From eBay Chatter - Lynda Talgo of TNS answers SNP questions

http://www.ebaychatter.com/the_chatter/2007/08/lynda-talgo-of-.html

Lynda Talgo of TNS answers SNP questions

Posted by Laura on August 29, 2007 at 08:06 PM in   General  ,   Trust & Safety Corner   

Unless you've been on vacation the last two weeks (and if you were, welcome back!), I probably don't need to tell you that SNP is an acronym for eBay's Seller Non-Performance policy, a longstanding policy which has had a lot of new attention since August 13. That was the day Senior Vice President Philipp Justus told the Community about our heightened attention to SNP.

As a part of our efforts to improve the buying experience, eBay is focusing on sellers whose recent non-positive feedback and item not received activity put them in the bottom 1% of all sellers. We are paying close attention to this group because they generate fully 35% of all the bad buyer experiences on the site. 

The reason why these efforts are important is that our research has found that buyers who have a bad experience with an eBay seller tend to buy much less—or even not at all—from other eBay sellers afterward.  By targeting this 1% population, our aim is to make a more active and vibrant marketplace for the other 99% of eBay sellers.

Unsurprisingly, Philipp's letter has triggered a lot of discussion and emails.  Our sense is that Community members agree with our efforts to take action against this group of sellers -- sellers and buyers both benefit from a more trustworthy marketplace.  Since beginning enforcement, many sellers have had questions about enforcement and how they can make sure their buyer satisfaction rates remain in compliance with the SNP policy.

We took some of the Community's most common questions to Lynda Talgo, Senior Director of Global Policy Management in Trust and Safety.  Lynda's been one of the thinkers/implementers behind these targeted SNP enforcement efforts, and she and her team have been working hard to help sellers understand SNP.   Lynda's answers to some of the most common questions we're hearing are below.

                                                                * * *
Q: Can a seller get restricted based on only one negative or neutral feedback?

A: No, the intent of our new SNP enforcement is to focus on sellers with a pattern of buyer dissatisfaction, and a seller would never be restricted based on a single negative or neutral feedback.   

Q: What factors do you consider when restricting an account?

A:  We look at negative and neutral feedback activity and Item Not Received rate to determine level of buyer dissatisfaction, and we also use sales volume to determine which restriction to use.  Let’s take a look at each of these in detail.

Feedback:  We look at unique negative and unique neutral feedback activity in proportion to a seller’s total selling feedback. 

Item Not Received:  We look at the rate of INR (Item Not Received) claims in proportion to all selling transactions.

Detailed Seller Ratings:  We are not currently using Detailed Seller Ratings, but we expect to in the future. We will continue to focus our enforcement on a very small subset of the overall selling community.  Please stay tuned...

There are two thresholds we use to determine which restrictions are most appropriate.  Most sellers who fall into a category of SNP enforcement are there due to feedback rates, so I’ll use those in my examples. 

Greater than 5% buyer dissatisfaction rate:  A seller must have more than 5% negative and neutral feedback, as a seller, over the last 90 days to qualify, and must also receive a minimum of two negatives from unique buyers in the past 90 days. 

Greater than 10% buyer dissatisfaction rate:  A seller must have more than 10% negative and neutral feedback, as a seller, over the last 90 days to qualify, and must also receive a minimum of three negatives from unique buyers in the past 90 days. 

There are different restrictions (described below) for buyer dissatisfaction rates of greater than 5%, and greater than 10%, and for low-volume sellers.

Q: Are you now considering a neutral a negative? If so, why continue to have neutral feedback?

A:  No, it’s more accurate to say that we treat neutral feedback as not positive.  For instance, neutral comments alone do not trigger an SNP action.  There is a negative feedback threshold of two which neutral comments do not count towards. 

I understand the concern among some members about counting neutrals in SNP calculations.  Generally speaking, however (and we’ve done a lot of research to prove this), a neutral does reflect an unsatisfactory buyer experience. There are exceptions, of course, but the vast majority of neutral comments indicate an issue.  We felt that leaving neutral comments out of the calculation would mask a significant part of the bad buyer experience problem.

We continue to have neutral feedback because it’s helpful information for buyers to read and review when they are evaluating a seller.  The main purpose of the feedback system is for buyers and sellers to be able to evaluate each other – and neutrals, similar to the Detailed Seller Ratings, provide additional information to buyers and sellers.

Q: How do you do the calculations that determine a restriction?
We calculate the buyer dissatisfaction rate over the past 90 days, which is a rolling window. (That means that with each new calendar day, both the start and end dates on this window move forward a day.)

Let's look at some specific examples of how we would evaluate an account based upon feedback received as a seller:

Case 1:
Seller_Steve sells 20 items in 90 days and receives one negative and one neutral feedback (10% dissatisfaction).  There would be NO action taken. Why?  We have a minimum threshold of two unique negative feedback received before beginning to include neutral feedback in the evaluation.

Case 2:
Seller_Steve sells 20 items in 90 days and receives two negative feedbacks from one unique buyer (10% dissatisfaction). There would be NO action taken.  Why? The interaction between a single seller and single buyer may not give a reliable picture of the overall interactions between that seller and the larger community.

Case 3:
Seller_Steve sells 20 items in 90 days and receives two unique negative feedbacks and one unique neutral feedback (15% dissatisfaction). There WOULD be action taken on the account, since there is greater than a 5% buyer dissatisfaction, and the threshold of two unique negatives was met.

Q: Some people are getting a 14-day restriction, while others are able to sell at a reduced volume -- why the difference?

A:  First, let's remember these restrictions impact only 1% of our sellers – the same group that is causing 35% of our bad buying experiences on the site.  The goals of these SNP restrictions are to change seller behavior.  We want those sellers with a pattern of bad buyer experiences to improve or fix their business practices, so they can be successful on the site.

We feel it is fair to treat casual sellers and those who are running businesses slightly differently.  While it may sound like we’re unfairly penalizing small sellers, we’re really trying to address the different needs and issues between the two groups. 

Low-volume sellers: Low-volume sellers are those with no more than 2 negative feedback, no neutral feedback, and less than $3000 sales volume over a 90-day period, would typically receive a 14-day full selling restriction.  After the 14-day period has passed, selling privileges will be automatically reinstated.  (As with all selling restrictions, the seller can continue to bid and communicate.)

Higher-volume sellers: For sellers who are not low-volume sellers, and who have a buyer dissatisfaction rate of greater than 5% (but less than 10%), the restriction is a reduction in sales volume. Sellers will be able to continue selling and listing items, up to 75% of their historical weekly volume based on their rolling 90 day history of completed sales. (This is based on dollar sales volume, not on number of items sold.)  We manually review restricted accounts after 30 days to determine if there has been improvement in their satisfaction rates.  If a seller’s buyer dissatisfaction rate is brought down to less than 5%, the restriction will be lifted. If the buyer dissatisfaction rate remains greater than 5%, the sales volume will continue to be reduced.  Additionally, sellers whose performance substantially worsens during this restriction period may be subject to more significant consequences.

Sellers who incur a buyer dissatisfaction rate of greater than 10%, with at least three unique negative feedback, will receive a full selling restriction.

Again, these historical numbers are based on the rolling 90 days.

Q: Some sellers are still able to sell, but their volume is restricted.  How does that work? 

A. The volume restriction is based on average completed weekly sales volume over a rolling 90 day period.  For example, consider Seller_Steve, who typically sells $1000/week in merchandise, and then receives a restriction to 75% of his historical weekly volume.  In this example, Seller_Steve would be allowed to list items until his completed sales over a 7-day period reach $750 (75% of $1000), at which point he would be no longer able to list.  He could list again when his sold volume over the past 7 days dropped below $750. 

Q: What about non-paying bidders who leave a negative feedback?

A. It may seem that any negative feedback from a non-paying bidder is undeserved, but this is not always the case.  For example, buyers may decide not complete payment because the seller has attempted to change the terms of the transaction after the conclusion of the listing.  Clearly, this is an area that is not black and white.  We're continuing to evaluate whether all types of negative feedback should be included in evaluating seller non-performance.

Q: How concerned should I be about SNP?

One unintended consequence from the recent enforcement of this policy has been fear and uncertainty in sellers who truly don’t need to be worried, and I really regret that; it was not our intent to cause confusion with our sellers.  The vast majority of you, over 99%, are creating great buyer experiences that benefit the whole Community, and we and our buyers are grateful for your hard work and the excellent customer support you provide. 

                                                                 * * *

Thank you, Lynda! 

Also, please check back soon -- Lynda's next Q&A session will be about actions sellers can take to improve their buyer dissatisfaction rates.

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Unless you've been on vacation the last two weeks (and if you were, welcome back!), I probably don't need to tell you that SNP is an acronym for eBay's Seller Non-Performance policy, a longstanding policy which has had a lot of new attention since August 13. That was the day Senior Vice President Philipp Justus told the Community about our heightened attention to SNP.

As a part of our efforts to improve the buying experience, eBay is focusing on sellers whose recent non-positive feedback and item not received activity put them in the bottom 1% of all sellers. We are paying close attention to this group because they generate fully 35% of all the bad buyer experiences on the site. 

The reason why these efforts are important is that our research has found that buyers who have a bad experience with an eBay seller tend to buy much less—or even not at all—from other eBay sellers afterward.  By targeting this 1% population, our aim is to make a more active and vibrant marketplace for the other 99% of eBay sellers.

Unsurprisingly, Philipp's letter has triggered a lot of discussion and emails.  Our sense is that Community members agree with our efforts to take action against this group of sellers -- sellers and buyers both benefit from a more trustworthy marketplace.  Since beginning enforcement, many sellers have had questions about enforcement and how they can make sure their buyer satisfaction rates remain in compliance with the SNP policy.

We took some of the Community's most common questions to Lynda Talgo, Senior Director of Global Policy Management in Trust and Safety.  Lynda's been one of the thinkers/implementers behind these targeted SNP enforcement efforts, and she and her team have been working hard to help sellers understand SNP.   Lynda's answers to some of the most common questions we're hearing are below.

                                                                * * *
Q: Can a seller get restricted based on only one negative or neutral feedback?

A: No, the intent of our new SNP enforcement is to focus on sellers with a pattern of buyer dissatisfaction, and a seller would never be restricted based on a single negative or neutral feedback.   

Q: What factors do you consider when restricting an account?

A:  We look at negative and neutral feedback activity and Item Not Received rate to determine level of buyer dissatisfaction, and we also use sales volume to determine which restriction to use.  Let’s take a look at each of these in detail.

Feedback:  We look at unique negative and unique neutral feedback activity in proportion to a seller’s total selling feedback. 

Item Not Received:  We look at the rate of INR (Item Not Received) claims in proportion to all selling transactions.

Detailed Seller Ratings:  We are not currently using Detailed Seller Ratings, but we expect to in the future. We will continue to focus our enforcement on a very small subset of the overall selling community.  Please stay tuned...

There are two thresholds we use to determine which restrictions are most appropriate.  Most sellers who fall into a category of SNP enforcement are there due to feedback rates, so I’ll use those in my examples. 

Greater than 5% buyer dissatisfaction rate:  A seller must have more than 5% negative and neutral feedback, as a seller, over the last 90 days to qualify, and must also receive a minimum of two negatives from unique buyers in the past 90 days. 

Greater than 10% buyer dissatisfaction rate:  A seller must have more than 10% negative and neutral feedback, as a seller, over the last 90 days to qualify, and must also receive a minimum of three negatives from unique buyers in the past 90 days. 

There are different restrictions (described below) for buyer dissatisfaction rates of greater than 5%, and greater than 10%, and for low-volume sellers.

Q: Are you now considering a neutral a negative? If so, why continue to have neutral feedback?

A:  No, it’s more accurate to say that we treat neutral feedback as not positive.  For instance, neutral comments alone do not trigger an SNP action.  There is a negative feedback threshold of two which neutral comments do not count towards. 

I understand the concern among some members about counting neutrals in SNP calculations.  Generally speaking, however (and we’ve done a lot of research to prove this), a neutral does reflect an unsatisfactory buyer experience. There are exceptions, of course, but the vast majority of neutral comments indicate an issue.  We felt that leaving neutral comments out of the calculation would mask a significant part of the bad buyer experience problem.

We continue to have neutral feedback because it’s helpful information for buyers to read and review when they are evaluating a seller.  The main purpose of the feedback system is for buyers and sellers to be able to evaluate each other – and neutrals, similar to the Detailed Seller Ratings, provide additional information to buyers and sellers.