The great ebay feedback debate. Your opinion?

[disneysteve]

Ebay is doing themselves in with some of their policy changes. There are a bunch of ebay-like sites coming out that I'm sure will quickly close the gap on Ebay.

The ironic thing is that lots of sellers say they are going to switch from ebay to Craigslist. Apparently they aren't aware that ebay is already a part-owner of Craigslist. I'm sure if they see their business migrating that way, they'll end up acquiring the company. Besides, I was just reading the Smart Money article about CL and it has nothing on ebay. Based on this article, I'd want to have nothing to do with CL. I'll stick to ebay.

[Exile]

Whether I'm a buyer or seller my inclination is to leave feedback immediately after the deal is completed, trusting that the other party will reciprocate if they haven't already gotten the drop on me.

[vistashell]

I'm sorry if this has been mentioned in the thread already, but if you've heard, eBay is rewriting their feedback rules to prevent some of the more common feedback abuse by sellers - practices that have been bothering buyers for years now.

The practice in question is leaving negative retaliatory feedback after a paying buyer leaves feedback expressing their dissatisfaction with the seller.

I had this happen to me once, when I purchased an eBook that I thought was a total waste of money. I paid instantly when I purchased the eBook and I was more than friendly in my contact with the seller. I expressed my dissatisfaction, I was not contacted regarding a refund, and I proceeded to leave negative feedback for the seller.

Two days later this gentleman left me a negative feedback as well, alleging that I was unreasonable, unwilling to compromise, and a total idiot (in nicer terms).

It's about time eBay steps in and prevents this kind of garbage from occurring all over the community with the less scrupulous sellers.

[disneysteve]

It's about time eBay steps in and prevents this kind of garbage from occurring all over the community with the less scrupulous sellers.

The problem is the new rules punish EVERYBODY, not just the bad sellers.

[disneysteve]

Whether I'm a buyer or seller my inclination is to leave feedback immediately after the deal is completed

That's the crux of the debate: when is the deal completed? Is it after the buyer pays or is it after the buyer receives the item? I say it is after the buyer receives the item and is satisfied with it.

[kimiko]

I only sell on half.com, which negates the risk of non-payment and listing fee, etc... Every seller pay the high commission rate.

As a buyer, I leave feedback when I receive the item.

As a seller, I leave feedback when I hear from the buyer, which are often through a feedback. I don't do retaliatory negative feedback since I'm not out to scam my buyers in the first place. When I ship an item, I also notify the buyers with the tracking number so it's hard for the buyers to claim INR. The only time I would ever leave a negative is if a buyer is out to scam me and that has not happen yet. Everyone there have been wonderful and I'm always available to communicate so people don't have problems with me either. But Half.com doesn't have the same environment as the main Ebay site since people selling on there are mainly for asset recovery rather than for profit, so there's less incentive to con someone.

I noticed that in quite a number of listings on Ebay, the sellers have threatening messages that pretty much said that if they don't get a positive feedback, they're going to leave a negative feedback. It's one of the reason, I don't transact through Ebay, because it looks like the sellers are not held accountable.

I would be willing to buy something from people with less than perfect rating, as long as the comments on the negative don't reflects actual faults of the sellers. I read the negative comments extensively, from both sides so I know how the issue is resolve and base my decision on that.

Most of the time though, I just forget to leave feedback and the link for it disappeared by the time I remember.

[Exile]

That's the crux of the debate: when is the deal completed? Is it after the buyer pays or is it after the buyer receives the item? I say it is after the buyer receives the item and is satisfied with it.

Interesting point, disneysteve. As a seller, I consider the deal consummated when I have received payment, the buyer receives the item, and I have confirmed that (s)he is satisfied.

BTW there is an "eBay style" company in the Philippines called Auction.ph. They have an escrow system where the buyer pays Auction.ph who in turn holds the payment for the seller until the buyer confirms receipt of the item and is satisfied with its condition. At that point the Auction.ph releases the payment to the seller. I like this concept.

[chumlyb]

I haven't sold on ebay for years though I did sell full-time in the late 90s. I always left feedback for buyers when I received their payment (by check, money order or cash - it was BPP - before Paypal). The practice of leaving feedback only after the buyer did is something that became more common after I stopped selling. As a buyer I don't like it and don't agree with the reasoning. I always believed that a buyer had "done their job" by paying. I have a hard time buying into the reasoning that what they think about the transaction - in the form of feedback - has any bearing on their performance as a buyer.

Ebay was a much friendlier, more personal marketplace in those days. I had nothing but fun (except for packing and shipping!) as a seller. I didn't hassle people about paying asap, I never held a check (and in over 2000 transactions had only one bounce and was reimbursed by the buyer for the charges), and I made a number of "ebay pals". Many of the changes have made it much more impersonal and much less fun in my opinion. Ebay policies, designed to keep seller and buyer apart, and seller attitudes, reflected in their warning-filled listings, are a real turnoff.

Truth be told, I'm not nearly as good about leaving feedback as a buyer as I was as a seller. When I was selling I was on ebay all day long. Now I'm not. If I remember I will leave it but that's a big if. Also if I notice a seller doesn't have much feedback yet I try to make a point to leave some. And if I happen to notice that they left some nice feedback I'll try to leave some for them.

[disneysteve]

The practice of leaving feedback only after the buyer did is something that became more common after I stopped selling. As a buyer I don't like it and don't agree with the reasoning. I always believed that a buyer had "done their job" by paying. I have a hard time buying into the reasoning that what they think about the transaction - in the form of feedback - has any bearing on their performance as a buyer..

You have to realize that you were selling at a time when ebay wasn't overrun with scammers. Sellers today have to put up with much more fraud and abuse. I've been selling since 1997 and have definitely seen the changes over time. Ebay has gradually made the system more and more protective of buyers and less and less protective of sellers. What they seem to fail to realize is that without sellers who feel safe and confident doing business on ebay, the site will be out of business.

[sweeps]

Seller beware

[disneysteve]

sweeps, that is just one of many, many, many reports of scams being perpetrated on ebay against honest sellers. Sellers essentially have no recourse. Now, we won't even be able to leave negative feedback in cases like this to warn other sellers.

[Pitman]

I've been a eBay member since July 1999, and since then I've followed the same feedback procedure. I win an item, seller sends the item, either he gives me feedback when I send the money via paypal, or back then money order, then when the item arrives, I leave the seller positive feedback.