e-Bay, Feedback, and who goes first

[Tony Junior]

There has been a lot of discussion on eBay feedback here, i.e. should the seller leave feedback as soon as payment is recieved or should the seller wait for feedback from the buyer before leaving feedback.

When I joined eBay nearly 7 years ago and bought my first item, it was my understanding from reading the rules that as soon as the seller recieved payment he left feedback, and as soon as the buyer recieved the item and checked it, the buyer left feedback.

This was all according to the eBay contract between seller and buyer. This makes perfect sense as every business operates that way to one degree or another.

However, over the years, dingbats and idiots have corrupted eBay rules into a "tit for tat" method, which is understandable considering some of the junk that some sellers advertise as in "perfect condition," or even "as is" and gullible buyers wanting something for nothing.

I'm of the old school of thought on this. As a buyer, as soon as I pay, be it for junk or a great item, I have fulfilled my part of the contract and expect positive feedback then, not after the item arrives and I've left feedback.

But that isn't how it works any more, so one must adapt. Frankly, I think the system still works, and works well, no matter who leaves feedback first. Negative feedback is left by someone every day, for whatever reason. We've all seen it.

I'm proud of my 100% positive feedback, but I'm still just a buyer. I've yet to be on the sellers side, so that may change someday.

One seller I recently recieved my items from has come up with a possible good solution to his problem. This seller is pokermadness who has a 3999 score with a 98.1% rating. (Examples of a couple of negativves; "Company said 2 business days, it will be 4 business days.. TIME TABLE to keep.." from someone with 0 feedback, and my favorite, "Texas spell wrong." Give me a break!) Pokermadness put a large sticker on the outside of the shipping box that says in large letters: "DEAR CUSTOMER: THANKS FOR BUYING FROM US. WE HOPE YOU SATISFY WITH YOUR ORDER. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTION / PROBLEM, PLEASE CONTACT US BEFORE LEAVING ANY NEGATIVE FEEDBACK. WE WILL DO OUR BEST TO HELP YOU. THANK YOU AND LOOKING FORWARD TO SERVE YOU AGAIN!!!"

This won't stop the idiot with attrocious grammer who complained about the spelling of "Texas," or the guy who complained of 2 extra days, but it may help in the long run.

Sorry for the long post, but I just felt like venting about it this morning!

[arbycoffee]

TJ,

I leave it and do the very best I can for the buyer.

[Tony Junior]

TJ,

I leave it and do the very best I can for the buyer.

I think most do, Arby. However, I have started something that hasn't hurt me.

I keep a close watch on items I have bought, especially when it arrives. If the seller has not left feedback, I check the item, leave feedback, then
I 'contact seller about this item' from the item menu itsellf if they have not left feedback. Here is what I currently send them: "Positive feedback has been left. I would appreciate feedback also.
Many thanks!
brahe"

Also, when I pay for the item I send this note with the paypal notice, "Please email when shipped.
Positive feedback will be left upon arrival of goods. I have never left Negative or Netural feedback.
Thanks!"

I've only started doing this since joining PT. In the past I've had a couple of sellers that never left feedback. So far this is working.

[luckydog]

My feedback rating is close to 1,700. If everyone I sold to left feedback it would be closer to 3,000.

Many people just don't bother if they get their's first.

[slotter]

I leave positive feedback when I receive the item and am pleased with it and don't really much care if feedback is left in return or not...

[Tony Junior]

My little rant sounds like I've never been dissapointed in something I've bought off eBay.

I have --- but whose fault was it? MINE! Why? Because I was overanxious and didn't pay proper attention! Even then, after re-reading the item discription, the seller was correct in the discription. How then could I blame the seller since it was my fault?

But that hasn't happened in several years now. :smirk:

[dapperdan]

I have sold a few things on ebay and I usually don't like leaving positive feedback as soon as they pay. I usually wait about a week after they have received the item and then leave positive feedback (even if they have not left me feedback yet).

In one case I am glad I did because I sold a slot to a guy (new ebay user, feedback of 0) and he could not figure something out on the slot so he sent me an e-mail asking about it and left be a negative on the exact same day. I went ahead and sent him a nice e-mail only telling him how to fix the problem (simple fix that takes about 1 minute). I never heard back from him so I sent him another e-mail asking if he got it working ok without even talking about the negative feedback he left me. He never replied to any of my e-mails and I finally sent him one asking if he would withdraw the negative feedback and I still did not hear from him.

I thought it was very unfair for him to leave me a negative feedback on the exact same day he sent me an e-mail asking for help and never responding to my e-mails. The only leverage I had at this point was to leave him a negative feedback and send him another e-mail explaining the situtation and we could both withdraw our feedbacks. I never heard from him.

Because of things like this, I don't leave feedback as soon as they pay for an item, but I always do leave feedback usually within a week after they get the item.

[johntofva]

There are great reasons for both sides of this argument. But in my opinion the only reason to withhold feed back is to retain leverage. A leverage that can be used to coerce the buyer to leave feedback the seller wants.

I am sorry, but this is a unfair practice. The buyers have paid their money. And feed back is there only recourse for justice. With holding feedback robs the buyer of this justice. The buyer is no longer able to freely state there concerns because they have to worry about retribution.

Yes there are a lot of losers and thieves out there. But they are in the minority. By waiting to leave feedback the seller is:

1. A scam artist and further trying to influence the transaction.

2. A seller who believes everyone is out to get them; therefore tries to retain leverage so they can unfairly influence the transaction.

3. A honest seller who has had bad transaction. (There are very few of these people. Most people who do this are in the top two)

If ebay is going to rid itself of scam artist, it needs to adopt a policy that requires the seller to leave feedback before the buyer. I further believe that most of the scam artist are selling items that sell below $20 dollars. A price they know most people will not bother getting into a dispute over. Maybe a new system for more expensive items can be arranged.

I have resently dealt with a seller who refused to resolve any issues until you left a negative feedback. Once left he would leave you one and then ask for a mutual withdraw. He would of cource at this point resolve the issue, but not before this. He had learnt that by doing it this way he had to resolve fewer complaints. He further knew that most people would do nothing because they just didn't feel it was worth it. Or would buy into his lies about the whole transaction.


Okay.......okay.............I am off my soup box now. And hey!!! I feel better!!! LOL

[azlew]

Well Ebay makes it an interesting game don't they?

Take a seller that has say over 1000 feedbacks and is at 100 percent vs a seller that has 1000 feedbacks and is at 98 percent. Is the seller at 100 percent a better + safer seller to go with?

I say don't rush your judgement yet on that question. Take a good close look at the feedbacks and more than likely you will see that the 100 percent seller has paid Ebay the 20.00 or is it 25.00 now(?) to have the bad feedbacks removed. You really have to read into it closer. I happen to respect sellers that feel that it isn't a selling point to be at 100 percent and don't pay Ebay that crap fee to have the negative removed. Think about it : It is NORMAL to have negative feedbacks everyonce in awhile if you are doing lot's of business on Ebay. If I see a high number feedback seller with a number of feedbacks removed by Ebay then I tread very carefully.

Then there is the situation that happened to a member here a while back. They put up an item for sale that was well received but then it happened. A buyer within minutes of receiving the item left a negative feedback without any attempt to contact the seller etc. There was a motive for that bad feedback and it worked. That item is no longer available for sale simply because a buyer did not like it being offered. The seller refused to pay Ebay the 20.00 to fight it and so there you go. The seller got a negative and thus has decided not to offer the item any longer, the buyer I don't think they even exists any longer on Ebay and of course this great item is no longer available for sale.

At this point Ebay's system needs help.

[dapperdan]

I don't think waiting a week to leave feedback is a bad thing to do. Even after they pay you, you never know what can happen. They may reverse the charge if they used a credit card. They may have used a stolen pay pal or credit card (I have had this happen to me).

I always leave feedback but I don't think it is unfair to wait a week or so before I do it. Most of the time I leave postive feedback before they do. I just like to wait about a week before I do it. I don't think a seller should be forced to leave feedback as soon as they get payment.

[johntofva]

I agree dapperdan. I don't think waiting a week is a bad thing. And maybe what you do is part of a good solution. Maybe if they gave the seller two weeks to leave feedback and than let the buyer leave feedback.

[wolfsblood]

I have received negative feedback from a buyer for having to pay a customs fee, ruining my 100% rating, since then I leave feedback after I receive feedback because of all the people who don't fully read auctions before bidding.