eBay UK seller performance standards, for dropshippers
Last checked 2 October 2026
eBay grades every seller on the 20th of each month. Fall to Below Standard and your listings rank lower, your selling limits shrink and your fees can rise. Dropshippers are most at risk — here is what is measured and how to stay clear.
The three levels
- Top Rated: exceeding eBay’s expectations, with an established sales history.
- Above Standard: meeting eBay’s expectations.
- Below Standard: performance below eBay’s minimum standards.
What eBay measures
- Transaction defect rate: no more than 2% of transactions (Below Standard also needs more than 4 different buyers). A defect is an order you cancel unexpectedly — for example because it was out of stock — or a buyer’s case closed without your resolution.
- Cases closed without seller resolution: no more than 2, or 0.3% of transactions.
- Late delivery rate: not part of the minimum standard, but Top Rated sellers can have no more than 5, or 3% of transactions, delivered late.
With tracking, a delivery counts as late when the delivery scan is after the latest estimated delivery date and there is no carrier scan within your dispatch time.
Over what period
If you had 400 or more transactions in the last 3 months, eBay looks at those 3 months; otherwise it looks at the last 12 months.
What Below Standard costs you
- Lower ranking in search results.
- Reduced selling limits, and no Promoted Listings.
- Possible payment holds until tracking shows the item was sent.
- Higher final value fees from the 1st of the following month, and possible further restrictions.
Top Rated
On top of the standards above, Top Rated needs a transaction defect rate of 0.5% or less (from no more than 3 buyers), an account at least 90 days old, at least 100 transactions and £1,000 in sales over the last 12 months, and registration as a business seller.
How dropshippers stay above standard
- Never cancel for stock: an out-of-stock cancellation is a defect. Keep listing quantities tied to your supplier’s real stock.
- Set a dispatch time you can meet with your supplier, not the shortest one eBay offers.
- Get a carrier scan inside your dispatch time and upload tracking as soon as there is one.
- Answer buyers and resolve problems before they become cases.
- Read is dropshipping allowed on eBay UK? — the sourcing rule matters as much as the metrics.
Zixo Agent sets a listing’s quantity to zero when your supplier runs out, so it stops selling instead of becoming a cancellation, and uploads tracking to the eBay order as soon as the supplier ships. See eBay automation.
Source: eBay UK Help — “Seller performance standards” (ebay.co.uk/help/policies/selling-policies/seller-performance-policy?id=4347). Checked 2026-10-02. eBay’s page does not state the size of the Below Standard fee increase, so neither do we.