First off... if this is inthe wrong spot, please punt it to the appropriate location. I need to ask this of regular ebay sellers: "Why do you not leave feedback for your buyers until they leave feedback for you?" This only came up as I've started emailing sellers once I receive the item to thank them, but due to the fact that others have neglected to leave feedback I will wait until it has been left for me. The last seller came back with, "I absoultely refuse to leave feedback first..." I've lost out on many feedback points because sellers either forget (even after a friendly reminder... and to be fair, I am guilty of this myself) or are too lazy to leave feedback. As far as I'm concerned, once you receive payment for the auction, the buyer has completed his/her part of the contract and is entitled for feedback. I just need to understand why this rarely happens? Can anyone clear this up for me?
Revenge feedback. A lot of people wait for fear of getting a bad feedback without the ability to leave it themselves. Personally, I leave feedback right after(or close) the item ships. I guess I have a certain confidence that others do not. But I can understand why. Feedback can be terribly abused by buyers.
I have had this revenge feedback atleast 5 times and has destroyed my ebay feedback. Jerks who took my cash and after I complained said i did not read the auction and got negitive feedback and a recent event with a lady saying I did not pay when she had cashed the money order. She refused to call canada post to check for herself until I brought it to ebays attention she left feedback for me calling me a deadbeat even after she cashed it. This has happened to me alot with money orders so from now on no paypal no deal. People not leaving feedback after you even give them a reminder is crap it takes all of 2 seconds to fill in the box.
I think there should be an automatic feedback for sellers. Once an item is shipped, it should automatically leave a message like "Payment was received promptly". There can be an ability to modify it at necessary. But for the most part, that message is true. As a seller, that would save time from having to sort through which ones to leave feedback for. Buyers get their feedback, sellers save time, everyone is happy.
Well as a seller, I do it for 2 reasons. 1) Sometimes buyers don't leave feedback at all. SO I withhold feedback until feedback is received, and I state it in most of my emails. 2) Sometimes complications arise after the items been sent. I don't like to leave feedback until after the transaction is completed.
As far as I'm concerned, this should be standard procedure. I don't sell on eBay, but I buy a lot. I leave feedback for sellers after I've opened the box and inspected the item - and not a moment before. Maybe I've been lucky, but every seller I've dealt with has left me positive feedback after I've done the same.
Of course I'm not going to leave feedback before a buyer leaves feedback for me. I am not happy with the transaction before he is.
I sell a lot more on ebay than I buy, and this mindset by buyers is one of my biggest pet peeves. The feedback system at ebay is NOT intended as an indicator of payment or non payment. It is a summary of the ENTIRE transaction. Let me share a personal example of why leaving feedback once payment is received is a bad idea from the seller's perspective. A couple of years ago I sold a CD box set. The auction ended on a Tuesday night. I offered him his choice of shipping options and he chose media mail since it was cheapest and he paid promptly within a couple of hours of the auction ending. At this point, by your standards, I should leave positive feedback for him. Thursday afternoon, LESS THAN 48 HOURS AFTER HE PAID, he spammed my email with over 500 messages cursing me out with absolutely filthy language and demanding to know why his CD was not there yet. He also filed a complaint with Paypal and left me negative feedback on ebay. I shipped Wednesday, the earliest I could possibly ship the item since the post office was closed Tuesday when he paid. This means he was essentially expecting overnight service from MEDIA MAIL, which is generally 1-2 weeks in most cases. That guy paid promptly, but was he deserving of positive feedback? Do you think I had a "positive" experience with that transaction? Hell no. This is an extreme example, but I've had lots of lesser encounters that were deserving of negative or neutral feedback even though they paid on time. Someone can pay on time and still be rude or unreasonably demanding.
I can see this side of the argument. You are always going to have those people that are going to act like jerks no matter what. And this type of example (I hope) is the exception and not the rule. If you choose to pay for a slower shipping method, you should expect the package to take a little while to arrive (that is the buyer's fault for choosing this as his shipping method). I guess I'm looking at it from a buyer's perspective... and one who has been screwed over a few times on feedback. For the most part, I think I have been polite with my communications, even when it seems like the package is taking a long time to arrive. I've only had to be "forceful" with one seller who did not send an item (and I chose not to leave negative feedback due to fears of the "revenge" feedback). I pay promptly on everything I buy.... and yet there have been many times that I can recall where I received no recognition for my end of the bargain (even after asking them to do so). Again... this may come back to my earlier comment of there are always going to be jerks out there. I just find it frustrating in a reputation based marketplace that both parties do not always get the reputation they deserve.
How so? You'll get the feedback, it just may not be immediately. And reiterating what has already been said, as a seller you have no idea what the buyer will do upon receiving the item. You can describe it to a tee, take a clear picture, package it well, ship it on time and still have the buyer make some rediculous claim about the item.
Every couple of weeks I'll send out messages to people who haven't left feedback reminding them to do so. Usually works within one or two messages. Some people just forget.
As a seller, I don't leave feedback until i get it becasue; a) There's a fairly good chance they won't bother to leave feedback for me unless they have to do that first in order to get + feedback from me. b) The lunatic element - that small percentage of people on eBay who are somewhat short of rational thought. A few years back, a person started Xmas shopping for his son on Dec 14th .He payed a week later. When it finally dawned on him that with normal shipping he wasn't going to have it in time for Xmas day, it became my fault and i got a - because he doesen't undertstand that 14+7 = 21 and that 25 - 21 is only 4 I *always* leave + Feedback where due. As for - Feedback, TBH unless the seller has really screwed me, i take the longview and try to keep my feedback score intact. eBay is basically seller orientated. the seller is the one who lists the items and pays the fees. As such, the proverbial ball is usually going to be in the court of the seller.
I hate that about ebay, if they screw ya over and you leave neg feedback, then be prepared to get bad feedback in return. This is why I dont leave any feedback at all if they screw me. Just bug the crap out of them afterwards instead, but in a nice way. I never give feedback first. Unless I know who it is.
