Q~~_7.JPG "trulyspecialgoodies"){kind=avatar}
Harley_babe I send the exact same message as you and my communication DSR's, although they're not 5, they're 4.95 and the highest out of all 4 categories. I won't be changing my system anytime soon as it seems the overwhelming majority of buyers appreciate it.
As a buyer I see that 95% of sellers don't make any communication whatsoever - that's fine by me, so as long as the item is posted promptly and arrives in good condition I still leave 5 stars across the board.
As a seller I just think it's polite to acknowledge payment and say 'thank you' - but that's just me - it's the way I like to conduct myself both on eBay and off it. Lol I think it's the Pommie in me - I was raised to be an 'English Gentleman' 
I send a personalised message to the majority of my buyers as well. Typically, the only time I don't is when the item will be posted (and marked as such, therefore generating an automated email), within a couple of hours of payment notification. If it's an eCheque or bank deposit payment, I mention that they should receive further auto-updates on the status of their order as it progresses, but I'll respond to any queries they might have at any time.
The way I look at it is no matter which way you go, I won't please 100% of customers with the extra communication, so I may as well please myself... if you know what I mean. o_O Near as I can tell, by my ratings and the responses to my messages, the majority of buyers genuinely appreciate it, so if I annoy a low percentage of buyers, I just have to hope they have the sense to understand I send it out of courtesy.
Anyway, I like to make that contact with my buyers. Not only do I provide information the auto-emails don't (which often go straight to spam folders, anyway), but it opens the lines of communication and should something go wrong, I feel there's more chance the buyers will contact me (as it's usually via a respnse to my message, not one of eBay's default headings), or if they have any other enquiries it will often prompts those when otherwise they would have said nothing. Occasionally, it even results in additional sales.
I would prefer that people had an option in their settings that would notify seller's of certain preferences, like no communication unless absolutely necessary (it wouldn't be hard to implement that), but unless something like that is introduced or I start to get a high number of complaints, I'll keep doing it my way. 
