Detailed Seller Ratings - Postage and handling charges

[greylion2013]

I’m new to selling and these are my DSRs so far:

Item as described 5.0

Communication 5.0

Postage Time 4.9

Postage and handling charges 4.6

Is 4.6 a bad score? Would it discourage you from buying? What can I do to improve it?

I’ve never charged more than it costs me to send – usually less. Never added any kind of handling fee or charged more than quoted in the listing.

If I were to offer free postage, I would have to absorb the cost into the item, and then pay higher eBay fees…  The buyer would still pay the same overall cost anyway. (Most of things I’ve sold are too low value for me to wear the cost myself).

I pretty sure one buyer left a 1 or 2 which has dragged the score down (was 4.8 until yesterday).

As a buyer myself, I never gave much weight to the DSRs – particularly the postage and handling. If I didn’t think the postage cost was acceptable I just wouldn’t buy. I’d never mark a seller down unless they tried to charge more, or had sent my via a cheaper method than stated in the listing. Beginning to wonder if that is that just me though?

[sonya0576]

Generally speaking I don't pay much attention to the DSR's for postage and handling. The other three interest me more.

If I am buying an item I can see if someone is overcharging for their P&H and I tend to move onto the next seller if they are doing that. I don't need to see their DSR's to see they are doing the shonky on the postage.

[davewil1964]

Depending on your volume, this could be a glitch. Your seller dashboard will show you if you have any 1s or 2s. If you have only just got DSRs showing (10 relevant transactions) then a 4 could well drag your star down to 4.6.

You will find, until your total volumes hit at least 50, that your DSRs will yoyo all over the place - a couple of 4s can result in a dramatic dip if there are only a few transactions, but when you get a couple of hundred they don't tend to make a difference.

All you can really do is persevere. You can't do much better than postage at cost unless you want to go broke.

[wishuponastarcelebrationsandgifts]

There is nothing much you can do about this greylion. Some buyers will rate you based on whether they consider the postage expensive; even if you charge them below cost. The same applies to postage time. Some will rate you on how long an item takes to arrive without rating you on when it was posted or even taking into account where the parcel is travelling to and from. 

I have had some buyers tell me that if they buy x and y the postage should only be $z, or that items could be put in a small satchel for such and such an amount. When I direct them to the Australia Post website to explain how the postage is calculated some will apologise saying they didn't realise postage was so expensive.

Your DSRs are very good; I would not be concerned if I were you. I find my lowest DSR also relates to postage and handling charges followed by postage time.

[greylion2013]

Thanks for the responses, I’ll keep on doing what I am doing 🙂

I don’t have any details on DSRs in Seller Dashboard, possibly because I only just recently achieved 10 ratings. I didn’t realise it would show how many 1-2’s, thanks for pointing it out davewil1964.