PS Status & DSR rating - Correct me if I'm wrong...

[q5e]

"you will need to have a minimum 4.5 score in all four DSR criteria over a 12-month period to be designated as a PowerSeller (or remain in the program). "

"For those with a 4.6 and above on all four DSR criteria, we’ll give you a 5 percent discount off your Final Value Fees (or Transaction Services Fees)."

Correct me if I'm wrong...

Seller #1
99.9 % positive feedback rating.
$25,000 a month is sales.
Purchases all kinds of ebay marketing & listing features.
DSR - 5.0, 5.0, 4.9, 4.4
overall avg. 4.8
Reward:
No discounts.
Stripped of PS status and "new benefits" that come with it.
Placed on 3rd page for new search? or so, in favor of current power sellers.

Seller #2
98.1 % positive feedback rating.
$1,200 a month is sales.
Little if any purchases of Ebay marketing & listing features.
DSR - 4.6, 4.6, 4.6, 4.6.
overall avg. 4.6
Reward:
5% discount of FVF.
PS status and "new benefits" that come with it.
Placed on 1st page for new search? or so, for meeting new power seller standards.

Does this make any sense?

[katiusciav]

send it to ebay


and no it doesn't make sense, but then again, it IS ebay...and good way of showing this comparing two different sellers...

btw why did seller 1 lose their ps status??

[q5e]

Hi Kat.

"a minimum 4.5 score in all four DSR criteria over a 12-month period to be designated as a PowerSeller "

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/ca/200801290858572.html

[montrealmaps]

Does this make any sense?

Of course! Ebay prefers to refund 3.37 dollars (5% discount) to seller #2, than 1.000 dollars to seller #1. It has a perfect, financial sense. Ebay wants to make money, like we want, too 😉

[sweet_thingz]

I sell to a lot of Americans, and since I ship from Canada, it takes longer to get there, and costs me more. I even take a LOSS on shipping...I charge $8.50 to $9.50 per item and it costs me $12 to $14 to ship...plus I ship within 24 hours. But, since I am in Canada, and Canadapost sucks, my dsr = 4.6 4.7 4.3 4.4 - So, I will lose powerseller status in July?

[q5e]

Of course! Ebay prefers to refund 3.37 dollars (5% discount) to seller #2, than 1.000 dollars to seller #1. It has a perfect, financial sense. Ebay wants to make money, like we want, too

I see your point ... but I must disagree.
You see seller #1 = 20 x what seller #2 provides to them financially on a monthly basis.
With the new PS rating system and visibility they will be providing, eBay is in effect rewarding a much less effective seller. (#2)
Seller #1 is far more productive, reputable and profitable for eBay.
What company would target it's top performers?
What if this new approach dramatically hurts the overall performance of seller #1?
How much will eBay lose in FVF?

Thanks for the reply Montreal.

[q5e]

So, I will lose powerseller status in July?

Got this from motrealmaps:
The buyer is told that a 4.0 rating is for
1. Your items description are ACCURATE
2. Buyer is SATISFIED with the communication
3. You ship the items QUICKLY.
4. Your S/H charges are REASONABLE.

and YES your prize is to be stripped of your PS status.

[montrealmaps]

Of course, you are right. I am with you!
My post was meant as a "sarcastic" one 😉

Andrew

[montrealmaps]

[katiusciav]

yea, of course, i missed that one...i was blinded by all the other excellent numbers...

...your outright comparison shows what a joke ebay's new policy is regarding ps status...

[q5e]

The biggest problem with the DSR rating system is that the statistics are skewed towards your failure.

Let me explain.
If you are sooting for a passing grade 51% then any score posted for you is acceptable.
However, this is not the case.
You are asked to score 4.8 and 4.5 to maintain PS Status.
One bad score (for whatever reason) will dramatically skew your score downward.
How the scores should be calculated are lowest & highest scores should be dropped.
Most effectively, they should seek the mean average of the (I.E.5/10) median scores.
For those who do not know what that is ... It's the middle scores taken, then averaged out.
The mean/median average would be the truest representation of your DSR scores.

[q5e]

example

20 posted DSR scores,

1,2,3,3,4,4,4,4,4,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5.

1)mean average score = 4.2

2)median (5) then mean avg. score = 4.6

Same exact ratings but with # 2 you are a power seller & receive discount.

[recped]

Let me explain.

Explanation received and understood, clearly illustrated by your example.

I don't disagree with your objectives but as it is my nature to contrary.....

While using median instead of basic average would benefit a seller who is only marginally gone to the "bad" it would also benefit a number of poor sellers who don't deserve the help.

From various posts by pinks, announcements and interviews with eBay execs I am getting the impression that while the basic policies are here to stay there will be a close examination of the results and ongoing tweaking of the parameters are a foregone conclusion.

One thing for sure, when you are dealing with hundreds of thousands of active sellers operating under a myriad of business models it's very difficult to set the terms of any policy so that even a majority of sellers are treated equally. I'm afraid there will always be some sellers getting the short end of the stick some some degree.

[q5e]

dealing with hundreds of thousands of active sellers operating under a myriad of business models it's very difficult to set the terms of any policy so that even a majority of sellers are treated equally

Equally no ... equitably is what I am referring to.
From my first example illustrates clearly that that is not the case.

Let me clarify I am not an eBay basher.
Quite to the contrary in fact.

However, I do disagree with this new policy.
My feeling is that you will have very few performing power sellers maintain/achieve these goals.
Of course there will always be those will attempt to manipulate these goals.
The target set forth is 4.8 and 4.5, as the min. requirement to remain, 96% and 90% respectively of scoring 5's.
Do you honestly feel that buyers will rate your performance in each category a 5, 96% of the time over the entire year especially for S&H or shipping time?
Most sellers do very well in the first two categories but all seem to complain (rightly so) about the other two.
The biggest problem is that once it drops it's near impossible for it to hit the mark.

ongoing tweaking
You said it there.
How about revamping?

All the best.

[facestation]

We were just told we will probably lose our PS status on eBay (after having it for 6yrs) but we are still top sellers and have a Top Seller account manager...lol you figure it out.

Very stupid & proves eBay is just here for the money.
Moez

[recped]

lol you figure it out.

In relative terms your feedback is lousy?

proves eBay is just here for the money.

And what are you here for? Kicks?

[q5e]

In relative terms your feedback is lousy?

Where I agree face station needs some improvement (don't we all?) be aware that they do approx. 60 transaction per business day ... that's a lot of invoicing and shipping to do.
Not to make excuses but they will not have the same attention to detail as someone with 7 transactions per day? Nes pas?

Since you ship world wide, what I would recommend is you post shipping time expectations & explain that you ship out within I.E. 2-3 days of cleared payments.

All the best.

[q5e]

Back on point here.

A very large problem with all of this is, that buyers are under the impression that rating you a 4 in any category is actually a good rating and may think they are doing you a favor rather than damage.
Imagine the buyer rates you, 5, 5, 4, 5... with an extremely positive response.
Yet that 4.0 to the seller is a detriment.
Moreover, it is human nature to find flaw, I.E. "no one is perfect" analogy.

Now add to all this the increased exposure of negative feedback and you have got a recipe for big trouble.

[ciderantiques]

My sympathies to FaceStation. I don't understand why ebay would want to can you from the Power Sellers program and keep me ! My star ratings are high (as of today) but I barely make my quota for $1K a month. It takes a lot of doilies to generate a thousand dollars and I usually have under 50 sales a month. Ebay does not make a lot of money off me.

Of course I can smooze with my customers and even take a loss on shipping. Would I do the same if I had 50 sales a day? Absolutely not.

[q5e]

I don't understand why ebay would want to can you from the Power Sellers program and keep me !
Ebay does not make a lot of money off me.

Exactly my point!
Sellers dealing with hundreds of buyers a day just will not be able to meet these ridiculous goals.
Especially when you deal in heavy, large, distant/worldwide or expensive items to be shipped.

ciderantiques, thank you for your post and honesty.
You have certainly helped confirm my initial analysis of this new system.

So what can we do?
Where do we go from here?
Let try to come up with something constructive and not eBay bash and dash type answers.

All the best.