My DSR got dinged, and I have no idea what I did. Why would a buyer do this? Can anything be done?

[dntc8232]

I’ve been selling part-time on and off since the mid-90’s, and I have all positive feedback. This week, my DSR’s are showing after 10 buyers rated me. I’m quite puzzled that I received a 4.6 rating for Communication and a 4.6 rating for Shipping Speed, and I cannot understand why a buyer would rate me like this. 

All of the items I sold to these 10 buyers are new, unused, undamaged, unopened. No clothing or jewelry or parts or electronic items were sold. Out of those 10 sales, I shipped 7 packages via the USPS Priority Mail & 3 via First Class. I paid for shipping on 9 out of 10 of those sales. 

As a seller, I take the time to package items carefully with tissue paper and bubble wrap. I post multiple photos of the items, along with detailed descriptions of measurements, condition & any other details. Also, my seller terms & shipping policy are clearly posted in all listings. I accept returns, too.

Regarding “Communication,” none of those 10 buyers ever sent me any messages. I included a thank you message when I purchased the PayPal labels for every order, and I included an eBay invoice along with a thank you message on the invoice. eBay did the rest of the communication with sending buyers the order details, tracking #’s, etc. What more communication could I have provided? Why the 4.6 rating? As a buyer, I hardly ever receive an invoice or thank you note in my packages, and sellers have rarely sent me messages about my orders.

Regarding “Shipping Speed,” I clearly state in my listings that I ship within 3 business days, yet about 95% of the time, I ship on the next business day, and the rest are shipped on the 2nd business day. I allow myself 3 business days handling time just in case of an emergency.  I can only track the last 4 shipments for buyers who left feedback, and all were shipped the day after the sale. From what I recall, all 10 packages arrived within their estimated delivery times.

I would love to qualify for the automatic 5-DSR for Shipping Speed and Communication, but I’m afraid that I won’t be able to fulfill the shipping speed promise if the USPS fails to pick up a package on time or for another unforeseen issue. 

Currently, no rating is shown for “Accurate Description,” but I’m worried that when I receive 10 ratings for this, that a 4.6 rating will appear.

Do you have any advice for me? Will eBay remove the less than 5-star ratings or at least let me know exactly how much longer the 4.6’s will show before they drop off? Those stars don’t look good right now. Might they detract buyers?

Thank you very much.

[downunder-61]

You could contact eBay via Live Chat, but check your seller dashboard first for the actual details given for the reduced rating.

Most buyers are more interested in FB that the star rating because more detail is explained to us, many buyers are unaware of the stars significance in any case

[chapeau-noir]

I would not worry about it.  First off, the DSRs don't make a huge difference anymore - they're not used for rating overall performance. 

Also, eBay participates in grade inflation - 5 means "above and beyond" - if someone fulfills their order as they say they will, and the buyer rates it a 4, that means they are acknowledging that the seller did their job as it should be done. Some people never give 5s.

Just keep going, keep up your best practices.  Don't worry about it.

[biggymoe]

Your scores indicate that nine buyers gave you 5's, one buyer gave you 1's.  That would be 46 divided by 10, equals 4.6.  You had one disappointed buyer.

[tburg58]

DSRs are meaningless nowadays just forget about it, will not make a difference in your sales.

[reallynicestamps]

EBay uses neither FB nor DSRs to judge your selling account.

FB is a leftover from the 20th century infancy of the internet when it was cutting edge and a little scary to deal with strangers.  FB was warm kittens wrapped in pink gauze reassurance.

DSRs were a failed attempt to assess accounts in a way that could be counted. It was dropped very quickly when it appeared that neither sellers nor buyers understood it.

I personally suspect that it is still around because something important is wrapped in it and removing DSRs would make that something go berserk.  It's cheaper to let it be.

@downunder-61   Ignore it. Move on. Live your best life.

[nobody*s_perfect]

Alas, some buyers just don't get it. Once in a while, we see a post from somebody who considers a rating of 3 to be "average." With just 10 ratings, it doesn't take much to drag down your score.

"Regarding “Communication,” none of those 10 buyers ever sent me any messages. I included a thank you message when I purchased the PayPal labels for every order, and I included an eBay invoice along with a thank you message on the invoice."

If there are no messages, then the buyers aren't supposed to be allowed to rate Communications and you get an automatic 5 for that transaction. Don't send unnecessary messages and don't send unnecessary invoices.  

[quiltgeek]

There are a few buyers that get the ranking of the DSR backwards. They think 1 star is first place, 2 stars is second place, down to 5 stars being the bottom of the barrel. You probably just got one of those rating your sale

[dntc8232]

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@biggymoe wrote:

Your scores indicate that nine buyers gave you 5's, one buyer gave you 1's.  That would be 46 divided by 10, equals 4.6.  You had one disappointed buyer.

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Oh, nice! If I was rated 1 stars on purpose, then I feel it's undeserved.  But maybe it's possible the buyer selected the wrong rating by accident or didn't understand that the 1st star is the worst. I've seen this happen on other websites where people rate with stars, and some people get confused and click on the 1st star with the intention of giving 5 stars. I can probably expect that this buyer also rated me a 1 for Accurate Description, which will show up when I receive 10 ratings.

Ah, who knows? It's not the end of the world, and I can't take this stuff personally. I just worry about losing sales & a great reputation, due to unfair feedback.

Hopefully, this bad rating is from either the buyer I had in June or in September of last year, since that will drop off in at most 4 months.

[dntc8232]

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

Alas, some buyers just don't get it. Once in a while, we see a post from somebody who considers a rating of 3 to be "average." With just 10 ratings, it doesn't take much to drag down your score.

"Regarding “Communication,” none of those 10 buyers ever sent me any messages. I included a thank you message when I purchased the PayPal labels for every order, and I included an eBay invoice along with a thank you message on the invoice."

If there are no messages, then the buyers aren't supposed to be allowed to rate Communications and you get an automatic 5 for that transaction. Don't send unnecessary messages and don't send unnecessary invoices.  

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Oh yeah...10 ratings isn't a lot, and one bad rating sticks out.

I believe this info is still in effect: "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."

Unfortunately, I did not offer same day or 1 business day handling; therefore, my buyers were able to rate me on Communication. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

Oh, I didn't know about that handling requirement. Maybe it's new.

[coffeebean832]

nobody's perfect was correct that buyers were able to rate you because you sent unnecessary invoices. That's considered communication.

The quote above is for an automatic 5 star rating. With zero communication you get no rating. With communication and not meeting the criteria in the above quote then buyers can rate you.

Bottom line: unless necessary for adjusting shipping, do not send invoices. eBay notifies buyers (and sends reminders) that payment is due so invoices are redundant and can also result in getting underpaid on shipping if the buyer changes their shipping address at checkout. Sending invoices isn't doing you any favors.

[chapeau-noir]

@dntc8232  Unfortunately, I did not offer same day or 1 business day handling; therefore, my buyers were able to rate me on Communication. 

That has nothing to do with it - as said above, it's communication only that 'unlocks' that star.  The only time I communicate with a buyer is to answer any questions, or if there's a problem with their order to contact them promptly.  However they rate my star for that is whatever - I have no control over that, I'm more interested in making sure my buyer is satisfied than worried about stars.

Also, if someone gets the sequence backward (i.e., 1 star for best), and it does happen, you can bet you're not the only seller to have that happen to.

To me, the most important star, if any have any importance at all, is the 'accurate description' - even then a buyer can say "yeah, that was accurate, seller did her job which is a 4", which would be entirely correct, and it'll still ding the stars because eBay has grade inflation.  You can see why eBay dumped DSRs as having much relevance at all in ratings.  You may not have been here, or at least selling, when eBay was trying to rate our service on those DSRs, but it was one of the worst ideas they'd had in a while, and they kept trying to 'fix' it, and finally dumped it.

Now the only use they have really is if you see one that is grayed out and the seller has been here a while - that's a red flag.