Unfair stars

apricotcrush

Just a rant really to people who will understand! On Sunday 24th March I sold a small item (£3.99), the buyer paid straight away and I posted next morning. Although I charged £3.50 postage, the amount I thought it would be, without any charge for packaging, the weight was a couple of grams over 1kg. and I had to pay £5.60 (old rates)! My fault, it sometimes happens, and I have to be philosophical about it. On my return from the P.O. I marked as dispatched and gave positive feedback with thanks for quick payment.

I now find that although he has given me positive feedback and nice comments, the buyer has given me 2* for communication (there was no communication apart from the dispatch message) and 4* for postage. This is adding insult to injury. My previous 3 months’ stars were 5.00 for everything. I’m gutted. It wasn’t even my item, I was selling it for my son! Why do people do this?

Rhymsta

When you marked the item as dispatched a message would have been sent automatically to the buyer. If you'd have left it at that you would have received 5 Stars. Sending a second message gave the buyer (however unreasonably) the opporunity to give you low stars.

starrybee

Rhymsta wrote: »

When you marked the item as dispatched a message would have been sent automatically to the buyer. If you'd have left it at that you would have received 5 Stars. Sending a second message gave the buyer (however unreasonably) the opporunity to give you low stars.

It depends, you only get the automatic 5 stars if you have the item listed as 1 day dispatch as well (or this used to be the case anyway.)

But in answer to your question op - some buyers really are TSFE I'm afraid.

campdave

I charge the cost of a stamp and envelope for postage. Sometimes I get a 1 for postage. It's not fair, but I can't do antyhing about it.

apricotcrush

Rhymsta wrote: »

When you marked the item as dispatched a message would have been sent automatically to the buyer. If you'd have left it at that you would have received 5 Stars. Sending a second message gave the buyer (however unreasonably) the opporunity to give you low stars.

No, I didn't send a second message, only the automatic one, but I don't have a 1-day dispatch, although I usually do dispatch same day/next day.

yeslek

tell me about it, these stars are a pain in the behind

I've dropped to 4.8 for posting and yet I've actually improved my dispatch times lately - I used to clearly state within 3 days (due to work) but for the last 2 months I've been able to ship next working day (and have been doing so) yet I get knocked down 0.1 of a star ... there's no logic

eilidh_s

I'm convinced the star ratings are a waste of time. As a buyer and only a very occasional seller, I haven't really ever had stars and it was only upon reading this forum that I realized how much of a pain they are for more serious sellers. I had assumed that 3 stars would have meant average performance and five stars for service above and beyond the call of duty. Therefore if it was just standardised messages and nothing personal from a seller I would have only given them a 3 star for communucation. There have been occasions where the postage on an item was more than I paid for it in the auction, in that case I would have left 5 stars as they have probably taken a hit and they didn't send me the inevitable email asking for more money.

They aren't really explained to buyers at all.

beckaroo

I've become quite obsessed with my DSR stars lately! Running reports every day and checking them like a mad woman!

But I totally sympathise with the OP...I sold an item of clothing last week which was fairly bulky and I charged the medium parcel rate. However upon packing the item in a particular way, I found I could get it through as a small parcel. So I sent the buyer a partial refund for the difference in postage with a note saying that it hadn't cost as much as expected, so here is the difference back....I didn't hear anything back which is fine, wasn't expecting to (although if it had been a seller refunding me some postage, I would have at least sent an email saying thanks!)

Fast forward a few days later and the buyer has left positive feedback but given me 3 stars for postage...I am so annoyed! I make absolutely no profit on postage and only charge the actual cost...thought I was doing the right thing by sending back the difference but now wish I'd kept it if the buyer was going to give me 3 stars regardless!

It makes me wonder whether some buyers just don't understand what the stars mean or what impact they can have on a sellers account

apricotcrush

Thank you for your replies. I really do think eBay need to address this problem, either by allowing a higher number of low stars and/or percentage before banning sellers, or reducing the time they stay on an account to say 6 months. A year is an awfully long time and I live in fear of my seller dashboard.

I think I’m a nice seller and I bend over backwards for my buyers but that doesn’t protect me from twisted people or those who don’t understand the system. I appreciate that buyers need to be protected against unscrupulous sellers, but good sellers are losing their accounts through no fault of their own. I’m only selling unwanted stuff collected over the years, but it’s my hobby and this is taking all the fun out of it. It’s even worse for people who rely on it for a living.

theoretica

beckaroo wrote: »

It makes me wonder whether some buyers just don't understand what the stars mean or what impact they can have on a sellers account

This. Ebay does not explain it to buyers and I only learnt it here.

My default when presented with a 1 to 5 star system is that 3 should apply to a boring normal transaction and 5 be for as much above acceptable as 1 is below.

beckaroo

theoretica wrote: »

This. Ebay does not explain it to buyers and I only learnt it here.

My default when presented with a 1 to 5 star system is that 3 should apply to a boring normal transaction and 5 be for as much above acceptable as 1 is below.

Yet if all buyers went by this and gave 3 stars as a default for a "boring normal transaction" it wouldn't be long before sellers ratings became so low that their account was at risk.