Canadian Powersellers : Useful tips to quickly get the 15% discount

[purse_of_the_legionary]

Hi everyone,

Many people around here are complaining about the fact that it's impossible to get that 15% discount if you are a Canadian Powerseller. I am Canadian and I quickly ramped up my DSR to get that 15% discount on fees. For your information, I still have my DSR at 4.7 for shipping charges in my feedback page (last 12 months), but the dashboard 30 days rating is now at 4.88! And it's the 2nd month I get 15%. Here are my complete 30 days DSR :

Item as described - 4.84
Communication - 4.95
Shipping time - 4.93
Shipping charges - 4.88


How I achieve this 30 days DSR ? That was no big deal.

About DSR, the only difference for a Canadian compared to an American is "Shipping time" and "Shipping charges", everybody agrees with that.

About "Item as described", you just don't screw buyers with blurred pics or hiding flaws, because you will obviously pay for it one day or another, nothing new here.

But about "Communication", what if I told you this is the communication that will help the most to increase your "Shipping time" and "Shipping charges" DSR, I'll explain later.

But first of all, you have to ship very quickly. Item has to be shipped within 24h, same day if possible. Ship what you packaged during the last 24h at end of day, right before post office closes, and do this business everyday. That's your job, don't get cheap on shipping time, you'll pay for it. Also, don't even think making profit with shipping charges, you can't do this at the same time you get the 15% (some of you could think "whatever, I make more money with profit than 15% off", but only one way could lead to a negative feedback if you exaggerate!). Add packaging material to Canada Post shipping cost, that's all. If you can't make your profit exclusively from the items you are selling here, you are not in business anyway, you are just screwing people with hidden fees.

I already hear many Canadian Powersellers saying "I ship within 24h but buyers only think about delivery time, because delivery took a while", or "Canada Post charge too much compared to USPS". You are right, so right. You cannot change this, solution is elsewhere. Here how to change all this :

1) Ship same day or next day after payment is received, your buyer would like the item to be shipped the minute payment is sent, that is normal.

2) Very quickly send a shipping confirmation email though eBay system, if you don't have an automated function to send shipping confirmation emails. Try something like this :

Hi,

Thank you for your payment. Your item has quickly been shipped this Thursday, July 3.

Please do not hesitate to email me if you have any question or concern.

Best regards,

Eric

Don't forget to rename the email title "Shipping confirmation for item #1234567890", instead of eBay default title, it will save you many "Item not received yet, when did you ship my item?" time wasting emails.

3) For questions from buyer, always begin your email with "I'll be happy to help you with your question", even if the buyer seems tense. You are a professional.

Another tip about responding to questions, always wish "good luck" to a potential bidder in your response. Many people are superstitious and will be encouraged to win the item.

4) Buy self-printable business card and print them onb both sides with this :

side 1 - Of course, your logo, username, store name, email address, etc.

side 2 - Here is a good example of what is on my card :

Thank you for leaving positive feedback for the top
service you received :

-Accurate item description with detailed picture

-Item shipped within 24h (on business days)

-Shipping notification sent / questions responded within hours

-Exact Canada Post shipping cost (including packaging material)

Your business is appreciated. Please do not hesitate to send an email if you have any question or if you need assistance with your order...

This card, inserted in your package, will make all the difference. Why ? Simply because you are telling your buyer exactly what you did for him, at the same time he will open the package and enjoy the item. This is the most important moment of the transaction. This is when you remind the buyer you did great. Many chance they will quickly and gladly leave a great positive feedback for you, with perfect DSR, simply because you tell them to.

4) Your satisfied buyers will help you keeping a very good DSR, but only if they come back. I created a system of three feedback comments for them, to make them feel a good very welcomed customer :

My default feedback comment for a new buyer is used to directly invite to purchase again.

Fast payment, thanks! Great eBayer, highly recommended! A+++ Come back anytime!

For a second purchase, I use the following comment.

Fast payment, thank you ! Great repeat buyer, highly recommended ! A+++

At the third purchase, just show you love to do business with the buyer.

Fast payment as always, thanks! Wonderful repeat buyer, highly recommended! A+++

And please, leave the feedback comment at the same time you send shipping confirmation. Your buyer will see it as a very good start, and anyway you cannot leave negative or neutral. Don't be afraid and most of all don't think "I won't leave any feedback if I don't receive positive". Just show your appreciation, you will look confident about your professionalism and anyway your little business card will do the rest of the job.

5) Remain positive and do your best.


Do these 5 things, nothing less, and your DSR will rise. Otherwise, that is laziness and you don't deserve 15% discount.

Good luck with your new and improved professionalism!

Eric

[pierrelebel]

"DSRs are worthless. They are a carrot on a stick. They affect low-volume sellers a lot but at my ~800-1000 item per month volume they don't dent me much."

While your statement may apply to your business, it is inappropriate to generalise and assume it applies to others.

"My stress levels have dropped a lot after I stopped caring about my DSRs."

Never had the stress problem you experienced. I do not need to "care" about my DSRs. They represent my buyers perception of every aspects of their transaction.

" wasting extra hours of your time"

?????

Spending (not wasting) time providing better service to customers is an essential ingredient to any long term successful business.

" you get a whopping 30 bucks back "

Some sellers get more and others get less. Since the new rebate system started in february, I have been getting over US$100 a month. It may not be important to you but it is to me. ;-) .

[dipmicro]

This is good thread. Some things apply to some and other things to others. I am definitely considering the card. We have been using mini-catalog with top-picks before and the URL of our website and I definitely seen the increase in traffic and returning former-eBay then website customers.

The card is good marketing. "Thank you" is just a good manner.

I will be adding a 5-10% discount coupon to the card. People like discounts.

[cajunfox]

Pierre:

Customer service is an area where diminishing returns kick in as you increase the amount you give. In a field like selling stamps, where they're typically easy to pack/ship and the customer base is older and more polite or less demanding, more time can be afforded to provide customer service on the product.

In my field, lowest price is the primary driving force behind sales. Customer service needs to be adequate, but going beyond the call of duty doesn't tend to produce additional sales and never has in my experience.

That is why I say the DSR system is worthless. It generalizes and affects low-volume sellers severely compared to their high-volume counterparts. It doesn't take into account your customer base or demographic you may be selling to. Sellers in the field of used electronics and computers have a lot more problem buyers and issues than sellers of collectables or nonvolatile goods do.

IMHO the selling of any items which are on a depreciating trend (where they do not increase in value over time, such as cellphones, car parts, computers and electronics) have a harder time with DSRs than sellers selling items on an appreciating trend (collectables, stamps, antiques, etc). The type of customer base is totally different and expects different things. That is what the DSR system does not take into account. My sales category is considered "high risk" enough for paypal to withhold payments on some transactions, so eBay acknowledges the volatility of the field and the many problems that may arise, yet I am still held to the same benchmark as sellers who are in non-risky fields.

[pierrelebel]

"Sellers in the field of used electronics and computers have a lot more problem buyers and issues than sellers of collectables or nonvolatile goods do."

Yet, when checking DSRs by category, you find relatively little difference (except for cellphones and PDAs where the lower DSR may be related to buyers (?) or sellers (?).) .

[lina-mallows]

Just checking back-
We RAISED our shipping within Canada the US by 50%, (US$ to US$1.50)
and by 33% to overseas (US$1.50 to US$2.oo)!

AND, we added the following statement to all our auctions:
"We appreciate the feedback from the thousands of our happy customers.
There are many fine sellers on eBay who offer similar products.
HOWEVER, IF TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE- AND YOU EXPECT NEAR IMMEDIATE DELIVERY-
PLEASE SHOP ELSEWHERE!"

And- after all this, our sales ROSE in July!

FURTHER and MOST importantly for those that think it matters- our yearly DSR rating still stand EXACTLY where they were at 5.0 4.9 4.8 4.8 (04-07-08 19:12 EDT comment 3 of 43 here)
With
NO EXTRA e-mails sent
WE DO NOT confirm shipping
WE DO NOT enclose a business card

OK- so we got our first NEG feedback from a customer we told where they could take their business!
So- what! WE DON'T CARE- WE THANKED THEM!
At the end of the day, we have achieved MORE sales- AND made more money from shipping- rather than LOSING money by following any of eBay's silly suggestions!
Any nominal % discount eBay could offer trying to IMPROVE our DSRS pales by comparison to the additional revenue made by simply IGNORING the RAISE YOUR DSR nonsense- and making practical business decisions.