Online auction site eBay has begun to introduce changes in the feedback that sellers can leave about buyers. The changes were first announced in January.
Sellers on eBay are no longer allowed to leave neutral or negative comments about buyers on the site. eBay has also changed the way it calculates a member's positive feedback percentage score.
eBay told users on Monday that as it continues to update its database, some sellers would see a temporary difference in their scores displayed on their Item pages and on their Feedback profile.
eBay says the feedback change was necessary because of an increasing number of sellers leaving critical ratings for buyers who gave them negative ratings.
"What we discovered through research was that any negative feedback that the buyer gets reduces their purchasing or willingness to purchase within the marketplace," Brian Burke, eBay's director of global feedback policy told CNN. "The goal behind the changes is really to make sure that we've got buyer accountability and seller accountability."
Sellers on eBay who want to leave feedback now see a new page that gives them the option of leaving positive feedback or leaving feedback later. The page has a link to another page where sellers can report problem buyers over the following issues, unpaid item, feedback extortion, feedback abuse, malicious buying, and customs fraud.
Some sellers are not happy about seeing changes to their percentage score. eBay Australia has a pop - up box that says,"Buyers, you can no longer receive negative or neutral Feedback from sellers. You should leave honest and accurate Feedback without the fear of receiving negative or neutral ratings."
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thanks for your article.
thanks for your article. Very help me. I will more like visit to webpronews site. :) Fantastic
feedback issue
I'm actually considering starting a class action suit against ebay for feeback negligence. In sum, I proved the following and ebay did nothing after 4 emails to them.
1. buyer through ebay messages said he would use feedback extortion.
2. buyer then left negative feedback under seperate account which he also used to shill bid on his other listings as evidenced in him leaving feedback for himself as well!! and admitting this to me in ebay messages.
3. shill bidding is a federal offense (google it). i went from 10 people a day interested in my auction to 1 a month (based on interest messages sent to me and bids) because my feedback dropped so much from this incident. the same guy left negative feedback for alot of people as well and then puts in his ads that he's got 100% feedback and is a trusted seller.
4. in my feeback buyer then went in under another account and said that both accounts were his and that he made a mistake (but the negative stayed and my feedback dropped 15%.
thanks ebay. thanks for not helping and causing the loss of income.
yes you can still dispute
yes you can still dispute the seller if you paid with paypal by filing with paypal a dispute
Others our better than ebay
I have given up on ebay and moved on. I sell things on the cheap and when it cost more to sell it's time to move on.
Ebay makes it tough!
Tough for businesses now to make a living using Ebay. The margins are so thin on many items that the Ebay fees cut into profits. I'm sure that there will be someone who comes along and does it right ... Web 2.0 For Auctions or something.
EBAY IS OUT OF CONTROL
A buyer from Australia paid us $59 to ship the product to him. We went to the post office and it actually cost us $69.50 and never once asked the customer for the difference. The customer gave us a 4 out of 5 for ship cost. Which is clearly wrong and ebay will not let us show proof. It should of been removed because ebay is allowing people to post false information and if it can easily be proved they are wrong, ebay should give that platform to do so. I am a buyer and a seller and I hate their policies. The only reason why they are giving the shaft to the seller is because they still have a monopoly. I bet you 1 million dollars that the day another company knocks them off their stoop. They will be changing so many things to try and keep the sellers. Because believe me, I would jump ship in 2 seconds over their horrible customer service and lack of protection to good sellers. that's a real shame that their system is designed where it is literally impossible to keep a 100% rating. And believe me, I spoil my customers from start to finish and I still have the idiots ruining my dashboard rating even when they are clearly wrong. Even a woman that accidently left me a less than 5 star rating told ebay she mistakenly did that. Ebay refused to remove it even after she said it was her own fault.
Seller whining...
Sorry, but I couldn't help myself re. the subject, after reading the tear dripping story about the shipping to Australia. When the seller her-/himself has miscalculated S&H, they can only blame themselves for that and it is certainly not something to complain about afterwards. When the buyer's gives detailed seller ratings, it is anonymous and the seller is only showed AVERAGES. Can't see how it makes any sense that a seller should think out that this or that buyer must have given such or such rating and then contact eBay to complain about it, asking for it to be removed. If a seller truly is honest and provides good service, both feedback and ratings will show it in the long run. And I bet that we will have to get used to sellers having lower feedback percentages, because buyers for the first time EVER can be HONEST. I have a perfect feedback and never gave even one negative. But I have been downright defrauded by several sly and horrible sellers who have threatened me with negative feedback and ruining my feedback score if I dare give them a negative. E.g. as one seller who charged me around $100 EXTRA for upgraded shipping and sent the item off surface/boat for $15 and refused to refund me after first telling me over and over again that they would do so, effectively stalling until it was too late to report them. Eventually I had to give up, as they wouldn't even answer my mails, even if I was nice and polite to them all the time (something they sure weren't!). God only knows how many others they have done that to, I bet I'm one amongst many. In my book stealing $100 from somebody is a quite big deal. And, yes, I admit it, I let myself be threatened by bad sellers, as many others, not wanting retaliatory feedback ruining my perfect score. I am always generous with positive, individualized feedback to good sellers and now also taking time with detailed rating. I honestly think that this change will be a good thing for sellers and buyers both in the long run, as long as eBay is focussing on what they say they will be, on handling reports from sellers re. the real bad buyers. They need to get caught and booted off eBay, we don't need them there, just as we don't need those dishonest sellers. And we all need to participate in the community control eBay is based on, by reporting the ones who are out to be dishonest. I e.g. try to do my deal by searching for fraudulent auctions and reporting suspicious listings, something many others do too. Most buyers and sellers have one thing in common, they want eBay to be a great place for us all.
And, BTW, I always use toolhaus.org to check the neutrals and negatives for a seller. A good seller that gets negatives from buyers who are inexperienced, unfair etc., is quite easy to see in that environment, especially if the seller also post follow-up in an objective and factual manner (also a great way of seeing what kind of seller you are dealing with, their comments to buyers often speaks volumes!).
Reply to replyer
A bunch of BS.
Theres nothing wrong with
Theres nothing wrong with this system, a buyers sole job is to pay. All too often sellers woulf wait to see the buyers feedback until they gave their own. If you dont like it, you dont have to sell on ebay. If someone has paid you for an item, they deserve positive feedback. Thats it.
Uhmmmm..... no. If a buyer
Uhmmmm..... no. If a buyer pays is not good enough for a positive feedback. I had a buyer demand overnight shipping on an item or I would get reported. The problem was I had only charged the buyer $10 in the auction. It would have cost me over $50 to overnight it. I ended up with a Neg. Why shouldn't I be allowed to return the "favor"?
WAIT UNTIL YOU BECOME A
WAIT UNTIL YOU BECOME A SELLER IF YOU EVER DO. IF SOMEONE DOESN'T BOTHER TO READ YOUR ITEM DESCRIPTION IN FULL AND UNDERSTAND IT, THEY GIVE YOU A NEGATIVE IF YOU DON'T REFUND THERE MONEY. THERE IS SO MUCH MORE TO THIS. I SEE IT IS TO MUCH FOR YOU TO COMPREHEND.
Are you kidding!!
Wow, I am a buyer and a seller. And your comment that nothing is wrong with the feedback is pretty offensive. Are you kidding me. Maybe you might be a good buyer. But there are idiot buyers all over the place. A customer was upset because I did not inform him before I shipped it. And after I explained to him that the only reason why I did not inform him is because I tried to surprise him by shipping it before his payment (because I dealt with him before) And that it was impossible to inform him before shipping because of the fact that I shipped it out the same day. He paid 3 days later and was in Canada. Do you know that he got the package a day after he paid and kept focusing on why I did not tell him ahead of time that I was shipping it instead of thinking. WOW, that was awesome. Or a customer in Australia that paid $59 shipping and it cost us $69.50. Complained about shipping when we took a $10 loss! A customer like that should be dealt with by ebay.. They should be held accountable. So what, you paid right away.. It has nothing to do with the overall experience between the buyer and seller. I am a fair buyer and I would never treat a seller the way some of these idiots do. Whats worse is some buyers dont even communicate, they just blindly throw the wrong feedback at you. and if feedback is supposed to factually reflect the transaction. Then ebay should be held legally liable to protect both the seller and the buyer. Not just one side.
ebays double standard
ebay is absolutly the worst! they selectivly enforce their policy at will. i recently was given an unpaid item strike unfairly. i emailed my seller numerous times, without getting a response. i even contacted ebays live help who did nothing. i rightfully left this seller neg feedback. then the harrassment started. nasty emails every hour on the hour. she even threatened me with her "navy seal" husband. the emails finally stopped after i went to law enforcement. do you know what ebay did? they removed my neg i left her. when contacted as to why they did this, i was given no adequate answer.but, when i had been given a neg unfairly and even was able to prove to ebay that i shouldnt have received it , i was told that they could not remove neg feedbacks! they have a definate double standard. if your a big seller they will bend over backwards for you, but if your a little guy ,they could care less. i hope that someone will start a site that will bury them! i will never do business with them again.
So a Buyer can pay as you
So a Buyer can pay as you say and then immediately leave a seller negative feedback for whatever reason they want? My item got damaged in shipping and I am very mad at the seller therefor he deserves negative feedback, to be verbally abused and ridiculed, threatened. Without ever giving the seller a chance to fix the problem with the shipment that is fully insured and can easily be replaced.
At least before when a rookie Ebay buyer leaves neglegent and unfair feedback it was possible for the seller to contact them and work out the problem to get the unfair feedback removed. Now the feedback is written in stone, no matter how nice and honest and fair the Ebay seller is.
An over reaction from an inexperienced Ebay buyer should be reflected in a seller's feedback proile not matter what??? That is insane.
I can tell you that the fear of negative feedback is what will get the seller to fix the problem immediately and promptly. But if the buyer leaves the negative feedback without contacting the seller first.... Why should the seller even lift a finger to fix the shipping damage problem .... Since the damage has already been done to their feedback reputation, and there is nothing they can do to fix that.
I agree that there are probably some problems with the retaliatory feedback from sellers, but this Ebay policy change is deinately not the answer. And killing the "mutual feedback withdrawal" process makes ebay an very unfair marketplace or sellers.
Ebay has become brilliantly evil!
The new chief at Ebay has chosen a new direction for his company - they want fixed price sales from large companies like Buy.com, Walmart, etc. , and that should be expected as they grow into a multi-faceted marketplace. What I don't understand is why they have chosen to treat their current client base SO BADLY now that they have made this shift. They have MILLIONS of buyers and sellers who like the auction format - why not let them continue this way, even if that part of the site is de-emphasized on the home page? In stead, they have chosen to make life tough for small to mid-size sellers, instituted policies that are blatantly unfair & then villified the sellers. In addition, they have used the feedback change to drive a wedge between seller & buyer, making them adversaries rather than trading partners. While Ebay has us fighting with each other, they are raising fees, burying our listings in favor of big-box sellers, and ignoring the policies that are supposed to protect us from fraud on their site. This is NOT an accident - it's the result of an evil genius who has now found a way to punish sellers who slow down sales & can even use positive feedback as an excuse to punish us. Now they don't have to chase us out, many just want to leave on our own. I wish they put half that much effort into developing their customer service - just TRY to get anything but a polite, canned response from them when you have a problem. Lotsa luck!
Once the large sellers use their Ebay presence to siphon off buyers & direct them to their own web sites, I hope someone at Ebay comes to their senses and makes an effort to retain the customer base that has helped Ebay grow to their current enormous size. In the mean time, I'm hoping that even ONE other auction site will come along and scoop up those of us who want to move on.
feedback abuse
I am considering a class action suit against Ebay for
ruining the reputation of Ebay Sellers.
In my situation a buyer in Canada bought two items. I do not ship Internationally. I got two negative feedbacks because I didn't ship.
Ebay calls this person my buying partner and allows the feedback to stand.
A buyer should meet the selling requirements to be allowed to give feedback. In this case, and I am sure many others, Ebay is intrinsically wrong and should pay.
Anyone want to play?
email me
email me mschr123@yahoo.com
let's get a list going and see what we've got.
i'm really pissed at ebay for ruining the reputation i tried so hard to build over 6 years by a person with a private feeback and member for 3 weeks.
Ebay aweful feedback
How about this...I "sold" an item on ebay...they "buyer" decided they wanted a local pickup, which I do allow, however after the auction ended, they stated a small window of time where I could meet them to deliver the item, of they would have been happy to stop by my home. I stated this was not OK and we could meet at a public place during the week.
Nothing I offered was acceptable, after almost two weeks of this, I stated I would just mail the item and requested them to pay via Paypal.
The next response was them leaving me negative feedback!! It is my first and only negative feedback!!
This is absurd.
Wait a minute...
YOU WAIT A MINUTE...
I CAN FEEL THIS PERSONS PAIN. I HAVE STATED AND PUT IT IN MY SHIPPING TO EXCLUDE SHIPPING OPUTSIDE THE US. I STILL HAVE GOTTEN A FEW THAT HAVE INFILTRATED EBAY'S SYSTEM AND BID ON MY ITEMS.
Your suite will never make
Your suite will never make it. Your attorney will tell you this.
Bye Bye eBay!
I really liked eBay for years. I bought and sold classic games like Super Nintendo, N64, Playstation and Xbox. Most of that time I was a buyer only. Then... I decided to sell on eBay. I maintained a 100% positive rating and always gave full refunds including shipping and handling... without ever being asked for it. I really wanted to take care of my customer. I bought top quality photo equipment to give great detail to the games I was selling. If there was so much as a pencil mark on a game ... I wanted it to show in the picture. I care and I know most gamers care too. With the new rules they have and the new method of calculating feedback... I dropped from 100% to 97%. Bottom line is... eBay isn't worth my time or money as a seller anymore. If a customer is happy... basically happy but not super happy... they give you a neutral... which is now adjusted off the positive numbers. I took pride in my feedback... now, it's worthless and doesn't tell the story. I still give full refunds ... but, I don't sell on eBay anymore. I even find it more difficult when purchasesing an item. I don't know if the feedback score is skewd or really negative.
I've since turned to other on-line sales houses for buying and selling games and game consoles ... and life is now good! ;-)
BYE BYE EBAY.......................................
i WOULD LIKE THE NAME OF THE AUCTION YOUR ARE NOW USING. I AM THINKING OF JUMPING THE EBAY SHIP.
ebay feedback
The Ebay feedback sytem is totally wrong mathmatically and ethically and if dont believe people know the truth look at Google's web trends.The unique hits on the site have been trending DOWN since the news about the feedback became generally known.THE SHIP IS SINKING SLOWLY BUT SURELY.GIVE BRIAN AND GRIIF BUCKETS AND START EM' BAILING!!!!!
scwered ebay feedback
EBAY WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU AS YOUR TV REPORT SAID FEEDBACK WAS MADE TO GRADE SELLERS AND BUYERS NOT IT IS 1 SIDED AND BUYERS CAN HOLD YOU RANSON AND ITS NOT FAIR AT ALL PRICE INCREACES AND NOW WHOS IDEA WAS THIS EBAY FEEDBACK REFORM. NOT AS EBAY STARTED AS A FAIR TRADING CONMANY NOW IT IS 1 SIDED AND WHO EVER THOUGHT OF THIS 1 SIDED FEEDBACK PROGRAM SHOULD BE FIRED. OUR COMPANY AND OTHERS AT A CONVENTION IN LAS VEGAS SHOWED A OVER 98% RUJING OVER NOW EBAYS ONE SIDED FEEDBACK AND ALL 4500 MENBERS AT THIS CONVENTION ARE PULLING TOGETHER TO DESIGN A ONLINE AUCTION SITE WHATS GOING ON WITH EBAY???
Outrageous Ebay
Collective effort needed
Feedback Mechanism
I think your idea about blind feedback is a great idea. I am surprised that Ebay managers didn't put more time into researching the underlying Game Theory in order to come up with a fairer and more accurate feedback system.
Really - Allow positive, neutral or negative feedback from both sellers and buyers, or no feedback at all - but don't show the results to either until a week or two has gone by, then post the results and not permit changes.
Additionally, such a two week delay should be extended for final results if either party has filed a dispute or interim hold with Ebay on the transaction notifying them that there is an informal dispute going on that has not yet been resolved.
And finally, if there is a unresolvable dispute, both sides of the story should be able to present their positions in the feedback area, with links to further information on the matter and/or documentation.
That is the way to do it, not muffle any source of reliable information on the credibility of a buyer or seller.
E-bay unfair feedback system!!!!
I truly believe that eBay has gone crazy with their changes in the feedback system. It used to be a Seller could protect themselves from rotten buyers by leaving them negative feedback which also helps to let other sellers know that this potential buyer is big trouble. Now the Seller can not protect themselves from these rotten buyers.
Just recently I had a lady win a necklace from me at auction. The lady paid fast so I thought fantastic, means a potential positive feedback since the necklace was in excellent condition. Boy was I wrong!!!!!!
This lady sends me a message stating that the necklace had become unstrung and the string was is the box where the beads had fallen into. I replied to her message because for one thing I was a bit confused.....the necklace that I had shipped her was created with beading wire and not string so I thought maybe she had my necklace confused with a different one she might have ordered.
I offered to restring the necklace and also send her a free pair of matching earrings since I wanted her to be a happy customer. I also had ask her to send me a picture of the unstrung necklace and the shipping packaging, thought maybe by a photo I might see what might have happened.
The shipping packaging was in good shape and the unstrung necklace had the tell tale signs of being cut. Does this mean that because I had ask her for a photo of the unstrung necklace that she cut it? Who know for sure, maybe.
She threatened me with negative feedback and when she sent me the photo she had already left me negative feedback. I left her positive......big mistake should have left her nothing.........My 100% feedback rating dropped down to 94% and she still has 100%. Not fair at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ebay Policy
The new policy is great and should have been put in place years ago.
A buyer meets their requirements as soon as payment is received by the buyer. At that point, the seller should enter positive feedback. Not after the buyer enters feedback.
I purchased a item for $3.50 on ebay recently and paid $3.50 for shipping. I paid immediately. When I received the item it wasnt what was pictured. In fact it was quite different. I contacted the seller and he said that I should return the item and he would refund my money plus the original shipping. I explained to him that taking the time package and return an item for $3.50 wasnt worth my the time or expense.
Considering he knowingly sold an item that was different than what was photographed, in my mind, he should have sent me a check for $7. He didnt agree. I never left feedback because he threatened to retaliate with negative feedback.
The problem here is you
The problem here is you should have returned the item. The policy would have been the same if you purchased it in a store.
I as a seller make my best effort to accomidate the buyer, but the the buyer must at least be willing to come to terms. If I am wrong in the listing and the buyer is polite and properly contacts me prior to feedback, I make my best effort, including full refunds PLUS return shipping, but the buyer must return it. NO department stor is just going to hand you a $7 check without having the item returned IN HAND. Why should it be any different on line.
As for feedback.. Feedback was originally set up to provide a safe and trustworhty environment where buyer and seller were forced to be willing to work things out. Now, it is as if the sellers are offered no protection by those FEW and I mean few buyers who are not interested in being fair. That is a problem. The trust is gone. The change for this reason as quoted by Brian Burke, eBay's director og global feedback:
"What we discovered through reasearch was that any negative feedback that the buyer gets reduces their purchasing or willingness to purchase within the marketplace."
So, there it goes.. a one sided attempt at evening the playing field. I pay on average $2000 - $3000 per year in listing and selling fees to ebay for selling trains as a hobby, NOT my income. If I had another option of selling at this point, I would move in a heartbeat. It is NO longer a fair and safe place to trade.
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