eBay

vonandron · ‎03-18-2023

Over a year ago, a buyer gave me one star for reasonable shipping costs even though I charged exactly what was listed in the ad and what I paid to ship the item. She left positive feedback otherwise. I've waited a year for that ding on my star rating to age off, but despite the fact that her feedback is now well over a year old, the star rating for shipping has never changed, but instead seems stuck on the 4.7 out of 5. I contacted more recent buyers just to check and they all tell me they left me 5 out of 5 stars on every category. One told me buyers can no longer click a star rating for shipping. Any insights would be appreciated.

ebooksdiva · ‎03-18-2023

Those star ratings don’t have any affect on your seller metrics. Neither does feedback. They are merely a buyers opinion. Most buyers don’t even bother clicking them.

ebooksdiva · ‎03-18-2023

I currently have a seller feedback to leave, the only star rating I can give the seller is for the item description.

buyselljack2016 · ‎03-18-2023

You might have to contact "every" buyer, and you would also have to "believe" what they told you was indeed factual.

It's a tough road, but the problem is with "shipping costs" some buyers just don't understand that when we charge exact, or even less than we pay that the shipping costs are not something that we can control. Other places it is "free", so whatever we charge is "not reasonable".

nobody*s_perfect · ‎03-18-2023

@vonandron wrote: ... One told me buyers can no longer click a star rating for shipping. Any insights would be appreciated.

Under specific circumstances, eBay will block a buyer from rating a DSR, and will give an automatic 5 for shipping cost, shipping time, and/or communication:

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-policies/selling-practices-policy?id=4346

hartungcards · ‎03-18-2023

I have an insight. Don't waste your time worrying about things that don't make any difference, to anyone, whatsoever.

buyselljack2016 · ‎03-18-2023

@hartungcards wrote:
I have an insight. Don't waste your time worrying about things that don't make any difference, to anyone, whatsoever.

Oh, but it can make a difference.

eBay is now prominently displaying those stats with the 5.0, 4.9, 4.8, 4.7 for a buyer to see on every listing that they look at.

Seeing a marked down rating from a numpty Karen may very likely sway a buyer's viewpoint.

vonandron · ‎03-18-2023

I appreciate your response, and you're correct in that I still have 100% positive feedback; however, I did have a buyer recently tell me in a message that she "thought twice" about buying from me when she saw the prominently displayed metrics showing I have a 4.7/5.0 on shipping costs. Perhaps others have left me low ratings on shipping since the "Karen" I referenced in my original post, but it seems odd to me that it has been exactly the same number month after month with no changes - especially when, as you mentioned, people now can only leave star ratings on item description.

vonandron · ‎03-18-2023

That's exactly what I was told by a buyer! The whole reason I'm bringing it up is because she told me she "thought twice" about buying from me when she saw the prominently displayed metrics showing a 4.7/5.0 on shipping costs.

nobody*s_perfect · ‎03-18-2023

@vonandron wrote: ... people now can only leave star ratings on item description.

Buyers can leave star ratings for any of the 4 options which doesn't meet eBay's criteria for getting an automatic "5" rating.

For instance, they can rate shipping cost if the seller charged for shipping; the seller gets an automatic "5" IF they offered free shipping. There are also specific criteria for getting the automatic 5's for shipping time and for communication: If those criteria aren't met, then the buyer can rate those stars. If a buyer was only able to rate the item description, then for that transaction, all the criteria for automatic 5's were met for the other 3 star categories.

luckythewinner · ‎03-18-2023

I contacted more recent buyers just to check and they all tell me they left me 5 out of 5 stars on every category.

Buyers lie. Especially the ones who ding your stars.

One told me buyers can no longer click a star rating for shipping.

Or they are simply wrong.

luckythewinner · ‎03-18-2023

@ebooksdiva wrote:
I currently have a seller feedback to leave, the only star rating I can give the seller is for the item description.

There are conditions that determine whether or not you can rate a seller in certain categories.

vonandron · ‎03-18-2023

Do you happen to know when that change occured? When did they change the buyer feedback so only item description could be various star ratings? Thanks!

pjcdn2005 · ‎03-18-2023

people now can only leave star ratings on item description.

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Unless you have free shipping, they can rate you on your shipping and handling costs. As @nobody*s_perfect mentioned, other ratings can also be filled out by buyers unless you have met certain expectations by ebay. She provided the link to that info in post 5 but you will have to do some reading to find all of the information for each rating and how to receive an automatic 5.