eBay

mikesbestpicks · ‎03-01-2019

I've seen several posts regarding the unjustified negative feedback sellers receive for their shipping and handling charges, but my question is, why does eBay even allow negative shipping and handling feedback when a seller (me) does not charge a handling fee and charges only the eBay subsidized and calculated shipping charge? Beyond that, why would a buyer even buy an item for which they thought the shipping charges were too high? The implication is that the item could be purchased elsewhere at the same cost but with lower shipping charges. Should it not be understood by eBay that a buyer, by virtue of the fact that he buys an item, is happy with the shipping charges, and can't buy it elsewhere for less shipping cost? Why would he otherwise buy it? Is eBay oblivious to the reasonableness of questions such as these and the unreasonableness of their feedback policies? Oh, sorry, I take it all back - they are too busy making money to make reasonable and fair policies.

castlemagicmemories · ‎03-01-2019

There may be much more serious issues when you purchase here; high shipping isn't one of them. Shipping is what it is.

castlemagicmemories · ‎03-01-2019

We all have to face the fact that no matter what one does, one will never please all the people all the time.

That is a fact.

disneyshopper · ‎03-01-2019

Since you do not add a handling charge, and only charge what ebay charges you, are you printing that cost on your shipping labels? I only saw one reply that suggested printing that cost on your labels. I think that would solve a lot of the problems, since many buyers don't know what it really costs to ship a package.

disneyshopper
Volunteer Community Member

remote_controls_and_more · ‎03-01-2019

@mikesbestpicks wrote:
@castlemagicmemories wrote:
That's true and I know from your OP that you are just charging the rate specified.

That's why I said:

Unfortunately, the buyer could also be wrong and have no idea what current shipping charges for that item may be. The fact that he thinks it is high may have no basis in reality, as you state.

So going by rates, you would be correct, buyer should not be able to post negative feedback, but Ebay allows the buyer to express their opinion of the transaction, and yes, that is punitive for you. I am sorry, I wish it were not so.

Perhaps you could call Ebay and ask if they would remove the feedback on the grounds that you charge actual shipping. Maybe a statement in your listing, that you charge actual shipping; unfortunately shipping has gone up, would help?
The following is taken verbatim from one of my current listings. As I said, none of this makes any difference to either the buyer or eBay.

SHIPPING AND HANDLING CHARGES: Many of our products include free shipping, but occasionally we cannot offer free shipping and still come out money ahead. You will never pay Handling Charges at Mikes Best Picks. Though we certainly have expenses associated with shipping such as packaging materials, labels and fuel, we do NOT pass these expenses on to you, our customers. We receive discounted postage rates from USPS, and we pass those savings on to you, our valued customers, and charge you only what USPS charges us to purchase that postage.
You will never pay any handling charges, and will pay only the lowest possible postage costs available to us. Please consider this when providing Detailed Seller Ratings (DSR's) for Mikes Best Picks, and thank you very much for your business!

I'm confused by this. How can you afford to do free shipping on some items and not on others? With free shipping you roll the shipping charge in to the price of the item. For the items your charging a shipping fee just increase the price and do free shipping instead. The same thing your doing with your current free shipping items.

generaluser3 · ‎03-20-2019

I know this violin has been played a number of times, but I am so upset that this happened to me today! And this is the 3rd time in a few months, so now my Shipping & Handling is 4.7. All the other DSR is 5.0. (Not this account; another account.)

So what happened 3 times is I state the Shipping Fee clearly in the listing. The shipping fee I charge the buyer is always LESS than what I actually pay. I PRINT the actual shipping fee on the label, so the buyer can see that the amount that they paid for shipping is LESS/DISCOUNTED than what we actually paid to USPS to ship the package.

By the way, I am a micro-small seller, and so my feedback score is low, below 300. And since only a small percentage of buyers leave feedback nowadays, it's crystal-clear as to who dinged my Shipping & Handling DSR.

So 3 times, these people left Glowing feedback, left 5 stars for Item as Described, Communication, and Shipping Time, but then Dinged my Shipping and Handling Charges! What is up with that? They KNEW exactly what they were going to pay ahead of time and then decided to purchase the item, they SAW that they paid a Very Discounted shipping fee from the USPS amount from looking at the shipping label, they were HAPPY with all aspects of the transaction, but still chose to ding the shipping charges that they could see and agreed to pay!

So do DSRs matter anymore? I don't like seeing that 4.7. It bothers me probably more than it should. 😞

mam98031 · ‎03-20-2019

@generaluser3 wrote:
I know this violin has been played a number of times, but I am so upset that this happened to me today! And this is the 3rd time in a few months, so now my Shipping & Handling is 4.7. All the other DSR is 5.0. (Not this account; another account.)

So what happened 3 times is I state the Shipping Fee clearly in the listing. The shipping fee I charge the buyer is always LESS than what I actually pay. I PRINT the actual shipping fee on the label, so the buyer can see that the amount that they paid for shipping is LESS/DISCOUNTED than what we actually paid to USPS to ship the package.
By the way, I am a micro-small seller, and so my feedback score is low, below 300. And since only a small percentage of buyers leave feedback nowadays, it's crystal-clear as to who dinged my Shipping & Handling DSR.

So 3 times, these people left Glowing feedback, left 5 stars for Item as Described, Communication, and Shipping Time, but then Dinged my Shipping and Handling Charges! What is up with that? They KNEW exactly what they were going to pay ahead of time and then decided to purchase the item, they SAW that they paid a Very Discounted shipping fee from the USPS amount from looking at the shipping label, they were HAPPY with all aspects of the transaction, but still chose to ding the shipping charges that they could see and agreed to pay!

So do DSRs matter anymore? I don't like seeing that 4.7. It bothers me probably more than it should. 😞

You are fine. What you experienced is part of the reason Ebay stopped counting DRSs against the sellers. So you are fine.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

generaluser3 · ‎03-20-2019

It's very kind of you to try to calm me down, mam98031! I guess it comes across that I'm spinning and sputtering.

I can't help but think, though, if eBay realizes the DSR rating system is flawed, why do they keep it? Could it have some possible use for them sometime in the nebulous future? No one knows, but it does give one (me) pause.

To me, 4.7 is a pretty bad rating. Because of my low sales numbers and low feedback numbers, it's amazing that only 3 people have made this much of a negative difference in my DSRs.

If you're still around, could you tell me whether you think I should spend precious time calling the CSRs tomorrow to see if that latest ding could be amended?

Thank you! And thank you again for your comforting message!

mam98031 · ‎03-20-2019

@generaluser3 wrote:
It's very kind of you to try to calm me down, mam98031! I guess it comes across that I'm spinning and sputtering.

I can't help but think, though, if eBay realizes the DSR rating system is flawed, why do they keep it? Could it have some possible use for them sometime in the nebulous future? No one knows, but it does give one (me) pause.

To me, 4.7 is a pretty bad rating. Because of my low sales numbers and low feedback numbers, it's amazing that only 3 people have made this much of a negative difference in my DSRs.

If you're still around, could you tell me whether you think I should spend precious time calling the CSRs tomorrow to see if that latest ding could be amended?

Thank you! And thank you again for your comforting message!

Don't over think it. It will only lead to your need for medication or alcohol. LOL

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

generaluser3 · ‎03-21-2019

I fear that may be good advice!

mam98031 · ‎03-21-2019

@generaluser3 wrote:
I fear that may be good advice!

I know. I've been around a long time. Always good to stay on your toes, pay attention, read all the updates and announcements. But trying to figure out what Ebay's next move might be on something will drive you insane.

If you have any other concerns, just ask. I'm always happy to help.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

mikesbestpicks · ‎03-21-2019

@generaluser3I absolutely agree with your position as it pretty much mirrors mine. And though there were many thoughtful comments made by responders, I 'm somewhat amused by many of the responses in which responders took issue with the contents of my listings rather than truly addressing my original questions, mainly, why does eBay even allow a DSR or negative feedback on shipping charges when a seller has done all that is possible to make that charge as fair as can be? Because that question, in my opinion, was not answered, either by eBay or members of the eBay Community Forum, I have not checked any of the responses as a "Solution."

At any rate, I think my eBay selling days are over now. Gonna check out the Facebook Marketplace for future selling.

generaluser3 · ‎03-21-2019

@mikesbestpicks wrote:
@generaluser3I absolutely agree with your position as it pretty much mirrors mine. And though there were many thoughtful comments made by responders, I 'm somewhat amused by many of the responses in which responders took issue with the contents of my listings rather than truly addressing my original questions, mainly, why does eBay even allow a DSR or negative feedback on shipping charges when a seller has done all that is possible to make that charge as fair as can be? Because that question, in my opinion, was not answered, either by eBay or members of the eBay Community Forum, I have not checked any of the responses as a "Solution."
At any rate, I think my eBay selling days are over now. Gonna check out the Facebook Marketplace for future selling.

Yes, I agree, to be rated in this category, Shipping and Handling Charges, makes no sense at all. If a buyer has an issue with the shipping fee shown in the listing, then by all means, please move on. The shipping is out there, clear as a bell, for the buyer to see and to decide whether it's acceptable or not. My goodness. Whenever I think about this, or see my 5.0 in all categories EXCEPT for the 4.7 in Shipping and Handling Charges, I think to myself, Why in the world would the otherwise happy buyer do this? And then, Why in the world is this category even here to be rated? It boggles the mind.

If there must be DSRs, then the categories Item As Described and Communication sound reasonable to be rated as those are unknown factors for the buyer, until such time as they actually receive the package and/or they have a need to communicate with the seller. Rating the category Shipping Time is I think a gray area, unless it means the time it takes for the Package to be shipped out by the seller. If it means how long the package takes to get to its destination, that's really not a fair rating for sellers either, in my opinion.

As long-time seller/poster mam98031 advised after my rant, basically to ponder these things is the road to frustration and insanity! Ebay will do as they will do, and we can either accept it or not accept it.

I wish all the best to you, Mike, and hope the Facebook Marketplace works out great!

fern*wood · ‎03-21-2019

Some buyers feel all shipping should be free so whether you charge the exact amount or not won't matter.

As far as ebay having DSRs that don't count. Keep in mind that ebay goes back and forth on what they count against sellers, so they keep track of everything.

generaluser3 · ‎03-21-2019

@fern*wood wrote:

As far as ebay having DSRs that don't count. Keep in mind that ebay goes back and forth on what they count against sellers, so they keep track of everything.

YES, what you wrote here is exactly what I'm concerned about. So . . . I knew it wasn't going to make a bit of difference, but I had to do it anyway. I called Customer Service, and got this very pleasant gal. I explained my concerns, and she put me on hold a couple of times to speak with her supervisor. Then she was going to transfer me to a Specialist on ratings and feedback in the Safety team (or something like that), and after putting me on hold, she came back on again and said, sorry, the Specialist told her that there's nothing they can do about changing DSR ratings, since that is the buyer's opinion. She said the only thing that would have some possibility of being changed is feedback (I would imagine if it's grossly unfair, etc.), but she said I have perfect feedback, so there's nothing they can do.

It was expected, but I had to hear it for myself. And now I'm going to try to let this go, but if the next buyer should ding my Shipping & Handling, that would drop it down to 4.6, which is an absolutely horrible thought. Is the only answer to offer Free Shipping? Maybe . . .

. . . but I really don't want to do that.

namele365 · ‎03-21-2019

@mikesbestpicks wrote:
I don't determine USPS shipping rates. In fact, I determine the cheapest possible USPS shipping rates and pass eBay subsidized USPS rates along to my buyers.

Bravo! You are an honest, caring seller, doing the best to keep your customers satisfied. What you are doing is honorable and I commend you for that.

Sad part is, you are in the minority, as are most small sellers. eBay is shifting away from you and me.

I wish you luck in your endeavors, as it seems they will result in a better 'experience' for everyone, despite being phased out of this particular venue.