Not selling at the moment ... falling dsr's!

Crowqueen

MimiJane wrote: »

Must admit I've read of people complaining on the ebay forums that they have low DSR's when their feedback is 100% positive.

If they have low DSRs in one area then there is probably one area. Just getting a seller's opinion is only half the picture. The other half - from the buyer's POV - is usually ignored by people complaining on the boards. I certainly mark down on dispatch if an item takes a week or longer to get to me, but that doesn't mean that the item itself would deserve a neg.

If someone leaves low DSRs across the board, however, but then leaves a positive with it, that's actionable (if everything was bad, then the transaction could not possibly have been said to be positive, whereas if only one part was bad but the seller made up for it in other ways, a low DSR can very well accompany an overall positive remark and rating) and reporting it to eBay after running reports to make sure is fair game.

If you're in the position where you've been sanctioned, however, the onus is on you to look at what you're doing and find ways to improve. The buyers after all are giving you their money and they do expect a level of service that is reasonably consistent. It would pay to look at your selling critically and find ways you can do better. Yes, it is all about the buyer, but I don't give money out to get little in return, so when you ask for it, your focus should be on that.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Officially eBay will only remove low DSRs if they are left in error, if you have a comment stating how wonderful everything was accompanied by low DSRs then eBay can assume it was an error and will remove the feedback.

As DSRs can not be removed without the whole feedback being removed eBay will not remove if they don't suspect it was an error as this will identify the buyer and eBay is focused on ensuring DSRs are anonymous (and in a way this is right, you can thank all the sellers who used to neg buyers, out of spite, who dared to question their service by leaving bad feedback).

If you suspect a customer has left low DSRs you can not contact them about their feedback, you can however contact them to see if they was happy with your service. This is a fine line and you have to be careful as if you put emphasis on the feedback and the buyer reports you, you'll end up with a policy violation.

Regarding removal, different members of staff will do different things and when reading on the eBay boards that certain posters have had feedback removed due to low scores, it's sometimes clear that shouldn't have happened (with regards to official policy) and the seller was just lucky to get a member of staff not fully clued up on the rules.

If your performance isn't meeting eBay expectations you will be warned, but must check your dashboard in order to do this. emailing eBay to say a restriction is unfair is pointless and won't have it removed, eBay aren't interested in your personal circumstances, just whether your performance is, in their eyes, providing a poor experience to their customers.

Anyone seeing the DSRs for P&P dip (regardless of how fair it is) sould switch to free P&P if they value their selling account.

Communication is now mainly handled by eBay but sellers can edit the order/winner bidder confirmation email and the dispatch email with a personal message. Small sellers would also be wise to send an email via the 'Contact Member' form to confirm dispatch. The most important aspect of communication is quality not quantity. The manner in which you address yuor customers will have a great impact on what scores they leave for comms.

Item as Described is a simple one and if you are taking the time to clearly photo and described goods this shouldn't cause you to many issues.

Dispatch is a tricky one, you can be marked down for postal delays and missing parcels. Also if you state you take 7 days to post, in my opinion you deserve 5 stars if that is what you do, however there are buyers who simply shop on price and then expect the best service in the world who will mark you down. Getting your parcels to the PO as fast as possible is the best you can do.

Regarding dispatch the poster above is a prime example:

I certainly mark down on dispatch if an item takes a week or longer to get to me

The rating is for dispatch not how long it takes to arrive and if you expect your parcels to arrive within a week I sincerely hope you only buy from sellers who state they post quickly...

Oliver14

techspec wrote: »

Quote from Ebay "leaving low DSRs with positive Feedback could be viewed as an attempt to intentionally hurt a seller’s reputation".

techspec wrote: »

Exactly - that what most people do. Ebay seem to be contradicting themselves.

Ebay aren't contradicting themselves you're reading what you want with that statement. The important word is 'could'.

techspec wrote: »

TBH i think Ebay are happy for DSR's to be trashed - as it increases fees from higher prices/lower postage & increases fees from sellers who lose their top rated status.

Ahh the infamous community boards conspracy theory. You do know the moon landings were faked as well

Rather than looking for conspiracies sellers should remember who is marking them down. Their customers obviously if your DSRs are taking a dive your customers arent happy so you need to look at why. If you state 2 day disptach are you actually dispatching in that time. Check it all out your time is better off doing that that thinking about lots of imagined conspracies.

MimiJane

Crowqueen wrote: »

If they have low DSRs in one area then there is probably one area. Just getting a seller's opinion is only half the picture. The other half - from the buyer's POV - is usually ignored by people complaining on the boards. I certainly mark down on dispatch if an item takes a week or longer to get to me, but that doesn't mean that the item itself would deserve a neg.

If someone leaves low DSRs across the board, however, but then leaves a positive with it, that's actionable (if everything was bad, then the transaction could not possibly have been said to be positive, whereas if only one part was bad but the seller made up for it in other ways, a low DSR can very well accompany an overall positive remark and rating) and reporting it to eBay after running reports to make sure is fair game.

If you're in the position where you've been sanctioned, however, the onus is on you to look at what you're doing and find ways to improve. The buyers after all are giving you their money and they do expect a level of service that is reasonably consistent. It would pay to look at your selling critically and find ways you can do better. Yes, it is all about the buyer, but I don't give money out to get little in return, so when you ask for it, your focus should be on that.

I don't disagree with you, but personally I've always strived to give an excellent level of service ... my coms. are very good, I usually despatch the same/next day and offer low/free postage and I'm always polite and helpful. I'm not sure how I can improve, but am trying nevertheless. You simply have no idea how people are going to rate you ... if they don't get the item the next day or are having an "off" date for any reason, you can get marked down and there's no come-back.

Anyway, going back to my original post, does anyone think that it's worth me continuing to contact ebay about my DSR's dropping when I am not selling? I've just had another email back from them telling me (again!) how to improve my selling.

hermum

MimiJane wrote: »

I don't disagree with you, but personally I've always strived to give an excellent level of service ... my coms. are very good, I usually despatch the same/next day and offer low/free postage and I'm always polite and helpful. I'm not sure how I can improve, but am trying nevertheless. You simply have no idea how people are going to rate you ... if they don't get the item the next day or are having an "off" date for any reason, you can get marked down and there's no come-back.

My dsr's are steadily going downhill, I've only ever had one neutral & one x 1 dsr for despatch time.
I'm assuming that people are leaving 3's & 4's. Most of my FB, say fast post, better than described etc. There is nothing on the FB to point to why my scores are going down.
I post same or next day, don't charge extra for postage, the most on top of stamp charge is 10-20p, a lot of my stuff needs bubble wrap & peanuts, luckily I got a load from freecycle so don't have to charge for it.
I let people know when I post by message & also leave FB as soon as I've posted.
I know people say that we all have the same pool of buyers & if people don't understand how to rate then everyone's DSR's would be going down, all I can think is that some people think that a 3 is average & you need to do exceptionally well to get a 5.
It's a tricky one.

terra_ferma

ludovico wrote: »

Item as Described is a simple one and if you are taking the time to clearly photo and described goods this shouldn't cause you to many issues.

That's not correct, in some categories descriptions are open for interpretation, colours showed in the pics may vary depending on the monitor/settings.
I would say overall it seems that it's the area causing the least problems (I expect it's not too bad if you sell electronics), but in others it's very tricky (and let's not forget standards are much stricter).

P&P is so easy to put right, that I can't really understand how anyone who sells BIN would find themselves in trouble, as long as they check their dashboard.

Despatch I agree it's very tricky, it's not uncommon to see sellers getting low stars for no fault of their own if for some reason their delivery time is (legitimately) longer. For example sellers of bespoke items, sellers from Jersey etc, get penalised even if it's made clear to buyers how long it's going to take to get the item.

Communication is the one that is higher for me, 5, I expect it will stay high as I am still able to send personalised messages, so they will stand out (unless people think I'm spamming, will need to monitor...)

MimiJane

hermum wrote: »

My dsr's are steadily going downhill, I've only ever had one neutral & one x 1 dsr for despatch time.
I'm assuming that people are leaving 3's & 4's. Most of my FB, say fast post, better than described etc. There is nothing on the FB to point to why my scores are going down.
I post same or next day, don't charge extra for postage, the most on top of stamp charge is 10-20p, a lot of my stuff needs bubble wrap & peanuts, luckily I got a load from freecycle so don't have to charge for it.
I let people know when I post by message & also leave FB as soon as I've posted.
I know people say that we all have the same pool of buyers & if people don't understand how to rate then everyone's DSR's would be going down, all I can think is that some people think that a 3 is average & you need to do exceptionally well to get a 5.
It's a tricky one.

Totally agree with you ... I've spoken to others who mainly just buy on ebay and they admit NEVER leaving 5 stars as no-one can be "perfect", so they regularly leave 3, even if they leave excellent feedback.

MimiJane

terra_ferma wrote: »

P&P is so easy to put right, that I can't really understand how anyone who sells BIN would find themselves in trouble, as long s they check their dashboard. QUOTE]

It's easy to fall short on DSR's for P&P when you're selling at auction and know little about DSR's (I know that's my fault). Although, before selling anything, I've always weighed up what others are charging for P&P for the same/similar products and made sure I am competitive. It's very difficult to put this situation right when you're on restricted selling ... even offering free P&P. If you then can't sell due to illness, etc., you're appear to be b.....d!

hermum

I've just read the edited part about should you continue to contact ebay, it shouldn't do any harm, so it may be worth it. You may not get the answer you want though.
Are you still able to list 5 items a month? If so try & do that & make sure that the p&p is either free, add to the start price or make sure that you only charge the actual stamp cost for a while until your scores improve & send 1st class.
You may not make much but if it means that you get back on track it may be worth it in the long run.
Are you allowed the free 99p listings or do you lose that & the free listing weekends?

MimiJane

I'm not sure about the free weekend listings, etc., though come to think of it, I've had no emails from them re. this, so I'm probably excluded.

As I'm having an op. soon, it will be very difficult to list things/get them in the post,etc., but I've told ebay all this. Maybe I'll try Live Chat and see if I get anywhere.