Posted By:
Chris_Long _MgmtThere are a few new undocumented rules going into effect on ebay as well as the ones you have all noticed already recently implemented.
The last poster who mentioned leaving a negative after communicating with the seller on many levels is completely warranted and within his rights. On the other hand, a buyer who simply leaves a negative for a seller because he was upset over shipping and never communicated those facts to the seller or gave them an opportunity to resolve the issue might see some "scolding" from ebay over that action.
In addition, there is now (or will arrive very shortly) a "cooling off" period before leaving a POWER SELLER a negative. A message will be indicated also prior to the negative that instructs you to be sure you communicated with the seller in attempts to resolve the situation instead of just being in a bad mood that day and BAM he gets it where you think he deserves it. The warning message will be the catalyst for ebay to go back and remove the negative you left them if in fact you DID NOT exhaust all your options before leaving the negative, specifically for Power Sellers, since their satisfaction rating is now part of their financial model for paying fees and staying in the PS program.
Simply asking the seller what their shipping policy was and asking for a brief explanation of how the cards would be shipped and packed would have also led to a better understanding of the upcoming transaction for you. Communication is the key! If you don’t get a response from them, you can always bid on a single item, request their user info, give them a call and ask in person. This method is not the “devil” and is encouraged by ebaY as well as top level sellers. When calling a seller be sure to be kind and maybe say something like “Hi, I am one of the bidders of you ebaY items and had a few more questions about your items”. Please don’t do something like block your incoming number, refuse to give your name and be rude, that is why some buyers just shouldn’t call.
Good luck and try and give the sellers an option to resolve the problem prior to leaving a negative feedback…or low DSRs for that matter. They seem to be even more important now than the negatives. ebaY is sneaky