Thank you for your excellent newsletter and useful topics.
In re DSRs, it is unlikely that most, many and even some will leave a 5.
5 = Perfection.
Even GOD is not Perfect.
It is highly unlikely, especially as a bookseller using Media Mail, we are going to receive a 5-star although we package beautifully, ship immediately, leave clear listings and pictures, and the penultimate in Customer Service, plus the aforementioned Feedback information described discretely.
5 is an almost unattainable DSR, no matter what a Seller may do, most humans are not going to grade 5-star perfection.
It's a system designed to fail. Just check out eBay's Stock presently trading down 16% in one day... A very bad DSR.
We do our very best. I come from 27 years in Finance first as a Foreign Currency Trader selling to NY and Intenrational money=center banks and then NYSE firms as a Stockbroker. Some people will always find something to complain about... it's human nature.
This cannot work long for the Sellers and eBay.
Chris
It is sad that eBay, a huge company with lots of resources, has to experiment with these ideas on us. The only reason we should have to educate our buyers, is because the system is not clear in the first place .
So I should have to explain, even when it doesn't make sense, that eBay will punish me if you leave 4 stars for shipping, even when it really did cost me $25 to ship that package to California.
I think stubborn eBay will eventually have to give a little on this one. Maybe they need to explain to all the buyers when to leave 5 stars or when to leave less.
Lower the DSR requirements, especially on shipping because shipping is expensive, and not everyone (especially new buyers) understands.
Alas, I think it will only be disappearing sellers and profits that will eventually convince eBay to change, not logic.
So I should have to explain, even when it doesn't make sense, that eBay will punish me if you leave 4 stars for shipping, even when it really did cost me $25 to ship that package to California.
I think stubborn eBay will eventually have to give a little on this one. Maybe they need to explain to all the buyers when to leave 5 stars or when to leave less.
Lower the DSR requirements, especially on shipping because shipping is expensive, and not everyone (especially new buyers) understands.
Alas, I think it will only be disappearing sellers and profits that will eventually convince eBay to change, not logic.
I am getting killed by the new DSR system. I deal in a lot of used books and ship via media mail. I charge the flat rate according to the USPS Chart and add $.99 to cover the cost of the box, labels, tape, and handling. Not exactly a profit item.
I often ship the same day as the order is paid, and never more than one business day after payment.
I send people emails at every stage of the game, sometimes 4-5 total. Nobody can say my customers don't know what I am doing.
I box very securely and also wrap each book in sealed plastic. I have had customers email me with complements on my packaging.
So why can't I get a decent DSR on shipping and handling? Every time I get it up a bit, somebody is angry at their postman and I get whacked and down in the listings again.
It's all part of an insidious plot..............
Pete b
ThePhotoArts
I often ship the same day as the order is paid, and never more than one business day after payment.
I send people emails at every stage of the game, sometimes 4-5 total. Nobody can say my customers don't know what I am doing.
I box very securely and also wrap each book in sealed plastic. I have had customers email me with complements on my packaging.
So why can't I get a decent DSR on shipping and handling? Every time I get it up a bit, somebody is angry at their postman and I get whacked and down in the listings again.
It's all part of an insidious plot..............
Pete b
ThePhotoArts
joendjj - For the first my search status dropped to standard due to a further decline in my shipping time and shipping charges DSRs.
Free shipping - No handling charges - Orders out the door within one business day and these two numbers are sinking like the Titanic.
4.9 and 5.0 on description and communication respectively and the other two are killing me.
Of course final fee discount computation day is on the horizon.
I hold, among other things, a Ph.D in finance from Wharton and statistical analysis and gaming are second nature to me...but these DSRs are a statistical set that that have no apparent positive correlation to performance.
The whole thing beats the hell out of me.
Maybe I should add that Rodney King, "Can't we all just get along?" plea to my listings...Not!
Free shipping - No handling charges - Orders out the door within one business day and these two numbers are sinking like the Titanic.
4.9 and 5.0 on description and communication respectively and the other two are killing me.
Of course final fee discount computation day is on the horizon.
I hold, among other things, a Ph.D in finance from Wharton and statistical analysis and gaming are second nature to me...but these DSRs are a statistical set that that have no apparent positive correlation to performance.
The whole thing beats the hell out of me.
Maybe I should add that Rodney King, "Can't we all just get along?" plea to my listings...Not!
I guess the 2 people that wrote this darn story for auctiva cant take the time to try and defend their positions. I guess it is hard to defend a subject you know is so completly wrong.
My biggest complaint / pet peeve with this rating system is the four item, the shipping. I am sick and tired of getting a four star rating for something I can not control. Buyers are too cheap to pay for priority mail but except to have a book arrive across the country in 3 days. Media mail can be anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks. Once a book leaves my hands I can not control the post office.
My ratings ar 4.8 4.8 4.5 4.4. So like you said if they don't give you 5 stars all the way along your average goes down. Any advice from the power sellers out there. I use encidia online postage so I can track my books, the label also has when I shipped it. I clearly indicate any instore handling times. Other than forcing them to pay for priority mail and not offer media mail what can I do to educate these people. I really like these auctiva newsletters they are full of helpful ideas. I agree with all these other sellers out there with the recent changes from ebay. It seems the other rights a seller has is to pay the high fees.
Please Help.
Signed frustrated small bookseller who is trying to become a power seller.
My ratings ar 4.8 4.8 4.5 4.4. So like you said if they don't give you 5 stars all the way along your average goes down. Any advice from the power sellers out there. I use encidia online postage so I can track my books, the label also has when I shipped it. I clearly indicate any instore handling times. Other than forcing them to pay for priority mail and not offer media mail what can I do to educate these people. I really like these auctiva newsletters they are full of helpful ideas. I agree with all these other sellers out there with the recent changes from ebay. It seems the other rights a seller has is to pay the high fees.
Please Help.
Signed frustrated small bookseller who is trying to become a power seller.
Hi Chris I really like what you said. I am also a bookseller and I completely agree with you. My email address is aldergrove@ppowner.com. If you have any suggestions that might help me. I left a post / comment today. Thanks Patriciaquote:Originally posted by heardmuseum:
Thank you for your excellent newsletter and useful topics.
In re DSRs, it is unlikely that most, many and even some will leave a 5.
5 = Perfection.
Even GOD is not Perfect.
It is highly unlikely, especially as a bookseller using Media Mail, we are going to receive a 5-star although we package beautifully, ship immediately, leave clear listings and pictures, and the penultimate in Customer Service, plus the aforementioned Feedback information described discretely.
5 is an almost unattainable DSR, no matter what a Seller may do, most humans are not going to grade 5-star perfection.
It's a system designed to fail. Just check out eBay's Stock presently trading down 16% in one day... A very bad DSR.
We do our very best. I come from 27 years in Finance first as a Foreign Currency Trader selling to NY and Intenrational money=center banks and then NYSE firms as a Stockbroker. Some people will always find something to complain about... it's human nature.
This cannot work long for the Sellers and eBay.
Chris
Hi Petequote:Originally posted by PeteB:
I am getting killed by the new DSR system. I deal in a lot of used books and ship via media mail. I charge the flat rate according to the USPS Chart and add $.99 to cover the cost of the box, labels, tape, and handling. Not exactly a profit item.
I often ship the same day as the order is paid, and never more than one business day after payment.
I send people emails at every stage of the game, sometimes 4-5 total. Nobody can say my customers don't know what I am doing.
I box very securely and also wrap each book in sealed plastic. I have had customers email me with complements on my packaging.
So why can't I get a decent DSR on shipping and handling? Every time I get it up a bit, somebody is angry at their postman and I get whacked and down in the listings again.
It's all part of an insidious plot..............
Pete b
ThePhotoArts
I totally agree with you. I am in the same boat. I am having the same problem that is why I signed up today to find some advice. I feel a little better knowing others are having the same problem. People expect the book to be cheap and the postage cheaper. Like you said by the time we pay the postage / padded waterproof envelope / del conf. you are at $4 where is the profit for us? piratepatricia
PiratePatricia:
The best advice I have is RUN!
In the past we have all boycotted ebay a week, they'd dangle a small carrot, and we'd all come running back.
Today, however, we are assembling together, uniting. Some, myself included, have been boycotting since Feb. 18th. (Ive actually been boycotting since around Feb. 11th).
That was a week long boycott. It then allowed us to launch the largest boycott in ebay history. The first ever "open-ended" boycott; which started May 1st, and will continue until either everyone decides to completely leave ebay, or, ebay changes their policies; or, everyone decides it is time to return.
At the present time, it seems most sellers are happy at onlineauction.com (OLA) The fees are minimal, $8 per month, no additional fees, unless the seller chooses additional options. Others are made their home at ecrater. The boycotters are also supporting etsy.com (Craft items only) and ioffer.com
I am throwing most all my support over to onlineauction.com because they offer phone and email support. They have actually listened to the members, and have worked alongside sellers to help keep them happy. As a buyer, this has made my experiences great. Ive actually had fun buying online again.
As far as selling on ebay? Well, there's no way I can afford to sell on ebay, ever; even if the fees were free. It's too large a risk to have buyers blackmail and extort me. It would need happen only once, before I get screwed. And, the system is made to make sellers fail. WHY would I or anyone else want to be part of a system made on a premise to create failure?
Tim
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKkUCMLZG6E
http://forums.delphiforums.com/boycottebay/start
http://www.myspace.com/boycottebay
The best advice I have is RUN!
In the past we have all boycotted ebay a week, they'd dangle a small carrot, and we'd all come running back.
Today, however, we are assembling together, uniting. Some, myself included, have been boycotting since Feb. 18th. (Ive actually been boycotting since around Feb. 11th).
That was a week long boycott. It then allowed us to launch the largest boycott in ebay history. The first ever "open-ended" boycott; which started May 1st, and will continue until either everyone decides to completely leave ebay, or, ebay changes their policies; or, everyone decides it is time to return.
At the present time, it seems most sellers are happy at onlineauction.com (OLA) The fees are minimal, $8 per month, no additional fees, unless the seller chooses additional options. Others are made their home at ecrater. The boycotters are also supporting etsy.com (Craft items only) and ioffer.com
I am throwing most all my support over to onlineauction.com because they offer phone and email support. They have actually listened to the members, and have worked alongside sellers to help keep them happy. As a buyer, this has made my experiences great. Ive actually had fun buying online again.
As far as selling on ebay? Well, there's no way I can afford to sell on ebay, ever; even if the fees were free. It's too large a risk to have buyers blackmail and extort me. It would need happen only once, before I get screwed. And, the system is made to make sellers fail. WHY would I or anyone else want to be part of a system made on a premise to create failure?
Tim
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKkUCMLZG6E
http://forums.delphiforums.com/boycottebay/start
http://www.myspace.com/boycottebay
I think the thing that pisses me off the absolute most is that Ebay is pitting the sellers against the buyers. I'm the type of person who wants to give people the benefit of the doubt.
I used to assume someone was telling the truth or had a legitimate reason for whatever problem we were dealing with... now (and I hate this but can't seem to stop) my first thought when a problem arises is "Great, another scammer (or non-payer, loser, etc...)".
Ebay has set us up to have to jump to the worst conclusions first just to protect ourselves. I used to immediately refund or cancel transactions when a customer told me there was a problem. Now I ask for proof, or use the "seller has not paid" UPI instead of the mutual disagreement.
Before I left Ebay I had 3 buyers in 1 month back out, then say no to the mutual agreement even after I explained exactly what it was and why I needed to do so. I hate having to give out strikes when someone needs/wants to back out of a sale, I don't believe is forcing buyers to complete the transaction if they run into a problem financially or figure out they just didn't want the set but, especially with the much higher fees, I can't afford to lose my FVFs on that many items simply because the buyers are being jerks.
It used to be a very small minimum of buyers who scammed or were jerks because it would show, as a negative, on their account. Now I've had people who decided to come screw with someone (and I happened to be the unlucky someone) because they had a crappy day.
Ebay has become a dumping ground for other people's frustrations and a scammer or thief's paradise and like others have said... the risk has simply become too great, especially for the small to mid sized seller.
I used to assume someone was telling the truth or had a legitimate reason for whatever problem we were dealing with... now (and I hate this but can't seem to stop) my first thought when a problem arises is "Great, another scammer (or non-payer, loser, etc...)".
Ebay has set us up to have to jump to the worst conclusions first just to protect ourselves. I used to immediately refund or cancel transactions when a customer told me there was a problem. Now I ask for proof, or use the "seller has not paid" UPI instead of the mutual disagreement.
Before I left Ebay I had 3 buyers in 1 month back out, then say no to the mutual agreement even after I explained exactly what it was and why I needed to do so. I hate having to give out strikes when someone needs/wants to back out of a sale, I don't believe is forcing buyers to complete the transaction if they run into a problem financially or figure out they just didn't want the set but, especially with the much higher fees, I can't afford to lose my FVFs on that many items simply because the buyers are being jerks.
It used to be a very small minimum of buyers who scammed or were jerks because it would show, as a negative, on their account. Now I've had people who decided to come screw with someone (and I happened to be the unlucky someone) because they had a crappy day.
Ebay has become a dumping ground for other people's frustrations and a scammer or thief's paradise and like others have said... the risk has simply become too great, especially for the small to mid sized seller.