This may be going against the grain but....

[cgcgraded]

I love the new ebay(especially since they are tweeking the new feedback system)! I am able to differentiate myself from other sellers and reap the rewards in FVF credit. I have had to make changes and improve communication issues that we all have. Overall I am very pleased. Good sales, repeat customers, lower fees, great feedback.
I have been upgraded again to silver PS status again after losing it last month.
I put alot of the success lately on a short email I send to all my customers. It may not be totally correct in some eyes but does the job. It reads....

PLEASE READ AND SAVE THIS EMAIL.

Hi. Thanks for your purchase. Your item has shipped. The tracking # is cx000000000ca and can be accessed at canadapost.ca
I often get emails from customers asking about the whereabouts of their packages. Your item is coming from Newfoundland Canada, and if you live in the USA normally takes 15 BUSINESS days to arrive due to the fact it has to clear US customs. In Canada normally 7 business days. The tracking/shipping info is usually also found as a link in the “order details” of the sale in “My Ebay” and “Paypal”. Packages are scanned by Canada Post but will not be scanned by US customs or USPS until the item goes out for delivery.
I appreciate your patience.

I strive for a perfect 5 star rating and strong positive feedback on all of my sales. If you find that I didn’t meet your expectations to leave this, please let me know.

If you have any questions PLEASE contact me.

All The Best
Andrew/buckingham303



Any others out there with the same positive attitude?

[cartoonsinabox]

Hi Faerywishes,

My clients aren't really in Canada (I get a few but not much on EBAY). They are mostly in USA,Europe and Australia. The flat rate box doesn't really apply for the size of products we sell and also its a high shipping rate. We get better rates with shipper we presently use because we do volume.

The problem we have is with the Ebay's DSR (Shipping & handling fees) because we sell mostly expensive & over-size items the shipping will be more expensive (but have better rates on shipping then if we used Canada Post or UPS ).

Its simply that we should not be rated as per "Shipping fee" if we already suply this information to client. The client by bidding on the auction they agrees to shipping rate (and we are NOT over charging !). BUT we still get poor rating only for this field. (The other 3 : Item desciption,communication & shipping delay are excellent).

I disagree with other sellers that say to lower our shipping rates and put higher retail price to our items. (I find this dishonest). There is a problem and Ebay has not yet looked into the problem.

This is my experience and opinion and its a disadvantage for us. It might not be such a problem for other sellers selling light objects.

Frederic

[magisterrex]

(I find this dishonest).

Uh...what's dishonest?

[pierrelebel]

Years ago, the largest mail order business in the world (Dell Computer) saw a substantial increase in business when they started offering "free shipping" (meaning shipping cost are included in the price - buyers are not stupid and realize that). Nothing "dishonest" about that.

My eBay sales were up 40% in the first six months of 2007 over 2006 when I started offering "free shipping" for combined purchases exceeding $25 to Canada/USA. Buyers like free or low shipping charge.

And yes, sellers offering lower shipping charges understand they are in fact paying eBay a bit more on FVF. So what? Look at the bigger picture.

If you give eBay an extra $0.20 in FVF in a transaction, but improve your DSRs to become eligible to the 15% FVF rebate, you end up way ahead financially and will show a better level of customer satisfaction, not to mention the possibility of increased sales and profit.

"dishonest"

???

I do not think so. .

[cartoonsinabox]

Thanks for the advise.I will try a few test auctions with free shipping to see if it has any impact.

Frederic

[gifts_of_elegance]

It seems that only sellers that sell small ticket items are happy with the new "Best Match" and the new feedback system. I charge way below actual shipping, I pack my items in brand new boxes with new bubble wrap and styrofoam, all of which I provide for free and still my rating for shipping charge is low. I asked a very satisfied customer if she would leave me 5 star rating and told her why. Her response was "You would have to give me the item for free and hand-deliver it to my door" for five stars.
My average sale is $140 - $150 per item. Some of them are heavy and very fragile. I could write a book on all the problems associated with shipping them.
Bottom line is I am sick and tired of reading from sellers about how their rating is through the roof and about how great they are. I am happy to hear when someone is successful but not when its bragging that they are in an "exclusive club".
Since the introduction of "Best Match", my sales for the past three months account for less than 12% of my yearly total , and I was closed 3 months of the previous 9. What does that tell you?

[cartoonsinabox]

I knew I wasn't along having problems concerning "Shipping fees(DSR) and this affecting us on Best Match.

Frederic

[faerywishes]

Hi marsu450
I thought sellers like yourself that had to ship expidited or the like would have it easier than myself.

My items don't sell for a large amount and there is plenty of competition. So I have to have my shipping extremely low and there is no room to include the shipping with my items. I too struggled with this as I said in my earlier reply and was very stressed and frustrated. I realized Ebay is not going to help us much on this so I decided I needed to do something to improve it.

I can only work with what I have, right? That's when I chose to educate my buyers...to death...lol. They get so much email from me I'm surprised my communication doesn't take a hit, but even that improved.

I think you will win with this, it will just take a bit of fiddling with your listing price & shipping fees. I don't feel that there is anything dishonest about putting part of your shipping fee in with the listing price. Most buyers are not stupid. You have an advantage in that you are unique in here and would be able to do that.

Bottom line ~ are you ripping off the customer? Not at all. As you say, the buyer is agreeing to the price & fee by either purchasing or bidding.

Use it to your advantage. It's smart business. You need make some business decisions based on what Ebay has given you to work with. Don't see what they have done as a negative, figure a way above it.

Ebay has given us metrics to work with (f/b & dsr's) figure out how to use them to your best advantage.

Earning the discounts more than pays for any increase in FVF you will pay to Ebay.

I wish you all the best in your selling!

Have a Wonderful Day.

[faerywishes]

Hi gifts_of_elegance

It seems that only sellers that sell small ticket items are happy with the new "Best Match" and the new feedback system.



I sell only small ticket items and was not happy at all about best match. I totally bought into it and felt my business would suffer greatly. When I checked best match my listing were on the last 2 pages of a search. It doesn't get much worse.

So I moped around here for a couple of weeks. I refused to put many listings in, I was so mad at Ebay I was going to make them pay. But then I noticed for those listings I was making what I normally make. I was getting new customers, so I checked my traffic and noticed it was up by 25%. I had a bit of hope, but best match still sucked. The next week the same happened. The following week I felt I might still be able to make it in here. So I listed double to what I listed the previous week. And that same day bids came in on some almost as soon as I had listed them.

So I thought, HA take that best match. I can do it without you. So I stayed away from best match and focused on bottom line & my traffic reports. I've worked my butt off to increase my dsr shipping time and increased it to 4.6 finally.

I neither brag or boast that I am so wonderful and I know everything. If I can pass along something that helped me I do so. If I can encourage I do so. Not everything I do works for others and not everything others do works for me. I work for me and do my best!

I wish you all the best as well!

Have a Wonderful Day

[gifts_of_elegance]

faerywishes: You didn't brag, but there are some that get off on it on a daily basis.
I have been selling on eBay over 8 years. First three years it was small ticket items (under another user name) and I did extremely well so I decided to try selling more expensive items about five years ago. I made a committment not to take any money out of my business for atleast a year (turned out to be almost two)so I could re-invest into more stock. I worked from the time I got up until I went to bed to answer all emails, ship same day and to list more and more items. Seven days a week, including holidays. Every day I woke up with the thought "How can I make it better? How can I improve to increase sales?" There were countless obsticles, I over-came them or tried to see them in a positive light. Building my business was my main driving force. I loved every minute of it and my enthusiasm never faltered. My listings for the past year have been over 600 items at all times and I am working to get it up to 700. But I no longer see a profitable future with eBay. Now my only goal is to sell off my inventory and to go on to other things. Am I bitter? Lets just say that in light of what has been happening on eBay the past 6-8 months, I feel that eBay no longer deserves my business.