The new feedback system asks me to grade my seller on four characteristics of the transaction which, I presume, have been areas of highest concern in the old feedback system.

Why change?

"What was wrong with the old system," I hear you cry?  Well, it depends on your perspective, I suppose. Sellers required their customers to leave feedback before they would leave feedback for their customers, often came across as intimidating the customer into leaving a positive feedback, even if he was not completely satisfied with the transaction, for fear of retaliatory feedback from his seller.  Still, some brave souls would post the truth, along with the bold red negative symbol.  Some would ride the fence with the gray neutral, and still others would leave positive with less than positive sounding verbage.

Any potential customer could see the seller's feedback, but a fair amount of effort might be required to determine the less than satisfactory aspects of the transactions. 

Enter the STARS. 

Now, in an "anonymous" fashion, a customer can grade the particular areas of the transaction "honestly" without fear of retribution.

What do they mean?

STAR number 1: How accurate was the item description?

    Now this is very subjective.  If the item was photographed but the seller did not actually describe the item in words, how would I grade this?  I would have to grade it based on my expectation from the photograph.  Similarly, if the seller only described the item, but had no photograph, I would have to rate its consistency with how I pictured it in my mind.  Clearly, if the seller offers both, I will have a better chance of my expectations matching his description.  Still, I am saddened by the fact that they did not have a "better than expected" option.

STAR number 2: How satisfied were you with the seller's communication?

   Again, I don't know about you, but personally, I don't care to have sellers filling up my email box with a bunch of "communication."  I think the perfect seller sends exactly three pieces of communication -- an invoice, a notification of payment received and expected ship date, and notification of shipping, including Delivery Confirmation or tracking number.  I am not expecting a daily inquiry as to whether the package has arrived safely, or anything of that sort.  I do expect my seller to respond quickly to a question regarding the status of a shipment, about which I have received no communication.  So, if I am inundated with emails from my seller, I might not give him the highest grade in communication...I might feel he was wearing me out.

STAR number 3: How quickly did the seller ship the item?

   Now, eBay gives the seller a form to complete when listing his item.  One of the entries in this form is "handling time" or how long should the customer expect it to take before their item leaves the seller's hands? If the seller enters a 7 day handling time, and the postmark on my package is within that 7 business day time period, I have to grade him as a 5/5.  Maybe I wished he would have popped it in the mail faster, but he complied with his stated policy and I had an opportunity to agree to it before I bid.  I cannot, in good conscience, grade my seller lower, if I accepted those terms when I bid.  To get my 5/5 rating on this star, please just make certain you state your policy and comply with it.

STAR number 4: How reasonable were shipping and handling charges?

  Again, the seller should have these terms posted and I as the customer should exercise due diligence to ensure I agree with the listed shipping and handling charges before I bid.  Once I receive my shipment, I would leave a less than perfect star rating for any seller who charged me to ship Priority, but chose to ship First Class or Parcel Post, charged me for insurance, but did not insure, or charged me a handling fee to presumably cover careful, protective packaging, but who shipped my item carelessly wrapped.  Otherwise, they would get a 5/5 star rating on this one for me.

So everyone agrees with my view, right?

I suspect each of us has a different belief of what constitutes a grade of 5/5 in any given category.  And so, it is my humble opinion, that while the stars are new and shiny, their luster will fade as the many interpretations of the meaning of each star begin to show most sellers with better than middle of the road, but not perfect scores across the board.  And I, as a customer, will continue to look to the words of the feedback to gain the full picture of my potential seller.

I'm a seller too

As a seller, I know my stars are only within my control to a point. I must continue to provide the very best service I can, recognizing that while I strive for perfection, I will make mistakes.  Those mistakes, I expect, will be reflected in my four by five badge of stars.