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?

[bits-n-pieces]

Trying to come up with something constructive is basically a waste of time. Ebay in its typical pigheaded way has made a decision to rate us on 2 things over which the majority of us have no control - shipping costs and delivery time. I agree that sellers who charge $10 shipping for something that costs $2 to mail possibly should be rated low, but then again, if the shipping is stated in the listing, then the buyer knew exactly what they were paying when they committed to buy. Hardly fair to whine afterwards. Ebay is quite happy to allow this type of buyer to vent and damage the seller - they believe buyers have no responsibility for their own actions. Big brother ebay will take care of them and punish the bad sellers - which seems to be all sellers in their eyes these days.

Shipping times ratings are even a bigger nightmare. I mail a lot of parcels overseas and most take 8 to 16 weeks to arrive. Cutting off feedback after only 60 days will leave my customers only 2 choices in most cases. Leave no feedback, or jump the gun and complain before the 60 days are up - they will have the perception that if ebay limits the timeline to 60 days then they should have their item within that time. Doesn't matter that I explain to buyers in my listings that international can take 14 to 16 weeks or longer, I still get emails from surprised buyers.

I have no problem being rated on accuracy of description, communication and would like to see packing added, but I will never be happy about being judged on things out of my control.

[otteropp]

I agree, I would like to see the two last questions removed and Quality of Packing added but the most important question should be

'Would you buy from this Seller again?"

[gijoe_basecamp]

looks like ebay is taking a huge wrong turn for the worse, after 1+ year of being a powerseller and recently having decided to seek other avenues of profit i am at a loss for words except to say that all the proposed new changes are if anything just a way for ebay to make more money and us the sellers to make a lot less, throw in CANADAPOST SHIPPING COSTS and u have an excellent recipe for disaster.
Wish us all goodluck

[q5e]

Since eBay has placed so much emphasis on numbers...
Scoring is rated 1-5 so, it stands to reason that 3 is the average. Yet if you rate a 4.0 in S&H/ST (defined as quick and reasonable & an above average score) here is the message eBay will leave for your potential customers.

read the red type ...
http://ngvi.ebay.com/vi?ngvi&backtoid=1&ppsp=0&li=1&pdp=0&sspagename=STRK%3AMEBI%3AIT&dsr=0&item=330211950026&backto=http%3A%2F%2Fmy.ebay.com%2Fws%2FeBayISAPI.dll%3FMyeBay%26CurrentPage%3DMyeBayBidding%26ssPageName%3DSTRK%3AME%3ALNLK&pass=sT%2BfUzQ%2BXdhJ99MVsJ5UQwpVHQs%3D
[link provided by snoopwiz (1082 )]

Shocked? dismayed? feeling a little coerced?

After reviewing much of this it is clear that eBay has determined that S&H/ST is something they are not profiting from and are pushing off to the seller to significantly reduce or eliminate/incorporate into their item.
This way eBay increases there fees & FVF.
EBay cannot charge you fee for a service you&/or they do not provide.

What is most revealing is that eBay has the greatest buying power when it comes to offering shipping rates yet it cost me more to use the eBay shipping rates rather than my own negotiated rates.
If they are so concerned with shipping rates to buyer why do they not provide sellers with the most effective means/cost lines?
Why not be clear to buyers regarding the implication of the score they provide to the seller?

I have noticed that those sellers with heavy, large, distant/worldwide or expensive items to be shipped are NOT meeting the S&H/ST expectations.

Any thoughts?

[jakeeangel]

I don't know if this point was ever really clarified in here so I thought I would.

Regarding the 4.5 for Powerseller status, it is NOT the average of all four scores. You must have a minimum of 4.5 in each of the four scores. So you could have 4.9 in three of them and 4.4 in one and you're out. I don't know though if they give you a certain time period to shape up before they boot you similar to the sales quota does now.

This came up during one of the audio sessions when the changes were first made. It is not the average, it is 4.5 in each one. Same thing for applying the discounts, it is not based on the average of all four. The figure they quote, 4.6 or 4.8, is required as a minimum in all four categories.

---

When you find doing what's right hard to do - you've got a problem.

[q5e]

Jakeeangel,

Thanks for the post & Yes I realize this.
My first example illustrates the holes in this new system and that that average should be taken into effect.

To many different selling platforms that differentiate shipping costs and times.

Also, the manner in which Ebay calculates each score and the manner in which they describe to the buyer what it each star represents is very scewed and misleading.

In the manner these statistics are calculated, it will take only takes few bad scores to knock you out of this game.

It will take perfect scores to regain positioning and as we all know everyone is perfect ... right?

I do like the recommendation that the score for Shipping time & cost should be replaced with:
Would you recommend &/or buy from this seller again?

Also, I think we should be permitted to see how each customer ranked us.
Otherwise how do we know if the numbers are accurate and how to improve?

[q5e]

10 to 1 sellers to buyers.
eBay sees increasing market shrinkage on the buyers side so wants to tighten up on the fraudulent sellers and try to increase market credibility.
Understandable.

With these new changes 1 of 2 things will happen.

1)The give & take community dialog & balance of feedback has been eradicated and replaced with buyer "big stick".
With little accountability it is inevitable that more negatives will be posted, thereby reducing credibility to sellers (and in effect eBay) & creating doubt in the buyers mind about the purchase they are embarking into.
Eventually buyers will flee eBay in greater numbers than what eBay may feel is happening today.

2)The new system will weed out bad sellers and increase buyer confidence in marketplace, thereby increasing sales for everyone involved. The increased risk of bad report will force sellers to be proactive in communication & improve on customer service.


what do you think?