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10 replies

Negative Feedback

G Guest
It seems to me that many people are concerned about getting a neg. Why is that? I can understand a seller’s concern about getting “any”, especially a Power Seller. But, why is a buyer concerned about a “few” negs?

A seller SHOULD be concerned! Buyers bring up a seller’s feedback. It doesn’t take much to scare off a buyer.

Doesn’t the buyer have the advantage? The seller’s feedback influences buyers before the close of the auction.

A buyer will decide to bid, or not bid, based on the buyer’s feedback. The seller, not having any prior knowledge of the buyers (especially snipers), has little or no choice. Sure, the buyer can cancel a bid, but are they likely to do that if the seller has a couple of negs out of a 100 positives? Also, are they likely to do that if a sniper wins the auction? It might look like shilling.

So what if the seller sees that a buyer has a few negs (assuming they even look at the buyer’s feedback)? Might not the seller be a little more respectful towards that buyer? After all, this buyer has left negs before, so he might do it again.

When negs are exchanged, which party has more to lose; the buyer or the seller? Doesn’t it make sense that as snipers (buyers), the impact of a neg to us is less than the impact of a neg to a seller?

Perhaps there is some obsession about having perfect feedback? Actually, I think anyone (buyer or seller) with perfect feedback is asking to be abused by the other party.

And yes, I do feel better getting this off my chest. Razz
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S Steve (Guest)
I have seen warnings in item descriptions where the seller reserves the right to refuse to deal with winning bidders who have what the seller considers to be excessive negative feedback. But I wonder just how much that "right" is worth in view of the fact that the winning bidder has a legal contract with the seller that was arrived at in an acceptable manner, i.e., the buyer was the high bidder and was legally recognized by eBay as a legitimate bidder. I have the distinct impression that such sellers are whistling as they walk past the graveyard. And, like Rick, I wonder how many sellers would turn down a buyer who had a few negs in his feedback record without even giving the guy a chance to pay?

You're darn tootin' I want to keep my perfect feedback record. More than 750 positives with never a negative or neutral...that makes a statement about my business ethics which I'm proud of...one that can't be faked, and which I put a lot of effort into both as a buyer and a seller. Big Grin
S sillymoose (Guest)
What I like is a Seller who say that they will not accepy a Buyer who has ANY negative feedback. When you check, the Seller has negative feedback. Sometimes more than one.

(I always send email protesting what's good for the goose is is good for the gander AND I won't be ordering.
C Chatter163 (Guest)
I only have one negative, from some nut who did not accurately describe the merchandise. I was a little ticked off at the time, since it spoiled my perfect record, but since I have over 300 rating, all as a buyer, it does not matter.

I do have one neutral from someone who apparently did not understand how feedback works. The comment was positive, but then there was a follow-up added by the seller, who said that he did not "know that neutral was bad." I take this to mean that he thought he was describing the transaction itself as average, normal (hence the neutral rating), even though he used a positive description. Go figure.

Rick's comments are basically correct, IMHO. But here's a new thought: Now that eBay includes the seller's summary and percentage of comments right on the auction page ("99.8% positive feedback reviews"), has that increased the desire among sellers to have a perfect rating, since anything less thess 100% is more easily noticed now?
S Steve (Guest)
Quoting Chatter, 'Now that eBay includes the seller's summary and percentage of comments right on the auction page ("99.8% positive feedback reviews"), has that increased the desire among sellers to have a perfect rating, since anything less thess 100% is more easily noticed now?'

I think that it may have a temporary effect, until the sellers see how many other "imperfect" sellers are out there. Less-than-perfect feedbacks for sellers are the rule rather than the exception. I know that, as a buyer, when I first saw that '99.8% positive feedback' I checked to see how the seller had goofed up. Now I don't bother unless it's under 98%...which ain't often, at least among sellers of the stuff I collect. Smile
S Steve (Guest)
How did you manage to get two negatives on one auction? In my experience one is all the seller is entitled to. And as Rick points out, you do have the opportunity to react or respond to those negatives; just go to your feedback page and you'll see an icon to click on that enables you to respond selectively.

Look at it this way, pwz77840: You now have 2 negatives in X number of feedbacks -- let's say you have 100 feedbacks so far. That's 2% or an overall positive rating of 98% -- doesn't sound so bad, does it? If you manage to avoid any more negatives for the next 100 transactions, that's 1% or 99% out of a possible 100 percent. I've seen lots of sellers up there doing business with that rating. Keep your chin up, there are better days ahead. Smile
Last edited {1}
R Rick (Guest)
The following appeared in another post by pwz77840: This gives me a 94% even though I was a buyer.

Using my limited knowledge of math, for 2 negatives to reduce pwz's score to 94%, I figure pwz only has 33 positives. I can understand being concerned about getting 2 negs with only 33 positives.

I'd be very reluctant to purchase from a new seller, with only a 94%. Now that ebay shows a buyer's score on their auction, it might scare off other buyers. Buyers that do the research will see that pwz was were the "buyer", which will help. But how many will do the research?

A couple of other ideas for pwz:
1) Try to get a better percent by buying a bunch of cheap stuff from sellers that leave more feedback than they have received. The down side is that this will cause your negs to slide down the page. Having the negs at the top of the page showing that you were a buyer and not a seller is a good thing.
2) Start a new ID.

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