I noticed something new yesterday when I was leaving feedback for a couple of items I bought recently on eBay. On the listing that provided free shipping, eBay posted a small notice reminding me of that fact.
A Positive Step
Maybe this isn’t new and I’ve just never noticed it before (see suggestions below), but I thought this was a positive step towards fixing the problems with eBay’s DSR’s. Perhaps eBay felt obligated to include this note because they couldn’t explain why the average S&H DSR for sellers that exclusively offer free shipping is less than 5.0.
Suggestions for Improving the DSR System
Now that eBay has a little momentum towards fixing the DSR problem, might I offer a couple of suggestions for continued improvement?
- Make the little free shipping reminder turn red when the buyer’s mouse hovers over any star in the S&H evaluation block other than the “5″ star. Better yet — If the seller offers free shipping, make it so they automatically get “5″ stars for that particular metric. The only way the seller could do better would be to send the buyer money for the priveledge of shipping the item!
- Put up the same kind of note in the shipping time DSR if the buyer opted for Media Mail shipping (or the seller was forced to only offer Media Mail due to eBay’s ridiculous $4.00 shipping fee cap in the books category). Make that notice turn red if the mouse hovers over any star except the “5″ star.
Assuming we are stuck with them, what changes would you suggest to the DSR system?
One Way To Increase Your Shipping & Handling DSR
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I recently ordered a book off of Half.com and, being both frugal and patient, I opted for the Media Mail shipping method. I was delighted when the book arrived just a few days later in a flat-rate Priority Mail box.
Value is defined as the difference between what a customer paid and the perceived worth of what a customer receives. I paid for Media Mail shipping and received Priority Mail service, so, for me, the value of the book increased substantially. Now, the book I ordered was a 1500 page text, and pretty hefty, so it might not have been a significant difference between the cost to mail it Media or Flat-rate priority. But that’s not what I focused on…
…My focus was diverted to the value I received by a clever note written by the seller on the packing slip:
Researchers from the University of Michigan have identified several common impacts resulting from sellers receiving negative feedback on eBay. Among them:
Stoning
Stoning refers to the phenomenon that buyers are more apt to give another negative to a seller who has just received an unfavorable rating.
This could occur for one of two reasons. First, buyers may be willing to forgive a single bad behavior but wat to punish sellers who exhibit a pattern of bad behavior. Second, a buyer may interpret what happened in his own transaction differently differently depending on suspicions raised by the seller’s previous feedback. For example, if an item appears to be damaged in shipment, a previous negative feedback suggests that the damage was more likely to have been the sellers fault.
eBay Feedback Changes in Context
Filed Under Feedback | 2 Comments
One of the big changes coming to eBay over the next few weeks involves the feedback system. Effective in May, Sellers will not be able to leave negative feedback on bidders.
This was done in attempt to fix the retaliatory feedback problem. Retaliatory feedback, or the threat of it has crippled eBay’s feedback system. Many eBay sellers are very upset about this change. Quite vocally upset.
Given the controversy, it might be useful to remember the purpose of the eBay feedback system. According to a paper* published by researchers at the University of Michigan, “reputation systems like the Feedback Forum can improve the efficiency of marketplaces in three ways:”
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