Ebay Feedback

I know both buyers and sellers have problems on Ebay. The idea of feedback was actually a good one. It was supposed to expose the honest ebayers from the not so honest. Unfortunately I find that it is used for revenge...You kick my butt so I'll kick yours. I haven't sold anything on Ebay but I have bought a great deal. I ask many questions before I bid. I always pay immediately after an auction. If I have a problem with a seller I try and resolve it before I have to go to Paypal. When I have gone to Paypal it has been resolved in my favor. Yet, there are those that feel they need to twist things around and leave negative feedback. As a buyer I am not so concerned because 98% of my feedback is exceptionally positive. I am concerned about selling. If I decide to sell I know the negative feedback will come back to haunt me.

As much as I want to leave negative feedback sometimes I have learned to do so invites trouble.

What do you think about the feedback system?

I think it is a completely useless system. I think feedback should be blind until both the buyer and the seller post, or until the time limit for leaving feedback is passed.

So often I see sellers with positive feedback that says very negative things in the comment- most likely out of fear of the revenge feedback.

Half.com used to have a 1-5 feedback system, instead of just good/bad. A 4 was considered good feedback and a 5 was above and beyond. So there was a way to say good, but not great. The numbers were averaged together, but even bad feedback, a 2, did not have to be terrible feedback, a 1. When ebay took them over they went to positive/negative and I stopped selling for a while. It is worthless because of the revenge feedback.

I particularly hate sellers who say they will not leave feedback until after the buyer has. The seller should leave feedback first. They already know if the buyer paid promptly. The buyer is the one who needs to wait and look at the product.

I agree with what you said about the retailation negatives. I only have one negative from a seller who did just that after I gave the seller about a month to correct her mistake, then gave her a negative...she was pretty loony too, and now is not selling eBay, so we all are better for it! The rating system surely serves a purpose, but it isn't a perfect system. You can usually tell the retailation negatives vs. the true negatives though if you do a little research on the seller/buyer history. I am also more of a buyer than a seller, and I do think sometimes people try to take advantage of some sellers, try to get things for a reduced price after the sale,etc. I guess being a seller is a bit more risky! [img]eek.gif[/img] Just have to make sure you state everything and SAY you aren't an expert if you are not an expert in whatever area the item you are selling is in. Overall eBay has been a very positive experience for us! [img]cool.gif[/img]

Shelly

The feedback system has problems. I had 2 negative e-Bay experiences where I got a refund. I thought one seller was particularly bad because my retired glassware was packed in paper and came broken. Who in the world would pack stemmed glassware in paper? I was so disappointed because those glasses would have completed a set for me. Since I got my money back from the shipper which was a HUGE hassle, I didn't leave negative feedback. I will never buy anything from that seller again.

I buy a lot of artisan jewelry on e-Bay and it is hard to tell the quality of the work. I use the feedback more to RAVE about some fabulous artists. If people give glowing reviews, I usually am more inclined to bid.

I have not had any negative feedback when I sell. If you communicate well and ship quickly, problems are limited. I have sold some used AG items and some brand new AG items. I was very careful to fully describe the used items so there were no surprises on the part of the buyer.

Good Luck!

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ October 07, 2005 10:28 AM: Message edited by: judiaci ]</font>

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Originally posted by MapleLeaf:
posted by Skittl1321 October 07, 2005 08:24 AM:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif"> I particularly hate sellers who say they will not leave feedback until after the buyer has. The seller should leave feedback first. They already know if the buyer paid promptly. The buyer is the one who needs to wait and look at the product.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I totally agree with you on this. I had one seller who told me in his email that he would leave feedback after I left mine first. I had an issue with the shipping cost so I would have given him a neutral. </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">It is call feedback "extortion" for sellers to withhold feedback until the buyer leaves it first. However, it is also ebay protocol for the seller to wait to leave feedback until *after the buyer has notified them that they received the item* (not just upon receiving prompt payment). An ebay transaction is not complete until the seller knows the buyer has the item. The seller is not expected to leave feedback first without some sort of contact with the buyer (sometimes the only way they know is because the buyer leaves feedback first).

Em

How about sellers that take a month or more to leave feedback?

I have a thing going now about a broken item that I received. The seller could care less. Told me it was my problem. I have turned it over to pay pal, but who know what will happen. I will leave a negative feedback for this seller, and of course she will give me one (my first). There should be a way that if the seller or buyer is really in the wrong they can not give negative feedback to the innocent. That is what defeats this action. The rotten apples wreck everything.

Mollygirl...That is exactly my point. I have negative feedback from people who were in the wrong just as Paypal attested to. It really is unfair to the people who are honest.

Quote:

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Originally posted by MapleLeaf:
posted by Skittl1321 October 07, 2005 08:24 AM:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif"> I particularly hate sellers who say they will not leave feedback until after the buyer has. The seller should leave feedback first. They already know if the buyer paid promptly. The buyer is the one who needs to wait and look at the product.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I totally agree with you on this. I had one seller who told me in his email that he would leave feedback after I left mine first. I had an issue with the shipping cost so I would have given him a neutral. I knew if I did that I would have received a negative from him. It was the tone of his email. Never plan to buy from him again though.

Nia [img]smile.gif[/img] </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I hate it when they do this - you can pretty much bet the feedback you receive is the same as what you give so I just don't leave feedback for these sellers.

Well, I think people need to know if a seller or a bidder is bad... if they retaliate, so be it... atleast people will know looking at their feedback that I was indeed the one telling the truth... I have a few negative feedbacks, and all the people that retaliated are no longer registered users!
Most ebayers will see that the negatives or neutrals left were from ppl that also have negatives themselves, etc

Ebay has a rule against unfair shipping prices. You should be able to report the auction to ebay.