Selling limitations due to rubbish DSRs!!

I-Owe-You

Morning all...

I am so annoyed!! I am a private seller, only clearing out the junk from my flat; I work full time as a nurse.

Unfortunately this means I work shifts, so am not always able to despatch my items immediately as I have trouble getting to the post office. I state this very clearly on my listing, ask for people to kindly message me if they need the item quickly so I can see whenever it is plausible for be to get to the PO in good time...and ask buyers to please not bid if they are unhappy with waiting up to 5 days for item despatch.

I tend to arrange my listings so they finish just before I start my night shifts, so I can post asap after I receive payment. Unfortunately this idea rarely works as buyers win the item and then do not pay for days... I am then not able to post my items for upto 5-7 days later...I always communicate with my buyers, who are generally quite understanding about this and say it is no problem... but this morning I have received an email from eBay stating I have selling limitations due to the rubbish "despatch time" score on my DSRs...

eBay used to be a place where anyone could trade, now it's more geared towards business sellers... why are people so unreasonable and expect their items next day?? Especially when my listing states 2nd class post; 3-5 working days, and my despatch time upto 5 days after payment is received due to my job...

I am finding eBay more hassle than it is worth!! All for the buyer now, and it's driving sellers away!! I really have admiration for those on eBay running a business, how you stay afloat with all the eBay/Paypal red tape and silly rules beats me... dont get me started on when you actually have to ring them with a query!!

....Why can't we give buyers low ratings for making us wait days for payment!?!?

Seriously contemplating chucking it in...!

soolin

Unfortunately comparisons always mean that you will look bad compared to other sellers and the DSRs are just another way of ebay 'proving' this.

With poor DSRs, and out of interest how bad are they as I've seen several people supposedly within the danger zone who have had no warning of suspension, you are in a Catch 22 situation. Your stars mean you have poor visibility, which emans you can't compete with other sellers which eman your stars stay low...etc.

Realistically though with 5-7 days for despatch this might not be a good time for you to sell. Maybe ease of for a while until you can work something out later on, or maybe find a PO on your way home from work or a sorting office that you can just drop things off at. Alternatively, take the risk and bung the stuff in post boxes with no COPs.

flipper_2010

I put something in a post box the other day as I wasn't going to be at a post office for 5 days and they said they didn't receive it and it was a book, which are normally the last thing to go missing

What limitations have you been put on, can you still sell a few bits?

freddie_2

I dont think most people realise the implications to seller of giving them low DSR.

Hermia

soolin wrote: »

Alternatively, take the risk and bung the stuff in post boxes with no COPs.

I tend to do this as most of the items I sell are small and are not worth much. If a parcel goes missing I just refund the buyer myself. As most items do arrive with the buyer without any problems it's not a big deal.

It might be worth you doing this for a while just to see if you can get your stars up a bit.

I can understand your annoyance, but unfortunately a lot of buyers seem to assume that everyone is in similar circumstances to them. For example, I live in the country and my part of the world has been badly hit by the closure of rural post offices. There are many villages where I live where there is no post office and the only post box is one of those tiny ones that you could not fit a parcel into. Even the post offices in the towns are open 9.30-5.00 which means you can't go before or after work. Trying to explain to a buyer who lives in the middle of a city that it will take 2 days before you can travel to the nearest post office can be a nightmare!

alison999

I ot a email today saying I was 'below standard' when I looked on the dashboard it seems to be despatch where people are marking me down. I have mine set to 'despatch within 4 working days' and there still ask me why, 2 days after they paid they havent got it.

I really wish people would read the WHOLE listing oh well, heave ho!

TurkishDelight

I think the problem is that by the time they have got the item they've forgotten that you told them it would take a while- they just see paid date (or if you're unlucky sale date!) and think of it that way.

We post all our stuff in boxes or given to the postie, but boxes are limiting and not all posties are as helpful as ours, so I can see how it could be a real pain.

Not much you can do really, it is just one of those things.
We've just dropped TRS on dispatch with no visible complaints, but obviously some people don't like our 24-48 hour window.

flipper_2010

Hermia wrote: »

I live in the country and my part of the world has been badly hit by the closure of rural post offices. There are many villages where I live where there is no post office and the only post box is one of those tiny ones that you could not fit a parcel into. Even the post offices in the towns are open 9.30-5.00 which means you can't go before or after work. Trying to explain to a buyer who lives in the middle of a city that it will take 2 days before you can travel to the nearest post office can be a nightmare!

Why do people not understand this, I'm out in the country too, if I could walk to a Post office I would post out every day, but if I was driving every day the petrol/parking costs would make it a bit pointless. I'm only clearing out my house after all

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

I know - i post everything the next working day with one or two exceptions where it goes out a day later, all with a stated dispatch time of 3 working days to cover myself just incase something crops up. Everything goes 1st class, whether standard or recorded and i still have a 4.5 dsr for dispatch time (?!?) with over 200 items sent in the last 6 months!

I don't know what the level is for reduced listings but i know i am very near it, yet nearly everyone gets their items a day or two later after paying!

Buyers just must not know or care to rate appropriately

soolin

All my items go next day or day after and always second class (not recorded) and i maintain 4.8-4.9 across all my accounts for dispatch.

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

I wish i could - every other of my ratings are 4.9...i don't get it as nearly every comment states 'very fast delivery', or 'wow - arrived next day'. Must just one or two miffed people who give one star for no reason to completely wreck someones dsr. I can never understand it as i simply can't post it any faster than i do so therefore it should really be a 5 for dispatch. And i have 100% positive feedback so it's not from someone leaving negatives.

Never mind - i haven't been lowered so as long as i do't get lowered i suppose i have little to be miffed about.