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Posted By: Joann

Study break!

I used to always leave feedback for buyer as soon as I got payment, until my sister ran into a really really bad deal as a seller. She also used to leave immediate buyer feedback as soon as she got money.

She sold a cell phone to a low/no feedback buyer, rec'd payment, left feedback and shipped. Buyer claimed it arrived broken. He sent a photo that had like the whole flip almost broken off - no way my sister could have not seen it. Packaging not damaged.

He left her her first negative feedback, and she had already left the pos. They got into a huge PayPal dispute that my sister won ONLY because he could not prove that he had returned the phone.

His bidding history showed that he had won an almost identical phone in an auction that ended the day after he won hers, but before he had received the phone she sent.

Sooo ... I used to kind of take pride that I left immediate positive feedback for buyers on receipt of payment. When this happened to my sister I stopped the practice.

I think that what I learned from her experience is that the transaction with a buyer is NOT closed as soon as they send their payment. They continue to have responsibility to properly accept or reject the product that they receive.

So it's more than just a seller holding positive feedback "hostage" until the buyer leaves positive. The seller has a legit right to withhold feedback until all of the transaction is complete - not just payment, but acceptance and conclusion.

I now leave feedback when I feel that the deal is done and the buyer is happy, regardless of whether they have left me fb. I leave it on payment if the buyer has excellent and high feedback, or if I know the buyer from here. (All unless I get so disorganized and busy that I forget for several weeks.)

But I no longer leave it when the buyer pays - too much unfinished business at that point.

Break over.

Joann