eBay Seller Ratings
Since eBay has been touting it’s changes to the buyer and seller ratings system, I thinks it’s time to chime in.
Since the detailed seller ratings were first introduced, I have had a particular problem with one of them: shipping fees. Why should a buyer be able to rate a seller’s shipping fees? There is nothing secretive or misleading about shipping. If you agree to buy an item, you know the cost that you have agreed upon up-front. As a seller, I reserve the right to charge for packaging materials as well as my gas for the 20 minute drive to the shipping store. A buyer can take it or leave it, but why should he be able to affect my ratings because of that?
Buyers notoriously tend to have no concept of what shipping actually costs. Before I sell an item on eBay, I go to the UPS store and have them tell me the total cost to package and ship the item to 90210 (or an obviously far away zip code from whatever state I happen to be in). I mark it down a few dollars, and that’s my price. I lose money on some and gain money on others, but it’s a flat rate and there are no surprises.
Last year, a customer of mine was upset by my shipping price of $25 on an item. After getting lucky and winning the item for $0.99, he emailed me and proclaimed that the shipping costs to Colorado were $7 and asked that I give him a discount. For one thing, what incentive do I have to give him a discount after he already bid and won? For another thing, nothing ships from Ohio to Colorado for $7. Add packaging and even the smallest items must cost about $12 to ship there. This was a rotisserie unit for a cooktop! It was big! I had already heavily discounted the price that shipping to 90210 would have cost ($35). I emailed him back explaining my policy of flat-rate shipping and how I win some and lose some. I believe it ended up costing $19. I’m sure he rated my shipping fees poorly, but is that any indicator of my selling fairness?