eBay now automtically awarding 5 stars with their new DSR policy

Hey guys,

As some of you may have heard, eBay has recently amended their DSR policy to instantly award any sellers who offer free shipping with 5 stars.

At first glance, I thought this was a good idea; sellers offering free shipping SHOULD be rewarded, but then I thought: Where does this leave all other sellers who are not offering free shipping?

Would buyers ever want to award sellers 5 stars if they had to *shock horror* cover their own shipping costs?

Is eBay sending out the wrong messages about sellers who are unable to offer free shipping?

What about global sellers who ship internationally, or sellers who offer large items with hefty shipping costs?

Will this new policy affect your business?

You make some very good points Alice, in fact I was only just talking about this with someone yesterday.

I think there is a chance it could create an environment which almost forces sellers to add the free shipping option, as buyers may well start being even harder on those that are charging for shipping and marking them down.

Fingers crossed that it doesn't have any effect, and good old fashioned speedy delivery keeps customers happy!

I'll be personally watching our DSR ratings to see what, if any effect it is having on our score, and will just have to streamline our shipping model if it does start to impact our score, but no changes planned at this stage.