eBay

lady.stark · ‎09-01-2013

Late on August 23, I sold an autographed photo. Payment was made almost immediately and I shipped the next business day, which was August 26. Fortunately, I used Tracked Packet. I say fortunately, because today, I saw this on the Canada Post website regarding my shipment:

"Recipient not located at address provided. Item being returned to sender."

Should I be worried? For the moment, buyer didn't contact me. Of course, I will refund him as soon as the photo arrive, but I will be out $15 for postage - and probably return postage too? I think this buyer might have "buyer remorse" and just refused the package at delivery (I sent a counteroffer of $75 to his first best offer on the photo - a ridiculous $25 - his second one was much more reasonable ($62.50) and I accepted it).

Anyway, what should I do? Should I wait until the buyer makes contact or contact him first?

lady.stark · ‎09-04-2013

Good question!

I just discovered he left me a 3 for shipping time (when I shipped within a few business hours). And a 4 for communication when he never even contacted me whereas I contacted him 2 times: one to explain why the item would be shipped on Monday morning and one to advise him the item was in the mail. Another newbie who doesn't know how the system works 😞

pierrelebel · ‎09-04-2013

"he left me a 3 for shipping time.... And a 4 for communication"

Sorry about the less than perfect experience with that buyer.

I know you know but - for the benefit of all readers unaware of the policy - it is against the rules at eBay for a seller to contact a buyer to discuss DSR.

bb_cool_stuff · ‎09-04-2013

Sorry to hear that also.

Unfortunately we run into buyers such as this a couple of times a year.

Karma always strikes back.

bb_cool_stuff · ‎09-04-2013

"such as these"

rose-dee · ‎09-04-2013

Oh, that stings. And stinks, too. So much effort and time on your part for an unthinking slap in the face.

Re Pierre's note:

"I know you know but - for the benefit of all readers unaware of the policy - it is against the rules at eBay for a seller to contact a buyer to discuss DSR."

I had assumed from what you said in your last post that you simply worked out the DSRs left by your buyer from the downgrading of your DSR percentage -- which is easy to extrapolate when your numbers are always at 5.0 -- and not from any contact with the buyer!

I'm always sorry to see this kind of thing happen to an excellent seller -- which you obviously are -- because it falls into a gray area where nothing much can be done but to move on...

pierrelebel · ‎09-04-2013

"I had assumed from what you said in your last post that you simply worked out the DSRs..."

So did I.

The problem with some sellers is that once they have determined which buyer gave them low DSRs, they contact the buyer to discuss the situation - that is against the rules.

rose-dee · ‎09-04-2013

@pierrelebel wrote:
"I had assumed from what you said in your last post that you simply worked out the DSRs..."

So did I.

The problem with some sellers is that once they have determined which buyer gave them low DSRs, they contact the buyer to discuss the situation - that is against the rules.

Pierre, I was aware of this rule (as you probably would guess), but I've wondered how to separate "discussing the situation" (i.e. DSRs left) from dealing with - for example - negative FB or ambiguous comments left in FB that a seller might want to ask the buyer about, or ask to have revised.

I'd appreciate it if you could you post the link to the rule here.

Incidentally, do you know if a seller requests FB revision and a buyer accepts, whether the buyer is also invited by eBay to leave "fresh" DSRs, or do his/her original DSRs stand? That's one question I've never seen answered on the boards.

lady.stark · ‎09-04-2013

@pierrelebel wrote:
I know you know but - for the benefit of all readers unaware of the policy - it is against the rules at eBay for a seller to contact a buyer to discuss DSR.

Yeah, I know. I didn't contact him. Even if it's very tempting to do it, I know it's against the rules, so I won't do it. But if I can express my humble opinion here though, it's a stupid rule. Buyers should know that their "opinion" is not just that. With that said, since he left positive feedback, I guess I'll just have to live with it. Just when I was getting back my perfect record, another one brings it back to 4.9 😞

I know, I know, I shouldn't take it personally, but since I'm just selling my personal stuff for the moment to bring more money home, the 20% off of FVF is very important. And because I don't sell much per month, the percentage of DSR does decrease very fast when one or two buyers leave less than 5.

lady.stark · ‎09-04-2013

@rose-dee wrote:
Incidentally, do you know if a seller requests FB revision and a buyer accepts, whether the buyer is also invited by eBay to leave "fresh" DSRs, or do his/her original DSRs stand? That's one question I've never seen answered on the boards.

Yes, the DSRs can be revised as well, except if you gave 5. About 2 years ago, I had a very bad seller who didn't want to do anything to resolve the situation with me. Long story short, I left a negative. He then was willing to resolve the problem and I revised my feedback when everything was settled. I was able to revise the stars as well. Fortunately, it didn't happen often. <fingers crossed>

Thanks Pierre, rose-dee and BB for your support! It's very comforting 😉

tobyshitzu · ‎09-04-2013

""he left me a 3 for shipping time.... And a 4 for communication"

No consequence at all for that, same thing as gettting 5s. Move it one left and you'd be on the verge of losing the discount

The rules are stupid. Get a neg and they encourage you to contact the buyer, work it out and get it revised. Get a buyer who leaves a positive with low dsr and you aren't supposed to contact them (though their call center will tell you too...). Get a buyer who leaves you a pos, with a 2 dsr...who says it was a mistake and it can't be revised. But could be if it was a desrved neg.

I just got a neutral and 1 for shipping time, mailed same day and 6 bus days to rural BC. Buyer has left neg or neutral 4 times out of 12 fb left, 33% of the time unahppy.

rose-dee · ‎09-04-2013

@lady.stark wrote:

Thanks Pierre, rose-dee and BB for your support! It's very comforting 😉

You're absolutely welcome! I'm glad it did some good -- we're all basically out in the cold where DSRs are concerned. You have my full empathy, particularly since a very recent unfair DSR did virtually the same thing to me.

As 'toby' points out, the DSR is an illogical (and I would add, draconian) system for sellers. It's lopsided: buyers consider it a place to let off steam or simply leave an inconsequential opinion, but sellers' reputations and profit margins can be significantly impacted by just a couple of thoughtless 'opinion surveys'. Like you, my volume of sales can't take many such hits, and I always worry about that one arbitrary "2" or "3" that will tip the balance and remove the 20% discount which helps so much when you're selling higher priced items.

lady.stark · ‎09-12-2013

@toby**bleep**zu wrote:
I just got a neutral and 1 for shipping time, mailed same day and 6 bus days to rural BC. Buyer has left neg or neutral 4 times out of 12 fb left, 33% of the time unahppy.

So sorry to read this. I think this buyer would qualify for the "Report buyer" link. Have you tried it?