FeedBack changes on Ebay !!!

[DavidP]

Is this the end to retailitory FeedBack?

<span style="font-weight: bold">"Buyers will only be able to receive positive Feedback"</span>

Even though 9 times out of 10 an ebay transaction goes well ... with an honest seller ...

Will this mean that we will be able to post honest NEGATIVE FeedBack without the fear of retailiation now ?

I think a couple of well known names immediately come to light without having to mention that <span style="text-decoration: line-through">DOG</span> by name ...

http://pages.ebay.ca/sell/update08/rewards/index.html

[1937hd45]

It could be the start of sarcastic feedback. Your numbers are WAY OFF, personaly I've had 1 out of 999 that were problems, and they had 5 or less feedbacks at the time.

[Bhigdog]

When I sell on EBay I'm honest to a fault. I have 2 negative feedbacks. Both from sellers who sent GARBAGE and gave me a negative in retaliation. I say it's a positive change.........Bob

[LINC400]

I don't get it. What if you have a buyer that actually is a problem? You can't leave negative feedback?

[charlier]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: LINC400</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I don't get it. What if you have a buyer that actually is a problem? You can't leave negative feedback? </div></div>

It appears that EBay needs to enact a drug testing program for their executive decision makers.

How can they deny a seller the right to leave negative feedback if the situation warrants it????

They just removed one of the checks and balances of their system.

One of the last buyers I had on EBay was the "Buyer from Hell".

He won the auction, promised payment, did not send the payment, ignored my (business like) communications

requesting payment for over 6 weeks then threw a hissy-fit when I reported him as a dead-beat buyer and left him negative feedback.

This and other reasons are why I have stopped doing as much business on EBay as I used to do.

This latest change makes me wonder if using EBay more in the future will be worth it to me or not.

[Guest rickomo1]

the news is ebay is going to become a major seller on its own site selling used cars. we will see what happens next.

[Dandy Dave]

With what they seem to know about cars, I bet they'll loose their A$$. LOL, Dave!

[alsancle]

There is nothing more annoying to me on eBay then sellers that don't leave feedback until the buyer does. As a buyer I always pay immediately - that should be automatic A+ feedback. I would say 20-25% of the sellers don't leave feedback until after the buyer.

[LINC400]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: alsancle</div><div class="ubbcode-body">There is nothing more annoying to me on eBay then sellers that don't leave feedback until the buyer does. As a buyer I always pay immediately - that should be automatic A+ feedback. I would say 20-25% of the sellers don't leave feedback until after the buyer. </div></div>

I have to disagree there. 99% of the time, I am a buyer not a seller. I pay immediately for everything. However, several times the item I have received did not match the condition, pics, description of the listing so I complained. All but 4 of these were resolved amicably. My complaints were legitimate. But on the few items I sold, I made sure the buyer was satisfied before I left feedback because I did not want to leave positive feedback and then deal with someone unreasonable complaining and leaving negative feedback for me.

[buellhall]

New Member / Old Man

Unfortunatley we do not live in a perfect world, but if we were going to start throwing stones perhaps E-Bay is entirely the wrong target... I believe WE as consummrs/sellers, whether it be automotive parts or cars are the root cause of all this distrust/anomostity between one another. (stay seated relax!) We must try to band together as collectors of antique automobiles and establish new goals of professionalism in how we introduce our products/cars to the public. When we say an Antique auto is classified as a "Number 2" the car must meet those qualifications. We need to bring back to our organization the trust that has long been forgotten for the sake of a dollar. The last car I purchased fell well short (1939 Chrysler) of advertisted expectations. I have spent all winter getting the thing safe for road use! Perhaps just a bit of old fashioned honesty between ourselves would make not only our lives less stressful but could help E-Bay do their job more efficiently... just a thought!

[DizzyDale]

Dear 365,All good thoughts,i believe most antique auto owners,restorers to be straight shooters.I think the honesty issue arises when the e bay USED car guy gets into the antique auto business.diz

[Dave@Moon]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: alsancle</div><div class="ubbcode-body">There is nothing more annoying to me on eBay then sellers that don't leave feedback until the buyer does. As a buyer I always pay immediately - that should be automatic A+ feedback. I would say 20-25% of the sellers don't leave feedback until after the buyer. </div></div>

I had a buyer leave negative feedback because he didn't like the color of the envelope I used (seriously), and one who did so because he thought that it should take less than <span style="text-decoration: underline">three days</span> for media mail to arrive across 4 states. <span style="font-weight: bold">After you pay for an item there are still responsibilities you have as a buyer.</span> Leaving feedback for a buyer <span style="text-decoration: underline">before</span> he has the item in hand, and then <span style="text-decoration: underline">doesn't</span> acted like a jerk, is premature. Don't expect people to trust you as a buyer to be any more honest than people are as sellers. You can get taken either way.

Also most people who sell on eBay have lives. They're not lying around the house waiting for the next message to come in from PayPal so they can drop a line publicly thanking their customers. Leaving feedback takes time, and many (if not most) sellers (me included) leave it to do in large batches so that it can be done much more quickly by cut & pasting 20 or so at a time. That way we can still play with our kids and talk to our wives once and a while. If you're at the front end of my feedback leaving cycle, it's gonna be a few weeks before you get it. So what?

eBay isn't a feedback service, it's a purchasing network. No such network will be without flaws, and it strikes me as a pretty petty thing to worry about <span style="font-style: italic">when</span> you get credit for buying something. Worrying about not getting credit at all...., maybe.

Maybe.

[1937hd45]

I sell far more than I buy, the deal isn't done untill the buyer is happy and posts feedback. As soon as I see new feedbacks I post the buyers feedback. <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: LINC400</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: alsancle</div><div class="ubbcode-body">There is nothing more annoying to me on eBay then sellers that don't leave feedback until the buyer does. As a buyer I always pay immediately - that should be automatic A+ feedback. I would say 20-25% of the sellers don't leave feedback until after the buyer. </div></div>

I have to disagree there. 99% of the time, I am a buyer not a seller. I pay immediately for everything. However, several times the item I have received did not match the condition, pics, description of the listing so I complained. All but 4 of these were resolved amicably. My complaints were legitimate. But on the few items I sold, I made sure the buyer was satisfied before I left feedback because I did not want to leave positive feedback and then deal with someone unreasonable complaining and leaving negative feedback for me. </div></div>

[Jim Bollman]

I'm in the minority as a seller, and post feedback when payment is received. With only one exception when I didn't feel real good about the buyer. As far as I'm concerned when I have payment the buyer has done their part of the transaction. Maybe I have just been lucky but I have never had a problem. I see no reason to hold their feedback hostage.

Jim...

[alsancle]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Jim Bollman</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I'm in the minority as a seller, and post feedback when payment is received. With only one exception when I didn't feel real good about the buyer. As far as I'm concerned when I have payment the buyer has done their part of the transaction. Maybe I have just been lucky but I have never had a problem. I see no reason to hold their feedback hostage.

Jim... </div></div>

Somebody has to leave feedback first. If the buyer pays, then the only reason I can see for a seller to withhold feedback is to retaliate for negative feedback from the buyer. Out of the 400 or so things I've bought, the few times I was unhappy was because I didn't read the description with a microscope and I simply left no feedback. There was once where I didn't receive the item, the seller was withholding feedback on me and it wasn't worth the 15 dollars to have him give me a negative so I kissed the money goodbye.

[DavidP]

The message from Bill Cobb, President, eBay North America on January 29th seems to explain it pretty well ...

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/ca/200801.shtml#2008-01-29085842

You'll have to scrowl down the page almost half way till you come to <span style="font-weight: bold">"Evolving Feedback"</span>

It seems they're primarily trying to make the feedback more honest and avoid retaliatory feedback ...

<span style="font-weight: bold">But overall, the current Feedback system isn’t where it should be. Today, the biggest issue with the system is that buyers are more afraid than ever to leave honest, accurate Feedback because of the threat of retaliation. In fact, when buyers have a bad experience on eBay, the final straw for many of them is getting a negative Feedback, especially of a retaliatory nature</span>

[LINC400]

I have had several bad experiences on Ebay.

1. Franklin Mint car. Different model shown than shipped. Brass all tarnished and arrived broken because it was wrapped in one paper towel and tossed in a box. Seller told me I got it cheap so what do I expect.

2. Won item that is extermely rare in pink. Looked pink, described multiple times as pink. Did not match other pink items I have because it was ALMOND. Seller told me my stuff must be dark pink, hers was light pink. There is only one shade of pink, the one I have. There is almond, lots of it.

3. Electric train tossed in a box with no wrapping of any kind. Arrived broken unsurprisingly. Seller did not believe it could arrive broken. Refused to take it back.

4. Paid for item. Item was never sent. No replies to any emails.

5. Seller sent wrong item, Sent out correct item after I sent the wrong one back.

6. Seller sent wrong item. Could not get correct item back. I sent the wrong item back and demanded a full refund plus shipping both ways.

All but one had tons of positive feedback. I now do not pay any attention to positive feedback. I only review negative feedback to see if it sounds legitimate. I have 1 negative feedback from transaction# 1 because I left negative feedback for him. If you have had no negative experiences on Ebay, you are lucky.

I will not stop shopping on Ebay because of these experiences. The stuff I collect, and car parts I need will not be found otherwise. I just make sure that I have a good credit card hooked up to Paypal. Paypal sucks as far as getting you your money back. The card I have hooked up to Paypal has overridden them and given me my money back. If the seller sounds difficult, in other words, one sentence of description with 5 paragraphs of their demands for payment, response time, etc., try to wait for the next auction with the same item. Sometimes the stuff is rare and you can't though. In the same way I got screwed on some of these, the buyer can also screw the seller. So I still think feedback should be able to be left both ways.

[TexRiv_63]

I have bought and sold on Ebay since 1999. I have had a handful of bad experiences as a buyer but have solved most of them through the dispute resolution center. the ones I could not solve involved scam sellers no longer registered. None of these involved much money and I have never left negative feedback for anyone, partly due to the retaliation problem. As a seller I always leave positive feedback as soon as I send an item and I don't really care if or when the buyer reciprocates. I have only received two negatives from buyers and in both cases I returned their money gladly and we mutually withdrew the feedback so that I could retain a 100% positive rating. I think a lot of people see Ebay as a adversarial competition between the buyer and the seller which is why so many people are upset by these changes. I think life is too short to get so angry about something so trivial. Like it or not Ebay is still the biggest marketplace in the world for the car stuff we all want and need, I am still having fun using it to feed my addictions, so I will accept the changes and move on.

[Guest GP Gleason]

I disagree with you on the seller leaving feedback first.

I only have two negatives in 10 years on eBay. However I was able to negotiate another a couple of years ago and have it removed (at a cost of $20).

I sold the guy a used, working (when I shipped it) Chevy clock. When he got it he said it didn't work and gave me a nasty negative feedback on eBay. I didn't even know there was a problem until then! If he would have contacted me I would have gladly given him a refund. So I gave him retaliatory negative so I could negotiate both of them away. That was my only option!

Since then I do NOT give feedback until I receive from the buyer. There are many people out there who refuse to COMMUNICATE when something is wrong and just want to give neg feedback to indicate displeasure.

That's my opinion.

[Studemax]

With evilBay located in San Francisco, the political correctness center of the world - I am not surprised that negative feedback will no longer be allowed.

Of course, this was a founding tenet of eBay, and disallowing negative feedback will be another gunshot in the foot of those in charge.

eBay is sowing the seeds of it's own destruction - we'll see how long before a backlash starts.