posted on August 30, 2010 08:09:42 AM new
I just went to leave feedback for a seller. I purchased a cell phone item and had free shipping. When I went to do DSRs, I wasn't able to leave a DSR for shipping. I got a message stating that the seller gets 5 stars for offering free shipping.
Just food for thought. Now you can buy your 5 stars on ebay. how nice.
posted on August 30, 2010 08:58:33 AM new
FINALLY. this is how it should have been the whole time.
I mean, really, the feedback system is complete BS anyway. even before they stopped allowing sellers to give negative feedback - because really, did anyone ding a buyer ? NO, you should have, but you didn't because you wanted to avoid getting bad feedback in return.
it's all a waste of time but it's nice to see that they fixed this part of it, as it was one of the biggest flaws.
posted on August 30, 2010 09:06:12 AM new
"fixed" is correct.
sellers need to cover their costs for shipping, so we tack on shipping costs to the final price. in turn, eBay and paypal makes more money on higher final prices.
this isn't so much about sellers, because truthfully, i may actually make more money on free shipping because a flat shipping fee will be bundled in. that flat rate shipping will be assessed the same whether it is to someone on the east coast, or someone just up the road.
it will be passed on to the buyer and ebay will make more money.
posted on August 30, 2010 12:51:57 PM new
I saw this yesterday myself and was surprised.
It's a good improvement but shagmidmod is right. It's all part of ebay's master plan.
posted on August 30, 2010 08:07:50 PM new
I have called eBay 4 times over the last 10 days. Each time I was assured a supervisor would return my call. In fact, I had a bad connection on my last call and the eBay rep called me back and left a message on my VM stating she was putting in yet another request for a supervisor to call. I kept this message... and yet still no response.
So, in the end I will probably start offering Free Shipping so that I can receive 5 stars from here on out. It is the only category I have lower DSRs.
What does this mean for me? Well, I will eventually gain my TRS status back if I maintain the rest of my DSRs as I have. That in turn means I am entitled to a 15% discount on my FVF. I will make more money. On top of that, I will start adding the highest shipping rate for me to ship from Portland to the East Coast on top of my Buy It Now price. Now, when I sell something to someone on the West Coast I will likely make 50-70% more on shipping.
The sad thing is that people on the West Coast, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Utah will pay more for their shipping because it will be bundled into the Buy It Now price with "free" shipping. This is quite a disservice to these customers.
In the past I used calculated shipping and added a minimum $2 handling fee to cover my expenses for packing materials. I shipped a chair recently that the box alone was $28. I always include packing costs in my shipping.
Yes, this appears to be a seller fix to receiving poor feedback for free shipping... but if this is the direction eBay wishes to go it means it will cost buyers more.
Ironic, just a few weeks ago I spoke with an eBay CSR that claimed the shipping fee DSR was completely fair even for those who offered free shipping because the DSRs are based on the "overall" buying experience. He tried to tell me that it was fair that a buyer leave low DSRs for shipping costs if there were other issues with the transaction. According to him, anything was game. WHAT??? It was the most asinine explanation I have ever heard. Leave it to eBay to spew dumb answers.
[ edited by shagmidmod on Aug 30, 2010 08:08 PM ]
posted on August 31, 2010 04:46:17 AM new
Not everyone ships chairs and table across the country,many sell small items and quote a fixed rate.
Some sellers do not use professional packing material ,they just throw some newspapers and walmart plastic bags in stead of peanuts,Ebay could be referring to those sellers.
I have one Chinese seller from ALIBABA.COM.he wrapped everything in one big bubblewrap,reminds me of that cartoon on Soviet Gosplan,the state dictated how many tons of nails the factory should make,and the factory makes one huge nail !
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There is no 'Global savings glut',only wild horses and loose bankers.
posted on August 31, 2010 08:17:44 AM new
actually, i just tested the make an offer option and note that it does include the buyers zip code when I receive an offer. This will help determine shipping costs before accepting or declining an offer. oddly enough, i would be willing to accept lower offers from buyers in my region than those on the other end of the country.
hwa- i rarely ship furniture, though lately i have done so with great success... so there may be an increase in that area for me. i just sold a sofa on ebay for $3500 that I couldn't get $2750 for locally after 2 months. i sold a chair about a month ago that got me double my local asking price.
i sell furniture on eBay with great caution though. if a buyer files an INAD on an item, I would lose considerably more than shipping a small item. That $3500 sofa cost over $500 to ship.
the bottom line is that there shouldn't be a shipping cost DSR. the buyer agrees to the price when they purchase it. that should be the end of story. why should someone be able to complain about costs on something they agreed to in the first place? i don't buy something that the overall cost exceeds what I perceive to be value. I look at the bottom line.
I would never leave a seller a DSR for shipping cost below 5 stars unless they misrepresent the shipping method. Example: selling me Priority Mail and shipping it Parcel Post.
posted on August 31, 2010 09:13:45 AM new
I think you just answer your own question.
Seller switched to shipping parcel when they quote priority.
But sometimes they just dont know until they start packing that shipping priority is not feasible/
On other shopping venues,buyer read the shipping terms before they enter the order,they dont complain afterwards.
Good for you selling furniture at a good price on Ebay!
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There is no 'Global savings glut',only wild horses and loose bankers.
