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Correct me if I am wrong on the communication policy...
 

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eBay is also making significant changes to its feedback policy, specifically to Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs): beginning in April, eBay will give sellers an automatic 5-star DSR for Communication for transactions in which there is no communication between the seller and the buyer - if the seller does the followingspecify same-day or 1-day handling time; upload tracking information by the end of the next business day.

Sellers will not receive an automatic 5 star DSR for Communication if there is any buyer or seller initiated communication related to the transaction in the eBay messaging system or a request for contact information by the buyer or seller.

WTH? So if buyer contacts me about combining shipments/wait a day for my other listing to end, my communication dsr gets dinged??
So I should add to my listings: Do not ask me any questions after you won my auctions. Do not contact me for anything relating to your purchase? Do not msg me with "Thank you very much" etc etc?

I think its saying that if there was communication, the buyer gets to rate you from 1-5 stars like how it is now.

I read from the forums that auto 5* with no communications.
But if there are any communications, you don't get the 5* anymore. I looked through really fast but i thought i saw some sellers writing that they called CSR, the reps told them, if questioned via Ebay msging, only options are 1-4* for buyers to rate since there must be a problem if buyers have to msg seller.
Not sure if the posts are still there since I saw users complaining that they are getting their posts deleted.

My friend who sells clothings was just chatting with me about the new policies. She's seeing increased SNAD cases once the new policies kicks in, especially now the sellers have to pay for return shipping. Ppl could take off the tags, wear the clothes, then file SNAD, charge shipping to the sellers and get their money back.
Not bad, free and new clothings every 14 days.....
Sigh...

Yeah - more sticks to the sellers.

That would be very bad to add and make you appear like an arrogant and rude seller, but I'm sure you were just saying.
I guess the only thing we can do is to communicate everything clearly in the listing description.
Under your shipping policy, say that shipments will be combined; please wait till all your auctions/purchases have ended and I will send you a combined invoice to pay.

Of course, not all buyers read everything but there is nothing we can do about that. We can only try to minimise the communication.

Sighhhhh.......

Can anyone confirm about the 1-4* ??
It's fair that they get to rate us but its definitely totally unjust that they do not have a 5* option!!!

I'm not completely understanding this new rule....

A buyer buys from me and chooses a color or size and pays for their item but still sends me a message to tell me the color or size again just to feel a little safer in their own mind.

.....i get penalized?? mmm?

i do allot of custom stuff also....i guess when they ask for something special....i get penalized for that too?

i can just imagine a whole lot of scenario's about this doing nothing but screwing the seller...again...

i guess when that special customer comes along that buys an exceptional lot of items for allot of money ......i get penalized for sending him a "thank you" message? mmm?

something i'm missing here...i got to be missing something.... i hope i'm missing something

You wont be really penalized, you will just be at the mercy of the buyer as to whether they give you the 5 stars or not.

I have not heard anything about any 1-4 stars only. That person said it wrong I think.

I talked to 4 ppl now at ebay on this and never has anyone said up to 4 stars only.

Thats dumb really but so is the rule though.

I have people asking me which item is best for them etc all the time. Now thats going to suck but I will just have to dance around with ebays stupid rules to please them and then some then hope that I get 5stars for it.

It all boils down to getting screwed by Ebay every way humanly possible. Buyers already have way too much power over sellers. My last 4 items I had International buyers buying when I clearly say No International shipping! Why can't they read the whole damn description? It boggles the mind. Nothing like getting ebay to reverse those fees.

I feel that its this:

They probably saw their bottom line this last year after the discounts they gave out were shown to them.

They wanted to dump that discount completely but knew it would lead to complete bashing and backlash on the news and everywhere else that has forums and venting avenues.

To counteract that backlash, they just thought adding more barriers or obstacles to get the discount. More would not be able to meet the long list of rules to get it.

After a few more rule changes and dumb obstacles the number of TSR's with 20% discount will drop in steps and be more gradual. That will save them millions per quarter.


That is my theory. also some analyst on the Fox Business Channel said pretty much the same thing about 3 weeks ago. Just his opinion though too so you never know.

You might be right KR, what better way to get less people that discount than to make more obstacles to jump over or even try to meet. It's all about the $$$$.

People will buy as long as they want to and can.
No use in whatever you write; the only way is to stop them.
I block all buyers whom i don't want to sell/ship to.
There is this option to block buyers in countries you don't ship to.
That solves the problems.

And yes, I estimate that at least 80% of eBay buyers do not read the full description based on their behavior and the qns they ask.
Don't forget that they have a dozen other listings to view and compare.
Photos are the most important to them and that's the only thing that they will scrutinize.

What you're saying makes sense.
But I don't see how this is an obstacle.
Before the new policy, buyers were able to rate us anyway.
Now, buyers are able to rate us only if.
They have less chances to rate us now.
It is an obstacle only if they now are only able to rate us 1-4*, as someone said.
But someone said this is not true.
So the only thing that is significant to getting positive DSR now is whether they can rate us 1-5* or only have options 1-4*.

You can do that and get around all situations where you initiate the communication after the buyer has paid by sending an email to him, instead of using eBay messages.

This also got me thinking about Paypal and the selling restrictions on eb.
Paypal also offers discounts on fees when sellers meet certain monthly sales figures. With the selling restrictions, it makes it harder for sellers to sell more and earn more to meet the sales figures.
Am I thinking too much here? :nerd:

I'm positive that 1-4 star thing is just gossip. That can't be the case.

When does this rule come into effect? I can test it out. I'll buy something cheap from someone and ask a question. Then I'll see if I can leave 5 stars.

It is supposed to be out already.
"Beginning April".
Good idea. I need to buy something anyway.
I will ask a qn and test too.

It doesn't seem to be out. I had purchased two cheap items. No communication with seller at all.

There was no automatic 5-stars for the communication. Only auto 5 stars for the shipping time since she shipped right away.

Anyone else encounter auto 5 for communication yet?

Yeah i havn't seen it yet on mine too, or maybe it's working but i havn't noticed.

There's a box that says "block buyers who reside in countries that I don't ship to."

You need to check that box.

Starts in July