posted on December 31, 2007 10:16:19 AM new
We've been away from things for awhile by necessity, but from what I'm hearing from a few fellow sellers around us locally, it seems people are feeling more and more of an unfair bite from this system. Doesn't seem to be any talk about it on this board recently, so thought I'd ask how you guys are doing with it. We haven't had any experience with it yet, but will be back in the swing of things soon we hope (or should we ????).
posted on December 31, 2007 11:19:14 AM new
I don't like the star system at all. I think most of us as sellers protect ourselves by not leaving feeback first, but there is no way to protect yourself again being marked down on stars. As a Canadian seller, selling mostly to US buyers, our shipping rates are higher, and shipping takes longer. I always warn buyers that it can take up to 3 weeks for packages to arrive, but quite a few (nearly all newbies) have left the comment that shipping took longer than they expected, and my star ratings go down after their feedback, so I know they have downgraded me. I have often felt like sending them an email with a comment about it, but haven't done it so far.
In the case of rating for shipping, I think that most buyers are rating the post office, and not the seller. We mail every day, but once it's in the mail, it's out of our hands. I think that for speed of shipping I deserve 100%, but of course, I don't get it.
posted on December 31, 2007 02:01:52 PM new
romantiques, don't have a problem with them, I think I have 52 and all are 5's. I don't think most people take the time to do them. I also think that more and more buyers are not leaving feed back. JMO
posted on December 31, 2007 02:03:09 PM new
I don't see any point in paying attention to the stars. You can't change them and they don't even track your performance accurately, so why worry about it?
posted on December 31, 2007 02:09:31 PM new
fluffythewondercat, to tell the truth, I don't think most buyers put the stars together with the feedback. You could have all of the stars 0 or 1 and still have perfect feedback, just more crap to drive us nuts.
posted on December 31, 2007 02:37:53 PM new
The only reason my star counts concern me is that it affect the search for my auctions, the better your averages, the closer you are to the top of the search.
posted on December 31, 2007 03:20:29 PM new
I didn't think you could ignore the stars for sellers if leaving feedback. I've tried ignoring them, giving feedback for some sellers I've bought from, but eBay made me go back and fill them in. Was that just a glitch?
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posted on December 31, 2007 03:23:28 PM new
Is that true? According to AuctionBytes, eBay has yet to implement the DSR related search result plan but do intend to do so in 2008. Have they started already?
"eBay said it will leverage DSR data in several ways in 2008: "to help us evaluate seller performance, to determine PowerSeller eligibility and the benefits associated with the PowerSeller Program, and to influence priority in search results.""
posted on January 1, 2008 09:14:06 AM new
An eBay guide written by one of the big jewelry sellers, who begs people not to leave neutral or negative feedback. He's recently changed his returns policy to say that if you leave "bad" feedback, he won't accept a return from you.
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eBay’s New Un-Published Feedback Policy
eBay has recently changed a number of items in the feedback policy. One of the most apparent changes is the new star system where sellers are rated on four issues. However, eBay actually has a totally new system of judging sellers – it’s not mentioned in the policy statement. As a leading Power Seller, I have direct access to eBay. Let me tell you what’s going on.
eBay now judges sellers based on FOUR major criteria.
First, foremost and traditional, is the positive/negative/neutral feedback system. I call this the “Original eBay Feedback”. As most people know, immediately upon the end of an auction, a buyer and seller can leave feedback and comments. Anything over 98% has been seen as being a stellar eBay seller, with full rights and privileges on eBay. This system has worked well. However, it’s now not unusual for seasoned eBay sellers to have thousands of ratings where it would take a long time for their rating to change.
The second way eBay judges sellers is the new Star approach. Launched in May of 2007, in addition to the Original eBay Feedback, buyers now have the option to rate the seller on four criteria on a scale of 1 to 5. The criteria is as follows: Item as described, Communication, Shipping Time, and Shipping and Handling Charges. These are the four major issues with eBay in a transaction. However, again, the major problem is after so many transactions is that the numbers don’t change.
The third way eBay judges sellers is by the number of open disputes. While buyers often simply use this as a way to communicate with sellers, eBay judges sellers based on how the dispute was closed. eBay looks at the number of “Closed Happy” by the BUYER. Too many unhappy closings and you get dinged by eBay. Currently, there is no clear quantitative guidelines for sellers to be watching for…so you don’t know how you are doing. Remaining questions from the seller’s perspective are, “How am I doing with disputes?”, “What is an acceptable level?”.
The fourth way eBay judges sellers is by the number of negative AND neutral feedbacks received during the last three month period. I call this, “3 Month All Feedback”. This is the most significant change from eBay and has the most impact on a seller. It’s not mentioned anywhere in the policy guidelines and you can’t even find a tool to let you know how many negatives and neutrals you have received during the last 3 month period...at least a tool that neatly summarizes your feedback. * * * As eBay is threatening sellers with 25% and 50% reduction is allowable sales volume * * *, let me take some extended time to explain this fourth judgement.
eBay keeps track of the number of negative AND neutral feedbacks received by a seller during the last 3 month period. Notice again I am emphasizing neutral feedback as I have been told that eBay now sees negative AND neutral feedback as THE SAME.
Why this fourth way of judging sellers? It provides eBay with a trend of how a seller is performing. A seller just can slack off after having established a good reputation…not that many do at all. More important, eBay has been convinced (right or wrong) that buyers leave NEUTRAL feedback instead of negative feedback in fear of receiving negative feedback from the seller.
From the seller’s perspective, the 3 Month All Feedback system is a significant change. Unfortunately, you won’t find this clarified in eBay’s policies…only if you have an account manager. If you contact eBay for general help, I think the eBay customer service rep will have no idea on what you are talking about. It also came without warning to sellers, retroactive to that last 3 month period. It’s like taking a test, handing in your exam sheet, and having the professor now tell you how they are going to base your grade.
Recommendations for eBay Sellers: Educate your buyers that eBay now sees neutral AND negative feedback as bad. (thus at my store we now refer to feedback as either “positive” or simply “bad”). Treat negative and neutral feedback as the same. Also, go back 90 days and work with customers on any bad feedback you have received. You can use a tool from Toolhaus to list your bad feedback. Also, eBay must be incredibly convinced that these 4 ways of judging sellers is good business. Learn from what eBay is doing, no matter if you agree or disagree or how you feel about how this new situation impacts your business. Strive for complete buyer satisfaction and nothing less.
What’s next? There’s way too many changes going on now from eBay. They are going to need to consolidate their efforts before driving away good eBay sellers because there are just too many other sales channels today, both online and off. eBay is going to take their lessons learned during the next few months and probably come up with clear cut feedback system, rather than a fragmented, unorganized approach.
In sum, eBay now has 4 major criteria to judge sellers:
1. Original eBay Feedback
2. Star Feedback
3. Closed Happy Customer Disputes
4. 3 Month All Feedback
I hope this article helps both customers and sellers. eBay is the world’s leading online marketplace and it is vital to understand new trends and rules. I’m also driven to provide great customer service.
posted on January 1, 2008 09:56:11 AM new
That is really interesting fluffy. It reiterates my earlier post about getting what I considered unwarrented neutral feedback. I often check other sellers feedbacks, and it amazes me how many buyers give a neutral feedback with a very positive comment. I think eBay needs to make quite sure that buyers understand what it means to leave neutral feedback. In my case, not when someone decides they didn't want the item anyway, but when they are not completely satisfied with the transaction, but it's not enough to warrent a neg.
I found it very hard to find information about neutral feedback on the site.
posted on January 1, 2008 09:58:52 AM new
In addition to the normal neg/neutral FB at toolhaus, there is also a 90 day tool:
http://toolhaus.org/cgi-bin/neg90
which gives you the correct percentage.
DRS -- Once you get above a hundred or two, it takes a long time for the stars to change at all. Initially, the dsr tool (elsewhere) gave fractions, so you could tell how close you were. No more. I do the best I can, perhaps a bit more conscious of sending invoices than I used to be; more conscious of having listings not end when I'm going to be out of town. Using first class more often than a one pound priority for example when it was just easier to toss something into a box.
As a buyer, it does give me an indication of seller performance and what to expect. If communication is a 4.2, I won't get tracking number without nudging. If shipping cost is a 4, I double check cost before bidding. Otherwise, I've had many perfect transactions with sellers with mid-range DSR, and poor ones with high DSRs.
Do I like DSRs? Irrelevant, since that is what eBay has chosen to use. I'm sure the ratings differ greatly depending on what you sell. As described -- well, if it's an antique or collectable, no matter what you say or how many photos you show, at times it simply is not going to be what the buyer expected. Same with clothing -- gotta be the most difficult to sell.
