How to guarantee perfect 5 Star Detailed Seller Ratings (DSR) from Buyers

[mobile-phones-etc]

just stumbled upon the post, thought to share it with my fellow sellers here.

Ah yes, as an eBay seller, don’t you just love the 1 to 5 Star Detailed Seller Ratings (DSR) that eBay buyers can leave for you?

In addition to feedback, eBay buyers can leave anonymous ratings from 1 to 5 Stars on 4 criteria – Item as described, Communication, Shipping time, Shipping and handling charges.

If you’re an eBay seller, I bet you have noticed that no matter how hard you try to please your eBay buyers you always seem to get hit with a low DSR at some point.

I have compiled a list of things you can do as an eBay seller to guarantee 5 Star ratings on DSR from every one of your eBay buyers:

Item As Described:
In your eBay listing, offer to fly the item to your potential buyer’s location so they can physically handle, look at and inspect the item before bidding/buying. It’ll be like they can walk into your “store” in the comfort of their own home. They will have no reason to rate your “Item as Described” DSR low and think of all the frequent flyer miles you’ll accumulate.

Communication:
Since you already flew the item to your potential buyer’s location, make sure you take them out to dinner and talk about all of your policies so they know them before they bid/purchase.

After they bid and win or purchase your item, add their phone number to your speed dial. Call them and tell them how happy you are they bought your item and that you booked your overnight flight to deliver their package. Once you arrive, take them out for dinner again so you can talk about your return policy.

Continuing calling your buyer daily until they leave feedback and Detailed Seller Rating to see how they are doing, how they like the item, and anything else that comes up.

Shipping Time:
Why deal with the silly postal service or those other courier companies? As mentioned above, book that overnight flight to your buyer’s city immediately upon payment and personally deliver the package yourself. Unfortunately this still may not be fast enough and scientists haven’t invented the “Beam me up Scottie” machine (sorry Trekkie fans I’m not an expert in Star Trek technology) so you could instantly beam the item to your buyer.

Shipping and Handling Charges:
FREE SHIPPING BABY! FREE SHIPPING BABY! FREE SHIPPING BABY! Offer free shipping and don’t even add the shipping cost into the price. Absorb all costs associated with shipping, packaging material, etc., even if you lose money. It’s not about making money anymore, it’s about getting those 5 pretty Stars.


……actually you can’t really do anything to GUARANTEE perfect 5 Star DSR ratings from every buyer on eBay, which is why we had fun with you above.

There are always going to be those few eBay buyers that rate sellers low on the detailed seller rating criteria no matter what you do or how perfect your product or service is. You could actually do all of the silly things above and I would bet there would still be some dumb eBay buyer that rates your DSRs low. If those eBay buyers could only understand how much those ratings (even 4 stars) can hurt a seller and prevent sellers from receiving eBay fee discounts.

On a more serious note, you can also check eBay’s Detailed Seller Ratings page where they have more ideas on what you can do to make sure the smart eBay buyers don’t have a reason to leave you low DSRs. If you’re a buyer and you’re reading this, there is also some info for you to read there to help you understand how to properly rate an eBay seller.

To be honest, eBay is a fantastic market place, offering career opportunities to so many serious sellers and off course an opportunity to buyers to purchase the items at relatively lower than local offline market or any other portal. eBay has also played a fair share in development of ecommerce market place in India. Also, personally I am not against Feedback system; however, I strongly feel that half witted Indian online market place particularly is not ready for such sensitive DSR system.


Have a laugh and kudos to the Author. buy genuine mobiles at unbeatable price.
http://stores.shop.ebay.in/Mobile-Phones-ETC

Change is state of mind..but inevitable.

[pareshwins]

Hi Raj,

Learning happens only when arrogance ends.

Instead of trying to find Faults with Amitava da listings, etc. You should try and understand why he has such high dsr from his buyers.

I have been following Amitava Da's posting in the cafe for a long time. I have found him to be a gentle and humble man. This comes out from all this postings.

Maybe the same quality is reflected in his communication with him buyers and hence they are happy with his service and rate him 5 stars on all the DSR criteria.

From my experience, I have found a buyer very rarely gives DSRs rationally. If he is overall satisfied he will leave high DSR for all 4 criteria. However if he is unhappy he is bound to leave low DSRs for all criteria. He will even leave a 4 star for Free Shipping, if he feels that somehow he has been overcharged.

It is not very difficult to have DSRs of 4.8 and above. Many seller are doing it as a matter of routine even in electronics category.

You can check feed of these senior members:

ecasio

basco4u

gadgetguru.india

and

delhimall


These guys have a 4.8 on two or more of the DSRs.

Regards,

Paresh

[linusstudios]

@mobile-phones-etc
"this guys sent me mail stating last time when he ordered item was delivered next day."

Is this not the exactly same reason I got my neutral for.

Anyways what are we discussing. lets not waste our energies in comparing things which are not important. Amitave Jee's High DSR are surely an dipiction of his high service standards, but these also have to deal with the kind of clientele he is having. I will not comment further on the topic as its not in my domain .

Let us positively discuss how we can deal with or avoid with these sort of problems.

I am looking for some suggestions from a seller who had DSR of lower than 4.5 and than rose to over 4.8. are there any.

Also how to deal with some sellers of same category, who purchase from multiple ids to bring trouble in form of neutral or low DSR's for a seller?

[rajelectroniks]

@mobile-phones-etc...

You have written that Prashant has told you "RESPOND TO CUSTOMER STATING EBAY GUIDELINES VERY PROFESSIONALLY AND FORGET ABOUT IT".

Now read this, a buyer purchased an item on 10th May and my terms of sales begins with the sentence "Do not buy if you do not agree, dispatch of all product will be done as per ebay time guidelines that is 7 days" even after reading this clause this buyer on the very same day in 2hrs sends 1st mail "Please do ship the item soon. I have done a clear payment. Having a shop in the ebay, you have to ship the item as soon as you receive the clear payment. Thanks."

After 2 hrs I get a second mail "haven't shipped it yet... please ship soon im leaving for an educational trip in 2 days".

After 3 hrs I get a third mail from him "if you are not able to ship... please refund me the money... i'm going to purchase another.".

Now tell me what is the point in stating ebay guidelines to illiterate buyer those who cannot read or comprehend English. I prefer to call such people as "Smart Idiots"
******************
Regards.
Raj Electroniks.

[rajelectroniks]

@pareshwins...

Mr. Paresh, I am sorry to say that your views are highly misconstrued and biased.
******************
Regards.
Raj Electroniks.

[pareshwins]

Raj,

In what way?????

Paresh

[real.phoenix]

I agree with Amitavji and would like to add that the consumer behaviour tend to vary across geographies. In India, the online buying is still at its nascent stage whereas in the western world, it has became a way of life. Indian buyers seek thrill and adventure while buying from the internet while a buyer from the west is accustomed to purchase the basic necessities such as toothpaste, soap and breakfast cereals online to save time and money. If you check the prices in ebay.com or ebay.co.uk, you would find large number of items selling at par or below the brick and mortar market prices which isn't the case in ebay.in

In India, the online prices for any category are not as competitive as the roadside shops. The Indian buyer is aware of this fact but they still buy due to convenience or pleasure but never out of extreme necessity. This is why while leaving feedback, the buyers are very tough to deal with in India.

I have purchased some items from ebay.in over a period of last 2 years and found very few Indian sellers communicate with the buyers. From the date of purchase to the date of receipt of the item, there is hardly any exchange of emails thanking the buyer for their purchase etc whereas the buyer expects communication from the seller in good language. Many power-sellers in India still write the email in capital thinking that the buyer may not be able to read in small letters! Most of the sellers don't even care to acknowledge the purchase by making a phone call which is cheapest in India.

The sellers will be able to receive high DSR ratings if they follow basic principles of business..

1. Acknowledge the buyer's purchase and thank them immediately by sending an email to them. If its a high valued item, the keep in touch with them over phone also. Leave a positive feedback immediately. Don't wait to see what the buyer leaves. Thats absurd.

2. Ship very fast. The buyer should receive the item in 2 days within India if it is a metro city. For remote locations, the transit shouldn't take more than 5 days. Avoid cheap courier services. I would recommend Blue Dart only for any electronic item.

3. The email communication should be extremely polite and thoroughly professional. The seller shouldn't try to "tell" the buyer that they are "power-sellers". Being a power-seller is no great achievement to boast of. The seller should be extremely polite which is lacking in most of the online sellers in India. The sellers who aren't good at English, should contact on phone.

4. The item should be extremely well packed leaving no change of damage to the outer-box also.

5. Believe firmly that buyer is good and genuine and is always right. This may cause some loss but it will pay huge rewards in the longterm.

I don't feel it is difficult to maintain a DSR of more than 4.8 A professional and competant seller would definitely be able to do that.

[mobile-phones-etc]

@Real.phoenix
The reason, why .com sellers are able to offer low prices that local markets is because they do not have grey market. Just check rates of my mobile phones, you will find them lowest (almost all of them) reason i am a distributor myself. had i been purchasing from Grey market such a gaffar i would have never been able to offer same.

You yourself have been my buyer. Now you say, how did you like my service?

About calling the buyer- i dont mind man, i call all my buyers atleast once after i receive the order. however, still you can check my fb profile.

the latest feedback i received from Mr Ravi Dahiya is a proof of my service, i have hand delivered the item to him yesterday. Had a cup of tea at his home and laughed about it. he was wondering why i had to come my self. When i told him about feedback system, he laughed really hard, in his word "customer paid the money for product, you sent it to him, job is finished, why feedback?
I kind of agree with him, in real world scenario, no one dares to go to the local shop owner to give him feedback for his product.


anyway, i am ok with fb. but not with DSR. I will readily accept training from any of the experienced sellers and or eBay staff if they can guarantee i will not get a negative of neutral or low feedback from half witted buyers here. Any one interest? buy genuine mobiles at unbeatable price.
http://stores.shop.ebay.in/Mobile-Phones-ETC

Change is state of mind..but inevitable.

[mobile-phones-etc]

anyway, just checked ecasio (umangs's profile) even he has got 4.6 in shipping and handling although he is charging Rs 35 for shipping.lol

All in all, i am getting a feel that India is a poor country. buyers here are usually poor too. They think some selling some thing might be rich, so lets party on sellers money.

Rs 35 for shipping, no problem i will and leave low DSR later.

I like the item, but dont have money to pay, no problem, i will buy the item first and leave negative buyer will anyway give it for free to get negative removed.

I am not sure if i like the item or not - no problem, lets try it for one month, if dont like it, i can return, eBay Guarantee is there.

ummm... I have had hard day at work, no problem, lets go to eBay and give hard time to some sellers. by expecting next day delivery lol buy genuine mobiles at unbeatable price.
http://stores.shop.ebay.in/Mobile-Phones-ETC

Change is state of mind..but inevitable.

[mobile-phones-etc]

BUMP buy genuine mobiles at unbeatable price.
http://stores.shop.ebay.in/Mobile-Phones-ETC

Change is state of mind..but inevitable.

[aananda_telecom]

U bet u Win ... Very Hard to deal with buyer sometimez, in one instance one buyer called me asked , Sir what is the Gaurantee on the Gifts you sent me ... Can you beat it.

So, buyer's are very demanding .. sumtimez i also get irritated.. but life is a life.. Good thing was as you mentioned we should alwayz FLY things to the buyer before biddin and was good having a dinner discussing the Terms and Condition. ha ha

but i tell you one thing...the KEY .. Increase a little more margins to ur Sales and Give ur buyer's a small Gift, i mean an earphones, costin 10 to 15 if you buy in BULK or anything of your choice , something or the other, anyone will be really happy to recive an item EXTRA. Do mention, No warantee on the GIFTS... ha hhaaa
you will surely get good DRS's.

GoodLuck...!!