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Have read alot of posts about low DSRs ect.....just offering some advice
 

I am sure this may seem like common sense to most, but just thought I would share my little "secret" to maintaining 4.9-5.0 DSRs in every category even after selling thousands and thousands of items.

Take what is FREE to you and give it to customers.....example....selling childrens items????? Sign up for free magazines/coupons/store coupons etc online, in every shipment include free lightweight stuff like coupons for toys or toy stores or clothing stores.

Keep your Junk Mail that has coupons or offers that you would normally throw away.

Selling Juniors/teenage clothing stuff...if you buy or even shop at discount stores and when clothing is marked down to .75 or $1.00 at TJ Maxx or whatever, buy a few....include one in a package to a buyer who purchased 3 auctions from you.

If you have time to search freebie forums...get those freebie pins, pens, mouse pads, calenders, even JEWELRY and the free items are ENDLESS and include one in a shipment here and there.

Include a note saying "as a thank you I have included XXX, I hope that enjoy". Even though it may be junk to you and maybe junk to them 99% of the time people appreciate the gesture thus leaving ALL 5 stars across the board AND HAVING REPEAT CUSTOMERS WHO ARE NOW WILLING TO POSSIBLY BID OR EVEN PAY MORE THAN THEY WOULD FROM SOMEONE ELSE!!!

And from experience I do have repeat buyers who bid and pay for items that cost more from me because they now "like" me.

Also I LOVE LOVE to conduct business OUTSIDE of ebay.....this method helps build trust, thus I add the buyers email to my email list.....and I email in bulk to my buyers with my products and costs a week prior to listing them on ebay...makes the buyers feel special that they get a "sneak preview" and a chance to buy without having to wait and bid and MAYBE win. I have had much success doing this and really do think it is because of my free stuf I include! :)

Again, I know this is common sense stuff to most, but thought I would post it....anyone else do the similar?

I have had some sellers include some extra junk and a nice note. Its always pleasant. Everyone likes SWAG!

But a few of them ruin it with massive 5 paragraph emails explaining the DSR system and begging for good feedback. And a few emails back to back. Nobody is going to read 2000 words on the feedback system. Its paramount to spam and pointless. So lesson is to be nice, but gentle.

I also have 4.9 to 5.0 feedback ratings to all of my categories. I also have a lot of repeat customers too. For me, I think it is the great customer service and ship quick that they all happy.

I did have a page long plea for feedback/DSRs I received from a seller, waste of ink in my opinion. I have a saved word document that has 8 of the same paragraphs with thank you and please come again basics and all I do is fill in the name after Dear and print and cut into 8 and place in packages...much success. I dont add everyone to my email list, just those that pay higher for items and pay quickly. I get alot of emails saying "I am good for this week, but please keep me on the list, dont know if you take people off for not buying all the time".......just saying...gain trust and play outside of ebay! :)

I agree....shipping quickly....not super overcharging on shipping....describe accuratly..and all that is necessary, but you will always have those buyers that are more than happy to still leave a 2 or 3 unjustifiable rating....the freebie and note usually make people happy and almost gaurentee at least a 4 star rating on everything.

Its a big deal. I received an item the other day and the guy waited a week to ship. Thats low budget

I'm not going to be an ass and nail him or anything. But its wrong to wait any more then two days max to ship

Been there! What I hate more than people taking forever to ship....is not communicating. If a seller would just email saying "I am only able to ship on Friday's because of blah blah blah.." I would understand more than just taking forever to ship with no explaination. I have a PO Box as my address and I dont like having to drive there regularly to check mail so I will usually do so twice a month or when I am in the area....so for me the amount of time it takes for me to get it isnt that big of a deal since I dont pick it up right away...and I dont usually buy things off of ebay that I need right away...but I know that most people WANT IT NOW!....understandably...so I always ship within 24 hours.

I don't know what the big deal is, my DSR scores are tip top and I don't really do anything special. Just ship the very next day, provide tracking and answer questions. There is one thing I do that helps, I'm not so sure about the DSR but, it helps in getting feedback.

As soon as I see the shipment was delivered I send buyers this automatic message:
"Thank you for your purchase, if you're happy with the ***** and if there's nothing wrong, please leave us a positive feedback and DSR. It would help us tremendously thanks again."

That little message raised the number of feedback I got from 1/3 to 2/3.

May sound crazy, but I am the opposite...I would prefer to NOT get feedback at all most of the time. I NEVER ask for feedback nor even mention anything about DSRs to my customers. I hate ebays feedback system as it stands now and wish everyone would just stop leaving feedback....sort of a boycott....I just thank my customers for their business and tell them I hope that they will return. Alot of people do leave feedback in my opinion and that is why I do the extras...they are super easy and super quick and give great results. The bid deal is that the DSR system holds alot of weight when it comes to the number of listings you can have in a certain time frame amoung other things like discounts etc.....and I have read alot of posts on here about people having problems with their DSRs....so just thought I would give my 2 cents.

Biggest problem is the weight they put on the DSR and feedback. 19 out of 20 buyers are smart people. Its the 1 that can really bring you down. Its setup so the screaming loud minority runs the joint

That's what i do i give out coupons for their next order on my website and ebay store and i personally sign each printed invoice with a thank you on it.

Exactly! That is why I posted the thread...for the newbies that seem to ask/scream about the DSR system. Also read alot of posts about how to build feedback....the key is building GOOD FEEDBACK and now thanks to DSRs....GREAT DSRs....in order to get your account in tip top shape and be able to list 200-300 listings a day/week whatever....

Now that is a great idea! Giving coupons/discounts on their next purchase from you! I dont like discounting more than I already do because of all of the lovely fees....but it is a great idea!

Theres also a lot of affiliate marketing you can do for websites. Sometimes small website businesses give you a coupon code and when that coupon code gets used you receive commission. I just to, do that with my websites but i sold them all :nerd:

You can find a bunch of postings on wealthyaffiliate.com or you can put a posting you would like to put coupons on your packages from ebay or email your buyers coupons from stores :typing:

I have to say I am NO computer person at all and never really understoond that whole affliate program thing....about 2 years ago I heard about it and checked a few books out from our library and I am thinking it was in Japanese as I didnt understand a word of how to do it or anything....to complicated for me...but great for those who understand it I am sure. I am infamous for clicking on those affliate links through bizrate and the alike when I am trying to find an item at the cheapest possible online price/store.

My uncle didnt know anything either about affiliate marketing lol and me neither but wealthyaffiliate.com does teach you step by step in a language everyone can understand they just to have a $1 dollar 30 day trial thing but i don't know if they still have it. they also have a web page for users to create drag and drop websites its super easy if you want to learn i recommend them.

They have a 10 step guide and they start with the basics of everything. they dont start teaching you with words that you don't know they teach the meaning of the word before they start using it to teach you how to do it lol. :peace:

So it COSTS money to do it? Oh you can forget about me trying then,lol!

hahah no well it costs money for them to teach you and learn the basics but affiliate marketing is free. you are the one making money lol :bounce: its sorta like this forum in a way. they teach you the ins and outs of affiliate marketing. i dont have a membership anymore because i learned everything i wanted to know about it, but yeah they are pretty good.

I am still trying to figure out how I scored an "A" in college in both of my computer classes.....dont remember a single thing but how to type and use the internet to ebay to craigslist and buy stuff! Once I lose interest in something it is pretty much gone forever....so I will probably never affliate with affliates....ok, I am getting corny so it is time for bed, lol!

agree with pod and needhelpplease

the fb system creates neurotics and is dysfunctional - but at present nothing we can do about it.

My only comment is- as I was suspended by one thing and one thing only - long shipping times in the DSR section - item as described, comm , and shipping cost as well as % fb all fine.

I am located in Canada , and since nearly every single buyer is USA or UK, shipping will be longer than domestic. Many buyers seems to be near illiterate, and barely read the item description , let alone notice where the item is coming from. I state in every listing to allow 7-14 business days for delivery. I state that customs may and often do hold back items pending inspection, no buyer cares, they want it NOW. 4 days later 'were's my stuff??!!"

While I do understand that buyers want their items right away, I also shipped without exception next day - buyers rarely look at that. I would be rated according to the speed of the postal system. I even got hit because a buyer did not receive their item (pp claim, ebay case and neg) even though the person had provided an incorrect address. Ebay was not interested when I told them.

tracking for my items is not practical - no one is going to pay $16.99 shipping on a $24.00 item just to get tracking when they can pay $3.99 standard.

This is where \i think ebay's DSR system is inherently wrong.

yes, most bueyrs are Ok when I reply , but some dopes just ding you with a 3 , or 2.



BY FAR !! not the majority , but enough by ebays standards to get me suspended!??! I think that if the new rule that is now in place - 5 star automatic for free shipping was in place 3 months ago - I would not be suspended today.

I think there should be different standards for international shipments to domestic. I also think that a buyer should not be able to open a case against a seller unless they have at least sent one email to seller and seller has 24 hrs to respond.

I really don't care about feedbacks, and I want my buyers to feel that I don't really care about feedbacks.
What I do is keep pushing out new products with high profit margin, since my products are all new in the market, they would buy things from me.
I spend much more time on precurement rather than satisfy those eBay scammers.
And when those eBay scammers look at my account, feedback, low DSR, they woiuld probably think I am not a easy guy to black mail with.
Go ahead, Neg me, what could 1 neg fb do ? suspend my account ? Well, I just create another stealth account .. easy.
I actually had 1 account with very low DSR, and feedback 76% .. ha ..
so I used that account to start pushing new products at very cheap prices, just to test my idea, and now its feedback is 99%, DSR is still low but higher than before,
but the thing is I got five times more sales and income from that account. eBay now actually put a limit on this account, won't let me put on new listing, but eBay does not suspend this account, I still see sales coming in from this account out of the existing listing.
Paypal still draw money into my bank account.

Since then, I use all my other accounts to put new porducts at very high prices, and sales are good although my DSR, fb ratio are not outstanding.
Yes, Top rated seller could really double your sales, but it takes too much effort to maintain, and it's so easy to knock down a top rated seller, just take three 2 star ratings to the DSR.
I actually feel much better now since I don't really care about feedbacks, I don't get threaten by neg fb emails and I could speak fairly and be treated fairly.
If my buyer threaten me with neg fb, I will block this buyer and will not offer any service to them until they file dispute and just a refund to clean it up.
Anyway, to make the story short, I am onto eBay to make money not to make friends.

If I am not mistaken, I dont think ebay allows international bidders to score on shipping time anymore....or is it a change coming up????....I dont ship internationaly for many reasons, one the high shipping charges, the many things that can go wrong etc. I used to ship internationally years and years ago when I had my real info account, but had so many not received disputes because I couldnt use tracking in most countries I just canned it and I couldnt have been happier. Wish I did it a whole lot sooner.