Ebay shipping and feedback stars...
gameusedhoop
Posts: 3,635 ✭✭✭✭
You buy a PSA graded card and are charged $3.50 shipping. It is packed in a bubble mailer, no cardboard re-enforcement etc, just the bubble envelope, and only has postage of $1.30 (stamps) with no DC or insurance etc.
Keep in mind you were charged 3 times the actual shipping price. How many stars do you leave in the seller's DSR feedback?
Keep in mind you were charged 3 times the actual shipping price. How many stars do you leave in the seller's DSR feedback?
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Comments
My thoughts exactly!
"How about a little fire Scarecrow ?"
Of course, a PayPal buy IS "insured," whether the seller thinks it is or not.
I might ding his S+H star, but a case can be made that I "knew what I
was buying" when I pulled the trigger.
I have been using "Free" S+H for a long time. That star is STILL never above 4.9
and is usually at 4.7.
For $3.50 I would at least expect DC, and maybe some envelope sturdiness.
I used to charge $3 myself but used a photo mailer, cardboard on both side of the card, and DC via window service at the PO. The attached label would be in the $2.25 range and the photo mailers were about 85 cents each.
<< <i>but a case can be made that I "knew what I was buying" when I pulled the trigger >>
Not exactly, I knew the price, not the packing technique and lack of DC.
<< <i>I have been using "Free" S+H for a long time. That star is STILL never above 4.9
and is usually at 4.7. >>
Isn't that amazing? Free isn't even good enough to get 5 stars. To think that ebay is putting stock in these numbers as a basis for discounted fees is ridiculous.
<< <i>
<< <i>I have been using "Free" S+H for a long time. That star is STILL never above 4.9
and is usually at 4.7. >>
>>
Same here. I had free shipping long before the star system came out, and have never been higher than 4.9 in that category. I do have a 5.0 in shipping time. I guess they were happy with how fast I ship, but apparently the cost of $0.00 was unreasonably high. I just smile and laugh it off. What more can you do??
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Yup.
I covered that in the concept that ALL PayPal buys are covered for "safe arrival."
IF the seller is dumb/greedy and fails to DC/insure, the seller will lose - not the
buyer - if the package is lost/damaged. The buyer, of course, would be out his
time/hassle, but he would get his money back.
.........
The star-problem is EBAY's fault. They tell buyers that "4" is a great number.
They tell sellers that if 4s are given, the seller will be punished/suspended.
The seller says in the description that he ships one day a week, on wednesdays, and I win an auction on wednesday, he ships a week later.
How many stars should I give him?
He understands the star system, and chooses to ship one day a week, the same day his auctions end. I paid 2 minutes after the auction ended.
I knew it would be shipped a week later and have no problem with that. It wasn't for resale and I don't care how long it takes to get things I'm collecting, as long as I get them.
Thoughts?
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He might ought to modify his pitch; something like:
We ship only once each week. Wednesday is our shipping day.
Invoices Paid On Tuesday, will be shipped on Wednesday.
Invoices paid on Wednesday, will be shipped the following week.
I am personally starting to have some sympathy for sellers who
can no longer ship everyday. Once a week is not something most
buyers are going to go for. But, if there are ONLY one or two items
to ship each day, a postal run each day is a BIG money loser.
In all cats, I have switched from "one-day handling time," to "two days."
In collectibles, I am lucky to have one-sale each day or two. The other
cats are MUCH stronger, but three-trips to the PO a week is about
all I want to pay for.
NEGing sellers for following their stated terms is not something I endorse.
BUT, if I was a non-reader --- like 90% of EBAY buyers are -- I would be
unhappy having to wait for the weekly postal run.
......................
Jim........
You may or may not appreciate the humor in this. There is speculation
that the term "going postal" will soon be replaced with "going EBAY."
Some sellers are so angry right now, it may be just a matter of time
before there are "incidents."
If I was a buyer, I would not be eager to leave any NEGs. Those angry
sellers have my addy.
Steve
Shipping, I am more patient then most, so as long as I got it in a couple weeks, no problem. I guess I do not stress as much.
Here is another question, that relates to how a major PSA seller operates.
They insure through some 3rd party (or at least you get a little slip that say it) and when they pay a claim they only pay you for the card. I received a refund once on a card, but they would not give me the shipping.
What do you leave for stars?
Raw: Tony Gonzalez (low #'d cards, and especially 1/1's) and Steve Young.
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If a seller does what his listing said he would, 5-stars is the right number.
What do you leave for stars?
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That is just another flaw in those cheapskates' "private insurance" scheme.
USPS pays for shipping when they pay a claim.
PayPal also refunds S+H when stuff is lost or damaged.
Ding Those Stars.
<< <i>"He's getting a + , I just don't know how many stars to leave -"
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If a seller does what his listing said he would, 5-stars is the right number. >>
5-stars it is, thanks
You shouldn't complain about shipping if you know how much it is before you bid...you should simply factor it into your max bid.
I don't care if someone charges $10s/h, i will simply bid accordingly. (BTW, the h is s/h is handling...it is not $3.50 shipping, it is $3.50 shipping and HANDLING.
<< <i>Note that many people who ship just once a week may live quite a distance from the nearest post office....in rural parts of the country, that may be 10+ miles. Given the price of gas, it would be somewhat unreasonable to expect them to make a special trip just to ship one or two packages. >>
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Today's batch of EBAY buyers don't give a rat's tail for that story.
They want to buy it today, pay for it next year, and have it delivered yesterday.
Collector of Pittsburgh Pirates cards for a slightly less stupid reason.
My Pirates Collection
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Yup.
Tell the seller you want (whatever it is you want).
If he solves the problem, he gets good FB and stars.
If he gives you trouble, he gets NEGd and his stars get dinged.
If it's a PayPal deal, and/or a credit-card deal, you will win a SNAD claim.
BUT, give the seller a chance to do the right thing, b4 you go that route.
There is no excuse for NOT using cardboard to ship those fragile slabs.
Cardboard is cheap/free; being lazy and stupid is expensive.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
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As I said in February (and as auctionbytes reported), PSers
can make ALOT more money by simply raising their shipping
prices than they can by trying to get FVF-discounts with
"low priced shipping."
Last week, EBAY Germany began to set shipping prices for
sellers in MANY categories. That will happen in USA before
XMAS.
To the Original Poster, Based on your description, a $3.50 charge for $1.30 packaging would get 3 stars from me on s/h BECAUSE no additional buffer was used and DC was skipped.
Myself I buy these 46 cent mailer then put cardboard around the slab and then add a 75 cent Dc label and then the post office gets me for 2.05 to 2.26 for a single graded card so my cost just for mailer and Dc and postage usually comes to about 2.51 to 2.72 and I charge 3.00 for the 1 st item and 1.00 for each additional item. Then ebay nails me for listing fee + 8.75 % of the sale up to 25.00 and then paypal gets their 2.9 % + 30 cents for the transaction, so a card that I sell for 10.00 + 3.00 s/h I get drumroll please $8.32 and that is a good transaction. Just rambling here but I also buy alot off of Ebay and I give 5 stars across the board as long as I get the item within 10 days of paying and it is undamaged, once had a package take 17 days to get to me but checked when it was shipped ( 2 days after i paid ) so I gave the seller u guessed it 5 stars across the board. This rating system that Ebay has created is a joke and was only created so they (Ebay) could raise their rates and screw the sellers more. so to answer the original question give the seller 5 stars across the board or leave no feedback at all. JMO
If the card is all busted up, then you need to contact them and get a refund. The seller gambled on being cheap and lost.
3 on an average or bad day and 4 on a good day.
Buyers are fickle though. My avg is 4.8/5.0 and my shipping/dc charges alone run 2.70. I charge $3 or $3.25 and I have still had 2 people complain about high shipping. They are now blocked!
also , what happens when the guy takes 3 weeks to pay by paypal and you are on vacation so you send him a note to let him know you are away and it will ship in 1 week when you get back. you get 1 star because you didn't ship the next day and then you have a 4.5 rating. great system.
also, how many people think a 4 is a good rating? I think most people look at these standardized things and go down the list 5,5,5,4 and think they are doing you a favor and don't realize that ebay expects all 5's. It is not that you did a bad job, the buyer just thinks a 4 on a 1-5 scale is pretty good.