Detailed Seller Ratings

[democraticinsurgent]

This is a bit of a rant, but hey, this forum's been way too quiet lately. ;-)

I FRIGGING HATE DETAILED SELLER RATINGS.

Ok, here's why. First of all they are being used as intimidation and enforcement by eBay. Drop below a 4.3/5 and you are SUSPENDED. This won't happen to many people, but here's what happened to me. I had one yo yo give me a 3 (i'm guessing) on shipping time and my shipping time DSR's are stuck in the low 4's. This ALONE has kept me from being a Power Seller, which I used to not care about but now there are discounts and other advantages associated with being such.

Worse, no matter how much i sell, most buyers DO NOT USE DSR's. Hence, my newly satisfied customers don't help balance out the idiot that nailed me.

To rememdy this I'm making a package insert flyer to request that customers use DSR's when they do feedback. I'm also adding this to my listing info.

The other thing I will explain to customers is that a rating of 4 our of 5 is a FAILING grade rather than a "B" that it would be in school.

What the hell was eBay thinking when they decided that a 4 was a failing grade?

I know there's no good alternative, but I'm angry at eBay more and more each day.

Ok, rant over. Carry on!

[grasswire]

1. out and about this weekend, I heard nothing but rants about eBay

Sellers are really complaining about new regulations regarding shipping, and Paypal, and feedback.

[Vinca]

2. I'm especially miffed about the no negative feedback on buyers policy.

I used to get timely payments, no problem. Now I have to pester people half to death to pay for whatever they won. It's very annoying. Yet they can leave whatever they want on sellers. It's really a shame what ebay has done to themselves. In the early days it worked very well and it was lots of fun. Now the majority of sellers are businesses unloading cheap Chinese crap and to add insult to injury their listings end up at the top of the list because of their volume.

[democraticinsurgent]

3. i agree

they have completely tilted the scales towards buyers and huge volume sellers, leaving the small guy in the dust. I don't understand why they want to kill their golden goose which seems to be smaller sellers like us, but they sure seem to be all about it.

[Vinca]

4. I'm doubly pissed off now. A guy from Germany won a couple

of prints I had on ebay - about $120 total. He only had 5 feedbacks so I wasn't too thrilled to begin with. I just came back from translating some of the "positive" remarks left by his fellow Germans. They were all negative. The guy's a deadbeat, but of course he's just gotten positive scores because that's all you can leave if you want to warn the other sellers about the bum. If I don't hear from him by tomorrow I'm going to offer them to the second bidder. Ebay . . . grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

[democraticinsurgent]

5. that's our new eBay

...the same eBay that's been run into the ground by their Republican former headmistress Meg Whitman and her team of successors.

Can't these Rethuglicans do ANYTHING right?

(No need to answer, lol)

[Sadie5]

6. Just wanted to add my 2 cents worth here

I was bitten by the ebay bug 3 months ago when looking for completer pieces for my grandson's room. The sale went OK but it sure took a long tome to get to me, 10 days from the date of purchase and I always make an instant payment. Then I saw the Ralph Lauren bedroom things. In the past three months I have purchased roughly around a thousand dollars wort of Ralph and most of the sellers have been great except for a few. One package of shams were a long time arriving and were packaged terrible. They were wadded up in a plastic bag which I did not appreciate. Others never even thank me for my purchase and only contact me when the package is sent. One seller did not have the courtesy to even do that, the package just arrived a few days later and was not a first as advertised. I never give anyone a bad rating as I know they are there to make money and dealing with the public stinks but some of the sellers do not deserve the good rating I give them. Two items I have bid on and lost to another bidder were left unpaid for by the winner and one even offered me a second chance which I took. All in all I have the items I want and try to pay as soon as the item is mine by clicking on the pay now button. I only have 10 ratings and will soon have 12 so I can understand why you get apprehensive about the buyers. JMO

[democraticinsurgent]

7. It's not the buyers that worry me...

...it's the new eBay system which is poorly thought through. I think buyers should be free to give honest ratings, but sellers shouldn't be penalized--as I currently am--for achieving a 4.3/5.0 for shipping time.

By the way...10 days from the date of purchase is pretty fast, depending on what type of postal service you paid for. Most sellers, like me, are part time and can only ship once or twice a week, so if you allow the seller 5 days to get it to the post office and 5 days for it to arrive, that's not bad.

[Sadie5]

8. I hate complainers

and I see no reason to give a poor rating to someone who is out there trying to work hard and take care of their family. Really the worst I have seen is the item advertised as a first but was a poor second when it arrived. Yet i didn't give a poor rating, it is senseless to do so unless someone deliberately tries to scam you. For some reason i am getting better at winning auctions, I wait until the last few minutes and bid my max dollar and I have been winning. I hate Paypal, wouldn't use them if there was another choice, but since there isn't one I guess they will have to do.

What is the reason the sellers don't like to send to another party other than the original buyer? I bought a laptop for my Grandson and asked that it be shipped to him and had to jump through hoops to get it sent to someplace other than my house(buyer). Other sellers seem wary also. My idea is that as long as it is paid for what would it matter where it goes.

[Zombie2]

13. It has to do with the....

"My idea is that as long as it is paid for what would it matter where it goes."

seller protection Paypal offers... Paypal recommends sending it to the Paypal confirmed address only, for the seller protection to apply. Although, I think Paypal may have just changed their policy on that.

[dipsydoodle]

14. Use the backdoor

Leave good feedback but write the truth / bad stuff in there.

[democraticinsurgent]

15. what back door? n/t

[dipsydoodle]

18. By backdoor

I meant use the good feedback entry to leave bad feedback.

[Zombie2]

19. eBay will just delete it...

...and maybe even ban you for a little bit. It's against their policy. I have already decided that if someone screws me over with an unjustified Neg or Neutral, they're going on my blocked buyer list. Plus, if I see that someone has a history of leaving bad feedback I'll go ahead and add them to the blocked list as well, just to be safe, whether they've bought from me or not.

I hate the way eBay's doing the feedback and DSR's these days. :puke: So I've been looking into selling on Etsy.com

[Alameda]

9. I agree, the new system sucks, BUT.....

I have never given a bad rating, although there have been times it was really deserved. I did recently give 3 stars on shipping and communication on a purchase. The seller never answered any questions, never communicated with me and shipped 7 days after purchase. I would not have minded had there been communication.

A seller should get the feedback they deserve. A 3 or 4 in a couple of places should not cause them to be penalized. I had another seller who never read my comment when I paid, she never communicated with me. After a month I found out she shipped to the wrong address. When the item finally arrived, it had damage. I gave her positive feedback because I hate to give negative feedback....but I really felt ripped off and I stopped buying for a while.

Now they have this stupid policy of 5 stars on everything or else. It sucks!. I have gotten some things that when received, were as I expected. A sweater recently had a tiny bottom, much too small for me to wear. I don't know what I'm going to do with it. From the photo it looked great. I guess I really should have asked for all the measurements (that was the only measurement not included). Who would have thought it would have been so small, particularly when it looked regular on the dummy in the photo?

I shop on Ebay because it's convenient. Most my purchases have been OK. Some dealers photographs misrepresent the items though.

[democraticinsurgent]

10. Lack of education is the biggest issue for me

I'm with you, I think sellers who make mistakes should be downgraded in their ratings. However, IF a buyer knew that by giving a "3" to a seller in a category they would be possibly causing them to be kicked off eBay, the buyer would act differently. But there is nothing in the feedback info given to buyers--and i buy regularly--that gives anyone that information. So it's perfectly natural for a buyer to rate below 5.

eBay is being ridiculous by requiring 4.5 out of 5 for power sellers and 4.3 out of 5 to stay on eBay. That is not in tune with the real world, where an A is perfect (5), a B is acceptable (4) and a C is not so great.

I really don't understand it all.

[grasswire]

11. just think!

McCain wanted the eBay CEO to be our treasury secretary! The kind of mental power that ruined eBay could have ruined the country (if it were not already ruined by Republicans).

[Alameda]

12. Well, I sure wish there were other options.

eBay makes it easy to shop, paying with PayPal is sooooo easy.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

16. I just had a favorite seller email me that he had been suspended

and it sounded just like you. He has the best comments you can imagine, but I guess a lot of his customers did not use the DSRs and ONE person complained about his shipping costs (which is EXACTLY what the post office charges him)and it caused him to fall below the threshold and be suspended.

I am livid on his behalf and my own as a buyer.

Should I email Ebay. Do buyers realize that they are being denied some really great sellers and their merchandise because of this hogwash?

The sellers really need to organize and find an alternative site and I bet their loyal buyers would follow them there.

[brer cat]

17. Sending ebay an email can't hurt,

and may possibly help. At a minimum, they need to change the system so that one disgruntled buyer can't ruin a reputation. The seller should have a way to mitigate the negative report...he charged ACTUAL shipping cost. A seller with a lot of positive feedbacks should not be suspended. Knowing that he/she has a loyal following who are really angry at ebay might get him a reprieve.

I'm totally disgusted with ebay. After years of being very active, I've stopped selling and rarely buy any more.

[democraticinsurgent]

20. yes, tell eBay

I agree...anything will help.

I used to really love eBay. I can't understand why they seem intent on making things difficult for sellers now. I don't even blame the Meg Whitman/Republican rule as she was there a long time, during the good years. They just seem to have lost their sense of fairness...and that is a Republican trait.

[DearAbby]

21. I am more than miffed

I have been selling on eBayer for ten years now, over 6K positive feedbacks, I get two negatives from two flakes, and I have an suspended account.

One buyer thought Emmett Kelly rose from the dead to sign the signature line of figurines.

The other buyer doesnt know the difference between an item marked in good previously owned condition, this person expected MINT condition.

You Cant do anything, they have tied the hands of Sellers. I bitched a blue streak this morning. Do they Care?

I dont sell enough to be a power seller, I trudge along selling 80 to 90 items a month, just to supplement our fixed income..But we have sure fattened the coffers of ebay over the years. And this is how they treat you.

I am so disgusted, I wished there was a site online were we at least have an even setting, to sell and buy.

[grasswire]

22. I would take your story to the media

That's outrageous. 6,000 positives and you are suspended because of 2 bogus complaints??? Find some business reporter who has previously written about eBay (should be able to find that on google) and tell him/her. I would also write a paper letter to the chairman of the board of directors. Outrageous.

[DearAbby]

23. It makes me feel better

coming here and seeing I am not alone. As I said before, I would love to take my business elsewhere, another online auction site, Where the sellers and buyers are on equal footing. Just bury eBay!

[AZBlue]

24. Are you serious??

Now I'm worried - I only have 40-some feedback replies and I've just gotten two negatives myself from people who chose Parcel Post and then complained when their item didn't get there overnight. I've already filed a request to have one of the feedback comments removed because she outright lied about not receiving the package (she did and I have proof from the Postal Service) but the other one is just a whiner. I hope they don't try to suspend me!