DSR's are the star rating system that ebay put in place in the feedback area of each user's page. See the final comments stars ***** at the bottom of this guide.  Keep the bargains alive on ebay.

The star ratings are an anonymous way for buyers to rate a seller in four areas.

1. Item as described.  You may rate a seller on how you feel an item was described based on a five star rating system. 

I have read many feedback files and DSR ratings to write this guide. 

***Keys to buyers:  Please be cautious how you rate a seller's description. Most seller's use the manufacturer's     description to write a listing on ebay.   Be careful when rating a seller in this area. First of all, in any situation where you would ask an opinion or take an account, everyone would have a mental picture of what they would think happened or what they would think an item would look like, but what we "think" doesn't make that a fact.

BE KIND TO YOUR SELLER. Dont rate a seller's description based on what you may think. Read it carefully. I know we are all in a hurry these days but give the seller some help in this area. They do the best they can.

2. Communication.

I know that many seller's just do not communicate. I am a buyer as well as a seller on ebay and i know i have sent many emails to get no reply. Give the seller a chance. Put yourself in the seller's place. If you dont get any reply after several tries then i would say that a five star may not be appropriate but take everything into consideration before rating anything under a 5 star.  I think this rating speaks for itself.

3. Shipping Time.

One thing i have observed over the ebay site is less than five star ratings on shipping time. Keep in mind that "shipping time" is meant to be the time from when you paid for your purchase to the time that the buyer sends the purchase out. Shipping times SHOULD NEVER be the time it takes for the post office or carrier to deliver the product. That is out of the hands of the seller, yet i see many ratings that reflect this.

Please be fair to your seller. A seller has no control over the time the post office takes to deliver items. Weather conditions as well as distance can play an important role in this matter. BE FAIR. Don't rate your seller on the post office ratings or the carrier ratings but rate your seller by the time it takes to actually get your package mailed from the time you have paid for your item.

4. Shipping and Handling Charges.

This is the DSR that i see over the ebay site as having the largest problem.

BUYERS: PLEASE NOTE THAT SELLER'S HAVE NO CONTROL OVER THE COST OF SHIPPING.

Carriers like UPS, Federal Express, and the United States Postal Service continue to raise their rates. It is out of the control of the consumer, including the seller as to the high cost of shipping. PLEASE BE FAIR TO YOUR SELLER.  Don't punish the seller because of these high rates. For the most part, most sellers do their very best to shop the best rates for their buyers.  BE FAIR.

*********The bottom line is, be fair to your seller. If you came to the ebay site to buy and found no sellers on the site where would you be then doing business. Don't try to put your seller out of business. By giving the seller a good rating, you could actually be saving yourself money. Yes, that is right.

*********Ebay gives seller's a discount on rates for having high DSR ratings. These savings in ebay fees will be passed on to the buyers. If you rate your seller with bad ratings, the costs could actually go up on items due to higher ebay fees.

*********BE FAIR. Keep your sellers selling and keep your sellers in business by giving ratings that you yourself would like to receive if you were selling.