what does this mean?

“If you have 10-25 transactions per month, you will be more damaged by only 1 buyer who gives you a lower than ‘perfect 5′ DSR score in 1 category.”

as opposed to what?

You asked for proof about ‘eBay plans to drop at least 20% to 33% of all PowerSellers’

SOURCE – The PeSA Feb 5th conference call with eBay Execs (Jim Ambach, Brian Burke & others) discussing DSRs

How was a determination made of what DSR numbers would qualify for a PowerSeller discount?

The PowerSellers 12 MONTH DSRs were reviewed by eBay management. We are told –

About 80% of all PowerSellers attained a 4.5 DSR over the last 12 months

About 60% of all PowerSellers attained a 4.6 DSR over the last 12 months

About 15% of all PowerSellers attained a 4.8 DSR over the last 12 months

So a decision was made to judge PowerSeller DSR status over a period of only 30 days instead of retaining the 12 month running average.

A decision was made to drop any PowerSeller who had a DSR in any ONE of the FOUR categories below 4.5.

A decision was made to offer PowerSellers with a 4.6 DSR average or above for the prior 30 days, a discount of 5% on FVF for that month

A decision was made to offer PowerSellers with a 4.8 DSR average or above for the prior 30 days, a discount of 15% on FVF for that month

You must have at least 10 DSR scores averaging above 4.5 in each of the 4 categories every 30 days to keep your PowerSeller status.

If you have 10-25 transactions per month, you will be more damaged by only 1 buyer who gives you a lower than ‘perfect 5′ DSR score in 1 category.

And, eBay plans to eliminate the 20% of PowerSellers who cannot/have not maintained at least a 4.5 DSR. As well as eliminate any PowerSeller who drops below a 4.5 DSR in any one category for any month.

This means that PowerSellers who have a business slow down for a month or two (like a recession or after Christmas slow down) or sellers of products that have seasonal demand will not retain their PowerSeller status.

The PowerSeller minimums were raised from $1,000/month to $1300/month and $3,000/month to $3300/month.

Unless I missed it, eBay has not told the community how a PowerSeller can regain their status if they have been dropped for having one DSR below 4.5.

“eBay plans to drop at least 20% to 33% of all PowerSellers”

What proof do you have of this? I’m not a powerseller – just curious as to where that info might have been obtained.

I’ll provide a few snippets -

A. We don’t know which company came up with this 5 Star rating of sellers in the first place. It wasn’t eBay.

We bought a book on Amazon. The seller included a note, with cartoon, talking about the buyer ‘having the power of good or evil’ in his hands and Amazon’s 1 to 5 Star rating program.

He has some very good points to make. And he faces penalties from Amazon for rating scores of less than 5 Stars. He wrote this note and includes it with every shipment he makes.

As all sellers know, many buyers don’t leave feedback.

I agree with the comment – if eBay asks the buyer to do more, answer more questions, etc., many buyers will decide not to be bothered by the whole feedback task.

But, since including a note about Feedback with my last 3 weeks of shipments, I can see an increase in buyer feedback and a higher percentage of buyers filling out the STARS part of the DSR. Thank you buyers.

If you haven’t written some kind of note about Feedback to include with your shipments, I strongly suggest that you consider doing it – even if you aren’t a Power Seller yet.

B.It appears that -
1. You must tell buyers about the DSR scores and how it affects your business
2. You must be prepared for the possibility of a disgruntled buyer leaving less than 5 feedback, even if you did everything possible
3. You must be cautious about accepting export sales to at least some countries, if not refusing all export business.
4. You must sell less expensive merchandise to more people so you can increase your overall sales volume across more transactions and lessen the potential impact of any less than ‘perfect 5′ feedback score.
5. eBay plans to drop at least 20% to 33% of all PowerSellers.
6. You might consider refusing the business of eBay ‘newbies’ who might leave you low feedback (because they don’t know any better)
7. You have no protection against the occasional off-the-wall unreasonable buyer who potentially could seriously damage your business or blackmail you into doing ‘extra’ things to prevent the extortion the buyer suggests they might do if you don’t ‘satisfy’ them.

About Donahoe and WalMart -

No, I didn’t do a reporter’s job of Googling Donahoe’s credentials. I saw an article reporting his association with WalMart and took it to be factual.

Your comments about the eBay environment ‘resonated’ with me.

I’ve been viewing changes within eBay, looking for what must be their planned outcomes, then the ‘why’ behind what is being done.

I’m still confused why eBay has allowed the dis-mantling of a means to report fraudulent mis-representation in seller postings. I tried to report a Chinese seller of glass jewelry purported to be ‘emeralds, rubies, sapphires, diamonds’.

What used to be in place, complete with a text area to describe the violation, had been dismantled in the USA and the UK. Parts of the ‘system’ defaulted to exit eBay so I could post for a refund on PayPal, but not report the seller to eBay!

Everyone mentions that eBay wants major sellers and wants retail. I keep thinking, “why would a major retail seller need eBay?

Don’t think of eBay (or the coming ‘new’ eBay) as the old eBay you knew. Look at its ‘resources’ and ‘assets’, thinking of other ways they can be used without any allegiance to how things have been done in the past.

Then look at the public statements of the executives, their experience and history, their ‘heroes’/teachers/advisers. Successful military commanders study their enemies’ styles, strengths and weaknesses before doing battle with them. Successful business leaders do the same.

All sellers want the ‘eyes’ of potential buyers. If eBay buyer stats look good to major retailers (and Donahoe cuts prices to lure major sellers so they will post on eBay) a business case can be made. (No, the retailers would not drop their own standalone sites or other places where their products are sold.) This would be incremental business to retailers and to eBay.

Perhaps eBay will borrow a page from Amazon and begin to sell directly in selected product categories. eBay could contract out warehousing and fulfilment from the importers and manufacturers.

And the implication was made that this requirement would soon be imposed in the USA also.

And it appears that eBay is actively encouraging that all sellers use ‘free shipping’ at a time that oil prices are triggering increases from all shippers, including the USPS. Will this ‘free shipping’ change to an eBay requirement in the near future?

These changes don’t negatively impact eBay’s Cost of Doing Business. But they dramatically impact the Seller’s net profits. (seems to be the new eBay paradigm, page borrowed from WalMart)

You squeeze your customers for money, kick em around and give them no respect or customer service and this is what happens….quite common in most businesses. I’m not so sure that ebay wouldn’t have done a whale of a lot better without Whitman.

“I use my husband as a tester for everything, he hates using the computer, although brilliant, he is a total computer moron. He is perfect for my purposes. If he doesn’t throw the mouse, I know we have it right.”

LOL! I love that! It brought a smile to my face – just the image of it. :D