Surprise: eBay Sellers Want to Keep Feedback

by: sasikat9

Feedback also shows just how ignorant some buyers are......Ebay should show the user names of those leaving feedback.

As for us we believe that feedback is the greatest joke on Ebay. Every buyer, scammer, thief, liar, and thug has 100 per cent. That makes it so a seller can't believe anything a buyer is telling them as they think they are perfect and sellers know feedback is a joke.

by: Snapped

The feedback a buyer leaves says more about the buyer than anything the seller might say.  

What would be more ideal is if eBay would heed some of the feedback it's sellers have been generating to eBay ever since eBay mucked with feedback a decade ago.

by: fifilapew

@ sasikat9
100% agree, a buyer's user id should be shown when leaving feedback

by: Windkissed

How insulting to the people who have 100% feedback.  I have been on ebay for almost six years and I have 100% feedback from viable customers.  I know none of them.  I am honest in my descriptions and sales.  I do not appreciate being called the biggest scammer, liar, thug, etc. on ebay.  Maybe if you concentrate of being more honest your feedback will change.

by: Ina

Not saying if I agree with the statement, just want to point out that if every scammer has 100% FB, that doesn't mean every seller with 100% FB is a scammer.

One thing I came away with from reading the comments is how proud many sellers are of their positive feedback from their customers.

by: TomH

@Windkissed

They were speaking of buyer feedback. Not you.

by: NoMoreEbay

When one group of two, regardless of their actions, no matter how bad they are can only receive a positive outcome. That is literally and loosely the definition of fascism. Look it up.

And yes, for that group, every buyer, scammer, thief, liar, and thug has 100 per cent.

by: Ina

"One thing I came away with from reading the comments is how proud many sellers are of their positive feedback from their customers."

And, I should add, they should be proud!

by: NoMoreEbay

EARNED recognition for a job well done is always nice. But what does that say about the system in place for buyers. We're all only getting half of the real story.

I also wonder how many of those seller positives are a result of extortion and partial refunds.  

by: Patricia

I do my best for each and every customer and so I'm proud of my 100 percent rating which has been 100 percent since I started selling on eBay in 1998.  However, I really do not see the use of seller's rating buyers under this current system.  Its phony since sellers can only give positives!  I believe eBay should institute a system like Yelp...where people can review a business and that business can answer only if it chooses and can offer to correct situations!

by: Marie

I too have 100% positive FB and I've been selling on Ebay for 20 years or so.  I've worked hard for that FB.  But I still don't like the FB system.

I don't mind that buyers are able to leave FB on my account, I just wish that Ebay would change how they calculate it.  I don't think the percentages should be arrived from just the number of FB left by buyers, but divided my total number of transactions by the seller.  That to me seems more fair and realistic.  

And I'd just prefer to do away with buyer FB all together.  While I know some buyers hold their FB near and dear, it really doesn't serve a purpose.  Most sites have stopped allowing sellers to leave FB for the buyers and I think that is a great idea.

Ebay's move years ago to allow only positive FB for buyers was a good one.  I'm not aware any site out there that allows the rating of the customers that buy on that site.  It would be a good way to scare off customers if they did and that certainly isn't the goal.  Leaving negative FB for a buyer just isn't a good business decision no matter what the buyer did.

What Ebay needs are stronger ways for sellers to report misconduct by buyers that actually gets some results.  But behind the scenes, not publicly.  I know some take satisfaction in humiliating a misbehaving buyer, but it is better just to solve the problem and stop the buyer from abusing more sellers IMHO.

by: DingDong

Most of my feedback to sellers is a simple Thank You.
I figure this lets them know I have the item.
A few times I have left extra information.

I would like just a Thank You instead of worrying they didn't get it. I know, it's a brain thing and needs to be retrained.

by: pace306

Most sites have stopped allowing sellers to leave FB for the buyers and I think that is a great idea.

ABSOLUTELY NO .

And just because "your friend does it" isnt a reason why TO do it. (ask any parent to explain it ... "but my friends SMOKE/DRINK etc... so why cant I?")

2 way feedback more or less insures HONESTY. 1 way feedback means the buyer always has you by the neck.

"I'm not aware any site out there that allows the rating of the customers that buy on that site.  It would be a good way to scare off customers if they did and that certainly isn't the goal."

Oh how NAIVE.

On Amazon - if thats who you are refering to - YES its almost the same - but you dont make SALES on Amazon you fullfill.

eBay is a TOTALLY different animal. There they own NOTHING, therefore they should have ZERO say in what goes on.

THEY refuse to vet either sellers OR buyers -  thats something that with their BILLIONS they can do - not my job.

But when I sell you a NIB item and you have an issue thats not a DOA - the rest is "ON YOU".

You want to pay %50 off retail - theres a COST to that - and as a buyer, you should shoulder some if not ALL of it.

EIther you got what you ordered or you did not - why is it so difficult?

I dont make, warranty, provide tech support for, or anything else on these items.

Do your homework, make sure your item works on your system, with your old equipment, goes with the clothes you have, are the correct size etc.

STOP laying it all on the seller.

7 days to file a case, PERIOD, and if you vet both parties, then feedbacks, defects, extra %40's are not needed. (unless you plan to steal from sellers).

by: papergoy

I have 44000 or so feedback, so of course I have no desire to do away with the feedback system- anyone can go on my listings and say "hey, this guy has been around the block a few times...he can be trusted..." and they will buy form me over someone with 10 feedback (or that's the theory at least).  As to not being able to leave negative feedback for buyers- I'm automated to set up positive for buyers so I would never leave a negative anyway- I will however put a troublesome person on my BBL.  I love when a year down the line, they ask why they can't buy something...umm..cuz you've been unreasonable?  

by: sellerchick

We all know that the amount of positive ratings woefully under reports the amount of actual successful transactions. S here's a revolutionary idea about adding a true measure of seller performance to all marketplaces: have a record of every transaction appear as a positive feedback by default. It would be a "no news, is good news" philosophy that would show how many transactions a seller does problem free, and eliminates the problem of relying on buyers bothering to report anything. Ebay and Amazon already keep track of how many orders are delivered on time based on delivery confirmation. Why not just make that information public that x amount of packages were delivered with no problems, to enhance the true picture of how many successful transactions a seller actually has?  

by: Marie

Oh Pace!  Just because we differ in opinion does NOT make me "naive".  You say such things in an effort to dismiss what I've said because you don't hold the same opinions.  Amazon is not the only site to compare Ebay to.  There are other sites besides Ebay and Amazon that don't allow sellers to post FB for their buyers.

by: pace306

Amazon is #1 in ecommerce, eBay is "#2" (but #1 in theft from sellers) so whom else would you want to compare them to ?

Unless the answer is Walmart - the rest are also rans in terms of total volume and sales - so yes lets please NOT be naive about who and what there is to  compare to.

Unless there was an official announcement (voiding the statement they made UNDER OATH in court) they are JUST A VENUE. That being the case - they have no business doing anything besides running their site - which they cant do well - never mind erase peoples feedbacks, hide them from the public, and make them slanted 1 way as to HURT sellers.

If all thats ok for you - then NO PROBLEM. For me - since Im the one that SHOULD be in charge of my account - I have an issue with it.

I dont have an issue with feedbacks as long as they are 2 way. Ive never met a crooked seller (and being in teh field since 1984 - I know PLENTY of them) but I have thanks to eBay met PLENTY of crooked BUYERS.

Theres NO REASON that I cant protect my self and my money - unless somehow YOU THINK its ok for eBay to do so to me.

If the buyer lied, then so be it - EVERYONE should know. Why not - is eBay AFRAID that the bad buyers will leave? Is that some kind of PROBLEM? DO they want bad buyers? Or are they only concerned with stealing from sellers?

If you VET both sides - none of it is needed since ONLY trustworthy people will be on the site to sell/buy from - why is that so hard?

Its like the cr@p with unpaid buyers - you have their CC info - there should be no such thing in 2018 to have such a thing - yet things like it still exist.

So yes - we disagree - can you prove me wrong?

by: Marie

Pace, you still sell on Ebay, so you are among those that tolerate and work within the rules of Ebay.  You stay there because you make money on the site.  As long as that happens, you will probably stay.

It is your opinion that you'd like 2 way FB on Ebay.  I respect that.  I don't hold the same viewpoint and there is NOTHING wrong with that.  All this other stuff you brought up was NOT being discussed, at least by me.  But on the specific subject of this article we disagree and I don't have to "prove" anything to support my opinion.

What other sites allow the ability to publicly shame your customers that in your opinion have done you wrong?

by: NoMoreEbay

ebay was founded on peer to peer transactions. Not 'customer' to business sales. Many sellers here are doing it from their living room, garage, bedroom etc. single handed.

Pierre himself recognized this and developed the FB system to be fair to both parties. That statement is still on ebay's FB page. In that case, one-sided FB is extremely unfair and applies to a very large group of sellers on ebay. Frankly, the comparisons of those sellers to large companies we read here and on the boards daily is ridiculous.

Just because ebay has brainwashed small sellers to think they are a business doesn't make it so. And just because ebay has coddled snot-nosed buyers to expect 'business' like treatment and get 5 star service with unlimited carte blanch for 99 cents from Uncle Dave out of his spare room, doesn't make that so either.  The very nature of that is full of contradictions.

Only when sellers, buyers and ebay identifies what they truly are will this site change for the better. 21 years and counting with still no answer in site.

by: pace306

"Pace, you still sell on Ebay, so you are among those that tolerate and work within the rules of Ebay."

Out of need, not want. Even though eBay is the San Jose mafia - sometimes you have to do business with unsavory characters ie lay down with the dogs to get things accomplished.

If Amazon wouldnt gate things - I wouldnt need eBay at all.

*MY* opinions are based on fact, not whim or fancy or feelings. Nothing I brought up was off topic.

"What other sites allow the ability to publicly shame your customers that in your opinion have done you wrong? "

THERE is where your logic falls apart - eBays CUSTOMERS - the people who pay its bills - are the SELLERS, NOT the BUYERS. Buyers pay to get an object they want, they pay the seller (until now when theres eBay pay and eBay wants to be MOR when it suites them). Then EBAY gets ITS cut and the seller gets the rest. But its Not so on Amazon or Walmart where the sale is made by them, and you fulfill then get your cut. (total opposite)

THEREFORE :) theres no comparison to "any other site" - since none anyone can mention is the same as eBay.

If you think that my statement is incorrect - please tell me :)