eBay Changes Strategies: DSR Best Practices

In preparation for our webinar earlier today, we spent a great deal of time at ChannelAdvisor analyzing our data on the top 4000 eBay sellers (by GMV NOT feedback).  We ran all the sellers through our free DSRWatch utility and sorted the data.  As you would imagine the 'shipping and handling charges' DSR is the lowest (avg 3.9) for the top sellers.

However, based on this data, we did find 400 sellers that had all DSRs > 4.8 and we further sorted that based on volumes to come up with a set of around 150 'top tier DSR' high-volume, high GMV eBay sellers.  We then looked for commonalities.  What makes these 150 elite sellers able to get their S+H charges DSR above 4.8?

We discovered 10 best practices that we went into detail on in the webinar, but we believe are important enough that we want to make sure the word gets out.  Here are the top 10 (plus a bonus) best practices:

1. Specify reasonable flat-rate shipping
2. Highlight your shipping, return and other important policies ‘above the fold’
3. Provide 2-3 shipping options CLEARLY spelled out
4. Call out international shipping information –set expectations around time and customs, and other international ‘gotchas’.
5. Provide a clear and easy to understand return policy
6. Provide (and communicate) discounted combined shipping
7. Keep it simple
8. Ship to US only? (consider splitting into two seller IDs)
9. Amp up your customer service
10. Consider free shipping as an option
11. Communicate, communicate, communicate - suggest 5 stars in listing, WBN, shipping notification, feedback,etc.

Every one of the 150 elite DSR sellers utilizes a combination of these best practices to achieve their > 4.8 status.  The good news is based on the data, we think these levels are achievable for any seller that is able to embrace the best practices and work them into their business model.

If you're interested in more details and specifics behind the 10 DSR best practices, check out the recording of the webinar by following these instructions:

1. Go to http://www.channeladvisor.com/webinars
2. Click on the Recorded Webinars section
3. It is the first recorded webinar on the page.

If you have encountered any other best practices you would like to share, feel free to post in comments and we'll summarize.

Comments

[Bill]

Ebay shareholders should only know how badly eBay is crippling its stock price with DSR. You are asking people to rate shipping price and just because they are pissed off at the Post Office and UPS for increased rates a bunch of 4 star ratings can bring you down and cause a suspension. Give me a break. Last time I stayed in a hotel 4 stars was not too bad. These schmucks are losing any market share they had left to
Amazon and as a Power Seller, I will be spending money on PPC, my own website and to hell with eBay for good.

[tobin]

I am very disappointed to experience this new DSR system. My account has been suspended. It would appear that one trasnaction is what is keeping me from selling. A buyer bought 12 of the same items from me all valued around 40$.. I sold them for approx 5$ per. The package was delayed and the buyer was not happy and wanted a refund AND keep the items! I ended up getting all neutral feeback with BUSINESS STOPPING DSR!! So mutch for my Ebay business eh? I really feel that This DSR system needs revising. Some compassion and understanding needs to be applied in order to NOT shut down peoples Ebay accounts. Also... How AM I supposed to get my DRS up again? I cannot sell anything? AM I to buy items off people? Will that improve my SELLER rating?
Please reinstate me!

[bob]

Sad to watch an old friend commit suicide (Ebay)..
I try to be the PERFECT seller.
I email immediately after auction ends..
I email the buyer immediately when I ship.
I leave pos feedback for the buyer immediately after payment is made.
I ship SAME day or next consistently..
I only charges EXACT shipping.
Never a handling charge... FULL refunds for ANY reason at all including original PLUS return charges...
My DSR rating for 12 months is 5.0 5.0 5.0 4.9/5.0 but my monthly DSR rating demotes me to STANDARD search in best match.FOR SHPG/HANDLING ! GO FIGURE !!

[Josie]

I was an ebay power seller for years but within the last year I have become fed up with the whole ebay world! I went out of my way to please the "buyers" but no matter what you did they were never satisfied!! Shipping was NEVER fast enough,shipping costs were ALWAYS too high,and so on and so on!! I quit listing items because between EBAYS EVER CHANGING
RULES and the crap you have to go through with the the post office/shipping
fees ect.it just became more of a hassle than it was worth!! I logged on sunday night and was going to list an item for a friend when I was blindsided by an alert from ebay saying that I was not allowed to list any
new items because my DSR numbers were not high enough!! The way I understood the new policy-it said that I could not list any new items until my DSR numbers improve BUT how can I improve my ratings if I cant list any new items!!!! I am still allowed to sell on Ebay Motors-I can sell auto parts but nothing else?????? It makes no sense! Are these people at ebay smoking crack? Will somebody explain this nonsense to me!

[Kevin T. Rodriguez]

My selling privlages have been suspended due to my shipping time being 3.81. Now, I have 98 people in the last six months giving me good feedback, with only two neutral and one negative, and all my other DSR's are good, but now I can't sell because I'm not shipping fast enough? I put in the description that I only have time to go to the post office on Thursdays. Most of my auctions end Monday to make up for this. But all it took were a couple of people to miss the deadline, have to wait an extra week to get their stuff, and lower my DSR to rob me of my selling powers. Now I'm simply waiting, hoping, and praying that this ban is lifted before Christmas is up. Even if it is I won't be able to get whatever I sell to people in time for the 25th. Do you think mentioning this in my new listings would make much of a difference? Probably not.

[Sherry]

I have been selling on Ebay for over 10 years and have an Ebay store. I recently have been suspended from Ebay because I have a low DSR for Shipping time. I have a feedback of 98%. My question is. I have a friend that has a feedback score of 88% and is allowed to sell? Is this because I have an Ebay store, cause if it is I will just shout it down and continue to sell without the store. Please let me know if you think this is a possibility.

[Confused]

In a message from Lorrie Norrington at ebay:

Quote: “As of November 1, 2008, sellers will need at least a 4.3 across all four DSR categories, over the prior 30 day or 12 month period depending on volume, in order to list on the site.”

However, ebay does consider a 4.0 dsr rating to be "Good". It seems contradictory to not let sellers list because of a "Good" rating. Why kick off a seller doing a good job by ebay standards?

[Gary E. Meyer]

Between DSR, FEEbay fees, Paypal holding the money until you ship and it is confirmed or feedback is posted and now even SNAD PayPal rules-EBAY IS A TOTAL JOKE! I have a shooting star by my name so not a noobie, but anyone considering selling on Ebay is a FOOL! They killed a great working platform, the injured it over the past few years, but this is certain death.

[Jason R]

I agree, this whole mess that Ebay is creating is a joke. It's high time sellers did something.
I've created a great report on how to fix your DSR and get a better listing in the Best Match results. I cover all the bases and teach you the secrets you need to know.

http://www.jason-roland.com/BlackHatEbay/

[Ex eBay Poweruser]

Hi there,

I really recommend everyone go and view the webinar mentioned. What you'll find is a group of eBay cheerleaders roundly IGNORING the legitimate concerns of sellers and trying to put a chirpy face on what amounts to the most cynical con I've seen in some time. The comment from Gaz is right on the money, this is a huge fee hike and a culling of the very people who have put money into eBay's pocket over the years. All dressed up as a customer service drive backed by an incentives package. The disguise is as thin as it gets. The incentives are all but impossible to achieve but the fee hike is guaranteed.

Answer the question Scot. If 4 stars means 'Good' from a buyer's point of view, why doesn't it mean the same in terms of the incentives scheme? For sellers competing in an improved customer service environment (improved at our expense with all the service benefit going to the buyer and all the cash to eBay) what will 5 stars actually come to mean? Service over and above the norm, not just good service but exceptional service. Fine, so reward the few sellers that will be able to meet this standard. It won't come down to their performance alone though, but will also include the performance (or non-performance) of postal services and the variable expectations of the buyers. If buyers are being deliberately mislead into believing 4 stars equates to good then anything at all detracting from perfection is going to be rated as good. That's the same as giving the seller NEGATIVE feedback. Average DSRs will fall towards 4 stars and away from 5 as time progresses. eBay will pay LESS bonuses whilst raking in the fee increases on top. Add the Paypal charges and the extortion racket Paypal operates on currency conversions and this sure does look like a bumper pay day for the eBay suits.

Consider providing free shipping? Oh right, another fee increase. eBay doesn't levy a fee on postal charges, right? So make the postal charge zero and add the cost to the starting price. More earnings for eBay. Does the fun never cease? Has anyone seen the Royal Mail price list recently?

I already provide excellent customer service Scot. Not according to my opinion but the opinion of my buyers. Because I want their items to arrive in proper condition I pack everything properly. This costs me money. I spell this out clearly in my item descriptions. Even so, many people comment on how well the items I send are packed and how delighted they are with the transaction. My DSR for postage and packing is 4.7! Now, in the interests of this customer service drive you are promoting, to get my stars up I should start sending items in cheap envelopes and hope for the best. Even then I can't do anything about the exorbitant postage costs unless I eat some of it myself. But if I get the price down to rock bottom then I get a crack at these bonus incentives. So screw customer service, I'm going after the cash! Only kidding Scot, I don't work for eBay.

I should also queue at the Post Office (they have shut all our sub-branches down, did your charts tell you that?) maybe twice, three times a day so I can get the despatch time down to a bare minimum. Guess my time is worthless if I can afford to spend two hours a day hanging out in queues.

Bottom line for sellers then, if you happen to sell a range of goods suited to this new regime, if your marketplace happens to benefit from good (sorry EXCELLENT) postal services and rational buyers who know it sometimes takes more than a day for shipment, if you happen to be a Powerseller, maybe then, just maybe there's an incentive. By the way, sellers sell to make a profit - did you know? Take the profit away and, believe me, incentive to sell can be affected, often badly. Honest!

Sorry Scot, I'm not buying the bullshit you are selling. In fact I'm giving you one star for the accuracy of the item description. Does that mean you get a pay cut just like us? In fact I don't think I'll be selling on eBay anymore. I can't afford it Scot, you've become a luxury item beyond my reach. But that's fine, if you read Scot's (or one of his troupe's) response in the webinar to another seller who is waving goodbye you'll get the message loud and clear - don't like it? All the best and bugger off! There'll be another one like you along to take up the harness. Thanks Scot, it's great to be appreciated! Hey, you know all that money I sent your way? Carry on thinking nothing of it buddy!

eBay, fun while it lasted, now just another shopping venue with zero USP. A shame.

Ex Powerseller, rated 100%, 4.8 / 4.8 / 4.9 / 4.7

[Ebay Strategies]

This is important to note that in Ebay Strategies that ebay changes strategies in the business for good quality in its production in order o increase the productivity. One must understand the policies and adhere to it for the smooth functioning of the organisation.

[solliespont]

You are so full of it,you are protecting scammers that's all.
I know few sellers who have item for sale with S&H free and they still get 4.6 in S&H.
What about that.
What about Paypal who can hold, for "indefined" reason yet,for 21 days our money.
You are protecting scammer,why that's the question??
I have my answer anyway.....

[William Walsh]

Ebay has become a JOKE! Whos running this company? Some Clown?

[Mary Haegele]

One of the many rememdies available to sellers is to start your own website. And promote the heck out of it. Sellers do that now for eBay stores so why not for your own website. It is doable.

And look for those St. Elsewhere's. They are out there. As the DSR's continue to drop for sellers because of unreasonable expectations on the part of eBay and buyers, sellers can be working on their bottom line... elsewhere.

[GazLanNaThai]

Hi Scott & all
Many thanks for a great blog post - it confirms what I've said in other blogs and forums, that the whole reason for the complexity of January's announcements was to mask a culling of sellers and to allow eBay to dress up very genuine fee-hikes as discounts and incentives.

Looking at this in a professional manner, and please bear with me if this seems off-topic at first - the relevance comes after the background info.

Around the world eBay has several sites that are ILF & FVF free. I reckon most pro-sellers know that if (for example) you list on eBay Singapore, those listings only show up in core to users logged into SG. HOWEVER (important bit this) if you put your stores inventory onto SG, when a user on (for example) the US site clicks through to your store, they see your US AND your SG store listings. Try it in my store if you want to see this happening for real. (Also, if you want to know how much eBay fear this info becoming general knowledge, I have on a file an email, from UK Head of Trust & Safety, confirming a lifetime worldwide ban on my use of on-eBay forums, groups etc for discussing this topic in the UK boards.)

OK, so the SG listings in your store will have the dollar/pound/euro price showing in italics, indicating a listing not on dot com etc, and if they buy you'll have to invoice through PayPal instead of Selling Manager because SG listings can only be shipped to SG addresses via eBay invoicing (though the received PayPal payment will still update SM & SMP as paid, regardless of where the buyer lives). But if doing that saves you the eBay Tithe (10% fee) on your shop inventory, then the extra 45 seconds to invoice through PayPal has got to be worth that amount of time - hasn't it? Also, ask yourself how many buyers don't understand that an italicised price means the item is not listed directly on the site they're logged in to.

The best news is that you can now use Turbo Lister to list on Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines - all of which are ILF & FVF free. As an added bonus, there are a couple of million American and European expatriates using those sites, plus English is the OFFICIAL second language in MY & PI, plus the official FIRST language in SG - so fewer language issues than selling to Mexico or Europe (in my experience). Also, don't forget to look at "ultra-low-fee" sites like eBay India (store listings are free there too, but you do have to pay for international visibility) - every extra market you enter will increase your store traffic and ultimately your sales. Something I've been doing for 4 out of the five years I've been on eBay, and throughout my period as a PowerSeller.

As I said at the start, moving your stores inventory to no-fee eBay sites en-masse, and permanently, is something eBay will have to take notice of. And it will have far less consequences on YOUR income than abandoning eBay or blockading it due to this year's mood swings in San Jose.

So what's the relevance to DSR's?

Well, to be honest, you'll find that buyers in Asia understand international shipping and Customs delays far more than their western counterparts, and are far less likely to mark down your DSRs, or leave you a neg, based solely on shipping - either despatch time or cost. Part of the reason for this is the "face" culture of Asia (marking a seller badly will cause the giver to lose face, which is bad karma and could affect their next reincarnation, and similar cultural reasonings). I know this from experience, because all my eBay career, I've lived in and traded from Thailand, and I have 4.6 for both shipping DSRs.

Although I will confess to primarily shipping to western countries, and for years have used most of the items in Scott's list (confirming they work for elevating your DSRs). His list contains some interesting points I hadn't thought about, e.g. -
- item 2 being "above the fold" (mine have always been below it, so I need to experiment with that.
- item 8 is not feasible for us as it would lose us PS status and thus access to the discounts (it's an item volume:GMV thing).
- item 10 is again not feasible due to distance, though we might play with it for Asian and Australian markets, and with smaller, lightweight, high value items.
- item 11 is a new challenge, and has set me thinking of ways to use images of the DSR panel inside the listing itself.

Thanks again Scott, and I hope the background helps some of you make eBay more profitable for yourselves,
Regards
Gaz

[Tom]

The shipping DSR effectively cripples international sellers selling into the US market. Americans have unrealistic expectations as to shipping cost and additional delivery time. We are a major Canadian seller (and ChannelAdvisor customer) but find that our American customers do not understand the additional costs and paperwork associated with selling cross-border. We could NEVER acheive a 4.8 on the shipping DSR and not lose money on shipping. Across all of our accounts, we have a 4.2 DSR on shipping and I think its impossible to get 4.6 even if we offered free ground shipping. In short, eBay is disadvantaging non-US sellers selling into the world's most lucrative market.

I'm used to getting screwed by eBay, but this may force me to open up shop in the US and deal with long-distance management... something I do not relish.

Tom

[Michael]

I am wondering if we made one of your "top tier DSR' high-volume, high GMV eBay sellers"

[John]

Scott - Does ">4.8" in this case mean 4.8, 4.9 or 5.0? Or is it 4.9 and 5.0? eBay experience tells me it is the former, but my math professor would say the latter.

[Jon]

Based on your data and ebay's 4.6 floor for s/h DSR, it would seem that there will be only a handful of powersellers after Feb 20, yes?

[tj]

After listening to the web-seminar all I can say is that it is just not worth the hassle or the increased overheads to keep inside eBays over-the-top guidelines…they are sticking their noses too far into My business & at any whim they may totally wipeout any exposure to best match that I may have (and adjust/cancel My powerseller status).

Keeping within ALL the 4.8’s for max powerseller discounts is going to be almost impossible for the vast majority of high flying powersellers of now (small-mid will be virtually impossible & International sellers can forget it)

One must seriously ask Why should I bother to continue & pay eBay even more from little profits…for the privilege of selling items already massively discounted (in many cases) just for many more headaches from dumb buyers…will eBay actually make a rule that buyers MUST read the listings of items bought?

Buyers will soon be a rare commodity as many will not find what they are looking for (Cheap Deals)..as most switched on sellers have gone or are in the process of moving away from eBay

Very few small-mid-or high volume sellers have the time, resources or staff to even cover a few of the best practices listed….and to be brutal the inclination; discount items with top notch quality service I don’t think so

Not all buyers are looking for DVD’S , Games’ or Books

eBay is basically turning into eBay Express for Media multi-nationals & it ‘aint gonna work