posted on March 29, 2011 09:53:41 AM new
A friend of mine is an eBay buyer. She recently bought an item and was satisfied with the item BUT felt the shipping charge to be too high. She bought it anyway but, when it came time to leave feedback, rated the seller a "1" because she felt the shipping was "unreasonable". Without going into what I think are the obvious fallacies of this...Subsequently, the seller, who was VERY upset with the "1" rating, contacted my friend and questioned the rating. My question...How did the seller find out my friend left the "1" on her feedback? She was selling multiple items during the same period so couldn't figure it out by the process of elimination. I didn't think there was a way to know who left what on our feedback stars. Am I missing something?
posted on March 29, 2011 10:01:18 AM new
First off... you friend was dead wrong for leaving a 1. I would rate that as one of the slimiest things a buyer can do when leaving DSRs. She agreed to that price and the shipping was clearly stated. If she questioned the validity of the shipping cost, then she should have contacted the seller to make sure it was correct. eBay's shipping calculator is known for being inaccurate for one reason or another.
If she didn't want to pay the shipping price, then she shouldn't have bought it.
By leaving a 1, she has made it difficult for this seller to maintain their selling discount. This is absolutely shameful.
The seller has every right to be upset, but eBay rules do state sellers cannot contact buyers to question their DSRs.
The seller doesn't know for sure that your friend left the low DSR, however, if the seller isn't a high volume seller, then it is quite easy for them to figure it out. If I don't get feedbacks or DSRs for days, then all of a sudden I see a dip after one feedback is left, it is quite obvious.
With all of this said, both the buyer and seller were wrong in how they handled it.
posted on March 29, 2011 11:57:30 AM new
Even though supposedly you can never be sure who left the "1" you can sometimes figure it out by a process of elimination. Also, the seller might just have made a great guess.
I agree I would NEVER leave a 1 in any category unless the item was pure garbage and the seller would not cooperate. Never for shipping costs since they are known up front. You like the terms, you buy, you do not, you move on.
[ edited by merrie on Mar 29, 2011 11:58 AM ]
posted on March 29, 2011 12:08:58 PM new
If a buyer does not sell on Ebay,she is not going to understand this discount business,she just goes by how she feels at that momenet,we dont know the whole story,did the seller do a good job packing/did she use a torn and stained Walmart plastic bag,or a stained pizza box?
Did she promise priority shipping and then ship the cheapest way possible/
But '1' is pretty nasty,wonder why this seller deserves '1'?
*
There is no 'Global savings glut',only wild horses and loose bankers.
posted on March 29, 2011 12:41:37 PM new
A 1 should be reserved for the worst of the worst situations. Something like a seller who won't reply to emails regarding a problem. As everyone else said - she knew what the shipping was up front so why give a 1 after the fact.
What did your friend say in the FB? Was there any clue of her being upset? Chances are that the seller just guessed.
posted on March 29, 2011 01:27:22 PM new
As a seller, I agree 100% with the comments regarding the "1" my friend gave...it is inexcusable. Packing was great and, to make things worse, the seller added a few extras of the same item in the auction! I offer flat-rate shipping and my opinion is that I should get no rating less than a "5" feeling that the buyer knows what the shipping is. As I said, my friend said she was willing to pay the shipping but felt it was unreasonable. Offering no excuses, but she said that "that's what the question was"..."that's what she asked". When I informed her that the question was NOT from the seller but from eBay, she said that, as a seller, she had to accept eBay's criteria. However...my question remains...I'm unclear how the seller found out that my friend was the one who left the "1". The reason I'd like to know if there's a way to do this, I'd like to know!
posted on March 29, 2011 02:04:26 PM new
As a seller I would know which item I sold where the the customer might squawk about shipping. Because of size weight etc the shipping cost could be more than fair just expensive. Also a quick check of recent FB posts could reveal the unhappy one.
posted on March 30, 2011 01:06:56 PM new
There is no way to guarantee that the seller knew 100%. What did the feedback read?
It would be quite obvious if a seller had stellar ratings and the all of sudden saw a dip in shipping cost DSR right after getting feedback that indicated the buyer was dissatisfied with shipping costs.
Also, if I was hitting 4.9s on my DSRs and all of a sudden saw them drop due to a low rating, I would look to see who left FB last. This can easily narrow it down if you are looking at just a few feedbacks over a period of a week.
As we said, a seller doesn't know for sure, but they can easily make a very educated guess.
If I was her I would call eBay and ask to reverse it. She can simply say that she did it accidentally. I would be curious to know if eBay would fix it since it could be the difference between eBay collecting 20% more by not giving a discount to the seller.
posted on April 2, 2011 11:54:08 AM new
Actually, the discount was the area of concern for the seller. My friend left very positive feedback as she was very pleased with the item. I think she probably left "5"s in the other areas. I tried to educate my friend about leaving a "1" and the ramifications for the seller. She's pretty hard-headed and said that the seller's concerns didn't concern her...she just responded honestly and paid the stated shipping, even though she felt the cost was "unreasonable"...as per eBay's wording on the issue.
posted on April 5, 2011 06:07:12 AM new
Well, I just got a "1" or a "2" on shipping costs. I have no clue who left it. None of my customers complained or even asked a question re costs and I do not recall any item that seemed to be out of line re shipping fees actual or quoted.
Just the frustration of dealing with Ebay. I do not take it personally any more and do not even check it that frequently. Why get myself upset when there is nothing I can do about it that is sensible or reasonable.
