Ebay Negative Feedback

[greenmonster66]

Would like your thoughts on an Ebay Transaction I recently had. I sold an item a few weeks back. Unfortunately I misplaced the item and looked everywhere for it in my house. Never sold it, just misplaced it. Told buyer and sent him an apology note and fully refunded his $$ asap. Tonight he goes ahead and left me negative feedback. Does this seem fare?

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

I've been in your shoes, and while I would hope for understanding, it wouldn't surprise me. I had someone leave me negative over a $7 card that they thought I misgraded without even contacting me first. I work like hell to avoid it but I couldn't blame a buyer for dinging me in a situation like yours.

[thetruthisoutthere]

The problem is that Ebay does not allow sellers to Neg buyers or they might think twice about leaving a seller Negative Feedback.

I recently purchased an item on Ebay and finally after three lies and 20 days, Ebay issued me a refund, but I still didn't leave the seller negative feedback.

[Jim65]

Originally Posted by thetruthisoutthere

The problem is that Ebay does not allow sellers to Neg buyers or they might think twice about leaving a seller Negative Feedback.

Thats the way it should be. Buyers should not have to worry about retaliatory feedback if the seller messes up. The system is not perfect but its better than the old way

[Snapolit1]

It think it's a dick move and feedback under those circumstance. If you quickly explained what happened and gave a refund I think completely unnecessarily. No harm, no foul.

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by Jim65

Thats the way it should be. Buyers should not have to worry about retaliatory feedback if the seller messes up. The system is not perfect but its better than the old way

This. ^

To answer the question, it is fair. That's exactly what feedback is for. If the buyer felt like it was a negative experience, then they have the right to leave negative feedback.

That said, I probably wouldn't do it, but it would also depend on the situation. If I thought I got a really good deal on something and that the seller just didn't want to complete the transaction because they thought they could get more money for the item, then I would probably leave negative feedback. But if it was something that I could purchase for the same price any other day, then I would accept the seller at his word and just chalk it up as a mistake.

[greenmonster66]

Actually the buyer messaged me back, The only reason he left negative was because in his words:

You offered to notify me and an offer to sell if you ever located the cards. That was three weeks ago or so with no follow up thats why I waited before posting the negative feedback.v

I told him I would only contact him if the cards were ever located being said I didn't find them!

[silvor]

Originally Posted by thetruthisoutthere

The problem is that Ebay does not allow sellers to Neg buyers or they might think twice about leaving a seller Negative Feedback.

I buy and sell various hobby related stuff on ebay. I think the sellers brought this on themselves in some ways. I bought a tape recorder advertised as "great condition" back when sellers could leave negative feedback. When I opened it, it smelled like horrible smoke, all except one light was burned out and the reverse function on the deck didn't work. So, I asked to send the item back (this was before the whole dispute process). He told me no. Just absolutely refused to do anything. What could I do except leave negative feedback? Thing is, he threatened to leave ME negative feedback.

As a seller now, I sort of figure I need to take returns, I need to describe every little issue and I need to work with the buyers. All that said, I try to sell on Craigslist first.

[Huysmans]

Truthfully, I think negative feedback is more than fair in this scenario. As a seller, you list an item, and while it's for sale and then purchased.. it gets lost? How hard is it to keep something put aside, especially considering you plan to enter into an agreement with someone to purchase said item? With all due respect, to buyers it will look like you either didn't care enough, or you're incompetent.

...and be honest, now that you got dinged you will probably be more prudent in the future so this doesn't happen again. If you didn't get dinged... would you be overly concerned about this happening again? Probably not....

If a buyer reneged on a purchase because he "lost" his money.... how understanding would most sellers be?? Think about it...

[cardsnstuff]

Originally Posted by Huysmans

If a buyer reneged on a purchase because he "lost" his money.... how understanding would most sellers be?? Think about it...

I have had 4 buyers cancel orders within the last 2 weeks; it was within a few hours and before I even shipped item, no harm no foul, right; {wrong I have to get my credit from ebay and I have to relist item and usually pay for add'l listing because my limit is used up} but it happens a lot more than you would think. I usually just relist & move on

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by thetruthisoutthere

The problem is that Ebay does not allow sellers to Neg buyers or they might think twice about leaving a seller Negative Feedback.

Leaving feedback on buyers is incredibly rare. Do sellers or manufacturers get to leave feedback on you on Amazon when you give a product a 1-star review? or leave terrible feedback on a seller? Of course not.

And, really, sellers only have themselves to blame for this. Waaaaaaaay too many sellers were holding feedback hostage and retaliating against people and eventually Ebay had to step in. And they made the right call in doing so.

[T205 GB]

You must have missed the other thread. I would say your 50/50 with the board on whether it was good or bad so I'm not going there again😎

It's sucks to get a negative but you can reply to it and let other buyers know what happened if they check your feedback.

[bbcard1]

Shouldn't be a big deal if you have decent feedback. He could have cut you a break and not filed negative feedback, but he probably wasn't completely out of bounds dinging you, the way I see it. No, I wouldn't have left negative.

[Luke]

I've had same thing happen a couple times over the years. I would always offer a great deal on something else, or offer to send a more valuable item in place of the one I lost. I've never got a negative, but I also make it very clear I want to make up for my mistake.

[savedfrommyspokes]

I have been on both ends.

As a buyer, I have a near infinite amount of understanding if a seller loses a fixed priced item I have purchased at market price. However, when a seller loses an item I won via auction, at a better than market price, than I am not as happy. My feedback in a case like this will likely depend on how frequently this happens to the seller. If they exhibit a history of not honoring winning bids, feedback will obviously not be positive.


As a seller, I sell fixed price items and following my apology to a buyer for misplacing their purchase, my first offer is to locate a close as possible replacement followed by a refund or credit towards another item.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by greenmonster66

Would like your thoughts on an Ebay Transaction I recently had. I sold an item a few weeks back. Unfortunately I misplaced the item and looked everywhere for it in my house. Never sold it, just misplaced it. Told buyer and sent him an apology note and fully refunded his $$ asap. Tonight he goes ahead and left me negative feedback. Does this seem fare?

BS move on the part of the buyer.

[ALR-bishop]

I am strictly a buyer on eBay.

Tabe- I agree with you that until seller retaliatory feedback was eliminated buyers did not give accurate feedback on sellers. But also agree that too many buyers now extort and scam even good sellers with negative feed back. I can only assume this model works best for eBay profits, but recognize it has driven some good sellers off eBay

Nat-- interesting take on sellers leaving responses. I had not viewed that as a negative, depending on the nature and tone of the response

I would not have left negative in this case unless it appeared to be a pattern of conduct or I had specific indication seller was just trying for better price.

[greenmonster66]

Update with Good News. So I left the buyer positive feedback and explained on my feedback what happened. Buyer appreciated me leaving him positive feedback and took the liberty to contact Ebay to remove the negative feedback for me and change it to positive. he also email apologizing with a long sory.

[Roulette44]

It's cool that they buyer did that. Whether he was warranted in leaving you a negative or not, it sounds like you offered the right kind of positive attitude. I find that strong customer service goes a long way (even when a mistake happens).

When you have thousands of listings, it's easy for something to sell prior to pulling it down from ebay, for example. It happens every so often to me, and i always apologize and offer the buyer something in reciprocity (since they invested their time to look at my item).

Glad it worked out for you. I'm sure a neg is annoying, even if it doesn't affect your ability to gain customers.

Joey

[bmattioli]

I don't even look at someones feedback score anymore. If the price is right I purchase the item and know that I'm 100 percent protected. Don't sweat it.. But then again it was unfair in my book with your deal..