Monitor your DSR Rating

Jeff

Very Interesting, what is annoying is how ebay ranks the dsr I am currently hovering around 4.8 and am ranked middle here is how it is defined check this out.....really kind of upsetting:

What is a Rating Tier?

eBay has published data for DSRs that puts sellers into one of five tiers:

1. Top 10% – WOW! The top 10% sellers are a rare bunch and you should enjoy the fruits of your labor. Look for lots of perks as a top performing seller.
2. Top 10-25% – Congratulations! You are in one of the top tiers and most likely will enjoy several advantages to the competition.
3. Middle 50% (between Bottom 25% and Top 25%) – These sellers are average. They most likely will not face trust and safety action, but also will not be advantaged in search results.
4. Bottom 10-25% – These sellers should work diligently to increase their DSRs and stay out of the Bottom 10% tier.
5. Bottom 10% – These sellers most likely are close to or have already faced Trust and Safety non-seller performance.

Burly

PS. So when you look at it from this point of view who really benefits from this??

Who benefits? eBay of course, especially when it can be used to control their income (power seller discounts and search ranking). Conflict of interest anyone?

I've been reading elsewhere that the star numbers, which we interpret as 1 to 5, don't really mean "1 to 5" in simple terms. The number is not based, apparently, on a simple average. The results are based on some sort of bell curve, so "middle" would be on the peak of the curve. Anyone who knows how bell curves work know that most stuff lands in the middle.

A good example of this is on shipping time where "4" is rated as "Quick". How can it be then, from the beta page we saw appear yesterday, that a 4.1 was enough for a seller to have a warning placed on their page that said "This seller has low ratings for shipping quickly"? Obviously the entered rating of "quick" which we see as a 4, doesn't mean the same thing, as 4.1 is interpreted as "not quick".

A lot is going on behind the scenes.

Anyway, I thought all should be aware of dsrwatch.com. I've entered my email address so I get notices. I'm not sure in what form or frequency they will come (daily? on change only? Who knows?). I'll just wait and see.

They're supposed to come whenever the DSR is updated, as far as I know. However, I've been subscribed for several months now and I've only gotten one update email, but I've been rated many times.

quote:

I'm not sure in what form or frequency they will come (daily? on change only? Who knows?)

Pretty much just whenever your DSR changes. I've received 5 since I signed up in mid-December. Not a terribly spammy email, just shows the Rating, Rating tier, and Number of ratings for each category. As free services go, kinda' nice.

I agree Thurston, Kind of nice to be able to review..............

Thank you JeffS for the dsrwatch.com link. Works great! Wish these guys at Auctiva would set up shop. I wonder how many ebay sellers would go with them? The pickins sure are ripe.

Here's ebay's breakdown of what the DSR numbers mean:

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200710101359442.html

IMPORTANT!

See this:

http://blog.auctionbytes.com/cgi-bin/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2008/2/1203799266.html

They fixed it by 'awarding every one a 5'

Now that makes me wonder what else they are 'fixing'

quote:

Originally posted by Henrietta:
They fixed it by 'awarding every one a 5'

Now that makes me wonder what else they are 'fixing'

They only "fixed" it after a savvy buyer caught it and complained on the boards. Suddenly, after word got out on the boards, an "Announcement" was made that they were have problems with the DSR ratings but were working on it.

Do you think they would have "fixed" all the DSRs to a 5 if they hadn't been busted?

They're so busy back pedaling they can't see where they're going.

You call it what you want, but several pages had all sorts of annoying display bugs on them. Feedback for one had a big help box that would pop up when you accidentally ran over a "?" in a circle and wouldn't go away. That's been fixed too.

Being that I'm a programmer, and been at it for 30 years, I can recognize mistakes. Some I can forgive, some I can classify as lousy programming. One thing I can say about eBay, they do both, and regularly.

Once again, agreed.

OK, I figured out how DSR watch email reports work. They send you an email only when your DSR rating changes. One of my ratings went from 4.7 to 4.8 yesterday, and I got an email from DSR watch.

Well Ebay has done it !! listings are now shown by DSR ratings. How can they really rank me by shipping if I have now control over the USPS delivery times. Only Priority is getting delivered fast. I sent a package 3-3-08 1st class as of today it is still NOT delivered. And this is MY rating for shipping?? Someone help?? I do Ebay as a hobby for fun ......it it NOT fun any more. I do NOT want to be a Powerseller DD

My listings are not showing the DSR stars on the actual listing page. Perhaps this is another limited test?

Could you post a URL or item number to your listing?

I send a huge amount of stuff 1st class, never a problem with late delivery, even NY - CA it's been 3 days.
First class is actually the same as Priority.

Hi Jeffs, my listings are ok, but I have noticed when you check by title i.e. bakelite bracelet...
the time left.. on the listings.. are NOT in chronological order .. TIME LEFT jumps around .. so Ebay has changed already according to DSR

I'll tell you what I find interesting. I just tried your experiment, but I never actually clicked "search", because I noticed that my "Sort By" is set to "Time: Ending Soonest". I then pulled down the list, and I do notice that "Best Match" is one of the options, but NOT the one I'm getting by default.

Why?

I think it's because I saved the URL long ago as a bookmark, and the URL contains "Ending Soonest" as the search type. Here's the URL from my bookmark:

http://search.ebay.com/ws/search/AdvSearch?sofindtype=13

I suspect "sofindtype=13" is "Ending Soonest".

Now, if only one could spread the word to the millions of eBay buyers to bookmark their search link set to anything other than "Best Match"!

Ask Ebay if the search "time ending soonest" is Broke?? Cause when I request it it's does not work properly !! I guess time ending soonest does not mean chronological order in Ebay time

Powersellers should realllllllly be upset! I found a bakelite bracelet STUCK in with other Bakelite bracelets that had 2days & 6hours left to go...the seller had a star rating of 4.5 on S&H.... how is this ranking going to help Ebay when the sellers DO NOT sell.

I went through the first 5 pages of "time ending soonest" and everything is in perfect chronological order. I don't understand why you're seeing different.

I dont know either. From my Ebay page when I do a search this is my url...
http://search.ebay.com/ws/search/SaleSearch?sofocus=bs&...oo%3D1&fcl=3&frpp=50

and also from the advanced search page same thing

Your URL is also displaying perfect chronological order.

halfway down the first page is Pink Marbled Bakelite bracelet 1h 38m time left.. stuck between 4h 13m & 2h 29m.....off course the times will change a bit

I see the item you refer to, and the items above and below are in correct time order. No 4hr items showing.

if what you are saying is true then Ebay is really playing games because I have checked other titles and I get the same thing on... time ending soonest

Stop leaving messages the exact same instant I do!

ok I figured it out......I had time ending soonest checked but what I was getting was "best match"

mea culpa Jeffs....... I think others will have the same search problem & not know what to do

quote:

Originally posted by chelsea-s-treasures:
ok I figured it out......I had time ending soonest checked but what I was getting was "best match"

Explain that... How?

well I cant explain Ebay's search..but if I logout & do a search .. I am getting best match & not TES

When I started to check further...I had to go and first check best match..search..and then go back to check TES ...then the search was ok.....

What happens if you use the link I posted on the previous page?

This one:

http://search.ebay.com/ws/search/AdvSearch?sofindtype=13

I may be wrong, but I thought I read somewhere that Best Match is the default now. I've always had my searches show up with TES, but now they're all showing Best Match and I have to manually change it..Just another PITA...

As I said... Mine are not. Try using that link to search I provided.

Jeffs...when I use your link..I am getting best match...not TES..this is how Ebay can play with searches.. how many people will actually change anything when looking for something

quote:

Try using that link to search I provided.

Hey ya'll. Mine defaults to best match through your link, Jeff.

I must have some "special status" at eBay as a "revered Elder" or something.

Mine still goes to "Ending: Time soonest"

Oh boy, something good for a change. I just got my first DSR Watch email, and it was about me. My Shipping & Handling star just went up +.1 from 4.7 to 4.8, so now I'm, 4.8 across the board. I guess if I were a power seller, I should be very happy because I'd get a 15% discount, but since I'm not one of the "elitists" I'm just happy with my own performance.

I thing eBay should extend this discount to ALL sellers who maintain good customer service. Obviously they think non-powersellers are some sort of low life.

I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that I started printing the postage amounts on the USPS label instead of hiding it. This way the buyer sees the postage amount matches exactly what they paid and you're not screwing them for extra money.

2 buyers ago I was very happy...my DSR was 4.8 across .. Joy Joy......only the last buyer didnt rate me well on my Communication & Shipping ...I went down .1 on each. 1 person can wreck your DSR ....
My Shipping is exact per USPS & what do they want on Communication ?? She bought the item I shipped next day.....what more is there to say?