Every business needs to grow and scale to succeed, but new businesses need to do it slowly. eBay dropshipping is a great platform to accomplish this and that’s why new sellers have to learn everything about eBay selling limits.
In short, this guide will walk us through everything we need to know about eBay seller limits. By the end, we’ll know what they are, how to be eligible for a limit increase, and multiple methods to increase selling limits on eBay.
What Are eBay Selling Limits?
In essence, eBay selling limits are eBay’s way of limiting new sellers on their platform from growing too fast. But, why would they want to do that?
Well, if there weren’t any selling limits, anyone could open a seller account, list expensive products, sell them, not ship out anything and keep the money.
So, to avoid such scenarios from occurring, every new seller starts with a low limit of up to 10 items and $500. Both of these limits include the number listed and sold combined.
How Do eBay Selling Limits Work?
To understand how eBay selling limits work, we need to familiarize ourselves with the item quantity/ $ Amount limits and the monthly listingrenewals.
Item Quantity / $ Amount Limit
We’ll demonstrate how eBay selling limits work on a starting limit of 10 items and $500. So, let’s say we listed 1 item for $100. This will update our limits to 9 items and $490.
Now, let’s say that item sold a couple of days after listing it. Our limits will update to 8 items and $480. That’s because, as explained above, eBay counts both the amount listed and sold.
Therefore, starting with cheap items is better than letting one expensive item hog up our limits. The more items we have, the higher our chances to sell and get the ball rolling.
All of the eBay selling limits renew at the beginning of each month. Meaning, we begin every month with 0 items and $0 amount listed and sold.
And, every calendar month, eBay also renews the listings on our stores. That’s because our fixed-price listings automatically come with the ‘Good ‘Til Cancelled’ option.
For example, if we add a new listing on January 5th, then on February 5th, the listing will renew itself. Renewing means it will take up space on our monthly selling limits (and insertion fees on our store subscription.)
Therefore, it’s essential to check our listings’ performance the day before they renew themselves.
Then, we can remove those not performing well and replace them before taking up space on our monthly selling limits.
How To Check Selling Limits On eBay
To learn how to check the selling limit on eBay, head to the seller dashboard by hovering over ‘My eBay,’ then click on ‘Selling.’
We can find our selling limits and additional data regarding our sales, performance, traffic, promotions, and more on the seller dashboard.
If we don’t have a monthly selling limits chart on our seller dashboard, we can click on the ‘Customize’ link on the top right to activate it.
Furthermore, we can rearrange the charts on our seller dashboard to best suit our needs.
As a result, every time we enter our seller dashboard, we’ll see our monthly limits along with how much we have left. So, now we know what eBay limits are and how they work. We also know that every new eBay seller starts with low limits.
But, how to increase selling limits on eBay?
To answer this million-dollar question, we have a solution down below.
What To Know Before Increasing Ebay Selling Limits
Before we learn about how to increase eBay selling limits in 2023, let’s go over the ground rules and conditions.
If our eBay store does not meet all of the following criteria, we must fix whatever is necessary. This is to ensure we’re clean before raising our eBay selling limits.
1. Make Sure Our Limits Are Full
First and foremost, before considering a limit increase, we should ensure that our current limits are full and in the red zone.
Otherwise, eBay will reject any attempt to increase our selling limits, as we’ll still have more room to list new items.
If we’re not in the red zone yet, we can continue adding listings every day until we reach the sweet spot.
2. No Open Returns/Cases Or Unresolved Buyer Requests
On the seller hub, check out the ‘Orders’ section and ensure that there are no open returns/replacements.
Also, the resolution center and order cancellations should be clean.
If there are any open cases/returns/unresolved buyer requests, close them before requesting a limit increase.
3. Seller Level Is In Good Standing
Next, we want to ensure that our eBay seller accounts are in good standing. This piece of information is also available on our eBay seller dashboard.
To be eligible for a selling limit increase, eBay is looking for seller levels ‘Above Standard’ and above (Top Rated.)
If our eBay seller level is ‘Below Average,’ we can improve our eBay seller rating by:
Shipping our items out on time according to their shipping policies.
Updating tracking information according to the shipping policies’ handling time.
Closing cases (to our favor) between the buyer and us, and without asking eBay to intervene.
4. Items Are In Stock
The next condition before increasing our eBay limits is to ensure that all of our active listings are in stock.
On the eBay seller hub, click on the ‘Listings’ tab to open up your active listings. Then, sort the quantity from smallest to largest to view the out-of-stock listings first.
Remove the out-of-stock listings and replace them with items that are available.
If we have an eBay seller account with bigger limits, we don’t have to exhaust the limits by 100% completely. Anywhere between 90%-100% will suffice.
5. Verified Payoneer Account
The final step to prepare for an eBay selling limit increase is to verify our Payoneer account. To clarify, Payoneer is a digital payment platform. While Payoneer is only compulsory for international sellers, US sellers can also manage everything through Payoneer.
First, register for a Payoneer account. Then, link the Payoneer Account with eBay. Since eBay no longer works with Paypal, they sent an email to existing sellers with a link to switch to eBay-managed payments. Alternatively, we can set it up manually on Payoneer. To do so, log in to your Payoneer account and click on the Activity Tab. Next, click on Store Manager, and link to the eBay store.
After linking, eBay asks us to complete verification by filling in our details, such as name, address, date of birth, and ID. Afterward, our profile will go through a verification process and will be verified.
How To Increase Selling Limits On eBay
Once all preparations are complete, we can proceed to request a selling limit increase. This way, we can learn tips on how to get around eBay’s selling limits.
As our partner in dropshipping, AutoDSprovides us with assistance in every step of the way. With that in mind, here are the five tips on howto increase selling limits on eBay:
1. The Automatic Method
Undoubtedly, our favorite method is the automatic one.
If our seller accounts meet all of the requirements to be eligible for a limit increase and we’re making constant sales, eBay will automatically increase our selling limits.
They have special algorithms that scan our stores once a month for our seller metrics and performance.
As soon as it happens, they’ll send a ‘Now your can list even more’ email with all of the information inside. (See screenshot above.)
Getting automatic selling limit upgrades is a sign that we’re in the right direction. Our seller accounts are healthy, our store’s sale conversions are high, and our customers are happy.
Finally, if we get an automatic selling limit increase, then we can give ourselves a pat on the back!
2. Request To List More
The second method to increase our eBay selling limits is by clicking on the ‘Request to list more’ link. This way, we can increase our eBay request for higher selling limits.
We can find it on our eBay seller hub in the monthly limits section.
Once we click on it, eBay will run a quick scan on our seller account and will let us know within seconds if they increased our limits or not.
Keep in mind that we can only use this option once every month.
So, whether the answer is negative or positive, we’ll have to wait at least 30 days before eBay scans our store again through that link.
Therefore, go over all of the steps to ensure you’re eligible for a limit increase before trying.
3. Contact eBay Via Phone
The third method to increase our eBay selling limits is by contacting eBay by phone.
Calling eBay is the preferred method since they rarely log calls. Meaning if for some reason, we fail, we can try again instead of waiting one month before each attempt.
To get an eBay representative on the phone, get to their selling limits help section by clicking on that link or by clicking on ‘Help & Contact’ on the top bar:
Then, scroll down to ‘Browse Help Articles’ and click on ‘Selling’:
From there, scroll down to ‘Listing Your Item,’ and click on ‘Selling Limits’:
Now, scroll to the bottom of the page. Here we’ll have methods to contact eBay on the subject.
One of those methods should include contacting them by phone, and they will offer a one-time passcode to get to an eBay representative quickly.
If the contact by phone option doesn’t exist under selling limits, we can try picking a different help & contact subject and scroll to the bottom of the page.
On some help subjects, the contact by phone option exists, while on others, it doesn’t. It differs from seller account types and locations.
Before making the call, make sure to go over eBay’s Selling Policies and get familiar with what they’re looking for in a seller.
In general, eBay is looking for overall buyer satisfaction, fast shipping times, clear shipping & return policies, and overall professionalism.
Keep in mind that they want us to sell more and have more listings, as they’re profiting from it, too.
After a quick verification process, they’ll want to know what type of items we’re planning on selling and how much, our shipping times, and our item’s locations. Plus, they are also making sure we are complying with their policies.
Then, they’ll quickly scan our seller account and will let us know if we’re eligible for a limit increase and by how much.
4. Contact eBay Via Email
The fourth method to increase your eBay selling limits is by contacting eBay by email.
The process is the same as contacting them by phone, as shown above.
Head to the Help & Contact section, navigate to the seller help section, get to the bottom of a help article until you reach the ‘Need more help?’ section with contact options.
One of the options is the ‘Email us’ link which will direct you to fill in a text form. There, politely ask for a limit increase, and show your professionalism.
You will get a response within 48 hours by email. If the eBay representative didn’t agree to raise your limits, you can try again in a month.
5. Contact eBay Via Chat
The fifth method to increase our eBay selling limits is by contacting eBay via chat. Yes, we can chat live with an eBay representative!
However, keep in mind that eBay logs the chats, so this method can also be used once a month to be effective.
To get to the chat, the process is the same as in the two examples above.
On eBay’s help section, some of the help sections have a chat option when we scroll to the bottom.
They change from time to time, so we should check a few help sections until we find the option to chat.
Be kind and courteous to eBay’s representatives. Also, we should show them that we are serious about our business and that customer service is at the top of our priority list.
And, that needs to be true if we want to succeed in this business!
3. Steps To Take If Not Eligible For eBay Seller Limit Increase
Not eligible for an eBay seller limit increase? Don’t worry.
Here’s what we can do to improve our chances of getting that limit increase on our next try:
1. Check Eligibility For Limit Upgrade
While it should go without saying, make sure to read all of the steps above (What To Know Before Increasing eBay Selling Limits).
Go over each step carefully and see what needs tweaking on the seller account before trying again.
2. Aim For More Sales
Just because new seller accounts only have a limit of ten items, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t focus on them.
If we work harder on our product research, we’ll find items with a much higher chance of selling.
Replace poor-performing items with cheaper, trendier products and optimize product pages.
This way, we’ll have a better chance of being eligible for a selling limit upgrade, whether by reaching out to eBay or having eBay automatically increase our limits, as explained above.
If we choose to speak with eBay by phone, and they don’t raise our limits, we can simply hang up and try again. They rarely record calls for reference.
However, if our method was to use the ‘Request to list more’ link or contact eBay by chat or email, we’ll have to wait one month before trying again (even by phone).
Go through all the steps to ensure we’re eligible, wait for the right time, and try again. Success is just around the corner.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Are eBay’s Selling Limits In 2023?
In essence, eBay allows new sellers to list at most 10 items worth up to $500. That means we can only list products of up to 10 units or $500 in total.
Can I Request Higher eBay Selling Limits?
Of course! eBay’s selling limits are only there to deter unreliable sellers. So, if we are fulfilling our limits, providing excellent customer service, and getting good feedback, we can request higher eBay selling limits.
How Can I Get Around eBay Selling Limits?
If we show eBay that we are a reliable seller, then eBay will gradually loosen the restrictions. Furthermore, linking our new account to the established seller account can help raise our eBay seller limits if we have multiple seller accounts.
Conclusion
Hooray! Now, we know about eBay selling limits, how they work, and what we need to do to increase them.
So, take all of the steps in this article to reduce failed attempts and learn how to increase selling limits on eBay. Doing so will ultimately bring in more listings, sales, and profits.
Once we have clarity on how to get around ebay selling limits, we can implement the Big Numbers Strategy and really start taking our online business to the next level. Moreover, if we want to learn everything about dropshipping on eBay, here are some articles to expand our horizons:
