Why would someone Leave a non deserving Low DSR?

[Buythatcard]

The eBay DSR's are the worst rating system in the world.

I have always shipped items the day after I received payments. I try my best to describe each item. I answer 100% of the emails as soon as I can. I am only human and I might miss a detail here and there.

But why would anyone leave a low DSR for shipping time, when they received the card 2 days after payment. Why would anyone leave a low DSR for item not described when in fact it was a graded card. Why would they do the same for Communication when they never even contacted me.

This is not just one buyer but has happened across several. eBay makes it real difficult to figure out who these buyers are. If you are willing to put in the time and effort, you could actually pinpoint the actual buyers.

I have started doing this and am coming up with the buyers who have left low DSR's. So far, the buyers were mostly one time visitors to my auctions. In the cases where I mentioned above in which the reasons made no sense, I decided that I am just going to block these buyers from buying from me.

Just wondering how other people feel about the DSR's and how they dealt with buyers who left a low DSR that wasn't appropriate for the transaction.

Happy Holidays to All!

[kmac32]

As a buyer I pay little attention to DSR ratings. My only explanation would be a mild form of buyers remorse. A former employer said it once and it is true, "the masses be asses". We recently had a bidder that left negative feedback saying an item was not as described and the pictures proved the lady wrong. Did eBay do anything about this? No. Was a case where "mother" supposedly bid up and bought item and used "daughters" PayPal account to pay. There was a strange series of emails initially with the daughter saying she got a package that she didn't order, then she said her mother won the auction, the all of the sudden without contact, we were left a negative saying the item was not as described. Very convoluted. Yet eBay allows the neg to stand even after getting all the emails and facts.

Also, Howard, have bought from you several times and the service is great. All 5 stars from me.

[HRBAKER]

As a buyer, I always leave feedback and rarely ever even mess with the stars.

[rjackson44]

Its a joke feebay omg

[kcohen]

"Why would someone leave a non deserving Low DSR?"

For the same reason a dog licks his balls. Because he can.

[drc]

Some people may fill it out hastily, not paying much attention.

[bobbyw8469]

I can only speak from personal experience. I got a low DSR one time from a competing seller. He bought my card really cheap via auction format (1959 Roger Maris PSA 7) and then listed it thru his store for around $60 more. He dinged me with 1's for shipping charge if memory serves me right, and the ironic thing is, as a seller, he charges the EXACT same shipping charge as me!!

I file that under COMPETITION STAR DINGING - where a card seller tries to drive a smaller card seller out of business by reducing his profit margin. Without the 20% discount, a seller with thinner profit margins to begin with, might easily turn away from Ebay once they lose that discount.

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by bobbyw8469

I can only speak from personal experience. I got a low DSR one time from a competing seller. He bought my card really cheap via auction format (1959 Roger Maris PSA 7) and then listed it thru his store for around $60 more. He dinged me with 1's for shipping charge if memory serves me right, and the ironic thing is, as a seller, he charges the EXACT same shipping charge as me!!

I file that under COMPETITION STAR DINGING - where a card seller tries to drive a smaller card seller out of business by reducing his profit margin. Without the 20% discount, a seller with thinner profit margins to begin with, might easily turn away from Ebay once they lose that discount.

Back when I used to monitor my star scores, I had had the same experience from "competition" from time to time. In some cases, it was possible to report the buyer and have the star scores removed. Now, with the required 1-day turnaround on shipping and a couple other reasons I won't get into, eBay has made it impossible for me to get the fee discount, so I no longer monitor my star scores.

When I did keep up with them, and drill down to find out who left the low scores, I would block those who didn't have a legitimate complaint or were repeat offenders. In one case, a guy messaged me to ask why he was blocked from bidding on my items. I told him flat out, "because you left low star scores with no communication of any problem, and if that is how you conduct yourself, I'd be better off not having you as a customer." He replied that he was sure he had left me positive feedback (he had, but dinged me on the stars). I agreed, his visible feedback comment was positive, but that I knew he had left low star scores. His reply was not to deny having done so, but to ask how I knew.

Bottom line: When people think nobody is watching or that they are truly anonymous, their true nature will show. Not every buyer you deal with will be honorable or leave honest, unbiased feedback or ratings.

If you see the same person doing it repeatedly, you're best off just blocking them from bidding. Otherwise, report every one that you can figure out to eBay, and some of the dings may be removed if they see it is a pattern with that buyer. Mostly though, you just have to have thick skin and press on.

[olrac44]

DSR's are pretty ridiculous. The one that irks me is the Shipping and Handling charges. I had some guy give me a 1 star a while back for it. Hey, read the auction, if you don't like my shipping charge DON'T bid.

A seller shouldn't get a poor star rating if they charge what they posted in the auction.

[dog*dirt]

Originally Posted by olrac44

DSR's are pretty ridiculous. The one that irks me is the Shipping and Handling charges. I had some guy give me a 1 star a while back for it. Hey, read the auction, if you don't like my shipping charge DON'T bid.

A seller shouldn't get a poor star rating if they charge what they posted in the auction.

I agree but will say that a pet peeve of mine is when the seller states priority shipping and you find that it is shipped first class.

[Exhibitman]

I offer free shipping and jack up the opening price by the cost plus ebay and paypal fee so that no one can bitch about shipping and ding me on the stars.

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by dog*dirt

I agree but will say that a pet peeve of mine is when the seller states priority shipping and you find that it is shipped first class.

Yes, but that's not providing the service advertised, which is different than providing the service advertised at the advertised price.

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

I offer free shipping and jack up the opening price by the cost plus ebay and paypal fee so that no one can bitch about shipping and ding me on the stars.

Works great for Fixed Price items. Not so much for Auctions.

[drc]

Since the beginning of time, eBay's feedback systems have been dubious at best. And it's not really design to represent buyer (or formerly seller) feedback, but is tinkered with to represent something else.

As I've said, if the lowest possible buyer feedback rating is 100%, the system clearly is not even intending to objectively and honestly rate eBay users.

[kmac32]

Originally Posted by drc

Since the beginning of time, eBay's feedback systems have been dubious at best. And it's not really design to represent buyer (or formerly seller) feedback, but is tinkered with to represent something else.

As I've said, if the lowest possible buyer feedback rating is 100%, the system clearly is not even intending to objectively and honestly rate eBay users.

The feedback system is broken and needs to be fixed so it it fair to sellers and buyers. Reasonable communication needs to occur before any negatives can be left which can easily be verified through eBay messages. Sellers need to be able to fairly express their concerns over bad buyers as easily as buyers can voice their concers over bad sellers.

DSR ratings re a bad joke. Totally worthless in my opinion. eBay needs to change with the times.

[Exhibitman]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Exhibitman
"I offer free shipping and jack up the opening price by the cost plus ebay and paypal fee so that no one can bitch about shipping and ding me on the stars."

Works great for Fixed Price items. Not so much for Auctions.

Then start the auction at the open plus shipping cost with free shipping. You're not really fooling anyone by starting the auction at $0.99 with $2.99 shipping rather than starting the auction at $3.99 wit free shipping.

[Buythatcard]

Just an update.

I have been running eBay reports which shows me the breakdown of the DSR's that I have received. I am just doing it for the month of October. So far, I was able to pinpoint 6 definite buyers who left a non deserving DSR.

Four of the buyers so happened to be the same person who has bought 4 items from me over the last 8 months. Each time, the item was delivered within 3 days and each time there was no communication. But this person decided to leave all 4's for each of the 4 items.

Of course all of these buyers will be blocked. I might make this list available and let others decide what they want to do.

Appreciate all the comments.

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Then start the auction at the open plus shipping cost with free shipping. You're not really fooling anyone by starting the auction at $0.99 with $2.99 shipping rather than starting the auction at $3.99 wit free shipping.

Sorry if you misunderstood my comment, but starting an item at $0.99 with $2.99 shipping that has a final bid of $10.00 vs. starting an item at $3.99 with free shipping that has a final bid of $10.00 is not the same thing.

My point is that with Auctions, the price the item sells for is largely independent of the starting price (unless your starting price is what you expect the item to sell for, with 1 bid, which is essentially listing at Fixed Price). I guess you could argue that buyers will look at your shipping price and factor that into their bidding, but from my experience, any increase in bid prices for items with free shipping won't offset what you lay out in shipping expenses.

With Fixed Price listings, or as I said, when running auctions with high starting prices that you only anticipate getting 1 bid for, rolling the shipping cost into the starting price totally makes sense. The few times I've tried it with auctions though, the result was that I ate a lot of shipping expense without seeing any real increase in overall bidding.

[CW]

This was posted some time ago across the street. It gives an insight into the mind of the buyer leaving the stars, while poking fun at the flawed system that eBay has in place. I'm surprised more sellers don't include this little cartoon in their listings.

[Jewish-collector]

Originally Posted by dog*dirt

I agree but will say that a pet peeve of mine is when the seller states priority shipping and you find that it is shipped first class.

It bugs the hell out of me when the seller charges $4 for shipping & handling & then sends the card in a regular envelope with one stamp. When they pull that, I definately ding them.

[savedfrommyspokes]

Originally Posted by Buythatcard

Just an update.

I have been running eBay reports which shows me the breakdown of the DSR's that I have received. I am just doing it for the month of October. So far, I was able to pinpoint 6 definite buyers who left a non deserving DSR.

Four of the buyers so happened to be the same person who has bought 4 items from me over the last 8 months. Each time, the item was delivered within 3 days and each time there was no communication. But this person decided to leave all 4's for each of the 4 items.

Of course all of these buyers will be blocked. I might make this list available and let others decide what they want to do.

Appreciate all the comments.

Your DSR scores look strong, is it actually worth the time and effort blocking a buyer who leaves 3*s or 4*s versus 5*s (the 3/4* scores are unlikely to effect your TRS status)? You are then losing repeat sales down the road.