bigbossman 

Sez you. It was far from devastating for me, it was so glorious I'm still surprised I didn't die right then. And it has been getting better ever since.

John E

As a 100+ item buyer, I have had very good experience with eBay, and I have left and received positive feedback. The one glaring exception was an automotive repair CD advertised as model-and-year specific but actually basically generic "car repair 101." In an emotional outburst, I left negative feedback before contacting the seller, but after he and she (husband-wife team) had left me positive feedback. We ended up working through Square Trade to get all feedback nullified, the CD returned, and my purchase price refunded, at a cost of $20 to them on a $17 sale. I should have contacted the seller before leaving negative feedback, and I'll bet that seller has learned never to give positive feedback to a buyer without first receiving a positive arse-kiss as a seller.

SingeDebile

In theory this is true, however as has been illustrated here it is not that simple

the only problem with this is when the buyer decides to give negative feedback AFTER you have already given positive feedback for something that was the fault of the buyer to begin with, such as complaining shipping was too much when they didnt ask before bidding. This is the fault of the buyer, but they refuse to admit it and use the power of negative feedback to try and strike a blow.

by waiting till you see the customer is not going to pull a back stabbing maneuver before leaving your feedback as a seller, you are just giving yourself an ability to defend yourself.

Little Darwin

Then it is up to you to compose your postings in a way that they attract better customers. (I know this isn't possible).

Also, what is the cutoff for losing selling rights? I know I have seen sales from people with feedback ratings of 98 or less... And frankly, I view anyone with any negatives as suspect (although I have bought from sellers with several negatives when I see the negatives are from flakes, or that they are rare, especially recently).

And even though I do closely inspect sellers with any negative feedback, I would really love a more honest feedback system, not one based on fear of negative feedbacks from sellers for no other reason than revenge (and that is exactly what it is).

Maybe what Ebay needs to do is keep feedback invisible until both sides have posted their feedback, or the time has passed for feedback to be posted (so feedback would count even without return feedback)... now THAT would be the fair way to do it.

Under that type of scenario, a good seller may be closer to 95% than 100% feedback, but it would then really differentiate the sellers (and buyers) based on the transaction, and not the response to the feedback they left.

BTW - I have 100% feedback (mostly buying) with 173 positives from different members... 234 total positives... 51 for selling (about 2/3 were eTopps cards). I will be upset when I receive my first negative, but frankly, I am surprised I haven't hit at least one flake yet. Of course always paying within a few hours of closing and always shipping by the next business day and being honest with the sale description doesn't hurt.

I am interested to see what Ebay does in the long term. Making it easy to have a reputation as a good seller without stifling factual neutral or adverse opinions would be great!

Little Darwin

I just read a message on Ebay...

Part of the change will be that buyers can ONLY receive positive feedback!

I am happy with this. Sellers, be prepared to leave feedback immediately after you get your money, as it will do you no good to withhold it!!!!

cyclotoine

Well as a buyer and seller with 100 percent positive feedback I have to disagree with Stacy. I would say I get feedback from the seller for one out of 10 purchases before I leave feedback. Hell I even receive no feedback from seller who just don't care apparently. I always accepted that the seller waits for you to give you final seal of approval. You can't guarantee someone hasn't emotionally overbid the item and then is horrified and when they receive it panic and make crazy demands, you just never know. If a buyer has a legitimate claim for returning the item I am happy to take it back. Once I sold a set of skewers on ebay and when I was packaging them I cracked a piece of the plastic wing-nut. I contacted the buyer and refunded their money.
Since this practice of sellers waiting for the buyer to leave feed-back is so common I just have been doing the same. I have never left feedback in haste, I once left negative feedback after a week of emails with a seller that would not make good on their blunder, and I had a legitimate claim but no protection because I sent a money order. If you pay with paypal you are protected to some extent.

Stacey

Boo-Hoo.

You're gonna have schmucks in every aspects of life. Listen, this is just a little tic mark on a computer log file somewhere, it ain't the ark of the covenant... Only feedback, it has no bearing on your credit score. Personally, I'm more concerned with doing what is right than having a retaliatory option.

Stacey

Tell me, if everyone drank the orange kool-aid, would you?

cyclotoine

it's about having a defense mechanism. If you have left feedback and the buyer becomes unreasonable and you try to appease them. You have no way of letting others know that. I still don't see why it is right to leave feedback immediately. I am happy when the buyer is happy and I won't know that they are truly happy until they tell me so. I will do everything I can to make the buyer happy if they are not.

my point is it's common practice, if you are going to avoid sellers who do this you are going to be cutting out 80 percent of ebay sellers. If everyone else is drinking the kool-aid and they are not getting sick and I am thirsty and happen to like orange kool-aid then yes I will drink it.

Stacey

It's not about you being happy. The sooner you realize that the quicker you'll begin to recover from the kool-aid.

It's about a smooth and proper transaction. What more can I say?

cyclotoine

I don't see anything unsmooth or improper about it. Others seem to agree. Some people feel one way some the other. And so it goes.

Stacey

Can we agree to disagree so I can go to bed?

cyclotoine

I think we did.

Stacey

Cool... 'nighters.

Little Darwin

Did y'all miss my post...

It won't matter soon since buyers will only be able to get positive feedback.

But, can I agree to disagree too? I have a need to fit in.

BikeManDan

Im all for stopping retaliatory feedback. I was the victim of retaliatory feedback and was helpless to do anything about it. I'm now fearful of ever leaving negative feedback again.



A change for sellers that I'd really like to see: being able to list an item with a buy it now price and have the BIN price stay even after someone bids on the item.

nowheels

Now that would be an improvement worth having.

Otis

I've been selling on ebay for about ten years. I've always left feedback for the buyer upon shipping the item. That way I can put the date shipped right on their feedback so they know the purchase is on the way. I've never worried about getting a negative because I make sure there's not going to be a reason to get one.

With two accounts and a combined total of around 10,000 sales I've really not had that high percentage of schmucks over the years, hardly any really. Way less then when I worked in a retail store and would have a few a day. Some of it has to do with what you are selling. Cool stuff attracts mostly cool people, I guess. Mainstream crap brings in the dicks.

sonatageek

So how exactly is RAISING the final value fee on items that sell for less then $25.00 to 8.75% gonna help me when I go to sell some small bike or computer items? They are raising the fee on these lower cost items by 67%.

So I have a listing fee, an 8.75 percent final value fee and then maybe a Pay Pal fee.

Talk about nice and friendly for the little guy.

redxj

I am going to have to declare Shenanigans on EBay. I am reading some of the other new info and they are lowering insertion fees, but raising final value fees a lot for the $25 and under fees. Currently if the item sells for .01-25.00 they take 5.25%. The new final value fee will be 8.75%! If it ends from $25-1000 they take the 8.75% of 25 ($2.19) then 3.5% (old # 3.25%) of the remaining closing value balance. So for any item that sells for $25 dollars or more they are getting $0.88 more than they currently get. But, they give us a $0.05 price break on the insertion fee.

Also, for a reserve auction even if your item sells they are now keeping the reserve fee unlike before.

Shenanigans!

SweetLou

For all you sellers that wait until the buyer posts a feedback, what do you do if the person is a flake and leaves a neutral or bad feedback? Do you retaliate with a negative? Why do you retaliate? That is how the person felt, even if that person was wrong. You can make a comment to their feedback to explain so everyone can see that the person was a flake.

When I see a negative, I read what the person said and I check their other feedbacks to see if the person is a flake. I don't expect any seller to have 100%. A couple of negatives won't bother me too much.

And why should only the seller have a defense mechanism? With a few negatives, you will still be able to sell your items, but according to the posters on eBay's forums, it sounds like 1 negative feedback for a buyer and that person is prevented from bidding. Not on everything, just from the sellers that say you must have so many feedbacks and no negatives, etc.

I have not bought many things on eBay and I only have 6 feedbacks given to me. I don't want a negative so that I can bid on the items that I want. If you mention that you only give feedback after receiving, I will not bid on your item. Basically because I won't feel right about you. I ask myself why this person is demanding a good feedback from me. They must have received a lot of negatives, there is probably a reason for this. Or is it because they want to have a 100% rating and know if they tell people how they will retaliate if they leave a negative, then a better chance of not getting a negative.

I am a good buyer, I pay within 10 minutes if I am at home when the auction is over. The most I have ever waited was about 4 hours, because I was at work when the auction ended, as soon as I got home, the money went to the seller.

I did my part of the transaction, my part is done. You should give me the feedback I deserve. You will get your feedback when your part is done. That is when I receive the item.

SweetLou

Yeah, I don't care about the shipping and handling charge. If I think it is too high, I just don't bid. Or my high bid will be less. I consider it part of the price of the item. I only bid on items that have a shipping price. No shipping price, no bid.

I have email sellers asking them what the shipping would be. Some have never responed, others said they don't know and won't know until the auction is over. How can I bid on an item then? I won't know what the final cost will be. I don't bid on these items also.

I also expect the seller to charge only the cost of shipping and handling. What I mean, is if the shipping is $1.00 and material is $1.00 then the cost of shipping should be close to this amount, since there are other costs, time, gas, etc. I don't expect the final cost of shipping to be $2.00, but I don't think it should be $50 in this example. Some do try to make money on the shipping. If I think this is the case, I don't bid. I see it as being dishonest.

cyclotoine

I am a frequent buyer and sometimes seller because like most people here you can't get rid of high end vintage on craigslist. I was not aware that buyers felt this way about sellers. Like I said I mostly buy and sometimes sell and I have always felt a seller is just in waiting for my feedback. A seller has no reason to leave negative feedback if you paid promptly and left negative feedback when you got your item so why all the worry? I have never worries about it. And I know I am coming off as the big bad immoral seller, but like I said I only very occasionally sell a few things. It's not like the seller is holding a guillotine over your neck waiting for you to leave negative feedback in case you leave a neutral. If there is an issue you both have not left feedback and the transaction has not been completed till any issue has been settled or the item is safely in the buyers hands and they are happy. So why does everyone want the seller to leave premature feedback? If there is a problem you are equals, both not having left feedback.

I will say that I will continue to be fine with sellers waiting to leave feedback. I am waiting on 4 iems to be delivered currently and have received feedback for none of those transactions and most of them I have been waiting for over a week but I consider 2 weeks a reasonable delivery wait. However, since it is becoming clear that buyers appreciate immediate feedback upon receipt of payment I think I will leave immediate feedback from now on as I feel my auctions are honest and my items well represented.

nowheels

Recently I changed over frames sizes from a 56 to 54 on all my bikes... needless to say I sold some of the frames on ebay (one was even a Litespeed). Most were paid promptly and I left positive feedback..... these were high ticket items, not one of the persons left a positive feedback and prior to the sale I had many emails with them regarding the frames and measurements. Needless to say I will not beg them to leave feedback, But I am still suprised that they did not.

As a buyer I do not complain until it has been 2 weeks, even if I did pay within the first 24 hours. Sometimmes ife does get in the way of shipping..... though I had one place tell me they could not ship an item bacause they had a problem with paypal..... needless to say I was not the only one that complained. They eventually had to refund my monies after 4 weeks of not shipping a cassette.... I got the part from Europe and it arrived in a week?

Stacey

No, didn't miss your post. I was just debating the 'Now' not the 'Tomorrow'

Sure, you can join the club


On the positive feedback only issue. I feel it sucks. It gives sellers license to give less than satisfactory service without fear of retaliation.