Sellers with DSRs 4.3 or less to be disadvantaged in UK search results

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eBay UK have just announced changes to the way search results are ordered, to disadvantage sellers with lower DSR (“feedback star”) scores.

The listings of sellers with a DSR of 4.3 or below on any of the four rating categories will appear lower in search results.

It should be emphasised that this is *any* of the scores, not an average, so a good performance in one area will not balance out poor performance in another.

eBay say that based on current figures, this will affect around 3% of sellers. The DSR scores will be based on a rolling 30 days, so, according to eBay, “you should be able to improve your scores in short order”. Perhaps. But as they have not yet rolled out the DSR console which will allow sellers more detailed information about their rolling 30 day scores, much of that improvement is going to have to be based on guesswork. Lets hope that Scot Wingo has some good ideas for us at today’s workshop.

22 Responses

  1. yeah right 4.3 is only 3% now,
    when buyers twig on they cant get negged
    and they can also futher put the boot in to a seller with a low DSR, I wonder what the % may be

  2. The star options and grading are not consistent.

    Pointing people in the direction that 3 is okay when leaving stars then translating that into a poor service for dsr’s is a big mistake on Ebays part I think.

    I think DSR’s can work, but the postage dsr needs to have a lower level as customer expectation is a little high in many instances.

    I also think when buyers leave feedback the 5 stars should match the score that Ebay give out the other end.

    1 star = very poor
    2 star = poor
    3 star = Average
    4 star = Good
    5 star = Excellent

    Then dsr on about 3.5.

    I think they have the spread way off, and also the intimations they are supplying the buyer with, is not matching their subsequent measurement of the seller.

    The system has to match at the point of leaving dsr’s and the penalty for low dsr’s.

    I think this is a big mistake on Ebay’s part.

    Mark

  3. I have to say I agree with Mark on this one, I currently have 4.9 4.9 4.9 4.7 dsr’s and they have not moved .1 of a point since I qualified to get them.

    BUT Mark makes a good point, if sellers are to be disadvantaged for having 4.3 which is somewhere between Reasonable & Very Reasonable. It’s a bit like punishing a child at school who CONSISTENTLY achieves grades of between A & B, when I was a school if you were above a B grade pupil you certainly would NOT be disadvantaged. A buyer might feel that it only warrantied the “top mark” if the P&P was what they consider to be the “cost” price, in my own experience this is the cost of a stamp and an envelope!

    We all know that buyers consistently underestimate how much it actually costs to ship an item, even large items, they actually think you are paying £2 – £3 for you delivery costs because “you get trade prices” but charge them £7.50!

  4. I am still waiting to hear from eBay how consistent performance at “reasonable” level or above merits censure. The silence is starting to damage my hearing…

  5. ebay don’t seem to have a clue about how the DSR’s are going to work in reality. I agree with Richard that there seem to be headless chickens everywhere at ebay right now.

    Anyone have any idea when we’ll get the DSR console and when 30 day rolling figures will come in?

    This whole thing is turning into a mess.

  6. That’s really not good enough.

    If the search results AND the discounts are going to be predicated on 30 day results, then it is only reasonable that sellers should be able to see the results that are affecting them.

    I can normally turn things around so that I can see eBay’s point of view on most things, but this is really proving tricky to excuse them for…. 👿

  7. I was told by our account manager today that our discounts would be on our March invoice and my DSR scores were the best she had ever seen! I got the feeling she was sweet talking me! I would much prefer the truth.

  8. I dislike the fact that eBay seem to blithly dismiss 30 day DSRs as “Well it’s the same principle as 12 month DSRs”

    Fact is they know as well as we do that they’re volatile to small changes and once you have hundreds or thousands of DSRs on a 12 month basis there’s no visibility of fluctuations caused by change of product or delivery service which would show instantly in a 30 day console.

    Quite frankly now that retaliatory feedback from sellers is about to be erradicated there’s very little excuse for keeping anonymous DSRs and in my opinion sellers should be able to see them on a sale by sale basis so that they can assess where they are excelling and where a customer feels they’ve give less than fantastic service.

  9. What happens when everyone in a category is below 4.3?

    The buyers will be presented with a message “Sorry all the sellers in this category are crap….even though previous buyers have rated the experience Satisfactory or Good we know much better, please click here to be taken to another website, we appreciate the revenue you are providing my clicking on a these google adverts”

  10. Talking of categories Whirly…. I’m pretty much of the opinion that some categories lend themselves to overall lower DSRs than others. I have no conclusive proof and eBay would be….shall we say a little reluctant to divulge category by category average DSRs. I’m pretty sure that in some categories almost all sellers would rank pretty highly whereas in other categories almost all sellers would rank fairly low compared to the cross site averages 😯

  11. is tamebay turning into the PS boards!!! I have just come to the realisation that these changes are coming on board and there is not much we can do now. either lump it or leave it. thats my outlook on it.

    Oh yeah, in 2 months time, we will be like, what was all the fuss about DSR. as everyone knows, eBay constantly changes, so if you dont like change, then eBay aint your baby.

    Theses are all just my personal opinions!!!! 😀 💡

  12. Tend to agree Chris.

    I think when the item is something the buyer *needs* buyer expectation is much higher for delivery speed etc batteries would be an example.

    Were as a nice piece of furniture that takes a bit longer but the item is something they really *want* then these buyers seem to be more relaxed and just excited about the prospect of the item arriving.

  13. You are right Chris, there is no need to hide who left low DSR’s anymore as the threat of retaliatory feedback has gone.

    That would enable us to identify whether home grown or international customers are unhappy etc…

  14. too right buyers have different attitudes accoring to category.
    stamp buyers are the most awkward and anal on the planet,
    I am setting up a new ID for the new changes and stamp buyers

  15. I would guess that if DSR’s were not anonymous, sellers with low ratings may be tempted to add buyers who marked them down to their Blocked Bidders List.

  16. Sam reminds me of an exchange with a buyer that still amuses me years later:

    Buyer: why am I on your blocked bidder list?
    Me: because you left me neutral feedback saying you didn’t like the colour of the bracelet you bought.
    Buyer: if I’d know you were going to block me, I’d’ve left you a neg!

    😆

  17. Hi,
    IMO, 4.3 and below is common for HK sellers, the best HK sellers can do 4.5 for dispatch time. I have not seen any better, unless …

    While Ebay says only 3%, I think overseas sellers can go up to 10% in total. (i remember some vague numbers given by Richard when he defends the UK-US loss of visibility).

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