eBay feedback

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Posted By: jay behrens 

I posted 30+ auctions over the past month. Of those auctions, I have not received feedback on half of these auctions. It's seems that fewer and fewer people are leaving feedback.

I don't really care a whole lot about how high my rating is, but not getting feedback from from this many people is a bit disconcerting and shows that the whole feedback system is becoming pointless and worthless.

Jay

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Posted By: MW

Jay,

EBay's feedback system will be imperfect until they (or someone else) determine a method by which retaliatory feedback from non-performing sellers and buyers can be greatly reduced or eliminated. As you can imagine, there are no easy solutions. Absent some type of special feedback review board (which might adversely affect eBay's status as an auction forum and not a direct sales agent), I don't think things will change any time soon.

On the other hand, if you include some specific wording in your correspondence with seller and bidders that you would appreciate feedback, perhaps that would be somewhat effective.

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Posted By: jay behrens

I have a standard invoice that goes out to everyone and mentions leaving feedback, but doesn't seem to help. I actually had a higher rate of return feedback in the 90s than I have had the past few years.

Jay

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Posted By: Cy

Jay,

Do you post your seller's feedback before he posts his own buyer's feedback for you? If I buy an item, I do not leave feedback to the seller unless he posts feedback for me first. I satisfied my obligation to him before he satisfied his. So I feel he must post the feedback even before he ships the item.

Cy

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Posted By: JC

I agree with Cy. If you were paid for your item, you must leave feedback first. I have also noticed, when I used to sell cards 20.00 or less the people you are dealing with are not so punctual with feedback. Then when they do leave feedback, you wished they hadn't.

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Posted By: jay behrens

One thing I learned early on about feedback and selling is that a seller should never leave feedback until the buyer has. Once the buyer has left feedback, I know that he is satisfied with the transaction. If they don't leave, feedback, I don't know if they are satisfied or not, and if they are not, I want the chance to correct theproblem before they leave negative feedback.

I've had people tell me that this is a form of feedback extortion, but as a seller, I will never leave feedback for someone until I know they are satisfied. As a buyer, I always leave feedback as soon as I get the card and am happy with what I got.

Just becuase a buyer pays for the item does not mean that transaction has come to a conclusion, and leaving feedback to buyer after they pay leaves you open, as a seller, to having to deal with an extremely obnoxious customer because they know that you now cannot leave negative feedback about their conduct.

Jay

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Posted By: Mike Ward

If you are paid by the buyer, than you should leave feedback first. If someone has purchased the item and then receives positive feedback for their payment from you, only a jerk would then nail you with negative feedback and that would be evident to others on e-bay. How many negs. do you have? How many times have you left pos. FB for a buyer and then been blind-sided with neg. FB? If the answer is once or twice and your pos. FB is 150, I think the issue is silly.

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Posted By: julie

I always wait until seller has posted feeldback--unless the item arrives before his feedehack. In that case, I reason, he's not going to leave me any, or is waiting--a little unfairly--for my reaction to his item before saying anything about how fast my money got there (which it does--with rare exceptions).
Establishing oneself as a person by asking a question--which I often have on relatively high ticket items anyway-- often makes you stick in seller's mind.

It's really a drag when you shell out a lot of dough and get no feedback. When I leave feedback, I try to mention the item in it--for seller's reference, and also for future readers, and just to express myself.
I once got in trouble by describing the "greasy kid's stuff" in Moe Berg's hair in an original photo--I got no feedback at all!

I do not expect feedback from Scott Gaynor!
I NEVER leave bad feedback--not yet, anyway--and (up till now) have never gotten any. Once I snuck a negative comment in under the "positive" label, though!

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Posted By: TBob

I may be naive but if I sell an item, the same day payment arrives I post positive feedback. As a buyer I always leave positive feedback when the item arrives, even if the seller hasn't.

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Posted By: runscott

I handle things the same way - why waste all that energy checking your feedback? I have no idea who leaves me feedback and who doesn't, but I always leave feedback. If you behave correctly as a buyer and as a seller, the odds of getting a significant number of negative feedbacks are about zero.

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Posted By: Mike Ward

I agree with the above post. If you're above board, there is nothing to be afraid of or expect neg FB. Using the logic of the original poster, the buyer is probably sitting waiting for you to post PFB as they know they paid you and why should they leave feedback if you the seller may leave NFB. Seems to make sense that if they aren't happy with the product, they're not going to sit around for weeks waiting for your PFB just to turn around and slam you with NFB.

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Posted By: Elliot

I agree with the above posts, but having said that the seller should post feedback when he receives payments, as the buyer has fulfilled his end of the bargain. Although the seller runs the risk that the buyer might "neg" him, the buyer has been at a greater risk having sent payment without having received the item. If the buyer doesn't pay the only thing the seller is out is the hassle of relisting the item and potentially getting a lower price.

Btw, Scott Gaynor has always left me feedback, somehow I don't think he would have a feedback of over 10,000 if he didn't.

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Posted By: jay behrens

My feedback is appraoching 500. I have total faith in everything sell and describe the items accurately. Sadly, my 2 negs came from 2 people that were trying to scam me. One of them had a repeated habit of doing this and if I had not been able to post my neg about him, then the other people that contacted me about him having similar situations would have never known. He also ended up getting numerous negs after I posted mine.

As much as I would like to think that transaction is done and happy once the check is in my hands, I know from personal experience that this is not the case. My invoice stats that I will leave feedback once the transaction is completed to your satisfaction by leaving positive feedback. If there is a problem, please contact me so that any problems can be resolved.

Although this has no real comparision to Dan McKee's situation, it's still a situation where you need to cover your ass. And who knows how much longer the jerk I left a neg for would have gone without a neg if I had left him a positive as soon as I got his check.

Jay