Negative feedback EBay seller - red flag or no big whoop?

[rand1com]

Originally Posted by Belfast1933

Wondering how experienced Net 54 buyers on ebay handle possible purchases from sellers on ebay when sellers have one bad review out of many.

I am thinking about bidding on a card in an ebay auction and it looks like the seller has about 1000 reviews in the last year with only one negative review - but the narrative from that one review is pretty lousy. The sellers response to the negative review is confrontational and sarcastic. Kind of weak-sauce, in my view

But all other (900+) reviews are fine.

It’s a potential high $$ purchase for me (around $2k) so I am extra cautious and wonder how others filter or consider feedback like this.

Appreciate any feedback on ebay feedback! 🙃

Jeff

Let's see. 1/1000 = .001 That is the ratio of negatives versus positives. There is always one customer out of 1000 who cannot be satisfied with any transaction. I would buy in a minute if the price is right and the item is something I wanted from a seller with this feedback level. Ebay stands behind the buyer in almost all instances if something goes wrong and 99.99% nothing appears to go wrong with this seller.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by rand1com

Let's see. 1/1000 = .001 That is the ratio of negatives versus positives. There is always one customer out of 1000 who cannot be satisfied with any transaction. I would buy in a minute if the price is right and the item is something I wanted from a seller with this feedback level. Ebay stands behind the buyer in almost all instances if something goes wrong and 99.99% nothing appears to go wrong with this seller.

+1....

[notfast]

If you didn’t do business with a person or place because of one negative review, you’d never go anywhere or buy anything from anyone.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by notfast

If you didn’t do business with a person or place because of one negative review, you’d never go anywhere or buy anything from anyone.

^^THIS^^ eBay feedback has been completely worthless from the beginning. Most transactions never give/receive feedback. Plus who wants to completely waste their time going through someones feedback. When it is very rare that eBay won't force a refund so buyers are protected.

[D. Bergin]

I know you don't want to out the seller, but can you post the negative review and the response to it?

[Jim65]

Originally Posted by notfast

If you didn’t do business with a person or place because of one negative review, you’d never go anywhere or buy anything from anyone.

Its not just one negative. The sellers nasty response could mean hes not reasonable to deal with if theres a problem.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Jim65

Its not just one negative. The sellers nasty response could mean hes not reasonable to deal with if theres a problem.

1 in 1000?? I would take my chances.
The guy walks on water.

[Jim65]

Originally Posted by Leon

1 in 1000?? I would take my chances.
The guy walks on water.

If it were just 1 negative and no response, I'd agree. Most sellers are awesome but its how they handle problems that I'm interested in. If a seller responds to a negative feedback with a response that is "confrontational and sarcastic" it could be a red flag that he might not be helpful if a problem arises. If I'm spending $2000, his response would make me look for another seller. I understand that people will disagree.

[Mike D.]

I have one negative feedback on eBay. Someone bought a card and when it arrived wrote to say the card wasn’t near mint. I said “the listing doesn’t say the card is NM, but if you send it back I can give you a full refund”.

They left negative feedback instead. I didn’t reply to the feedback, with or without snark.

The guy never sent the card back and never asked for a refund…so I kept his money.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Jim65

If it were just 1 negative and no response, I'd agree. Most sellers are awesome but its how they handle problems that I'm interested in. If a seller responds to a negative feedback with a response that is "confrontational and sarcastic" it could be a red flag that he might not be helpful if a problem arises. If I'm spending $2000, his response would make me look for another seller. I understand that people will disagree.

It's 1 in a 1000 chance. Roll the dice, live dangerously.
.

[Frankish]

Originally Posted by rand1com

Let's see. 1/1000 = .001 That is the ratio of negatives versus positives. There is always one customer out of 1000 who cannot be satisfied with any transaction. I would buy in a minute if the price is right and the item is something I wanted from a seller with this feedback level. Ebay stands behind the buyer in almost all instances if something goes wrong and 99.99% nothing appears to go wrong with this seller.

+2

I understand that the seller's response may not be to everyone's liking, but I imagine as a seller (I've never sold anything on ebay myself) that dealing with people who abuse the system is frustrating. Also, I'd guess that negative feedback gets left almost all the time while positive feedback is probably more spotty. So the real ratio of satisfied customers to unsatisfied is probably even more lopsided.