Dear eBay Queen;

I sold a lot of GI Joe accessories.  My terms clearly state in the auction shipping will be via USPS Priority, no handling charge, actual shipping only. The buyer emails me stating he only wants 1 piece of the lot and it should only be $2 to ship first class in an envelope. He also tells me he won’t pay the Priority charge. I sent a response stating: “terms are clearly spelled out; you should not have bid if you didn’t agree.” No response yet, but I have already added him to my Blocked Bidders list. I checked his feedback, and he has given 4 negatives over the year and a bunch of neutrals that actually state negative feedback. At this point, I would just as soon cancel the sale and relist. What do you think I should do? Thanks for any advice.

Louise

Dear Louise;

If I understand your email correctly, your buyer is only purchasing part of the lot of items right?  If this is the case, I would send them the one accessory item they want first class, and relist the rest of the lot.  When it comes to problem buyers like this, I don’t think it is worth it to fight him.  I have found it takes more of my time and energy to fight with a buyer of this type, than it takes to just send the one item.

I completely understand you feel your policy should be recognized by buyers, and followed.  This type of quick to give negative/neutral buyer is not going to back down.  I would email this buyer and clarify which item he wants.  Let him know you will send the item first class mail.  Immediately after making your buyer happy, I would contact Jim Griffith at griff@ebay.com and tell him the situation with the buyer.  He will review the buyer account and see if he is abusing his rights as a buyer.

I hope this works out for you and everything ends on a positive note.

Dear eBay Queen;

I don’t feel like you have explained to your readers how grave the circumstances are on eBay when it comes to these DSR rules.  I’ve been on eBay since 1996.  I’ve been a PowerSeller and a Top Rated Seller. I was one of those “Top Rated Sellers” that thought they were invincible. I am not.  If it could happen to me, it can happen to anyone.

I believe sellers need to be aware that anyone of us is just a couple of buyers away from losing our hard earned status. This is just how the new eBay works.  The reality is, if you get (3) two star or lower DSRs in one 12 month period, you will lose TRS, PS status and your fee discount. If you go to (4) two star or lower DSRs in one category, not only will you get a red warning flag on your account, but you will also lose the ability to have a Premium or Anchor Store, which could double or triple your fees.  Our fees will go from $310 a month, to almost $1000 a month at the Base Store Level.   Some of you may be thinking this can’t happen, but all of this has happened to me in 3 short weeks.

All it takes is a couple buyer mistakes, or a vindictive person, and your eBay business could be gone. I am not saying that this WILL happen, simply be aware that it all too easily COULD happen.  We all should make a contingency plan.  As sellers, you need to be aware and monitor your metrics faithfully, because this could happen faster than you think. We had excellent customer service. We can’t help it if buyers click the wrong Star (as one did) or mis-read a listing (as did the other). And those 2 mistakes cost us big time. It’s one thing to be buyer-centric, which we are. It’s another thing to put your business in the hands of complete strangers (buyers) which eBay has now done. By the way, 3 of our 4 DSR categories are (0)’s. In the category we have (4), two will roll off in the next 45 days, so technically we could be TRS PS again without lifting a finger by end of June, which just shows how the system is not effective.

Currently we are focusing on other venues, and will never again put all our eggs in eBay’s basket.

K.D. Jones

Dear K.D.;

Thank you for sharing your experience with the readers.  I hope you have as much success outside of eBay as you’ve had on eBay before the changes.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item 290435229411 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page): Have you ever wanted to feel like Superman? Here’s your chance! 1956 Superman Costume Belt Prop George Reeves. SOLD $14,900.00 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290435229411

Suzie Eads is a nationally known eBay marketer and eBay trained Education Specialist. She lives in Rantoul. Do you have a question for the eBay Queen? E-mail: questions@asktheebayqueen.com.

3 Responses to “Dealing with a Difficult Buyer and DSR’s Explained”