New eBay Seller Protections Coming Soon: Item Not Received, As Is/For Parts Returns & Automatic Feedback
eBay sellers can look forward to new protections and policies rolling out over the coming months for Item Not Received claims, As Is For Parts/Not Working returns, and automatic positive feedback as announced at the eBay Open 2025 seller conference.
Here's what we know so far:
Automatic Positive Feedback
After limited roll out for new sellers last year and expansion in the UK earlier this year, Automatic Positive Feedback will apply to all US sellers in September as part of new features and protections announced at eBay Open 2025.
Automated Feedback
Great transactions deserve recognition, and more feedback means more trust from future buyers, as well as greater visibility into seller excellence — but today, only about one in three buyers chooses to leave feedback.
Beginning in September, when a seller in the U.S. uses a tracked service, delivers on time, and no issues are reported, eBay will automatically leave positive feedback for the seller if the buyer hasn’t already done so.
It’s a simple way to ensure sellers’ reliability and professionalism are reflected publicly, even when buyers stay quiet.
eBay didn't provided a lot of details beyond that, but presumably they will likely be using the same guidelines they already have in place for Automatic Feedback for those with less than 10 feedback, which is currently done in the following circumstances:
- The buyer doesn't leave feedback within 7 days of delivery (as confirmed by tracking)
- Tracking shows the item was delivered on time
- eBay can’t see any indication of an issue with the transaction
Automated feedback will remain visible unless there is an indication that there was an issue with the transaction, for example the item was damaged or the buyer opens a return. If this happens, eBay will remove the automated message.
Buyers can still leave their own feedback within 60 days of delivery, in which case the automated feedback will be replaced with their comments.
Automated feedback is very clearly labeled as such and includes a generic statement simply confirming the order was successfully completed.
UPDATE: eBay has added more information about feedback changes in the August Seller News update, including no longer automatically removing negative or neutral feedback when the seller offered free returns, handled the return, and issued a refund or an item was returned used or damaged, and the seller deducted an amount refund as well as new policies on Mixed Feedback where only part of the buyer's comments qualify for removal.
Liz Morton
As Is For Parts/Not Working Returns
Sellers with items listed in "as-is" condition who have a "no returns accepted" policy will received additional enforcement support from eBay starting in October with remorse return reasons being completely blocked from buyers in the return flow, consistent and visible condition and return policy messaging, and a shorted timeframe for Not As Described claims.
“No Returns Accepted” enforcement
Beginning in October, buyers of “as-is” listings will see clear, prominent messaging of “For Parts or Not Working” and “No Returns Accepted” at every stage — from the item page through checkout to post-purchase — to help ensure buyers understand they are purchasing an as-is, for parts item.For these items, returns based on remorse will be completely blocked and not-as-described claims will face stricter requirements.
The claim window will also be shortened from 30 to 3 days on these listings.
In the eBay Open Day 2 Keynote presentation, Senior Director Trust David Newman took it even further, saying buyers will need to provide clear photographic evidence showing some about the item contradicted what was in the listing for Not As Described Claims.
The next step on our journey toward a true final sale experience is in the area of the listings you have that are for parts or not working where you've marked them as no returns accepted.
So starting in October, there's going to be clear prominent messaging at every stage of the buyer journey on these listings. So buyers will see from the item page through checkout all the way through post purchase buyers are going to see clearly that your listing is for parts or not working and no returns accepted.
This is all designed to reinforce that true final sale experience. And some key changes for these listings are that remorse returns will be blocked entirely and there'll be stricter requirements for not as described claims where the buyer is going to have to submit photographs that clearly contradict what's in your listing.
And we have and there's one more piece of this as well. We're going to shorten the claim window from 30 days to just 3. So, this is just step one and you can expect there'll be more protections for final sale listings.
This new policy on "as-is" for parts/not working items is a significant departure from what eBay is doing with returns on items in new condition in Motors Parts & Accessories categories, where they recently forced sellers to start providing free returns for any reason, showing that eBay is increasingly fine tuning different policies across different categories and types of items instead of the blanket one size fits all approach they've taken in the past.
Liz Morton
Seller Item Not Received (INR) Protections
Sellers have long asked for greater protection on Item Not Received claims that can leave them out both the money and the product and eBay will finally deliver in October, but there's a very important catch - labels must be purchased from eBay in order to qualify.
A major pain point for our sellers happens when delivery delays lead to INR claims and unexpected refunds, only for the item to arrive days later. Starting in October, eBay will introduce a new improvement to enhance trust and reduce friction from these premature INR claims.
If a seller ships on time with eBay labels and tracked shipping, and tracking shows the item as delivered after a refund is issued, eBay will reimburse the seller for the item cost and remove any negative or neutral feedback left as a result of delayed delivery.
This ensures sellers aren’t penalized for delays outside their control, and reinforces our commitment to standing behind sellers who do the right thing.
These new protections are a long time coming but the fact that it is limited only to those who purchase labels from eBay will mean the perk will not apply to many sellers, especially larger ones who still prefer to use their own labels because they have negotiated better rates with the carriers directly.
And while it's far from being a full fledged managed shipping offering like Simple Delivery in the UK, this could be a first step toward nudging more sellers into using eBay shipping labels, which is increasingly seen as an important revenue generating profit center for the company.
Liz Morton
Which of these new protections will be most helpful for your eBay business and do you think they go far enough to address seller concerns in these areas? Let us know in the comments below!
