How Much "Communication" Do Buyers Expect??

[kattinsanity]

I sold 2 little clamps for a sweater machine last week for $8.99 + $3.00 shipping.  They were delivered to the buyer yesterday.  She just left me a positive feedback BUT stated there was no star rating because I didn't communicate??? 

I shipped the item immediately the SAME day she purchased them 11/2 & she received them 11/4 even though I have a 3 business day handling time.  I loaded the tracking number immediately the same day.  Did she expect ME to send her a message that I shipped it?  Ebay sends her an e mail telling her it has shipped.  Maybe I should have waited and shipped on the 3rd business day which would have been Tuesday~~I  wonder if she would have been happy then?  She has been a member since 1999 and has just over 200 feedback all as a buyer.  She doesn't leave other sellers feedback like that and I can't believe every one of her sellers sends her a message when they ship.  On my list she goes.

[nowthatsjustducky]

Before feedback was posted, was there any message communication between the two of you either before or after the sale?  If not, then she probably wanted to rate the Comm star, but could not because if there is no communication at all, then it is an auto 5 and the buyer can't rate it.

She probably did not know about the auto 5 for communication if there was none.

[bubbleman2010]

Cummunication with a buyer can result in a warning about trying to takes sales offsite. Several secret violations can lead to account suspension...

[takikawa4]

I don't expect ANY communication from my sellers unless there's a problem. None. Zero. Zilch. But I thought that if there wasn't any communication between a buyer and seller then the star can't be rated.

[partial*eclipse]

Personally as a buyer I'd rather NOT get all those little extra message that really don't convey any information, like "thanks for purchasing" or "I've shipped your item."

The way the DSRs work is that you get an automatic '5" if there is no basis for the rating.  This is applied to the "Shipping cost" rating if a seller offers free shipping, and to the "Communications" rating if there was no communication to rate.  Or else the buyer just didn't mark anything for that category; that won't affect your average.  

To give you credit for transactions where a buyer doesn't need to contact you, you'll automatically receive a 5-star communication detailed seller rating if:

• You specify either same business day or 1 business day handling and upload tracking information within 1 business day.

• There are no buyer- or seller-initiated communications in eBay Messages

• There are no requests for contact information between you and the buyer.

• There are no refund requests or PayPal Purchase Protection cases open for the transaction, and the buyer hasn't reported that the item wasn't received.

  http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-practices.html

[nawlinsron2]

Merely uploading tracking gives you an auto 5 for communication.
It's then ghosted out on the feedback screen, so she assumed she couldn't leave a comm. FB
Click "respond to FB received" and just mention that tracking was uploaded within 24 hours.

[kattinsanity]

That same thing just dawned on me~~NO communication is good since ebay gives 5 stars if you DON'T communicate with buyers.  I had no communication with her and I'm glad I didn't since she seems to be a stickler on communication.  I'll take ebays 5 stars.

[myboardid]

bubbleman, that is not true. As long as the buyer has already made the purchase, sellers can communicate without the bots even looking at their messages. 

Also, as long as there is nothing in any message about contact onformation, there are no problems.  One does have to be careful that they don't send something that might be construed as contact info. 

OP, I have always communicated with my buyers.  When they pay for their purchase, I send them an acknowledgement of their payment and tell them when I'm going to ship.  After I have shipped, I send another message which includes the tracking information.  I don't use Paypal or eBay shipping so they don't get any automatic message about shipping/tracking. 

[odditiesandantiquities1]

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@myboardid wrote:

bubbleman, that is not true. As long as the buyer has already made the purchase, sellers can communicate without the bots even looking at their messages. 

Also, as long as there is nothing in any message about contact onformation, there are no problems.  One does have to be careful that they don't send something that might be construed as contact info. 

OP, I have always communicated with my buyers.  When they pay for their purchase, I send them an acknowledgement of their payment and tell them when I'm going to ship.  After I have shipped, I send another message which includes the tracking information.  I don't use Paypal or eBay shipping so they don't get any automatic message about shipping/tracking. 

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I could probably be drawn and quartered for too much communication, but thankfully my customers appear to enjoy it. Amazing way to make new friends too.

[bubbleman2010]

Really not true? Your buyer purchases a item or several items you send a your item is on the way email being a wonderful ebay communicator. A week later your buyer is so happy with their purchase they send a email asking if you have anymore on hand that you'd be willing to sell. Do you answer it or ignore it. If you answer it do you trust a ebay bot to not issue a warning for a offsite transaction if you ignore it does that happy customer just decide to take their business elsewhere. What is the correct answer?

[duchess-at-speakeasy]

I think you are overreacting. I read the comment as a simple acknowledgement that the communication DSR is blanked out.  I would accept it as an apology for not being able to leave a "5" rating because eBay prevents it.  Your buyer is NOT unhappy with you, just with a system.

~~C~~

[odditiesandantiquities1]

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@bubbleman2010 wrote:

Really not true? Your buyer purchases a item or several items you send a your item is on the way email being a wonderful ebay communicator. A week later your buyer is so happy with their purchase they send a email asking if you have anymore on hand that you'd be willing to sell. Do you answer it or ignore it. If you answer it do you trust a ebay bot to not issue a warning for a offsite transaction if you ignore it does that happy customer just decide to take their business elsewhere. What is the correct answer?

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Unfortunately eBay has put the fear on all sellers about selling off eBay. I try to find a way to communicate with my buyer, THROUGH ebay messages. Why would I tick off a potential excellent customer. You just have to be very, very careful with your wording. I have mentioned what happens if they even think you might have sold outside of eBay. 

Most customers get it and I am being honest.

[myboardid]

Somehow the messages after bubbleman's were missing when I typed my response.  That drives me nuts!

Anyway, I have never had a serious problem with buyers marking me down on DSR's for communication.  Once in a while a buyer will think that one star is good and 5 stars are bad, but it happens so rarely it doesn't cause any problems.  DSR's don't count for anything anyway, although I would not be surprised if they went into the Best Match algorythm. 

[myboardid]

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@bubbleman2010 wrote:

Really not true? Your buyer purchases a item or several items you send a your item is on the way email being a wonderful ebay communicator. A week later your buyer is so happy with their purchase they send a email asking if you have anymore on hand that you'd be willing to sell. Do you answer it or ignore it. If you answer it do you trust a ebay bot to not issue a warning for a offsite transaction if you ignore it does that happy customer just decide to take their business elsewhere. What is the correct answer?

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He's already your buyer, you have a relationship set up.  You can communicate with him about new goods if you want to.  Also, you have his email and he has yours because of your previous transaction.  There's no issue there at all. 

[kattinsanity]

"You can communicate with him about new goods if you want to"???  It appears you haven't kept up with most recent policy of communication between buyers & sellers.  A lot of sellers are getting into trouble for just communicating about best offers.