Shipping price on lables and DSR

From eBay own help page, I copy the following. Want to bet <1% of buyers have read this? The bolding is mine.

Buyers

How to leave detailed seller ratings

You can leave detailed seller ratings from the Leave Feedback page. If you choose to leave detailed seller ratings, you must leave them at the same time you leave your overall Feedback rating and comment. When you’re rating the seller, please keep the following in mind:

Be honest. Objective ratings help sellers improve performance and help future buyers accurately evaluate sellers.

Review the item title and description before rating the seller on item as described.

Consider only business days when evaluating communication. Sellers don’t always check email on weekends and holidays.

When rating sellers on shipping time, rate the seller on the time it took them to mail the item, not the time it took you to receive the item. You shouldn’t hold sellers responsible for delays in mail services, international custom delays or for the time it took for your payment to clear.

When rating the seller on shipping and handling charges, remember that sellers may charge actual packaging materials costs and a reasonable handling fee to cover the seller’s time and direct costs associated with shipping. For international transactions, you may also be responsible for duties, taxes, and customs clearance fees as requested by country laws.

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If I remember correctly, when I last left star ratings for other sellers (it's been several months, I mostly sell), I was presented with choices like "Much worse than other sellers", "no better or worse than other sellers", "Much better than other sellers" (representing 1, 3, and 5). Has this changed?

I think that you are correct in saying that most buyers have not read this and we are still going to be held accountable on how they feel we have done.

Yes the response they can choose from is something like that.

So what can we do to try to keep the DSR rating at the 4.8? Its the shipping one that seems grey if they do not understand the true cost to ship an item. I ship out daily and do not over charge and already that is my lowest rating? hey its not bad 4.6 but it will not help me to get the 1.5% back.

thanks!

I'm a little short on time, so I'll reply more later.

But, to be blunt, I'm not a Powerseller, so I don't really care about the DSR rating, since I am not thought of enough be be eligible for a discount to FVF. Mine is 4.8 by the way.

I've only been selling for 11 years with a 3000+ feedback that's at 100% averaged over the 11 years. But I don't qualify for a discount.

You know people don't read...(one of my pet peeves). And unless the buyer is also a seller, they would have no way of knowing what a fair shipping/handling cost should be. Although on a side note, it's not very bright to charge 10.00 shipping for example and have your package showing 1.25, but that's beside the point. I know sellers who consistantly have FREE shipping in their listings but their s/h star is badly dinged...go figure.

JeffS,
""I was presented with choices like "Much worse than other sellers", "no better or worse than other sellers", "Much better than other sellers" (representing 1, 3, and 5). Has this changed?""

Is that actually what it said? Better or worse than other sellers??? I have never seen that..when I go to leave FB, IF I use the stars, it says "very reasonable, unreasonable" etc. Of course I haven't had any FB as a buyer to leave since last week, maybe they did change it??

quote:

Originally posted by member_8880:
You know people don't read...(one of my pet peeves).

Is that actually what it said? Better or worse than other sellers??? I have never seen that..when I go to leave FB, IF I use the stars, it says "very reasonable, unreasonable" etc. Of course I haven't had any FB as a buyer to leave since last week, maybe they did change it??

I buy so infrequently I don't remember the exact text, but I do remember always choosing the "middle" of the five choices because it seemed the right one and was wondering how that got converted to a 1 to 5 scale.

The next person that buys something make note of what the category choices are for each star.

No, buyers definitely DO NOT read. I get questions all the time asking me about something that is actually in the listing. The urge to be rude is always there when replying, but I hold back. I do always say though "as clearly stated in the listing".

Hey JeffS -- just so happens I picked up an '87 Charcoal litho print of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards for my 76yr old mother (birthday is tomorrow!)
Anyway...while leaving FB (Great Seller!)..I happened to snatch the following from FB page.
FYI: BLUE TEXT are my notes.
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Leaving Detailed Seller Ratings

If you leave an overall Feedback rating for a seller, you have the option to leave detailed seller ratings. These ratings give you the opportunity to provide additional information about the transaction.

For most transactions, you can rate the seller in four areas: item as described, communication, shipping time, and shipping and handling charges.
The rating system is based on a one- to five-star scale. Five stars is the highest rating, and one star is the lowest rating. To choose a rating, roll your mouse over the stars, and review the rating text to the right of the stars. Click the star associated with the rating you’d like to select.

When rating a seller, please keep the following in mind:

*Review the item description before evaluating the seller on item as described.
*Consider only business days when evaluating communication. Sellers don’t always check email on weekends and holidays.
* Sellers are not responsible for delays in mail services, and should only be rated on aspects of shipping they can control, including handling time. Some sellers specify their handling time in the item description. Also, many sellers wait for the buyer’s payment to clear before shipping an item. For international transactions, please allow extra time for shipping.
*Shipping and handling charges may include charges beyond the actual shipping price for the item. Sellers may charge actual packaging materials costs and a reasonable handling fee to cover the seller’s time and direct costs associated with shipping. For international transactions, buyers may also be responsible for duties, taxes, and customs clearance fees as requested by country laws.


Rate the details of the transaction. These individual ratings will not be seen by the seller.

How accurate was the item description?
Very accurate
Accurate
Neither inaccurate nor accurate
*Inaccurate
*Very inaccurate

(( On the above question of "description-accuracy"..if either of the two *starred* choices above are chosen, then another popup window appears as below))

We'd like to better understand why you rated the item description low. Was the item:
Counterfeit, replica, or unauthorized copy
Damaged
Wrong item
Other
This information will not be shared with the seller or other eBay members.


How satisfied were you with the seller's communication?
Very satisfied
Satisfied
Neither unsatisfied nor satisfied
Unsatisfied
Very unsatisfied

How quickly did the seller ship the item?
Very quickly
Quickly
Neither slowly nor quickly
Slowly
Very slowly

How reasonable were the shipping and handling charges?
Very reasonable
Reasonable
Neither unreasonable nor reasonable
Unreasonable
Very unreasonable

See, that's what I'm talking about. My opinion is in most cases people would choose:

Neither inaccurate nor accurate

Neither unsatisfied nor satisfied

Neither slowly nor quickly

Neither unreasonable nor reasonable


Which seems, to me logic, that your "stars" would eventually all end up at "3". Otherwise those 5 rating categories have no bearing on the numerical weight of the answer, and trying to find out what it means would be met with a "Sorry, that's classified".

I think as far as "shipping charges" go, most people are picking the "Neither unreasonable nor reasonable" category, which is why nobody is seeing anything close to a "5" for shipping

quote:

Which seems, to me logic, that your "stars" would eventually all end up at "3". Otherwise those 5 rating categories have no bearing on the numerical weight of the answer, and trying to find out what it means would be met with a "Sorry, that's classified".

I think as far as "shipping charges" go, most people are picking the "Neither unreasonable nor reasonable" category, which is why nobody is seeing anything close to a "5" for shipping

Fortunately, most buyers completing DSR's are not following that line of "middle of the road" logic. Or no one would have a prayer in attaining those reduced Final Value Fees.

The only time I actually rated a three, was because the seller literally waited a week to ship the item. But I always consider the overall value of the transaction when rating sellers.

Of note, I noticed on my own DSR's that a couple people skipped leaving the DSRs altogether on the shipping questions. It appears a non answer can also affect you overall rating?

LDCdesigns