Here is what I found in Bonanza Help concerning the Top Rated Seller [URL removed]

Top Rated Sellers are recognized as sellers who consistently earn high ratings from buyers thanks to fast shipping and excellent service. To be considered a Top Rated Seller on Bonanza, you must meet certain requirements and performance standards. Top Rated Seller status will be reviewed on a daily basis. Sellers who meet the criteria will have a gold badge visible on their banner, as well as on their booth homepage and item listing pages, helping sellers to achieve more sales by instilling confidence in buyers. You can read more about how to achieve Top Rated Seller status [URL removed]

Top Rated Seller Requirements*

Maintain a minimum of 98% positive feedback
Active member on Bonanza for at least 90 days
25+ transactions with US buyers within 1 year
A minimum of $250 in annual sales
Refund rate lower than 20%
Compliant with all Bonanza policies
Tracking numbers uploaded for at least 90% of your transactions**

*Any eBay sellers with Top Rated Sellers status also meet the criteria for Top Rated Seller status on Bonanza and will have their status imported along with their eBay feedback.

**Refunded/canceled transactions excluded from this rule.

As you can see, you have to have a refund rate of less than 20% if you only sell on Bonanza. But, if you sell on eBay, also, you are excluded from this rule. I don’t sell on eBay and do meet every criteria except for 2. Those are 25+ transactions in a year and the minimum of $250 in sales. Therefore, even though I give excellent customer service, I will never be a Top Rated Seller. That’s a bummer, because the gold badge does catch you eye when searching for something. But, on the upside, I know I am a Top Rated Seller when I am lucky enough to sell something here.

Bonanza [URL removed]

“Tracking numbers uploaded for at least 90% of your transactions**

**Refunded/canceled transactions excluded from this rule."

The above statement may be true as far as not having to upload tracking numbers. However, a seller canceling a sale still counts as a “bad” experience for the buyer. This is true even if the seller cancels the sale (or refunds the buyer) because they are not hearing back from the buyer regarding customization, as is the case with the seller “girlygirl14”. Whether it is eBay or Bonanza, neither platform knows WHY the sale was canceled. They view the cancelation as a result producing an unhappy buyer. In that respect, they don’t consider you a TRS. If the BUYER requests the cancelation of a sale, then it should not (and I don’t think it is) be held against you.

I understand girlygir14l’s dilemma about the inability to get the information needed from the buyer. If it was me, I would wait until the buyers eventually contact me about the undelivered item. As long as you have emailed them (Bonanza messages go to the buyer’s “real” email address too), then the buyer should understand the reason for any delay. If the buyer no longer wants the item, then you can cancel at that time.

Do 25 transactions mean 25 different customers or does it mean, for example, I have 5 customers who purchase 25 listings between them all?

Thanks,

Sharon

Wasn’t there an seller approval function that the seller could require before a sale went through? I remember having to do that on one of my laptops a year ago, but I don’t see it now. If the sale weren’t finalized until you approved it, you could make sure you get the customization info first, otherwise the sale wouldn’t go through and, I would think, wouldn’t count against you. But I can’t find that function at the moment.