5 Stars

I almost always give 5 ebay stars for the items I receive. Very rarely do I give a lesser rating.

However, in the lobby of a large stamp show, while talking to other collectors, I found I may be in the minority.

Here is what others were saying and I quote…
5 stars only when actual postage costs are charged
5 stars only if item is shipped within 2 business days
5 stars only if real communication is made like exactly when item was shipped and postmark matches that date.
5 stars only if item was well packaged and protected from weather and other damage.
A glassine alone was not considered well packaged. Over-packaging was frowned upon too.
5 stars only if item was 100% as described. 99% gets lower rating.

I'm happy I wasn't in the lobby !

Give me a 3 or less stars without a prior conversation and you win an all expenses paid trip onto my blocked list.

Life is too short. 5 stars: thanks much! No feedback: I'll spend my money elsewhere from now on.

Columbian12 - Bravo. While I have 100% on ebay I work hard to maintain it. And in working hard I have been burned and bruised a number of times by - sad to say - people whose motivations were even worse and less honorable than that list posted by Timm.

Columbian12, how would you know who to block? I thought ebay's detailed seller ratings were anonymous. Is that not true?

Believe it or not, there are sellers who religiously watch their ratings hour by hour and can tell what most buyers are leaving. Of course, they might be better off getting a life!

I basically boycott the ebay rating system. If I buy something and am happy, then I will send an email to the seller thanking him and am specific about what I am pleased about (fast service, as described, etc.). This kind of detailed feedback is not possible in ebay's lame, and easily manipulated, feedback system. If I am unhappy, I simply do not do business with that seller again. Although I have 100% feedback as a seller, I do not ask for feedback. I'd rather hear directly from the customer in an email, so I follow up with a 'thank you' note and inquiry if there is anything I can do better. I guess 'thank you' notes are kind of old school but I simply refuse to play the stupid ebay feedback rating game. The system is badly flawed and largely meaningless.
Don

A agree with Don, the feedback system is worthless. My seller rating is 99.9%, because there is always 1 Yahoo out of 1000 who can't be satisfied no matter what you do for them. I have a life outside ebay, and I don't lose sleep over it. I am puzzled by those sellers (apparently without a life) who nag me to leave feedback for them - it tempts me to leave them a "neutral" rating just for feedback badgering!

Those who complain that the shipping charges should exactly match the postage cost are obviously not sellers - who also have overhead costs for envelopes, labels, padding materials, and Ebay/Paypal fees charged on the shipping costs, etc. Postage is only a part of the total shipping cost.

Rusty: the DSR's are NOT anonymous in the sense that if someone leaves you a 3 or lower it counts against your "defect rate" and all of that detail can be obtained through your "Seller Dashboard". For any transaction in which your defect rate takes a hit you can download a spreadsheet that shows each infraction with the accompanying item number.

Columbian, thanks, that's good to know. I've been buying on ebay for 15 years but have never been a seller.

Stars? I could care less about them, although I almost always give 5 stars to sellers. As a seller, I do my best and have maintained a 100 percent rating since I started using ebay in 1998. I think most sellers do an adequate to good job in packing and in their timeliness. If a seller is less than '5 star' in their description or photos, I don't buy from them. If a buyer says he doesn't receive my merchandise, which I take great care to pack, then he/she is blocked. What else can one do? As for buyers complaining about shipping, they are not using their brains if they don't understand that they should pay for more than just postage. As a buyer, I always weigh the effect of the seller's shipping charges - I have no reason to complain if I consider the whole cost of the lot in my bidding.

Bookbndrbob: "If a buyer says he doesn't receive my merchandise, which I take great care to pack, then he/she is blocked."

And just how is that the buyers fault???

They win your item and immediately pay you for the item.
They wait 30 days and have received nothing from you.
So obviously it MUST be the buyer's fault!!

Timm, it's not the buyer's fault, but if a seller has a problem transaction with a buyer, some sellers make the decision not to risk a possible repeat.

Jenny2u:
That's discrimination against the buyer and the loss of a potently good customer.

I very, very rarely have had an item lost in the mail but it does happen. I never leave a negative feedback if I don't receive an item as long as it is replaced by the seller or refunded.

Sellers will occasionally have a shipment go awry; that just the way it is. Sellers do make mistakes such as mislabeling a shipment with a wrong address. Sellers have variously ways of protecting themselves from loss with, tracking, insurance, registered mail etc.

Unwarranted discrimination against a buyer is poor business practice.

My personal decision to block buyers is strictly a business decision, as is my decision to not buy from certain sellers. Well addressed, well packaged, and properly franked letters mailed to U.S. addresses should not be "lost" in the mailstream. I have no idea where these letters end up. My decision is based on preventing loss.