresholds: late shipment rate, tracking uploaded within handling time, transaction defect rate, and cases closed without seller resolution. You also need an account at least 90 days old plus 100 transactions and $1,000 in sales with US buyers over 12 months. eBay evaluates the status on the 20th of each month.
The four performance thresholds
All four are measured across your evaluation window, not per order. Miss one and you lose the status at the next evaluation. Evaluation runs on the 20th of the month, and the level it assigns takes effect on the 1st of the following month.
| Measure | Top Rated limit |
|---|---|
| Late shipment rate | No more than 5 late shipments, or 3% of transactions |
| Tracking uploaded | At least 95% of transactions, within handling time, validated by the carrier |
| Transaction defect rate | No more than 0.5%, involving no more than 3 different buyers |
| Cases closed unresolved | No more than 2, or 0.3% of transactions |
The sales floor you have to clear first
The thresholds only matter once you are eligible. Eligibility means an eBay account active for at least 90 days, at least 100 transactions with US buyers in the past 12 months, and at least $1,000 in sales with those buyers over the same period. You also have to comply with eBay's selling practices policy.
Sellers with 400 or more transactions in the last three months are evaluated on that window. Everyone else is evaluated on twelve months.
Top Rated Plus is a listing setting, not a status
Top Rated Seller is the account status. Top Rated Plus is what individual listings earn when the account already has the status and the listing offers same or 1 business day handling time with 30 day or longer free returns. Those listings show the Top Rated Plus seal and earn a 10% discount on final value fees. Tightening handling time to one day raises your exposure on the late shipment rate, so change it only if you can scan every order the next business day.
Why sellers lose it on shipping, not service
Both shipping measures come down to when the carrier scans the package. Handling time runs from payment to the first carrier scan, so a label bought Friday night and dropped Monday is a Monday shipment. A late shipment is removed on review when tracking was uploaded before the latest estimated delivery date and shows either an acceptance scan within handling time or delivery by that date.
Set a handling time you can hit on your slowest day, not your fastest.
Buy the label and get the package scanned the same business day wherever you can.
Upload tracking from a carrier eBay is integrated with, so the scan validates.
Check both figures in Seller Hub before the 20th, and appeal late shipments that carry an acceptance scan inside handling time.
What a bad month actually costs
Losing Top Rated is not the same as dropping Below Standard. Below Standard starts at a transaction defect rate above 2%, and only when the defects involve more than 4 different buyers, or cases closed without seller resolution above 0.3% or more than 2 cases. A high late shipment rate on its own does not put you Below Standard. It costs you the seal and the fee discount on Top Rated Plus listings.
Key takeaways
- Two of the four thresholds are shipping numbers, and both are decided by carrier scans.
- Tracking uploaded within handling time must be validated by the carrier.
- Top Rated Plus is a listing setting on top of the status, not a second status.
- Evaluation is on the 20th, and the level it assigns starts on the 1st of the next month.
The two shipping numbers are decided at the label
Connect your eBay seller account and paid orders land in The Workbench within minutes of payment. Price each one against USPS and UPS, buy from your balance, and the tracking number and carrier post back to the eBay order as soon as the label exists.
eBay marks the order Shipped and emails the buyer, which is what the tracking uploaded measure counts. If a write-back fails it retries for up to 7 days.
Related questions
On the 20th of each month. The evaluation looks at your whole window, which is the last three months if you had 400 or more transactions in that period and the last twelve months otherwise. The level that evaluation assigns takes effect on the 1st of the following month, so a change you make now shows up in the month after next.
It counts if the carrier validates it. eBay requires the tracking to be uploaded within handling time and validated by the carrier, which means the number has to be real and has to move. A number added after handling time expired, or one that never gets a scan, does not help the measure even though the order shows as Shipped.
At the next monthly evaluation, if the rate is back inside the limit for your whole window. Because the limit is 5 late shipments or 3% of transactions, volume helps: the same 5 late orders are fatal on 100 transactions and inside the limit on 400. Appeal the ones that had an acceptance scan within handling time.
Only on the listings you want the seal on. Top Rated Plus is evaluated per listing: the account must be Top Rated, and that listing must offer same or 1 business day handling time with 30 day or longer free returns. Other listings keep the account status without the seal or the fee discount.