Two major differences between an auction and an e-commerce site:

A real auction house charges a buyer premium (normally 10% of the final bid).
An online shopping mall charges the seller.
It would be nice to see eBay charge the bidder the final value fees for the auction.

A real auction house continues to take bids as long as bidders are bidding.
An online shopping mall ends the item when time expires.
It would be nice to have 30 seconds added to the clock if a bid came in within the last 30 seconds of the sale.

The second point would completely eliminate bid-snipers. Which, by the way, I can't stand because they get away with a winning bid that isn't the next bid increment. This isn't the Price Is Right, you shouldn't be allowed to outbid someone for a penny when the next bid should be $1 more! A real auction house would NOT allow this kind of baloney!

The second would also increase eBay's profit, especially if they do the first point! It also increases the seller's profit and promotes a bidding frenzy that could significantly raise the bids on an item.

All comments are welcome (well, most are anyway, you have something relavent to say)...

What criteria do you use to determine the DSR values given for a sale?

As a buyer I try to be realistic about charges and services. I don't expect to receive my items the next day, unless next day service is offered then I take into consideration the time of purchase. I do expect the shipping charges I pay to be spent on shipping (I also understand the meaning of handling charges). But if a seller advertises and charges for Priority shipping and sends the items 1st class mail with a $.42 stamp, that is just wrong!

This is what I have been seeing in my DSR:

I get dinged on description even though I post an description with an image of the item or of a similar item from the same pack of notes. How much more accurate can you get? Many sellers list notes as UNC when in fact they are A-UNC because of counting tics, minor bends and other deformations. Just because a note wasn't in circulation doesn't qualify it to grade UNC (same thing with coins). Okay, probably no-one will ever get a perfect 5.00 on description. It's all a matter of opinion.

I get dinged on communications even though I rarely get a question after the sale and always send a thank you or shipping email with 8 hours. How can that performance and rating be improved when 99% of the sales are email automated and sent instantly? If it doesn't pertain to the sale, don't rate it!

I get dinged on shipping time even though I ship 99% of the items purchased on the same or next day (depending on the time-of-day the purchase was made and some items require lead time which is stated in the listing). How I can ship any faster, ship it before it is bought? Why do buyers penalize sellers for the United States or foreign postal service delay in delivering items. The US buyers typically don't pay for priority mail and even so, most US items arrive with 3 days. I don't have a transporter so I can't beam you the items instantly. When a seller takes 2 or 3 days or worse, 1 or 2 weeks before mailing your item, that is the seller that needs to get dinged. If you buy it today and it ships tomorrow, there is little else the seller can do, give him some credit. Rate the seller's shipping time not the post office delivery time!

I get dinged on shipping and handling charges. I offer a single flat-rate for all items. I ship in a box with packing. I include holders to protect your notes. For international orders, I ship with priority or express mail (because this is the only option that PayPal offers for labels) and I charge exactly what the post office charges. Sellers that charge full shipping for every item, or ship using the lowest cost service when charging for the premium services are the one that should get penalized. You can always complain to the post office if you have some free time you want to waste, but if you don't like to pay $3.00 to have your $1.00 bank note shipped then buy more bank notes! My wholesalers sources typically charge $10.oo for shipping. So I never buy just $2.00 worth of supplies from them. Shipping charges are posted in the listing, if you don't agree with them don't buy! Rate the shipping charge to shipping cost or method!

As a buyer I take the all of the above into consideration when determining the rating I leave.

If the seller take 2 or 3 days to ship. Shipping time ding (1 point per day)!
If the seller charges me $6.00 for priority mail and ships using 1st class. Shipping charge ding (1 point per dollar difference)!
If the seller places my UNC notes in an envelope and they arrive damaged. Description ding (1 point per defect)!
If the seller take 2 days to answer an email or doesn't completely answer the email. Communications ding (1 point per day or missed question)!

If the seller does everything as stated in his listing. 5.00 on all points!

If a seller has a $3.25 flat-rate shipping policy, I will try to purchase as much as I can to lower the cost-per-item shipping. Think about it. If you buy a $2.00 note from a seller, eBay has charged them anywhere from $.30 to $.75 for the privilege of selling the item. If you used PayPal to pay for the item, there is another $.50 charge to the seller. Then the seller gets dinged for shipping charges. All I can say is, buy more items! Get at least $10 worth of merchandise to make the sale worthwhile for you and the seller. Buying only 1 each of $1 and $2 items only benefits eBay and will force many good sellers go out-of-business.

If shipping is so much of a concern for you then think about this: do you really want your new $5.00 bank note shipped for $.50? You can bet it will be stuffed into an envelope and maybe wrapped only by the invoice. Chances are good that it will get damaged in shipping.

I charge $3.25 for shipping, I use a $.40 box, a $.10 bubble wrap and a $.30 holder. The post office charges $1.65 for a 4 oz package. That's $2.45 to ship one (1) bank note and doesn't include tape, paper, ink and the time to pack it.