great feedback low DSR's

[oranorth]

How can one or two buyers drop the DSR's 5 points??

[coolthings123]

It is very easy.  Happened to me about 6 or so months ago.  Buyer left great positive feedback on 7 items but torpedoed me on the DSR for shipping cost.   Apparently this is okay in eBay's book because they wouldn't do anything about it.   I had combined the shipping on the 7 items so in reality it should have been one transaction but I actually had 7 low DSR's go against my record which effectively destroyed my TRS and the associated FVF discount.  I understand it takes a year for the low DSR's to drop off so it will probably be another 6 months or so before I MIGHT be able to get the TRS back.   The DSR system has been discussed on these forums quite a bit and in my opinion the concensus seems to be it is the bane of sellers especially as it relates to shipping cost and shipping time.  The only one who benefits from it is eBay because they can use it to punish good sellers on the whim of a buyer and save a bunch of money because they don't have to pay out  that pesky 20% credit on the FVF for TRS.  

[lee_vc]

Just had this happen today.  Received positive feedback and 1's for DSR's.  The seller sent me a message through the ebay system that said they made a mistake and they meant to leave 5's instead of 1's.  I called ebay, and after waiting on hold for 10 minutes was told they do not remove positive feedback and there was nothing they can do about changing the 1's.  So I guess when a buyer has nothing to lose, doesn't pay attention and hurts your seller rating for at least a full year that is ok, no recourse at all.  Makes me wonder why I keep putting up with this.

[pierrelebel]

"How can one or two buyers drop the DSR's 5 points??"

What do you mean by "5 points"?

Your DSRs are either 5.0 or 4.9.

5.0 does not mean perfect.  It could be 4.956 which eBay will round up to 5.0

4.9 may not be as 'bad" as it looks.  It could be 4.944 which eBay will round down to 4.9

What is the difference between 4.956 and 4.944?  Not much!

So if you have a DSR at 4.956 for example (shows as 5.0) and you receive a "4" or a "3" it could be the one that drops you from 5.0 to 4.9

I would not worry too much about it.

[pierrelebel]

" I actually had 7 low DSR's go against my record... "

DRSs do not work that way.

Just like feedback rating, each one will show for every transaction but they will all be averaged as one if purchased the same week (just like feedback).  The number of payments is irrelevant.  So if a buyer purchasing seven items leaves seven DSRs of "1", they will be averaged as one "1" when calculating your DSR rating.

[rose-dee]

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@coolthings123 wrote:

The DSR system has been discussed on these forums quite a bit and in my opinion the concensus seems to be it is the bane of sellers especially as it relates to shipping cost and shipping time.  

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Those discussions are now largely irrelevant, since the introduction of defects.  Remember that DSRs are no longer calculated against a seller in the same way they were prior to August 20th (actually not for a while now, although the evaluation of them under the new defect system came into effect on Aug. 20th).

DSRs are used as a basis to calculate defects based on a low/high system.  Keep in mind that shipping cost DSRs are no longer included, so that particular worry is gone (although you can still get a defect if you get negative FB because of high shipping costs). 

I thought it would be useful to cut and paste the summary of what defects actually entail now that the new system is in place, because I think there will be a lot of misunderstanding as to how DSRs relate to defects.  You might also want to review the entire policy at the link below.  For example, how multiple DSR scores are applied to calculate defects -- that's important in the situation you describe.

Here is the explanation of how the defect rate is calculated, from eBay's Spring 2014 Seller Update (you'll note that the hated "shipping cost DSR" is not included, although a "3" for "Item as described" could be considered a bit harsh, as I'd call a "3" rating a neutral, but that's one to watch out for -- good pictures and careful descriptions are the best prevention): 

"The defect rate is simply the percentage of a seller's successful transactions that have one or more of the following transaction-related defects, the top predictors that a buyer will leave eBay or buy less:

• Detailed seller rating of 1, 2 or 3 for item as described
• Detailed seller rating of 1 for shipping time
• Negative or neutral feedback
• Return initiated for a reason that indicates the item was not as described
• eBay Money Back Guarantee (previously known as eBay Buyer Protection) or PayPal Purchase Protection case opened for an item not received or an item not as described
• Seller-cancelled transactions"

And here's the link -- I'd suggest reading the whole thing carefully, and printing it out for reference too, since there are other factors that affect how the defect rate is applied. 

http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/news/springupdate2014/sellerstandards.html

[rose-dee]

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@pierrelebel wrote:

" I actually had 7 low DSR's go against my record... "

DRSs do not work that way.

Just like feedback rating, each one will show for every transaction but they will all be averaged as one if purchased the same week (just like feedback).  The number of payments is irrelevant.  So if a buyer purchasing seven items leaves seven DSRs of "1", they will be averaged as one "1" when calculating your DSR rating.

---

Just to further clarify, one concession eBay did make to sellers was to allow a minimum number of defected transactions before that counts against your rate. 

I don't know that the one week period you mention is relevant in terms of evaluation of seller status, but rather, whether or not the DSRs and FB were left by one buyer, or a number of buyers.  So, for example, if one buyer leaves you a "Shipping time" DSR of 1 for 5 different transactions during your evaluation period (12 months for us smaller sellers), and you have no other defect-producing DSRs during those 12 months, those DSRs will not affect your seller status at all -- see the explanation quoted below, from the Seller Update.  

The OP should remember that there is now a big difference between recorded DSRs or recorded FB and your seller status.  The former will be visible to you, but not necessarily affect the latter (which can result in losing TRS, lowering your seller status, and/or getting restrictions placed on you).  That doesn't mean you don't have to worry about DSRs, but you do need to keep aware of what the bottom line will be at the end of your 12-month evaluation period.

In other words, defects themselves, although they will show up on your dashboard to keep you informed of where you stand, do not necessarily all "count" when your seller status is evaluated. 

So, to quote the Seller Update again:

"The defect rate won't affect your status until you have transactions with defects with at least 8 different buyers (at least 5 different buyers to impact Top Rated status) within your evaluation period."

(For lower volume sellers, that evaluation period will be 12 months).