eBay Changes Its Feedback System
In a move that has already caused a stir amongst the merchant community, eBay has decided to eliminate negative feedback on buyers.
In a move that has already caused a stir amongst the merchant community, eBay has decided to eliminate negative feedback on buyers.
Buying and selling on eBay is something that millions do each day. Recently, eBay announced a drop in their listing fees and a report suggested that consumers save billions of dollars annually by doing their shopping on the behemoth auction site.
One of the keys to eBay’s enormous success in the online bidding world is the feedback system they created that tracks buyers’ and sellers’ transaction histories, complete with positive, neutral or negative ratings. The result has been that both parties can get a sense of type of business or individual they are dealing with before deciding to bid, or sell. Although this system isn’t perfect, and some users have been irritated over disputes that have led to negative feedback on their profiles, most people who participate in eBay’s auctions accept the feedback system.
But beginning in May of this year, that system is changing. The question is: why?
Christopher Null suggests that eBay wants to do more to protect their buyer community from the fear of reprisals after they leave negative feedback on a merchant. The belief is that if a seller can respond with negative feedback of their own, buyers will be less inclined to leave negative feedback in the first place. Moreover, eBay claims, "when buyers receive negative Feedback, they reduce their activity in the marketplace". It seems hurt feelings leads to fewer purchases.
I have some strong reservations about a feedback system that only works one way. In the past, when reviewing the feedback left by buyers before I have bid on an auction item, I always make sure to check the seller’s response too. This way, I feel I can determine how well a seller handles conflict resolution and it helps me separate a truly bad seller from one who has just had a few bad transactions.
More importantly, what do you think about this change? When you comment, it would be great to know if your opinion is based on being buyer or a seller (or both!) and if you are more or less likely to use eBay once this change takes place.
Filed Under: Found on the Web > News > Web/Tech
I am a buyer and I don't agree with that at all. I always check user feedback since I have been burned a few times in the beginning. When a seller has multiple negative feedbacks about 'forgetting' to ship or 'poor communication' I avoid them!!
Just like when I go to move I check out the BBB before calling potential moving companies.
Shame on ebay for taking away our only way to check out sellers business feedback.
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Hi Alex, as a buyer, you can still see a seller's rating and you can still post negative ratings on sellers. What's changed is that in May, sellers will no longer be able to rate buyers negatively.
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It seems to me that there also has to be some way to rate buyers; but ebay is right about unreasonable retaliatory feedback which is often unfair and only listed because the buyer left legitimate neg feebback.
Under the new rules what is to stop neg feedback to sellers for no reason?
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As a ebay buyer,I think the seller should have to leave feedback about the buyer first. Was the buyers obligations met? Then the buyer should have to rate the seller. Ex. I left a negative on a less than stellar seller, got a negative back in return. Then the rough seller blackmaled and nagged until I finally gave in to stop the harrasment and withdrew the negative. Although he definately deserved it; observed by the same deceitfull pattern in his past feedback.
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As a fairly new ebay buyer I think the seller should have to leave feedback first. I've bought about fifty items in the last 2 months and I email everyone when payment was mailed and when the shipment was received but there are alot of sellers there who have no communication at all. I have no idea if they received my payment or not until I get the parcel 3-4 weeks later. I know I have been reluctant to leave negative feedback for fear of getting the same for no reason.
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Perhaps too drastic a step. Why not set up the systems to force sellers to post feedback the moment they are paid. This will allow a more sincere feedback from the seller, removing all fear of the buyer having his or her perfect score tarnished by a vengeful seller.
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As a buyer with a multi-year history and a few hundred eBay transaction, I believe a FAR better change to the eBay system would be to drastically overhaul the dispute resolution mechanism and to put in place an "ombudsman" type of appeal system.
That said, I agree with a couple of the other comments that it would seem better to me that sellers are prgrammatically forced to leave feedback for a buyer after payment.
It would then seem appropriate that if a buyer leaves negative feedback, a seller could respond with a COMMENT (since this system already is largely in place), but not with retaliatory negative feedback. I have personnaly had sellers do this vengefully a number of times and others attempt to blackmail me with the threat of it.
I also think it would be a drastic improvment if buyers and sellers could CALL a resolution helpdesk (the way you can actually call Paypal). But apparently, eBay itself feels it's too important to provide telephone response.
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I always read as much seller feedback as I can. I once bought from a seller that had a couple of negative points but decided to give benefit of the doubt. It turned out that I should have been more cautious as my items were not shipped after I paid and the they tried to get me to pay again by reporting me as unpaid. I had to file my own compliant to defend myself. The seller put on feedback that they had indeed shipped and that I was wrong. I had proof that wasn't true but then had to "mutually" withdraw the feedback to protect my small score. At that time the feedback system was definitely against me as a buyer. Hope fully a new system can put the scales back in balance.
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I agree with the majority of the sentiment posted in the comments regarding the change to the ebay feedback system. As both a buyer and seller with more than 500 transactions, reviewing negative feedback is part of my purchasing decision as well as providing a sense of security to my buyers. Ebay is a great system and I have found the majority of users to be honest, however I have been burned a few times by both non payers on sales as well as not receiving purchases or receiving misrepresented items. Mandatory posting of feedback on sold items once payment is received is an excellent suggestion.
Provision of an ombudsman to decision disputes would also assist in maintaining fairness.
Ebay claims users shy away when negative feedback is received. I believe I will be less likely to use ebay with this new change as I will feel less secure in the transactions.
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As a buyer , I agree with most of the comments, I fell a seller should leave their feedback when the purchase is paid for .I have waited for 4 months for an item so the seller deserves a negative feedback,but no feedback can be left as it is over the 60 days , but looking at the feedback if a negative is left by byer then seller also leaves a negative which is not deserved. There also should be more protection for items not received after the 60 days, especially if paid by pay pal.
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I do not agree that vendors should not be allowed to post negative feedback…I also agree that vendors should post feedback first…The problem is also what happens when the vendor does not ship the item?? How can a seller get their money back?? Paypal refund coverage is poor…
Perhaps posting a portion of each sale to a fund.This would cover the what if the vendor leaves Ebay and doesn't ship items.It could then be covered in a refund to the buyer…After 90 days, the vendor can get the funds in that account if he has left Ebay on good standing!!
The Ebay system itself is not easy to use to find info to make acomplaint either!!
Just a thought…
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For some reason eBay really hates sellers. First sellers have to pay rediculous fees (just raised to 8% PLUS ending fee PLUS paypal fee, and paypal is the same company as ebay now), then they get the super shaft by paypal since paypal is super easy to cheat, now they cant leave negatives when they guy a buyer who lies about an item being unreceieved. On top of that stuff sells really cheap on eBay. Much better to sell locally or on Yahoo.
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I have only recieved negative feedback once as a buyer on ebay. It was AFTER I left negative feedback for non shipment because they sold the item twice and did not have 2 items. Thier mistake obviously, but it took me over 60 days for them to admit it to me. They were just retaliating against my negative feedback and wanted my rating to have the red mark. I paid by paypal within minutes of purchase. How does that action deserve a negative feedback? What more could I do as a buyer? Should I have left positive feedback for not shipping my item, for not responding to my emails for 2 months? I dont think so!
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I pay my purchases immediately and leave feedback as I receive each item. Feedback from the seller should be left when the auction is completed and not after I leave my feedback.
I've bid on an item that was posted as genuine..then the seller sent me rude emails, along with pleads for me to retract my negative feedback.
My eBay rating now shows one negative which I did not deserve.
I think it fair that sellers post feedback on prompt payments and communication only.
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I have over 400 transactions as a seller at 100%, and as soon as the new feedback system was in place; I received negatives within 6 weeks. Why you may ask?…
The first negative: The buyer demanded that I lowered my shipping price,to which I declined, and then I was given a negative.
Second negative: Then buyer demanded I give a better deal or I wouldn’t like the feedback that i was going to get.
Third negative: Buyer received the item, opened it, used it, then decided that they didn’t want the item. Ten contacted me and informed me that they no longer wanted the item. So I apologized, and I immediately received a response with; looks like you can use another negative.
furthermore, most buyers now totally ignore when payment is due when it is clearly listed in the auction. I have buyers paying after 2 weeks, 3 weeks. 10 days. I have listed 2-5 days.Now I cant say nothing at all to the buyers, because I will receive negatives if it is not done their way.
Ebay, does not care at all.So many buyers are getting away with murder, and all ebay does is send you links to find your own answers.And when you find the link to the answer, and contact ebay, they just send you another link.
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eBay is fueled by buyer interest, not seller interest, the basic law of supply meets demand. They clearly want to encourage buyers to come to the market. At the moment, it's a seller's paradise because once your Paypal payment is made, you're at the mercy of the seller. After many transactions as a buyer, I found that almost universally sellers do not leave any feedback until the buyer posts it first. After the buyer clicks that pay button on Paypal, he has fulfilled his responsibility and should automatically receive positive feedback. In the case of non-Paypal transactions, it can be left at the seller's discretion to leave feedback on the buyer. This would level the playing field somewhat. My only negative experience was with a seller who didn't get the high price he had expected. He emailed saying that he would not accept Paypal from Canadian buyers although this was not stated anywhere during the bidding. Most, if not all, of the eBay crooks are sellers.
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I agree with most of the above comments. As both a seller and a buyer. When a payment is received, immediate feedback from the buyer should be mandatory…what more do they(buyers) need to leave feedback except that the payment is made and received.It is absolutely critical however, as a buyer that I see all feedback on sellers.I have chosen not to bid on certain itemns based on specific disputes between buyers and sellers.There will always be exceptions to every rule and ways to mess with the system…there are, always.I have found these to be the exception and NOT the rule. I have been burned a few times but it is usually with money orders or cheques, and rarely with Paypal. When a credit card is used and someone doesn't ship…you simply inform the seller that a credit card fraud investigation will be launched and you either get the item or you get a refund…not a real problem, except you may not receive the item.The system needs a little tweaking is all…not real 180 degree reactionary changes, they rarely solve a problem but do cause more.
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Sorry…i meant "sellers" need to leave immediate feedback, not buyers. My typing skills leave little to be desired.
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Seller should post Feedback when payment rec,d…the buyer's part of the transaction is done….
Seller should be able to respond to a buyer's feedback…. but should not be able to use the blackmailing threat of Negative Feedback to avoid buyer complaints
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As a Buyer/Seller with over 750 transactions on eBay, I have always believed that NO transaction is complete UNTIL the Buyer has received his item paid for. As a Seller, I ship within 24 hours of received payment; but depending if I'm shipping to the U.S., or Austalia – makes a BIG difference in shipping time! And as a Buyer I have bought items from the UK and China.
Point being, it can take anywhere from a week to a couple of months for items to arrive. At the point that the Buyer actually receives his item, checks it is as advertised, and is happy with the transaction – THEN he/she leaves appropriate feedback for the Seller; who THEN leaves appropriate feedback for the Buyer as the transaction is FINALLY complete!
As a Seller, yes, I'm happy you paid right away – but as I have no control over the Postal system, why would I leave you positive feedback immeadiately
if 6 weeks down the road you receive your item and you are unhappy that it took so long to arrive – so leave me negative feedback for something beyond my control?
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I've only sold a handful of items on ebay. On an phone I recently sold, the buyer had the item for over two weeks, then claimed that the item never worked and that she hadn't gotten around to contacting me. She demanded an immediate refund and filed a paypal claim. She made completely fraudulent claims about the condition of the item in order to get her refund. A look at her feedback shows that she bought a fancier phone shortly after buying mine, so it appears she wanted a buyer's remourse refund. It felt as though there was no protection for me as a seller in this case.
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