@dave Fair enough, but I'm an obsessive/perfectionist and want all fives.:-)

Seriously though, I still want to put them on my block list so there's no problems in the future.

You know what noddeg, I would just move on. As you sell more & get more feedback your stars will improve. They really aren't that bad at all 🙂

DSRs are supposed to be anonymous, but the tools are there to make them not so anonymous. It's pretty easy if most of your sales are single quantity listings, just takes a systematic process of deduction.

I blocked someone from further purchase after they left me a positive with a 1 for something - without going into finite detail on the circumstances, I chose to block them as I'd rather not expose my business to the risk of selling to them again. 

Unfortunately you will encounter low DSRs for a myriad of reasons ranging from buyers not knowing how the DSR system works, to being rated down due to the fact that the item didn't arrive when the buyer wanted it to (even if you post the same day as payment is received), to being rated a low DSR for postage even if you charge a buyer less than the actual cost of postage. Then of course DSRs can arise due to actions by the seller which is what they should be confined to in a perfect world. The irony is that ebay state that the DSRs are intended to let sellers know where they can improve yet they are anonymous and there is no recourse. eg even if you post within your specified handling time a buyer can leave a  rating of1 for postage time.

Over time you will encounter feedback and/or DSR ratings that you may feel are unfair or unwarranted. I think all sellers have experienced them. All you can do as a seller is provide great service and products to your buyers as the feedback and DSRs are effectively out of your control. As has been mentioned there are ways of identifying where the low DSRs came from if your sales volumes are not too high. You may want to block those buyers that you identify as leaving low DSRs.

Thanks for all the great advice all! It is a bit disheartening when you know you've done the best you can and still you get gyped, but there's nothing I can do about it apart from trying to track the offenders and block them. I will be keeping a closer eye on things from now on that's for sure.

As I stated above, the worst DSR anybody could have left for you is 3. And it's most likely a few 4s.

Even if I knew who did it (and I do on a few), I wouldn't block them for leaving a 4.

Don't expect too much repeat business (the best kind) if you start doing that. And 5s across the board are almost impossible to achieve, much less sustain. It's all well and good to aspire to blanket 5s, but at some point reality needs to set in.

You can't please all the people all the time.

Are you selling on ebay to make money or to enter a popularity contest where you get stars better than other sellers?

You should never expect to get, and keep, perfect 5s.

Some buyers only give 5 stars if a seller goes above and beyond, they consider a 4 perfectly reasonable for a run of the mill transaction and why shouldn't they?

The only ratings you need to be concerned about are ones and twos and you will see if you get any of them.

It could be one buyer who has only left a 3 or it could be several buyers who have left 4s, what difference does that make to your profit margin?

Why would you want to block buyers who have a proven record of making payment and leaving pos feedback just because you think you are perfect?

You can only get a true picture of your overall performance after you have at least 50 ratings, under that number the average is effected too greatly by single entries.

If you aren‘t getting more than one feedback a day you might be able to identify who left low DSR by creating detailed seller rating reports.

"Why would you want to block buyers who have a proven record of making payment and leaving pos feedback just because you think you are perfect?"

This forum needs a "rolls eyes" emoticon.

Thanks for all the great advice all! It is a bit disheartening when you know you've done the best you can and still you get gyped,

You didn't get gyped, the buyer left you positive feedback did they not? 

I would worry more about blocking buyers who don't pay than buyers who leave a 4 in your DSRs. As far as I know you can only put non payers on your block list

Seriously, coming from the view point of a buyer I don't even look at the DSRs when I buy, I only look at the feedback.

I think you're being a little obsessive...