quote:Originally posted by JeanieB:
Wouldn't it make sense for "Shipping time" DSR that Ebay should change this to "Shipment Promptness" or some other wording to clarify that the DSR is to be based on when the shipper shipped the item and not on how long it takes to receive. Buyers are sent an email from USPS or UPS indicating a package has been shipped. Also, if seller sends a corresponding thank you note with shipment details, that should ward off many low "shipping time" DSR's. I have found that effective as my Shipping time DSR's are still at 5.0
It would make sense if ALL of the star ratings were worded differently so that it is clear they ask for objective facts, rather than subjective opinions. I have asked eBay to do that, but didn't even get an acknowledgement of the suggestion.
But that still isn't the whole answer. We, for example, always inform buyers as soon as an article has been shipped, but that does not guarantee a 5-star rating, even though we average 2 working hours between payment received (usually by PayPal, which gives us a precise time of clearance) and shipping.
Let us not lose sight of the basic issue that was brought to light by this eBay fix - the fact that even if you charge NOTHING for shipping, some buyers will give you a low rating. This proves that no matter what the wording is, and no matter how good the service is, some buyers will give a low score.
And that, in turn, proves that star ratings are purely subjective, and almost as useless as 100% ratings for buyers who literally cannot get any rating other than 100%.