Look for Buyer-Uploaded Images in eBay Feedback

by: Snapped

Wondering if the boardroom wizards considered what might ensue when a FB image is AI generated itself.  BattleBots!  

by: RL15

more stupid stuff implemented by a dope

by: lessthanthreerecords

eBay's comments seem to suggest that most feedback images are going to be on positive feedback. I highly doubt that will be the case. Is a buyer likely to take a picture of it and say it was exactly as described? Here's a picture that looks exactly like the picture already on the listing! Doesn't make much sense. I can almost guarantee you that the majority of pictures on feedback are going to be documenting problems, which I'm sure will drastically expand the space taken up with negative feedback: here's 15 positive feedback comments on one screen, scroll down, and the entire next screen is negative... a grand total of 1 that takes up the whole screen because there's a bunch of images attached! As a buyer, what I would be more interested in is how the seller did (or did not) deal with a problem, not exactly what the problem looks like. Things happen. Items get damaged in shipment. If the seller provides a reasonable solution, why drag them through the mud? If they do not solve the problem, I don't see how a picture will illustrate that more than a comment (text alone).

by: Opalie

Wth does this mean? "We have heard from our buyer community that sometimes buyers are skeptical of feedback entries and are not sure that feedback is left by verified purchasers"

Do they not know you can't leave FB on ebay unless you actually buy something?

This isn't Amazon product reviews guys.

by: COVID-19

Yay! Can't wait for the trolls to do their troll thing.

So.....like.....if a troll posts a naughty adult pic along with a positive feedback, will the entire feedback w/ pic be removed? Or only the pic? In any case, this is a brilliant idea by eBay (that they once again copied from Amazon). Keep up the "magical innovation", you corporate geniuses!

by: Bill

If you sell garbage then you have to worry. If you sell items that are worth buying then you have nothing to worry about.
But if the images are done by a bunch of pikers and thieves then there is a problem.

by: CT Bay

Another solution in search of a problem because they want to play photo AI.  

by: Rexford

This will be no different than the buyers who upload bogus doctored / manipulated photos to their SNAD claims so that they don't have to pay for return postage. Except this time the photos are in public view.  Examples:

--The buyer who overexposes or underexposes a photo to claim that the color doesn't match
--The buyer who photographs an item with parts that they have removed and claims that it is missing parts
--The buyer who manipulates a tape measure or folds and item to claim that the measurements are wrong
--The buyer who cuts a 50 cents piece size hole in a garment and claims "it has a hole in it"
--Buyers who upload photos of their worn out products that they are replacing with the seller's new products (yes, the seller will receive the buyer's worn out product back and eBay will do nothing but give the buyer a full refund plus return shipping (all out of the seller's pocket).

eBay should allow sellers to upload photos of trashed items that buyers return but we all know that feedback is useless and a one sided.

eBay--always implementing "magical innovations" that hurt sellers.   Black magic. Always biting the hands that feed them.

by: AddyUp

Contrary to what eBay have said over the years, feedback is turning into product reviews.

The next step will be links from the feedback pictures to similar (or not) sponsored listings.

by: COVID-19

Rexford wins Comment of the Day here!

by: toolguy

@Rexford

How about the legit ones?

I bought a $100 Leatherman the seller said was new in the box but he failed to mention the broken knife blade!

He got a picture from me in the SNAD complaint but I did not put it on his feedback. I should but I won't. . . .

by: pace306

Not +1 for Rex, but + 100 - for the outstanding reply

Ina - can I post of pic of myself typing this in - its a "feedback"?

All this is another stupidity that takes peoples eyes off the ball - eBay had to lie cheat and swindle to push their numbers to get %2 growth and WITHOUT ADVERTISING, eBay would be the -%10 that it REALLY was.

But whats most important (I guess), is making up garbage about the need to enhance returns ... NOT.

I sent this to Ina, but she didnt feel the need to post it - so yeh -lets talk RETURNS.

Returns (in general) are the industries Kryptonite. Most issues are contrived (most but not all) and they are "encouraged" but the platforms who make money from them. When it costs THEM money - then its a horse of another color.

eBay COULD vet sellers and buyers an make this all go away - but why bother when you can make money off the poor idiot seller? After all - EVERYTHING that goes wrong IS the sellers fault (eBay MAGIC)(or rather BLACK MAGIC).

“Free returns” should NOT be how a seller is measured!!


Erica Pandey
, author of
Axios Finish Line


The era of free returns — an essential part of the rise of online shopping — is ending.

The big picture: Many retailers are fed up with paying for and processing an endless barrage of return packages, and they're starting to charge for it.

Zoom out: Returns surged during the height of the pandemic, when more people were shopping online.

The return rate increased from 10.6% in 2020 to 16.5% in 2022, costing retailers more than $800 billion, according to the National Retail Federation.
The packaging, freight and labor costs that go into returns mean processing them costs around a third of the price of the actual items, says Heidi Isern, a VP at Narvar, which makes software for retailers.

63% of consumers said they order multiple sizes or versions of the same item, with the intention of returning what they don’t want, according to Narvar. That’s up from 55% in 2019.

“The living room is the new fitting room,” Isern says.

Zoom in: More than 40% of retailers are now charging return fees, per Narvar’s research.

Retailers who have recently started charging for returns include H&M, J. Crew, Zara and DSW, Retail Brew notes.
Even Amazon — the leader of the free-returns wave — now charges for some returns.

What to watch: Look for tiered returns, Isern says.

Retailers might allow free returns in you sign up for a loyalty program, but charge less frequent customers who send items back.

by: toolguy

If a platform charges for returns buyers soon leave that platform!

When an item is defective I expect to be able to return it FREE of charge!

The last item I bought the seller didn't accept returns, when informed of the SNAD he changed his mind. . .

I sell way more then I buy on eBay, that being said I return more items then I have returned. . . .I feel there are more bad Sellers than there are buyers on eBay!

by: toolguy

@pace306

"63% of consumers said they order multiple sizes or versions of the same item, with the intention of returning what they don’t want, according to Narvar. That’s up from 55% in 2019"

Sounds like "women" are the problem!

by: Stone Cutter

*** Amazon Prime Wardrobe ****

@Toolguy
You say…
"63% of consumers said they order multiple sizes or versions of the same item, with the intention of returning what they don’t want, according to Narvar. That’s up from 55% in 2019"
Sounds like "women" are the problem!”

So the question…
Is this a problem or a standard brought on by Amazon?

Amazons “Prime Wardrobe” allows customers to order up to 6 items of apparel, get them delivered, and try them at home. Shoppers have 7 days to try on all the items. The trial period starts once the last item of the order is delivered to the customer. Whatever items Shoppers do not want, gets sent back to Amazon.

How are sites like eBay and Etsy suppose to compete with Amazon when Amazon has lenient return polices?  

by: Stone Cutter

*** Poorly packed parcels ***

Etsy shows pics with reviews and I’m beginning to see a surge of Buyers who give bad reviews to Sellers who don’t properly pack their Orders.

Last week, on Etsy, I saw a review from a Buyer who showed a pic of a crushed box sent from China to the U.S. - The buyer had purchased three turquoise stones from this one Seller.

Even though the stones were “not” damaged, the Buyer gave the Seller three 4-Star reviews because the shipping box was damaged and flimsy.

Photos can go both ways….
Photos can create fraudulent claims on Sellers while protecting Buyers from bad Sellers.  

by: SoniaD

Who has time -- and who cares -- to upload photos with feedback.  It's bad enough with SNADs.  This month, Ive purchased 3 items, one of which was wonderful, one of which was  an outright fake and of of which had been refinished post manufacture.  So 2 returns, only one of which I did as an SNAD (the fake).  No way the problems show up in the miniscule photos, but I have to waste my time taking and loading them.  So yet another reason to purchase anywhere but eBay.  

by: cellarebayer

If they are using photos in feedback then they should allow photo retaliation of what your item actually looked like or allow links back to that item. Again, this is not something that was even needed.