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This is a guide to help you buy on eBay. This also includes information on Feedback, understanding sellers, solving problems, and detailed seller ratings (or DSR's). Reading this guide should give you basics on the non policy workings of eBay... things that might not be included in eBay's policies.

Basics of buying on eBay:

Imagine walking into a store, the store is massive. It has everything you could possibly dream of buying, and even more. The prices are great, much lower than any other store in your area. Instead of tromping through miles of endless isles you get to navigate the store sitting in a comfy office chair. Did I mention this store is based in your home? That is eBay. Ebay is a great place to buy anything you could possibly think of, from car parts, to antiques, to one of a kind items... you can find almost anything you can think of on eBay. Usually at a great price. You can save hundreds of dollars just by shopping on eBay compared to retail stores. Basically eBay is a wonderful place to shop. There are a few issues you should take into consideration when shopping on eBay...

Buying on eBay isn't the same as walking into your local Wal-Mart. Many sellers may be huge corporations, selling millions of items, and making millions. Others can be a single person running a small business out of thier home. Others may be a person getting rid of some old things they no longer want. Each purchase you make varies slightly due to who you are buying from. Things that may vary would be seller communication, shipping time, product being as described, and value of your shipping cost, among others. Sometimes mistakes are made and things don't go as planned. This is why eBay has a feedback system... which brings us to another part in this guide.

Solving problems, and Feedback: 

 Feedback is left when after a sale to rate a buyer and sellers performance. For the seller this would include how fast an item was paid for, if the buyer was reasonable, not a scammer, etc. For the buyer this would include if the item arrived, was it on time, was it in the condition stated, did the seller answer their questions? These would be all things to briefly include in your feedback. 

A buyer should always leave honest feedback... but if a seller doesn't meet your expectations, try emailing them to work out the problem before leaving negative feedback. This is the best way to get your problem fixed in a timely manner, without causing a problem between yourself and the seller. Most sellers realize they need their customers to survive, and often just made a simple mistake that can be fixed. Emailing them will bring the problem to their attention and allow them to fix the problem, leaving both the buyer and seller satisfied. If you email a seller and give them a chance to fix the problem, and you can't get a response, or they choose to not fix the problem, a negative feedback would be a reasonable choice.

Also realize that sometimes email can be lost, not make it to the recipient, or deleted by spam/junk mail filters. So be patient, and send a couple/few emails before leaving a negative feedback. If emailing directly doesn't get a response, try emailing directly through eBay. If you still don't receive a response a negative feedback would be the next step.

Understand that sometimes eBay sellers are a single person, not always huge companies with many employees. If someone can't get to their computer for a day, due to sickness, time constraints, family problems, or other various reasons that come up with life, your response may be delayed a day or two.

In conclusion, contacting a seller to fix a problem is always the best first option. It doesn't make sense to upset a seller by reporting them, and leaving negative feedback, then ask for their help. Obviously they will be less inclined to help you out. Usually most reasonable sellers will want to work out the problem to keep you as a customer.

Detailed Seller Ratings (DSR's):

DSR's show up next to a sellers feedback rating as stars, and a corresponding number rating in four different categories. Leaving DSR ratings... Like feedback you should be honest with your DSR ratings. They are annonomous, unlike feedback, so a seller won't know what you left. Detailed Seller Ratings, or DSR's are important to show how well a seller actually tries to make their customers happy. A seller can have 100% positive feedback but low DSR numbers. This would let you know what to possibly expect when buying from this seller. If they have a low rating in shipping time, you might want to be patient getting your item. Or if they have low communication ratings, you may not expect to get a response to your emails. Take this into consideration when buying.

If you like a seller and plan to buy from them again in the future, consider giving all 5 star ratings in each category. Sellers get discounts from eBay based on their DSR rating. Selling cost is a vital role in the selling price on eBay. If a seller gets a discount on their eBay fees, they will be able to offer a lower price to their customers. So leaving a low DSR rating for a seller you may buy from in the future may be costing you some money down the line... As well as other buyers.

Conclusion:

This guide just touches on a few of the many parts to buying on eBay. I hope by reading this you feel a little more experienced when making your purchases on eBay. Ebay is a great place to make your purchases. It helps greatly to be understanding with your sellers, remember we are all humans, and mistakes do happen... Its the difference between a good and bad seller on how the problem is fixed.