Like a lot of sellers, I believe eBay did a questionable job in creating the Detailed Seller Rating (DSR) system.  The Shipping Time score is open to a lot of buyer interpretation.  Are they supposed to rate us on how quickly we get the package to the carrier after receiving payment, did we ship on-time based on our promises in the listing, or are they supposed to rate us purely on how quickly the package arrives?That said, I take minor exception to so many sellers saying they have absolutely no control over how fast a package is delivered by the carrier.

I firmly believe there are things sellers can do to influence transit time. Here are two lists of packaging traits, guess which group’s packages will arrive faster?

Group A Packaging Traits:

• Handwritten addresses
• Addresses using improper abbreviations
• Addresses poorly formatted
• Non-validated addresses
• Frankenstein school of box building (i.e. irregularly shaped parcels, 2 or more pieces taped together, frequently created from re-used boxes, many with other labeling on them)
• No indication of carrier service class
• Packaged in other carrier’s free supplies
• Poorly sealed
• Fluid stains or excessive rattling
• Wrong class of postage used (i.e. Media Mail rate for non-qualified items)
• For International, wrong Customs Forms or improper information on forms

Group B Packaging Traits:

• Computer printed shipping labels
• Fully validated and properly formatted addresses
• Clean, new boxes in standard shapes
• Labels on multiple sides of the package indicating class of service (if appropriate)
• Concatenated Delivery Confirmation Barcode (USPS trick, adds the destination ZIP Code to the barcode information)
• Well sealed with appropriately sturdy tape
• Proper void fill and cushioning
• For International, appropriate Customs Forms accurately filled out

I agree that once we hand off the package it is an act of faith. But if you give the carriers good raw materials, they have a better chance of delivering great service.

Yes I have had my share of wacky delivery delays.  Fortunately those are the rare exception because of how I package and label my shipments.

Submitted by Chris of sun-bits

Back when Pierre first conceived the eBay idea, he decided that the community should police itself. He did not have time to mediate disputes between buyers and sellers, so he instituted “feedback.” The concept was that buyers and sellers would leave each other honest feedback, which would weed out the bad community members.

New ebayers could easily see the feedback of a seller and decide whether or not to buy from this seller. The theory was if the seller had a lot of negative feedback, the buyers would go elsewhere to bid. In other words, Pierre made the assumption that humans are able to look out for themselves.

It is my opinion this theory has been proven wrong over and over again. One only has to have seen the feedback for the now infamous seller “Bargainland” to know that people cannot look out for themselves. With feedback at 90% and many times lower, they continued to sell 100’s of items a day. Burned buyers would post to the eBay boards regularly whining that they got “taken” by Bargainland. Seasoned eBayers would ask these buyers why they didn’t heed the feedback? It’s right there, pasted in the auction, why didn’t you heed it?

Maybe for the same reason the government had to make it a law that motorists wear seatbelts, or that manufacturers of hair dryers put a warning on the cord not to use it in the bathtub. What appears to be common sense, is not always so.

Because the Feedback theory has been busted, eBay is now taking matters into their own hands, well, sorta. Sellers will no longer be able to leave negative feedback for buyers, even if the buyer threatens and harasses the seller, or files chargebacks, or doesn’t pay for the item. eBay is also stating they will “disadvantage” sellers with poor DSR’s in search. DSR’s are not even a year old, yet they are being given more importance than a sellers feedback, which in many cases has been built over many years of selling on eBay. That feedback you worked so hard to build will now basically get you nowhere, except kicked out of the Powerseller program if it falls below 98%.

So the Feedback myth is busted, and DSR’s are now the wave of the future. Since they are anonymous eBay feels they are more relevant. However, with only a 10% difference between sellers with the highest DSR’s and those with the lowest, how relevant are they?

That’s my opinion, what’s yours?

Cyn

The following is the transcript with IMA President Steve Grossberg & Vice President Ben Mandrall with Wall Street Analyst Jeentil Patel. The following interview was held February 6, 2008.
deutschebankpatel020608.pdf

This past year many long time Ebay sellers moved the bulk of their business to Amazon, and became multi-channel sellers. During the testing of “best match”, and “finding 2.0″, there were many sellers with a huge drop in sell through rates that lasted for a week or more. The only way to continue to sell on Ebay was to find another avenue to make sales. The avenue of choice for many was Amazon.

Congratulations to all the members of IMA who sell on Amazon. According to the Nielson ratings, Amazon had more unique visitors than Ebay for the month of December.

I was not one of the top 200 Ebay sellers invited to the Ebay Ecommerce Summit last week where Ebay announced the changes to Fees, Search, and Feedback. I was one of the lower volume Ebay sellers on the sidelines at home waiting to hear the long awaited announcements about fee reductions. As we all know now, the fee changes will probably hurt more Ebay sellers than they help. The changes overall made me ask myself how the new CEO designate of Ebay, Mr. John Donahoe, can make changes to Ebay’s platform that blatantly copy the Amazon platform without feeling a bit unimaginative. Mr. Donahoe has been at Ebay since March 2005. If you would like to check out his salary click here. Is Ebay going to become Amazon Lite?