Detailed Seller Ratings

[gogracego]

As most sellers do, I try to keep my record 100% in all categories.  I sell only a small number of items, and work with my buyers for the best of all.  When I notice a notch in the Detailed Seller Ratings, under Reasonable Shipping Cost it upsets me.  I can not control what the post office's shipping rates are and find this category distressing as many buyers don't know the cost of shipping, and especially so for international shipments, and are therefore not qualified to make this opinion when it affects the seller's reputation.  The amount paid for shipping is marked on the package by the post office.  I refund the buyer when I find shipping is less than I quoted in my listing, and many times I have paid out from my pocket for underestimating without asking for the difference.  I don't believe this is a reasonable question for eBay to ask buyers when evaluating sellers, when it is clearly shown in the listing before they bid.  Am I alone in this opinion?

[pjcdn2005]

Yes and no.  I might be in the minority as I suspect quite a few sellers would totally agree with you.

I understand your point about the buyer knowing what it was going to cost and were willing to pay it, but to me that doesn't mean that they thought the cost was reasonable.  For example,  I might really want that Scooby key ring...enough to pay $10 shipping but when I receive it and see that the stamps on the envelope equal way less than $10, I doubt that I would think the shipping cost was reasonable.  With that being said, it's unlikely that I would give you lower DSR's because of it, but some people might.  

It's all about perception. Most people have no idea what postage costs and a lot of people don't read the info in listings so they might assume when they paid $10 that it was coming as a tracked parcel and that the cost was reasonable for a parcel.   Sorry don't mean to hammer you on that one listing but just trying to make the point that buyers will have different perceptions.

I rarely look at my detailed ratings and eBay doesn't take them into account for rating us. I doubt that buyers look at them either so try not to take it personally.

[Anonymous]

It's pretty much covered in the above post.. except for the dreaded fat thumb one you hit the wrong reply it cant be changed.. dont you hate it when you see a negative feedback and the buyer is beaming how great the service was.. fat thumb! Nothing you can do to control then dont worry about. There's always someone that thinks shipping should cheaper hey Amazon is free right Haha umm yeah !! As said perception.

[femmefan1946 · Accepted solution]

I don't believe this is a reasonable question for eBay to ask buyers

Even more fun.

EBay doesn't use DSRs to evaluate sellers.

I suspect this is some legacy code that can't be removed without messing up something else entirely. So it stays and is ignored.

As a rule of thumb:  Flat Rate Shipping should be lower than the asking price, even if that means increasing the asking price.

Which is cheapest : A $5 item with $10 Shipping? A $10 Item with $5 Shipping? A $15 item with Free Shipping? (Or a $14.99 item with Free Shipping?)

If you have to use Parcel Rates (more than 500gr / more than 2cm thick) use Calculated Shipping instead of Flat Rate. It looks more official.