Striving to be the best - ebay Seller's Detailed Star Rating (DSR)

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

jaderock

Prospect
12
Joined
Jul 2, 2005
Messages
1,076
Location
CA
Selling anything on ebay is tough and selling cardboard...I mean sports cards is no different. What is "acceptable" to one collector may be "intolerable" to another; therefore, the wide range of varying DSR left for the seller. Trying to satisfy everyone is virtually impossible, but when you try hard enough, you may be able to have all happy customers. There are a lot of links and videos of people complaining about ebay's DSR, but here's a story of understanding it and coming close to achieving the "impossible."

If you know about my Personal Collection, then surely you've seen the dozen of "packaging/shipping disasters" stories that I've posted in the past. No I don't complain about "a little nick here or a slight corner lift there", but rather "received broken frame, creased cards, or 50% of lot damaged". Having that much bad luck, makes me strive to package cards (and other items) with proper care and supplies.

To me, I try my darnest to take care of the buyer the best that I can (within my control). Whether it be answering questions, packaging, shipping quickly, etc.

My approach (which is far from perfect, but it has worked so far):

Description: I do not ever list a card that is less than Nrmt (unless the flaw is described whether it is visible or not in the scan/picture). I do not claim "Mint" or otherwise in my description as "condition" is seen so differently among all collectors.

Communication: Get back with an answer to the buyer within 24hrs. Let them know when payment was received and when item is being sent. Leave a "thank you" note with the item.

Shipping Time: I have an advantage to some degree since I live on the West Coast as I can get out packages as late as 5:55 PM at my local PO. "I ship most items the same day provided it is paid before 6PM EST/3PM PST" is in my mission statement. Another advantage is paypal shipping labels because metered mail travels faster than stamped mail. Many times a package that was paid for at 6:30PM EST on Sat will arrive from coast to coast on Monday...now that's fast (and is a big surprise to most buyers)

Shipping and Handling Charges: This is the toughest category. I've seen people offer "Free Shipping" and still get less than a "5". Package a card securely/wisely while accounting for "normal to above average" handling by the carrier. Package the card so that it is SAFE rather than fast and convienent.

I'm not a bulk seller, but getting 155 people to agree that "5 Stars" is apporpriate in Description, Communication, and Shipping is a major feat for me. Shipping & Handling is at 4.8 which is still in the top tier of sellers.

I'm posting this, not to brag, but rather to show it is possible to be 5 Stars when you try hard enough. It's a rating that might not even last til tomorrow, but for one moment in time (9/3/09)....I was as close to 5/5/5/5 as I will ever be...perhaps! :)

Based on 155 buyers who used the DSR system
555.jpg
 
Congrats. In the end though, unless you stink badly, small variations in peoples opinions mean little to most buyers.

I personally don't look at those star ratings for any sellers and rarely bat an eye on feedback these days. If it's less than 99%, I will check some recent negatives to see where they went wrong.

PP provides me enough protection these days, so that I am comfortable even bidding with lower feedback sellers. If I don't get the item, I am getting my money back. If it's damaged, we'll work from there, but I'll probably be getting my money back.

I strive to do the same as a seller, but I have 100% crap luck with stupid buyers. EVERY TIME I sell a group of items, be it 100 or 1 item, I seem to have at least one problem with a buyer!!!

My favorite!!

I got a negative from a buyer because I would not accept a personal check or paypal from them. My listing clearly stated no personal checks or paypal, Money orders ONLY (This was before the paypal requirement.) The buyer claimed to be in a nursing home, buying items for Dwight Gooden's mom, and couldn't get out to get a MO. Truth or not...NOT MY PROBLEM! Ask the seller if it's OK first, don't bid and expect them to do it your way. This ain't Burger King, lady! Now some of you are probably thinking what a jerk I was there, but I was very clear and provided no exceptions. Interestingly enough, the "lady" got rude with me before leaving me a negative. Her FB rating at the time??? 92.5% with over 2 dozen bid retractions in the past 6 months! Who is the bad guy now???
 
Well that screen shot/video was valid for all of 1 1/2 days...my Communication score is back to "4.9"! GRRRRRRRRR
 
From the pic it looks like your shipping and handling charges are under 5?
The star is not completely filled in.
 
Yes...it is. At the time of that photo, it was:
Description: 5.0
Communication: 5.0
Shipping Time: 5.0
Shipping/Handling Charges: 4.8

To get a 5.0 on s/h would almost be a miracle especially with over 100 sale transaction.
 
Here's where I dinged a seller with over 10,000 feedback...

I won a card and was charged $2.50 for shipping. Card arrived in a toploader in a PWE with shipping for $0.64! Left 1 star on shipping and a neutral on the feedback stating that I was charged the $2.50 but it was shipped PWE with $0.64. If I had just left the 1 star, with over 10,000 feedback, it wouldn't have made a difference. I wanted it known to others what was done.

:D
Jason
 
Here's where I dinged a seller with over 10,000 feedback...

I won a card and was charged $2.50 for shipping. Card arrived in a toploader in a PWE with shipping for $0.64! Left 1 star on shipping and a neutral on the feedback stating that I was charged the $2.50 but it was shipped PWE with $0.64. If I had just left the 1 star, with over 10,000 feedback, it wouldn't have made a difference. I wanted it known to others what was done.

:D
Jason

Person has 10,000 feedback, but in the star rating it does count since it's a weighted average for only the last 12 months...in this case the seller has only 130 selling transactions over that period. That said, he does deserve a LOW rating because of the overcharge and PWE.

Anything less than a 5 will take a long time to recovery from it. Here's a simple example (there is a calculateor somewhere on the net or ebay but I can't find it).

100 DSR scores of:
94 people gave a 5
4 people gave a 4
1 person gave a 3
1 person gave a 1
Total 100 with 490 point = 4.90 average...in order to get to 4.9501 (which is a "5" rating) you would have to obtain a perfect "5" score (505 points) on the next 101 buyers ratings:
201 DSR Scores with 995 points = 4.9502 = an ebay 5

Another example: if you are struggling with a 4.5 from 100 sales (450points/100 sales = 4.5), it would take a 901 more sales transactions with a PERFECT score of 5 in order to obtain a 4.95 ("5" rating). Calculated as (901x5) + (100x4.5) = 4955 points /1001 sales for a 4.9500499 ("5" star rating).
 
Personally I love this rating system. Haven't had many troubles with anyone who has shipped to me.

I believe most people are reasonable in their expectations, and I have only rated low on shipping charges so far and I do that when I am charged more than $1 than it cost them for shipping + envelope. Don't charge me $4 for something that cost you 90 cents to ship.
 
Top