Sellers who don't leave feedback

As a buyer I don't leave feedback until I've gotten it. At some point positive feedbacks don't do much for the buyer (at 58 you're there or very close), but the more positives the better for the seller. Actually, it's intended that the seller leave feedback when they ship. Most of the time if the seller isn't willing to leave feedback when they ship, I won't leave it even after they do - but that's me.

As a suggestion, you might stop leaving feedback for sellers that have "received" more then they have "given". Also, the seller is less motivated to leave feedback after you've left yours.

I find that most sellers leave feedback either when they ship or when I have left mine (which is always upon receipt). It does not really matter to me, as a buyer, which they do, but I do sense that many are reluctant to leave feedback until they receive it, for fear that some nutty buyer will receive the item and then claim it was not received, received damaged, etc.

I send an email like this:-

Hi

re: Ebay Item No 2187745455 Green Widget with Bells and Whistles

Just to let you know that I have left you positive feedback - the Widget arrived this morning and is just what I always wanted!

If you would like to leave feedback for me, please click here http://cgi2.ebay.co.uk/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?GetAndShowTransactions&item=0&nflw=1&page=1

Seems to work

[I got the address from the Ebay Toolbar - the jury is still out on whether it is useful or not!]

Thanks, basrah. You may not believe this, but I am waiting for feedback on my purchase of Ebay Item No 2187745455 Green Widget with Bells and Whistles! What a lucky guess on your part.

Well, now I know who outbid me on the Green Widget with Bells and Whistles...sheesh, and I had such a high bid in on that too!

But seriously, I leave feedback as soon as I receive an item and I always send a follow-up email stating that I received the item and left them feedback...and then I forget about it.

As a seller (which I've only done a few times) I always leave feedback as soon as payment is received and I ship the item...I don't wait for them to receive it or leave feedback. Afterall, they've already done their part.

Most sellers seem to leave feedback either when they ship, once the buyer leaves feedback, or they do it 'in bulk' periodically. In fact, I just had positive feedback left by a seller from an auction I won 2 months ago!

The ones who don't leave feedback? Well, I just don't worry about them. The last thing I want to do is harass anybody.

You can always look at their feedback page and see what kind of feedback they leave for others...and you can compare the number of feedbacks they've received to the number they've left.

If it is really important to you...don't bid on auctions where sellers don't leave feedback. And, if you feel so inclined, drop them a note and explain why you're not placing a bid. Maybe they'll get a clue.

WarriorNun

"If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning"

Glad to see I'm not alone in the battle for well-deserved buyer feedback! I'm new to the forum(NOT to ebay), so I just posted a comment on the same thing since I didn't read yours 1st.... I'm SO ashamed! I have only sold a little, but bought a LOT over several years- it seems the high volume sellers are the ones too busy to bother. And I am trying hard to raise my % since I did have 3 negs several years ago, when I was getting a divorce. If I can't get the pos feedback I deserve, it seems like I need to start over with a new ID.... My current rating is 98.9%, but I'd like it to be 98+

I sell a good deal of the time. As soon as I receive payment from the buyer, I take time to not only leave feedback, but I email the buyer with the shipping information. I always hope they we will be happy with their purchase and the sale's handling and leave me good feedback in exchange. Usually, it happens that way, but if they are too busy or forget, that's life and it goes on.

rsmiller40

Our great anti-sniper friend Charleybaby has this to see about leaving buyers feedback:

>>Feedback is voluntary, and this seller - because of the volume of bids dealt with - prefers to spend his time carefully packaging items and making effective communications with buyers.<<

*...sigh...*

Charleybaby is a Hoot! Where would eBay be without characters like them?
Where would this forum be without characters like them?

As for feedback, I buy mostly, but have sold on occassion, and I typically leave feedback for the buyer on all transactions once the buyer lets me know they have received the item.
I want to make sure they are happy with their purchase before I "close the deal".
As a buyer, I e-mail the seller and leave positive feedback as soon as I have received the item.

I think feedback is an important courtesy, but I agree, if a buyer / seller doesn't leave reciprocol feedback, I just let it go.

For buyers, why is feedback important (as long as they have very, very high 90's positive)?

Feedback , I think ,is important to both buyers and sellers. I know I look ,as a seller,at the potential buyer's feedback and as a buyer, at the seller's feedback. And, of course, just because you are a buyer only now, doesn,t mean you won't e a seller in the future with people looking at your total feedback.

rsmiller40

quote:

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Originally posted by rsmiller40:
I know I look ,as a seller,at the potential buyer's feedback

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If you had a buyer with 100 feedbacks/100.0% and another buyer with 1000 feedbacks/99.8%, would you do anything differently?

Rick, I think with some folks, buyers and sellers alike, it's a matter of pride. I know it is with me. I'm closing in on a Red Star and still (knock on wood) don't have a negative. Insofar as doing business based on whatever number of negatives a person has is concerned, I think I'd look at the reasons for those negatives before making a decision.

Rick, If I see negatives I actually do read them back pretty far and look for a pattern. That matters more than the percent. If I see someone that has a consistant pattern of non-pay or a seller that has a pattern of complaints, I steer away or at least tread lightly such as making sure I pay with a credit card so I am somewhat protected.

rsmiller40

Whatever the reason, feedback (quantity and quality) seems to be important to buyers. It's a pity that retailers haven't come up with something similar. We've all seen "buyers" in stores that might be less "excessive" if they had a feedback number. If they were rude, the retailer/seller could "leave them a neg".

Since this feedback thing seems to work so well on ebay, wouldn't it be nice if we were all given a feedback score that would be clearly visible to others? Disregarding any "Constitutional rights", it might cut down on some of the horn-honking and hand jesters. (just a thought)



I just realized something - ebay only provides the percentage for sellers; not buyers.

quote:

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rsmiller40 posted: Rick, If I see negatives I actually do read them back pretty far and look for a pattern. That matters more than the percent.

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I am like rsmiller; buyer or seller, I always read the negative feedbacks...noting whether I see a pattern, whether all of them are really old, really recent, seemingly undeserved, whatever. I find the negatives invaluable in determining if I want to deal with somebody, or if I need to just be on the alert if I do choose to deal with them.

Personally, I don't even really like the percentage number as it can be somewhat misleading based on the number of actual feedback the user has and how old the negative remarks are.

WarriorNun

"If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning"

OH, Rick..I am LMAO!! I just have visions of this..maybe we could post the neg on their forehead..and the really obnoxious..on their..well.. you get the idea!!

rsmiller40

Brand them on the forehead with a capital N, and also give the really bad ones a little silver bell to ring while they call out, "Unclean! Unclean!"

I am at 61 (all as a buyer) now and 100% positive (I say, puffing up my chest). But, oh do I love having my feedback page. It's the only place in life I can go and just sit back and read things like "SWEET, SWEET Lady to sell to" and "EXTREMELY NICE PERSON!" And it's so easy to be a good buyer- all you have to do is pay, and you don't even have to get off of your seat for that. I'm an accountant that audits financial transactions at an investment firm, and those kind of rave reviews are harder to achieve in my working life. So I NEED my ebay feedback fix (if you know what I mean- and I think you do).

Yep, sure do understand that!

rsmiller40

Most of us rarely receive the kind of "recognition" we receive in our feedback.

Nobody's mentioned the sellers who insist on getting feedback before leaving it for buyers. I haven't been in Ebay all that long but I've struck at least two of these!

In my view it's a form of blackmail being practised on those whose feedback total is important to them,in other words "Give me a good rap or I'll badmouth you in return, deserved or not!". Frankly, feedback doesn't interest me and I'd be happy to remain at zero, but I suppose some people have had bad experiences and need the reassurance.

A seller that insists on feedback first? WOW! I give feedback to the buyer when he pays. If I do a good job, he can leave me feedback when he is satified with the sale. If he doesn't want to, that is his business. In my opinion, feedback is important. Read back and my earlier will explain.

rsmiller40

I've run across a few sellers who want the buyer to post first. I just wait for the item to arrive and post feedback as is my custom. If the item is damaged or lost or not as described I correspond with the seller -- without leaving feedback -- until the matter is resolved to my satisfaction. I've never had one of these sellers bug me for feedback before I've received what I bought, and usually they're quite prompt in posting feedback for me once I've posted theirs.

Once or twice I've received feedback and forgotten what it was for; a check revealed it was an item purchased as much as two months previously. But that wasn't done by sellers who insisted on buyer feedback first.

I just don't think anyone has ever asked that I leave it first. It sure would raise a red flag in my opinion. In powerseller forum, I have seen postings from sellers that talk about not leaving feedback first because if they leave the buyer good and then the buyer leaves them bad, it is a done deal. Well, that kind of defeats the purpose. I leave feedback if they close their end as expected and if I do as promised, good feedback is appreciated.

rsmiller40

Once or twice I have had sellers say something like, "Be sure to post feedback when you receive the item and I will do the same for you," implying that my receiving feedback would be conditional on theirs.

Otherwise most of the sellers with whom I deal fall into two groups: those who post feedback immediately upon receipt of my payment (usually PayPal) and those who wait until I have posted theirs. The latter are fairly obvious, because the same day that I post the seller's feedback, I see the same posted for me.

Like Steve, occasionally I see seller who does his feeback posts in "bunches," whereby once a month or two he posts feedback, meaning that an old and forgotten transaction is suddenly posted in feedback.

At first I found the sellers who waited for me to post first a little irritating. Now I really don't care, as I am only a buyer and have no real need for it, especially after several hundred transactions. But maybe some of these sellers have sent an item off directly, posting feedback as they did, only to find a whining buyer (someone who simply changed his mind about the purchase and was looking for an excuse to get a refund) start complaining that the item was not what was promised, etc. Anyone?

Well, in such a case the seller would have the opportunity to rebut the unsatisfied buyer, but I would think that, on the whole, it's better for the seller to "wait and see."

On a related subject, has anybody else received an e-mail from a seller asking for feedback after the transaction has been completed? Once or twice I've forgotten to post feedback and the seller has written to remind me. I don't mind but maybe some buyers would be irritated.

Yep; both of the sellers I referred to sent one or two 'reminders' near the end of the 90 days or whatever, to prompt me to leave feedback. I suspect they were automated. I didn't respond in one case but the other had massively overcharged on freight and refused to respond to emails so, for the first and only time, I left a negative.

I really do try hard to give feedback as soon as I have received an item and a lot of time I will get an email asking for feedback after it as been left. I figure it is automated...not too personal for sure. I always leave feedback when something is paid for by the buyer.

rsmiller40

I always leave feedback for buyers when they pay, and all my buyers have paid within minutes. The sale's obviously not complete at that point, but it's my way of saying "you've held up your end of the deal." I also e-mail buyers when I get payment and let them know that I have a return policy...I don't state that on the auction page because I don't want it to be abused. I want them to know (without saying it of course) that if they aren't happy, they should contact me before they think about leaving neg feedback.

I bought a $500.00+ item recently and emailed the seller to let him know I received it (and hoped he would leave feedback w/out being reminded since I paid in 3 minutes and am the easiest buyer to deal with.) First of all, it took him 4 days to email me and to ship the item after I paid, and he only had the one auction at the time. If I had an auction ending for any amount, i'd be around to service the buyer. I got a response saying that he was glad to know it got to me and to not forget to leave positive feedback..HA HA NO WAY...JERK!

...oh yeah...then there was the buyer who left glowing positive feedback and the auction only ended five minutes before they left it.

I agree with you on a couple of points, cooper. I too leave feedback as soon as an item is paid and then at that point I email them to advise them on shipping time and carrier. I enclose a packing slip with the item that explains my return or satifaction policy...which, happyily, has not been either been used or abused. I too get a little disturbed when I don't get feedback as a buyer because I always watch an auction and pay right away. However, sometimes auctions originate from a 9-5 businesses, so perhaps all things are not possible..lots of factors. I guess, the bottom line is run your seller end as it should be and set a good example.

Mrs. M

I don't like to disagree with anyone but I do think there are instances where feedback is important for buyers.

1)Quite a lot of sellers won't accept bids from people with no or low feedback. I was looking at an auction today which won't accept buyers with less than 10 positive feedback.

2)If you want to become a seller, it's a good idea to have some positive feedback as a buyer under your belt first. That way people (like me nowadays!) who have doubts about zero-feedback sellers don't feel they are taking a big risk - they can see that the seller has proved him or herself reliable as a buyer.

I've been lucky enough to only have one or two sellers forget to leave me feedback. Once I venture into selling myself, I expect things will get more complicated!

SuperSqueaky

I have used ebay to buy and to sell, and I have a hard and fast rule:

As a seller, I leave positive feedback as soon as I ship the item- if I got the money, there is nothing left to be done. As a buyer, I will not leave any feedback until the seller leaves me feedback because I figure that once he gets my money, he owes me the product and the feedback ASAP. Some sellers don't like my rule, but they seem to have no problem spending my money- so they can just quit their crying.

-tb

Personally I feel the whole feedback system is way overrated. I leave feedback whenever I get around to it. Plain and simple, wether I am the buyer or seller. Sometimes it takes me a month, sometimes more, sometimes less.

People are so afraid of getting a negative that many seller and buyers do not leave negatives even for those who deserve it, so you can never get an honest view of what an eBayer is like.

I don't think many sellers even look at a buyers feeback history. When I was rated about 40 I recieved 30+ retalitory negatives from a seller that was a PITA. (a term I learned on the eBay boards.. Since then, I have yet to have another seller cancel my bid because of my feedback history. I just hit 100 the other day

PITA???