What Is an eBay PowerSeller?

By Marsha Collier from eBay Business All-in-One For Dummies, 2nd Edition

When you browse through the items on eBay, you’re bound to notice a PowerSeller icon next to some members' user IDs. To the uninitiated, this may look like an award given to a used car salesman for bullying hundreds of people into expensive car leases — but it’s not. The eBay PowerSeller status is given only to those sellers who uphold the highest levels of professionalism on the site.

A proudly displayed PowerSeller icon.

PowerSellers have to maintain certain monthly levels of gross merchandise sales (total dollar amount of eBay sales), and they get there by providing good items for sale and excellent customer service.

You may notice that many sellers on the site with feedback ratings in the tens of thousands do not have the PowerSeller embellishment on their auctions. That’s not because they’re not good people; it’s just that some of their transactions may have gone awry and resulted in negative feedback. In this case, be sure to check the seller’s feedback and thoughtfully evaluate it. Many times, buyers don't read the seller’s policies before they buy — and then give negative feedback when they don't like those policies (as in the case of buyers not reading the seller’s warnings when buying liquidation merchandise).

To become a PowerSeller on eBay, you must fulfill the following requirements:

Be an active eBay member for at least 90 days
Sell a minimum of $1,000 in sales or 100 items per month for three consecutive months

Or

a minimum average of items sold on the site per month for the past three months
Sell a minimum of $12,000 or 1,200 items for the prior 12 months
Have a minimum overall feedback rating of 100
Maintain at least a 98 feedback percentage
Keep your eBay account current
Comply with all eBay policies
Maintain a rating of 4.5 or higher for the past 12 months in all four Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs)
Run your business by upholding eBay’s community values

eBay sends you a notification when you qualify. If you feel you have qualified and may have accidentally deleted the e-mail, find the PowerSeller’s page from the Site Map link and attempt to log in.