Apparently that was not sufficient for eBay as they followed up with an email asking me to participate in a three question survey regarding this transaction.

We’re always trying to improve the eBay experience, and there’s no better group of advisors than our own customers.

You purchased “1997-2001 Toyota Camry INSIDE Door HANDLE – Gray LH” from [user ID redacted] on 02/12/2011. We’d love to get your feedback about that experience, and invite you to take a 3 question survey to express your opinions. Your input will help us make eBay easier and more enjoyable to use.

Since I’m always interested in something to write a blog post about, I happily obliged.

Details after the jump…

Not content with the ability to evaluate a seller on a scale from one to five, eBay asks me to rank the seller on a scale of one to ten!

Next they gave me an opportunity to write something.  I took the opportunity to write the same thing I put in the feedback.  You might call it a waste of electrons – I call it recycling!

Finally, I got the opportunity to tell eBay I would ever buy from them again.  If I ever need another door handle for my car, I sure will!

I wonder how common this is?  I made another purchase just a week before, but did not get one of these.

Perhaps eBay was just checking up on this particular seller?  Maybe they are trying to evaluate the effectiveness of their feedback and DSR system?  Could this be the first sign of yet another hoop sellers will need to jump through to survive in the eBay jungle?

What are your thoughts?

This new policy is the requirement to maintain a 1 or 2 star Detailed Seller Rating (DSR) of no more than 3 percent of all Item as Described feedback ratings, and no more than 4.0 of the Communication, Shipping Time, and Shipping and Handling Charges.  These were implemented on October 1st, 2010.

The class action lawsuit claims that these particular policies “undermine the ability of small auction sellers to compete with larger sellers.”  The complaint alleges that “large sellers are often exempt from DSR penalties that small sellers are subject [to] and/or have a much better chance of rehabilitating their DSR ratings due to the volume of transactions which they conduct.”

What do you think? Is eBay’s DSR policy discriminatory against the small seller?  If so, so you think it was intentional?

Click the image to enlarge.

Back in March of 2009, I used this forum to suggest that eBay automatically apply a 5-star DSR rating for shipping and handling charges for any seller that offered free shipping. A year an a half later, looks like they’ve finally gotten around to it! Not that I’m complaining, I’m thrilled. Here’s what it looks like to the bidder attempting to leave feedback:

Additionally, eBay announced that they will start automatically entering 5-star ratings for the shipping time DSR for sellers if they specify 1-day handling time, and they upload tracking information by the end of the next business day after the payment clears, and upon notification of package arrival within 4 business days from payment (via tracking or delivery confirmation).

Complicated, especially for those sellers who do not ship via PayPal, but a good start never the less. I’m still not satisfied though. As a seller, all I can do is get the item sold in the mail right away. Beyond that, there’s nothing I can do to influence when the item is delivered – especially if the buyer has opted for a slow delivery method. If you sell in the books category like I do, the seller is forced to offer media mail in order to comply with the $4.00 cap on shipping and handling charges eBay imposes in that category. I’ve taken a beating in the shipping speed DSR lately due to buyers dissatisfied with the shipping option they picked.

I would suggest that eBay tweak this new policy to protect sellers that get the packages out in a timely manner – especially if the buyer opted for a slow shipping method. Perhaps they could award 5-stars if the item arrived within the expected timeframe, regardless of the shipping method. Alternately, eBay’s DSR algorithm could be modified so that 4-star or below ratings are given less weight in the average score calculation for transactions that are shipped the following day.

I applaud eBay’s efforts to protect sellers who work diligently to do the right thing. I encourage them to do more.