Buyers: What are your expectations from a sale to give a seller top marks?

Hi Buyers, just like any Seller, I'm concerned with keeping my FB and DSR's as high as possible. As all eBay Sellers know, lowered FB and DSR scores result in lost revenue (through lowered search results etc.), and many people rely on the extra eBay income in these tough times. Many honest eBay sellers are being forced out of the system by seemingly arbitrary feedback and DSR's. Sellers and Buyers, IMO, need to get on the same page about this issue. Honest sellers leaving eBay over this is certainly not good for honest buyers. As anyone in sales knows, the key to buyer satisfaction is about managing their expectations. So, I'm curious about a few things. 1). For item description, what is more important, written description or photos? What would cause you to give a seller less than 5 stars for "Item as described"? What is the most important thing about a listing to help you have a good idea of what to expect? 2). Communication. What are your expectations from the Seller? What would cause you to give less than 5 stars? 3). Shipping Time. What would cause you to give less than 5 stars? 4). For shipping and handling fees, what is more important, "free" shipping or actual shipping price? Will you ding a seller's shipping cost stars if they add handling fees? Do you rate "free shipping" higher? What would cause you to give a seller less than 5 stars on Shipping & Handling Charges? And along with the new feedback forms, what would cause you to give an Outstanding? Or a Poor? Are the new feedback forms too long for you to bother with? What circumstances, in your opinion, deserve a negative or a neutral? When a seller has their terms of service in their listing, i.e. NO RETURNS or "Returns happily accepted", does this influence whether you bid or not? Does this influence your comfort level in contacting the seller if you have a problem when you receive an item? What terms of service in a seller listing would inspire the most confidence? If you have a problem when you receive your purchase, what is your first method of reacting? And why? Do you read Seller's feedback if they have less than 100% FB? Has a Seller's feedback or DSR's ever made you change your mind about bidding? What makes a 5 star, outstanding, positive feedback experience, to you?|||You posted too many questions, it's confusing to us simple-minded buyers! I'm only half-joking. Why not pick an area you're especially interested in, and post a couple of questions in a new thread?|||I expect a seller to post correct info and pictures of the item in question, to ship fairly quickly when listing ends a to have okay ship prices (I generally know about what shipping will be and I don't leave bad marks if I agree to shipping charges by bidding). I have never left bad feedback for any of my sellers and have never left less than 5's across the board. I try to be proactive on selecting sellers. If something sounds to good to be true, it generally is. "Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."|||OP, I was able to look at some of your completed listings. You have lovely items. I can't imagine anyone finding fault with your listings. You photograph as if there's no description, and describe in great detail. Your shipping prices are ridiculous, though. They are WAY too low! But I think you know just what your doing.|||your = you're|||I buy as well as sell. As a buyer, I give 5 stars if i'm happy with the transaction and there is no problems. If I don't like pictures, description, they don't answer my questions or I don't agree with shipping charges then I would not buy in the first place. As long as they meet all the terms...ship within correct timeframe that they stated and item is like it says it is...then 5 stars all around.|||I rate DSR's like an Olympic ice skating or gymnastics event. The seller starts out with all 5's and is only deducted if there is blatant negligence on the seller's part. Description - If the description isn't clear, or if the description and pictures contradict each other, I don't buy it. Problem solved. Communication - All I really care about is being notified when my item ships. Shipping time - If the item is tendered for shipment in the stated time frame, the seller has done his/her job. If priority mail takes 4 days instead of 3 to get to me, that's not the seller's fault. Shipping charges - This should be a non-issue. I know what the shipping charges are before I buy. Complaining about it afterwards is, in my book, malicious buying.|||As long as my item comes "as described," in a reasonable amount of time, which for me is about two weeks, and the seller answers my questions in a timely manner, again about 2 or 3 days, seller gets a positive and five stars. I look at the total cost of the item plus S&H. If this is satisfactory, if the item comes again "as described," I don't even look to see what the actual cost of shipping was. Immediate five stars The only communication I expect is the invoice unless there are problems. Immediate five stars. No need for immediate feedback. Matter of fact, I sincerely dis-like getting a green donut just for paying promptly. That is my obligation. I prefer getting that green donut when I have informed my seller that I am happy with my purchase at which time I leave them a positive and don't care if they respond back. I don't buy anything online with the expectation of quick or immediate shipping. I am fully aware of the fact that many sellers actually have a life outside of e-bay and the internet. They do not, nor do I expect them to, sit in their chairs just waiting for me to ask questions or when the auction is over, immediately jump to getting my item shipped. I have been shopping through the mail for over 60 years and quick shipping is not nor has not been the norm. Like buy today, ship tomorrow type of thing. I also honor the shipping terms that a company has. If they say 'allow two to three weeks for receipt of item,' and I decide to buy from them, would never complain about the time it took for them to ship. Any seller who delivers what they promised within their TOS, gets a positive and five stars. COYOTES RULE!!!||||||When a seller has their terms of service in their listing, i.e. NO RETURNS or "Returns happily accepted", does this influence whether you bid or not? Does this influence your comfort level in contacting the seller if you have a problem when you receive an item? This influences what I spend on an item, not necessarily my bidding. I am aware that if an item comes SNAD, I have recourse through e-bay and paypal for a resolution if necessary. But I would never consider returning an item to an E-bay seller simply because the color was a lighter pink than I EXPECTED or the item was too small if the measurements were clearly set forth. And since I rarely buy from anyone except smaller volume sellers, and rarely anything high priced, in over 700 transactions have probably only had five or six items that were not in perfect condition or as described. Several were not even significant enough to inform the seller or ding the stars. Several were with high volume sellers who simply did not bother to respond. In those cases, I gave a negative and went on. Just never shopped at their stores again. COYOTES RULE!!!|||Fawn, I'm just a buyer. I was mocking myself with that statement. Sometimes things don't "read" the way they were intended. Sorry if anyone else took it the wrong way.|||HRH, it is all good then. I rad other boards, that a lot of sellers post on and some of them say the exact thing about all buyers, They chose not to separate the good, the majority, from the few bad buyers.|||I don't think ebay would even exist if the vast majority of buyers and sellers weren't honest. It's not the gazillion normal transactions that are discussed on these boards. I think it's just the extremes.|||It really takes a lot for me to leave a NEG. The seller has to have attitude big time. I have put up with a lot from sellers, mainly because they are human, like I am. I do not care to think of them as an Ebay company. Shipping is something that I rarely leave less than five stars for, Life is too short to be bothered, unless the item doesn't come or is not as described. I do check pages now, I buy a lot of pattern books, and I have received a couple with pages missing. That is worse than the last page of the novel torn out!!!!!!!! One seller was great, she refunded for that item. The other ignored two emails one week apart, so there was time. Guess who got the POS. Smoke smelling items are Ok, to a point, So is other odors, to a point. getting something that smells like animal urine and the seller saying NO REFUNDS, was about to lead to her demise. She changed her mind when she found out the rules of Paypal and SNADS. I never even notice the NO REFUNDS. I will get my item as described or the seller will have to refund and take the return. But then again, most of my sellers do not have such words in thier auctions in the first place, They are good sellers and know better and know they are imperfect and can and will make mistakes, so they leave room for a buyer to work with them. If I have a problem transaction, my first mode, is to think of the NEG I will leave. But those are just thoughts. The first thing I actually do, is figure if it really matters. If so, I contact the seller. If not, I just get on with life. As for leaving feedback, especially NEG, it takes me a week to get there, after I have decided to leave that. I can rethink a situation, until I don't care, and I will just let it go. I figure they are human. So if I have left a NEG or NUET, the seller needs their buyers warned. Sometimes I won't even leave FB, because the transaction was not fulfilled. A couple sellers no longer had the item, were sorry and refunded. I just could not leave a POS, it was not POS to me, to have to bid, let the seller essentially hold my money, until they let me know, but then again they are imperfect so it is not a NEG either. And I wouldn't hurt those sellers with a NUET, because of Ebays convoluted ideas of NUET. Sellers can leave FB for me when and if they want to. I don't care. I do try and leave at least one per week for my sellers so they get the Fb number and credit. Plus, I buy so much, that I just cannot leave it for all transactions. If they sell a few items, I generally will leave Fb for all but not DSRs. I do those for one item. I do feel that Ebay has the right idea about the Fb, the bad sellers are slowly getting out of here and most of my sellers have 100% FB. So it is working.|||Thank you all for the responses, I appreciate the time it took you to answer in full! HRH, I only charge actual shipping! Or less. I often pay for DC or insurance out of my own pocket. I feel it helps build buyer confidence. I even send scans of my receipts! I got burned on a few sales that I stupidly started low, but on higher sales, I think it was the right thing to do. If shipping costs less, I refund to their Paypal. But it usually costs more than I quote. That might be bad (from a business perspective) but it seems to work for the eBay model Buyers have even offered to pay the additional charge without me asking, and while I appreciate that, I stick by my original quote. I know I asked a lot of questions but I'm very interested in the Buyer's perspective. No need to answer all questions! I also buy, and have never left anything less that positive and 5 stars across the board. But I have read enough horror stories on the boardseBay to be concerned about what additional steps I can take (if any) to avoid negs and dings as a seller.