Some buyers are absolute grubs.

[cq_tech]

What is it with some buyers lately? It's reached the stage where I'd sooner they didn't leave me any feedback at all because you just never know what to expect any more. I received feedback today from a buyer whose item was posted the very same day it was ordered, and there was absolutely no communication between us either, yet my DSRs for Postage Time and Communications which were both sitting on 5.0 have now dropped to 4.9, and I'm pretty bloody angry about it.

I even make a point these days of letting the buyer know in my feedback to them exactly when I post their items, and he bought it on the morning of Tuesday, October 21, and as I stated in my feedback to him, it was posted on 21/10 as well. So what sort of mongrel would he be to then score me low on my postage DSRs? Same with Comms. In fact, I thought if there was no communication between parties, it was an automatic 5, but clearly that's not so because he hit those as well.

I really feel like leaving a follow-up to my original feedback, as well as a reply to his feedback, asking him why he'd do such a nasty thing, and naming him so that other sellers can decide whether or not to block him. Fortunately there were no defects recorded, but would it be worth contacting eBay and requesting them to change my DSRs back to 5 on the basis that I provided same-day postage and no communication, yet he marked both of them low regardless?

This has left a really nasty taste in my mouth and as I said in my opening paragraph, I'd sooner not receive any feedback at all because I simply don't trust my buyers any more. Maybe the time has come to pull the plug and find something a bit more enjoyable to do, as eBay has really gone downhill and there's simply no pleasure in selling here any more.

[cq_tech]

I'd probably be inclined to agree with you normally Springy, but for the fact that this grub is a seller as well, and should be quite aware of how the DSRs need to be scored. With 142 feedbacks (not all sales though) he's been around long enough to know how the game is played, and if not, then he shouldn't be using eBay at all IMO. If he only had a few feedbacks, I'd probably have let it go but under the circumstances I think I'm justified in feeling a bit annoyed with him.

[trishreid88]

Now I know why you responded the way you have to my question on the buyers board.
I am sorry this happened to you and some buyers can be just dumb or nasty.
Perhaps when leaving anything less than 5 stars for (how fast did the seller post) there should be a pop up that explains it further.
There might be one already I don't know.

[casbit33]

I know how you feel. Buyers should not be able to give defects. It's just way too easy to affect sellers badly. Defects should only be given for something really bad, not the whim of a buyer. I post in 1 day or same day and still get a defect for postage. Grr. I should not be held responsible for what  the staff of Aust Post do., and yet I am. Unfair.

[bakeandfry]

Ive read that no comms gets seller auto 5 stars, ive brought plenty, no comms, yet i still get to rate comms, only thing i cant rate is free postage, is that just me?

[character_parties_aus]

Whilst some buyers are indeed grubs I have to say that in my experience the vast vast majority are decent people. I can count on one hand the number of genuinely deceitful buyers I have dealt with. A few idiots granted ( and that would happen on any platorm)  but very few fraudsters. The problem actually is not buyers. The problem is eBays one size fits all policy which allows things to happen which sellers have no control over and are impossible or extremely time consuming to prove ( and therefore barley worth it).   As with any business that enjoys a monopoly one day that monopoly will lose market share as another company with a bigger or better idea and the funds to back it will compete. At that point eBays consistent alienation of its selling community will come home to roost. It might not happen this year or next year but mark my words it will happen.  I've had a number of stupid scores given to me and when I query them with buyers who have given glowing feedback generally its an error. Frankly I've got better things to do than frustrate myself to death speaking with eBay like focussing the time on my burgeonging website sales so why worry about the defect. My defect rate is 0.5% and at least .25% of that is buyer errors the rest is my fault. I try and fix the faults but some people don't wantr you to and are keender on 'hating'.  Frankly  it's not worth the time of day to resolve the issues with eBay. Try and have a happy positive Friday!

[repentatleisure1952]

---

@cq_tech wrote:
Well I do have 1-day handling time sheepie, but being a large letter how the hell am I supposed to upload tracking information? As you know, I take photos of the cancelled stamped envelopes in the PO before they're posted so I guess I could always send eBay a copy of those instead. Still, that's presumably why I don't get automatic 5s for communications.

As far as postage time is concerned though, you'd have to be a really nasty tosser to mark a seller's DSRs low because AP took their time delivering it, especially when you knew for a fact that your seller had posted it the very same day it was ordered. What makes it worse is that this mongrel is a seller as well so he really should know better.

Bugger it, I'm so pished off about this that I'm going to send eBay a pretty full-on email demanding that they restore my DSRs to their previous level of 5, something of which I was justifiably very proud. I doubt they'll do anything but at least I'll feel better for asking.

BTW, thanks to Robbo for your sympathies. I've been following your own problems this past week and I have to say that I don't blame you in the least for feeling the way you do. I dunno about you but I don't even need the miserable pittance I make on eBay anyway, but I do it because it used to be enjoyable. It's a long way from that right now, I don't mind telling you.

---

Hi cq !

Don't know about the scenario you are referring to....however.....

I have noticed in many cases when leaving feedback that eBay in their wisdom prevents me from leaving 5 stars for comm & postage as they "did'nt see any any communication"(despite messages between myself & seller).

This has also applied to postage where seller has changed from pickup to postage yet eBay appears to not acknowledge this.

Hope this is of some assistance & give eBAY BOTH BARRELS !!!

[cq_tech]

As I have since determined, you only receive an automatic 5 for comms if you list with a 1 day handling time AND you upload tracking information to eBay within 24 hours. Unfortunately, there is no tracking on large letters so buyers can score your Comms DSRs as low as they like, even if there has been NO communication at all. A real fair system, I don't think. 😞

As far as postage is concerned, any seller offering "free" postage is automatically given a Postage DSR score of 5 as a special reward for not standing up to eBay and refusing to buy into the blatant lie that is "free" postage. As I've said before, when Australia Post start offering me free postage, I'll gladly do the same thing and pass it on, but not before or until then.

[digital*ghost]

---

@cq_tech wrote:

What is it with some buyers lately? It's reached the stage where I'd sooner they didn't leave me any feedback at all because you just never know what to expect any more. I received feedback today from a buyer whose item was posted the very same day it was ordered, and there was absolutely no communication between us either, yet my DSRs for Postage Time and Communications which were both sitting on 5.0 have now dropped to 4.9, and I'm pretty bloody angry about it.

---

I was just about to post "Before you leave any follow-ups, it's worth considering that the drop may not be due to the last buyer who left you FB at all" but I see I'm a little too late.... 😕 

I find that the DSR score is not updated at the same time that feedback was left, and if you had any scores from around 12 months ago that recently dropped off the evaluation, that can also affect your rating. 

Your buyer may have not left low ratings (it's not clear from your posts if you ran a report and turned up low scores from this buyer), or did anything intentionally malicious  - I see you currently have 16 ratings. If 15 buyers had left 5 for everything, and the latest buyer (or any other one of them) left a 4, the DSR score would be 4.93, which - because of the 3 - is rounded down to 4.9, and a 4 in the majority of buyer's eyes is a high rating.

[cq_tech]

I appreciate your concern DG, but there is no doubt whatsoever that it was this person who left me the low DSRs. I've only received 2 feedbacks as a seller in the last 2 weeks, and I know for a fact that the other one gave me all 5s as I delivered it to her by hand (and refunded her postage in cash) as it turned out that she worked just around the corner from where I live. 🙂

Prior to that, all of my buyers bar one had given me all 5s, while one of them gave me a 3 for Item As Described (which gave me a defect) even though his perception was clearly wrong. I have a second defect from a cancelled sale because I ran out of stock for a couple of days and the buyer demanded a refund immediately. Unfortunately, 2 defects out of a total of only 18 sales since I started selling again is worryingly high, which is why I'm a bit concerned about buyers getting it wrong.

Prior to yesterday, all DSRs were at 5 except for item description, which was 4.9, so he has clearly marked me either a 3 or 4 for both Postage time & Comms, as both of those are now on 4.9 as well (and 3s would have been rounded up to 4.9s too). I agree that many buyers imagine a 4 to be high, but this fellow is a seller as well which is why he should have known better.

[beautbots01]

Sellers can't leave feedback for buyers on Etsy anymore, only buyers can leave feedback.  Has been that way for quite a while now.