Seller Metric For "Reasonable Shipping Price"
There are clearly a long list of requirements that a seller must fulfill to remain in compliance for using this platform. Allowing feedback based on feelings rather than facts seems to me unprofessional but it's allowed so you have to deal with it. As it pertains to shipping fees, it is clearly a violation if a seller tries to charge a buyer anything over the cost indicated in the listing. That said, after the fact why should a seller be penalized for charging what is clearly indicated in the listing? If a seller wants to absorb the FVF for shipping and taxes and the costs for packaging and transport to the PO/shipper so be it. Similarly, if a seller loses business based on the shipping fee that's clearly the seller's problem. As long as the fee is clearly indicated I don't understand why buyers are permitted to jeopardize a seller's business.
christworks
·5 months ago@lb23cavaliersmvp Are you seriously complaining about having a 4.8 on a 5.0 scale? You have 100% feedback! No buyer cares - at least not any buyer you want to have.
You have to realize most people are not mailing packages across the country so they have no idea how much it cost to ship something. They may not have mailed anything in the past 10 years, so in their mind the shipping is high. They do not keep up with postal rate hikes. They do not know about eBay fees or how they are charged. The list goes on.
As to why eBay allows it, it is because eBay wants sellers to offer free shipping. By giving buyers the ability to rate that particular standard, it helps them to get more sellers to offer "free" shipping than might otherwise. It isn't that big of deal. I wouldn't stress if I had 4 out of 5 star rating for shipping because, as I said, nobody cares.
When I would care would be if buyers were mentioning high shipping cost in the feedback, whether positive or negative. That's when I might give my shipping cost allotment a second look.
Your reputation has not been ruined as a seller, though the way you have spoken to @gurlcat sours it with me. You have accused them of trying to run your business, which they did not do, and now you've accused them of being deceptive, which they have not been.
gurlcat
·5 months ago@christworks I didn't even go look at their feedback -I assumed there WERE actual feedback comments complaining about the shipping. But this is just about the stupid stars? Jeez.
Now that I've taken a look at some listings I'm surprised there isn't at least a neutral or two mentioning shipping costs (maybe some tucked in positives, I didn't check). $22 to ship a coffee mug -must be a lot attributed to "time" I guess.
lb23cavaliersmvp
OP5 months agoFirst, I assume that you are aware that the postage on every item is based on zip code. To try and make your point you disingenuously opted to only quote the coast to coast rate. For the record, before the coming 8% surcharge, the USPS GA coast to coast rates are ~ $12, 18 and 22 for between < 1 pound, 1-2 pounds and 2-3 pounds. We always pack securely and calculated the mug to be just over 2 pounds. Second, since you had no difficulty determining what the charge would be I'm confident any buyer would also. Third, after our condition description we have a simple sentence saying if you have any questions please ask before buying. Last, your comment that you are surprised that we don't have neutral, or by implication negative, feedback, based on shipping, again makes my point. Assuming that we fulfill all of our obligations we expect either no or + feedback, anything else leaves a poor impression.
gurlcat
·5 months ago@lb23cavaliersmvp What are you talking about? Where did I "quote the coast to coast rate"? I only quoted what I saw in the listing, and I happen to live much closer to you than California. But I see you've dropped the price for shipping on that mug, good job.
Here's another crazy one -only 4 inches tall, but $25 shipping? 1. That flat rate shows you're not taking location into account at all, so I don't know why you even brought it up. 2. Why Priority instead of GA?
meme6253
·5 months agoI do agree with the fact that customers see the shipping cost prior to buying the item & then proceed to buy the item That they also agreed with the shipping cost involved & should not bring the matter up well after the fact. If they did not like the shipping cost upfront they could have questioned it or not bought it.
gurlcat
·5 months agoFirstly to be clear, feedback from buyers is not a seller metric from eBay's viewpoint. If you don't know what I mean just ask, otherwise I'll give the benefit of the doubt and assume you just meant "things for buyers to consider when writing feedback."
But how much of your costs you figure into a listing's shipping price, I wouldn't blame a buyer for judging if you include so much that it makes that amount grotesquely high. Even though they can see the price before making the decision to buy, don't be surprised if it doesn't "click" until they receive the package. If I charged (say) $17.50 for shipping on a small lot of jewelry (which might have looked 'big' in the photos) ... but when they go to the mailbox they find a package around the size and weight of a typical hotel bible ... I wouldn't be shocked if they complained about it feedback.
Just put all those other figures into the item's price and you won't have this problem.
lb23cavaliersmvp
OP5 months agoReally someone doesn't know what they are paying for until it arrives in their mailbox? The invoice shows item cost, shipping and taxes listed separately. Again, shipping doesn't equal postage. We spend time and resources packing, transporting and keeping buyers updated. Perhaps you feel that your time has no value and you have access to free gasoline and supplies but I don't. Again, if a buyer is free to decide if the items and services we provide are worthwhile but, assuming we fulfill all of our obligations, complaining about price after the fact is not reasonable. Last, if you want to jack up the price of an item and offer free or discounted shipping go ahead but don't tell others how to run their business.
fern*wood
·5 months agoI'm thankful that at least ebay stopped counting feedback and DSRs as defects to use against us. I realize buyers can still rate us and look at those ratings as they wish, but I don't fear them as I used to.
gurlcat
·5 months agoMaybe you don't think shipping equals postage but obviously some buyers do. I am not telling you how to run your business, just offering an easy way to avoid this particular kind of negative feedback. Isn't that why you started the thread, because you don't like when it happens? You already acknowledged that eBay allows it, so what is there left to talk about besides prevention? Did you just want echo chamber replies?
lb23cavaliersmvp
OP5 months agoYour "solution" isn't an easy answer but a deception and doesn't address why buyers are permitted to damage a seller's reputation after opting to buy for the stated purchase price + fees and receiving exactly what was offered.
eburtonlab
·5 months agoAgain, if a buyer is free to decide if the items and services we provide are worthwhile but, assuming we fulfill all of our obligations, complaining about price after the fact is not reasonable.
Not every buyer or feedback comment (or rating) is always "reasonable".
I think you vastly overestimate the number of buyers that bother to even glance at a seller's DSRs, much less take the time to hover a cursor over the number and click to see the "4.8 / 5.0" rating. Most of those that do so are probably sellers who look at that rating and compare it to their own, and see nothing wrong with it, most having been on the receiving end of unreasonable feedback and ratings themselves at one time or another.
As a buyer, I frequently discount or entirely ignore feedback comments and ratings that have no bearing on my own purchase decisions. As long as I am satisfied with a seller's total cost including shipping to me, why would I care about some other buyer's opinion about the shipping cost of a totally separate transaction, much less allow that opinion to affect my own decision to make a purchase?
Are there buyers that insist on only buying from sellers that score 5.0 / 5.0 on shipping costs? I suppose there must be a handful; those are probably the sort that are likely to rate you a 4.0 or a 1.0 if they do not like the cost of shipping despite choosing to make the purchase anyway, so you should consider that 4.8 rating to be protecting you from a very small group of very picky buyers, while the vast majority of buyers do not know or care about that rating at all.
gurlcat
·5 months ago@eburtonlab Absolutely. I have no idea what my star ratings are (couldn't care less) but what you're saying here^ is one of the reasons I'm not so crazy about having 100% positive (regular) feedback. I think it's unnatural, inflated, on eBay for some reason. Though I do strive for "perfection," it unnerves me a little imagining buyers who expect it because of a number that only reflects the past year, and of course now a lot of those "feedbacks" are automated.
glenvonnie
·5 months agoIf you do free shipping and add the shipping cost into the price the buyer can't rate the shipping cost.
When I buy something, I only look at the feedback, and if it's a huge seller then I only look at the feedback for the specific item I'm buying.
I've never left anything but positive feedback and all star ratings for any seller.
bonanza125
·5 months agoI wouldn't put too much into Seller Detail Rating in the feedback area. Feedback has nothing to do with "Seller Level" so honestly it's just something the buyers can look over which buyers only look at feedback amount and if you have bad feedback. What I do is offer "Free Shipping" and include all those costs into the price. So I don't have to worry about buyers being unhappy with shipping charges which yes they agreed to anyway.