Another Ebay question: Feedback

In My Humble Opinion
41

[QUOTE=Mangetout]
That’s fine, but how does the seller know the item was delivered and that the buyer is satisfied with it?
[/QUOTE]

Delivery confirmation.

And, I always send an email saying I got it and am happy- assuming I don’t send FB. But I let the seller send FB 1st. However, I have noted that despite many “FB witholding” sellers claiming that all they are waiting for is confirmation the buyer is happy, 9 times out of ten, a friendly note that I got it and am happy is not enough to pry FB from them.

Dudes look, either you deserve a NEG or you don’t right? Now, if you deserve a NEG, then just accept it and move on, witholding FB or retaliating isn’t going to make your fuckup any better. In fact, it makes it worse. I just had a transaction with a seller, and by rights I really should NEG him, but since he sent me fast POS FB 1st, even his complete fuck-up with shipping and communications has made me decide I am not going to NEG him. I’ll likely just give no FB, but am considered a Neut. :confused:

The response for that is that sometimes a buyer will give a NEG for no good reason. Yes, but 99% of the time those are Newbs. They have poor or little FB and have shown they can’t be trusted anyway. But, even so, with those guys, witholding FB isn’t going to help- they will just fucking NEG you anyway. The only thing withholding FB can do in that case is allow you to Retaliate, and like I said- usually that’s like giving yourself another NEG.

There is no good reason at all for a seller to withold FB.

42

[QUOTE=DrDeth]
Delivery confirmation.
[/quote]
will double the postal charges on many of my items. Not a viable option.

Not me. I promise to leave feedback on confirmation that all is well, I’ve been called on it maybe three times, and I’ve done it. It’s no big deal - I’m not waiting to see if they’re going to leave a neg, I’m waiting to see if the transaction is complete, or if there’s more that I need to do.

It doesn’t matter how many times you repeat it, it’s not true. waiting until the transaction is complete allows the seller to comment on how the entire transaction went, not just the payment. Is that or is that not any kind of good reason? and if not, why not?

43

Just to put some meat on the bones; in 10 out of the last 25 feedbacks I’ve left (5 of which were for sellers, so they don’t count - so actually 10 out of 20 - half of this week’s feedback for my buyers), I’ve commented on something that happened after payment - mostly it’s communication, in a couple of cases, it’s patience in waiting for postal delays to be resolved (we have a spate of industrial action in the post office at the moment).

So in half of my recent feedback, it’s been worth waiting until the transaction was complete before commenting.

44

From USPS:
http://www.usps.com/rates/extra-services-rates.htm#H4
Delivery Confirmation™
For an additional fee, Delivery Confirmation may be combined with COD, insured mail, Registered Mail, return receipt for merchandise (Form 3804), or special handling. Restricted delivery is available if purchased with insurance for over $200, COD, or Registered Mail. Return receipt is available if purchased with insurance for over $200, COD, or Registered Mail.
Priority Mail $0.65 Retail $0.00 Electronic
First-Class Mail (parcels only) $0.75 Retail $0.18 Electronic
Package Services (parcels only) $0.75 Retail $0.18 Electronic

I nearly always pay at least $5 for S&H. I fail to see how 0 or .65 is “double”. :dubious: And, it is clear you can use the electronic option, thne it is free. **Free. ** or 18cents. And nothing can be shipped for less than a first class stamp, so 18cents can not double anyones costs. :dubious:

Because for all intents and purposes, the transaction is over when you ship the item, and the customer gets it. Even if there is some small problem after that witholding FB doesn’t help you at all.

It’s a bad idea and it costs you business.

45

[QUOTE=Mangetout]
Just to put some meat on the bones; in 10 out of the last 25 feedbacks I’ve left (5 of which were for sellers, so they don’t count - so actually 10 out of 20 - half of this week’s feedback for my buyers), I’ve commented on something that happened after payment - mostly it’s communication, in a couple of cases, it’s patience in waiting for postal delays to be resolved (we have a spate of industrial action in the post office at the moment).

So in half of my recent feedback, it’s been worth waiting until the transaction was complete before commenting.
[/QUOTE]

Comments are 99% meaningless. You are depriving both sides by waiting for something few care about and is meaningless in a few days. And you have to know this if you are a frequent ebay user, so now you’re just making shit up. :rolleyes: Come on, get real, huh? “Pull the other on, it’s got bells on it!”

For those who withold FB: You just want to withold so you can retaliate as revenge makes you feel good. Some newb buyer burned you* , and you are now disgruntled and want to get revenge.

*(or you listened to bad adbice form a dsigruntled seller, who got burned)

46

Well, I don’t live in the USA, so none of that is particularly relevant, however, recorded delivery costs 70 pence or so, which, as I said, doubles the postage cost of many of my items.

And the transaction isn’t over when I ship it - I know that some people see this differently, particularly in the USA, The transaction is complete when the buyer receives the item and is satisfied with it. Failure to deliver an item is Seller non-performance and ebay will just force a refund.

47

[QUOTE=DrDeth]
Comments are 99% meaningless. You are depriving both sides by waiting for something few care about and is meaningless in a few days. And you have to know this if you are a frequent ebay user, so now you’re just making shit up. :rolleyes: Come on, get real, huh? “Pull the other on, it’s got bells on it!”
[/quote]
Roll your eyes all you like. I’m making nothing up.

Perhaps we should turn this around and ask why are you, the seller, so very desperate to get your feedback?

48

:smack: time for bed - that should read ‘why are you, the buyer…’

49

[QUOTE=DrDeth]

Dudes look, either you deserve a NEG or you don’t right? Now, if you deserve a NEG, then just accept it and move on, witholding FB or retaliating isn’t going to make your fuckup any better.*
[/QUOTE]

No. This just screams the obvious: while almost every-one on ebay is a buyer not every-one is a seller.

Just out of interest I had a look at an ID of mine which has 99.3% positive feedback - a total of eleven negatives. Out of the eleven negatives seven, or 63.6%, were undeserved. The reasons the buyers negged me were:

three for wanting to use an alternative method of payment not offered in auction

one for not using the Checkout system (it’s not mandatory)

one for an item lost in the mail - buyer didn’t insure

two (from one buyer, a newbie) who didn’t consider her items were up to par and negged me before contacting me. That’s OK though because I noted that some-one did the same to her a while later and she was equally upset.

Even if you remove the postal loss one and the two from the unhappy newbie, the percentage remains at 36.3% of undeserved negatives.

50

[QUOTE=Kevbo]
Did you pay your bid price, or one bid increment over the next highest bidder? The second chance thing is used as a shilling technique by unscrupulous sellers. Because of this, I respond to 2nd chance offers with an offer to buy at one incriment over next highest bidder. Shilling sellers will object to this…IME 75% or more of second chance offers are shilling.
[/QUOTE]

No. On the two items I “won” this way, the second chance offer was what my next highest bid would have been. Or what I would have paid had I not been outbid.

Funny, I just got a second chance offer today and the guy is wanting what my top bid would have been. On this one, I probably won’t take the offer, it’s software (anyone wanna sell me MS Office 2000 or 2003? :D). And luckily I discovered that some of the el cheapo “priceline” type websites have it NIB sometimes less than what the winning bidder bid, and right about what he wants for his second chance offer. There are always lots of MS Office discs on ebay, so I’m likely not going for this one.

Also, normally I look at who is bidding and how frantically they seem to be bidding before I drop out of “watching item” mode and actually bid on the item. I only happened to bid a wee bit high on that particular one because I was getting ready to go into a meeting and couldn’t stay for the final moments of the auction.

51

[QUOTE=bathsheba]
No. This just screams the obvious: while almost every-one on ebay is a buyer not every-one is a seller.

Just out of interest I had a look at an ID of mine which has 99.3% positive feedback - a total of eleven negatives. Out of the eleven negatives seven, or 63.6%, were undeserved. The reasons the buyers negged me were:

three for wanting to use an alternative method of payment not offered in auction

one for not using the Checkout system (it’s not mandatory)

one for an item lost in the mail - buyer didn’t insure

two (from one buyer, a newbie) who didn’t consider her items were up to par and negged me before contacting me. That’s OK though because I noted that some-one did the same to her a while later and she was equally upset.

Even if you remove the postal loss one and the two from the unhappy newbie, the percentage remains at 36.3% of undeserved negatives.
[/QUOTE]

And you didn’t read the rest “The response for that is that sometimes a buyer will give a NEG for no good reason. Yes, but 99% of the time those are Newbs. They have poor or little FB and have shown they can’t be trusted anyway. But, even so, with those guys, witholding FB isn’t going to help- they will just fucking NEG you anyway. The only thing withholding FB can do in that case is allow you to Retaliate, and like I said- usually that’s like giving yourself another NEG.”

Sorry, but I have never seen an experienced buyer NEG a seller for:
"wanting to use an alternative method of payment not offered in auction Or

not using the Checkout system "

I don’t beleive that happened.

As for "one for an item lost in the mail - buyer didn’t insure " that is 100% deserved by you. The buyer is responsible for getting the payment to the seller. If the buyer fails to do so, even if the Post Office loses the payment, even if it is sent Certified- the buyer still is reponsible (if it is sent Certified, he can often collect back from the PO, but he is still responsible). OTOH, the exact same thing holds true for the seller; once the seller gets the payment, he is 100% responsible (I am not counting the very rare FOB shipment, you don’t ship heavy machinery by freight car) for gettting the merchandise to the buyer. If the PO loses it, the burden is on the Seller. Insurance (as far as lost merchandise) only protects the seller, not the buyer, and it is the shipper (seller) who buys and COLLECTs the insurance. (Now, for items that the buyer received, but were damaged in transit, then the seller is possibly off the hook if the buyer did not pay for insurance. That depends.)

The fact that you, as a seller, do not understand this means that you don’t understand basic buyer/seller responsibilites, thus maybe a lot more of those “undeserved” NEGs were deserved.

I have posted hundreds of times on the eBay FB boards. I have looked at hundreds, if not more, “undeserved negs” and every one I saw was either deserved or issued by a Newb.

And even so. let sus assume some incredibly stupid but not new ebay buyer did give you a totally undeserved NEG for “for wanting to use an alternative method of payment not offered in auction”- how does giving FB last protect you from that NEG? It is already given, it is there, you having already given a POS for “fast payment” does not change things at all.

52

[QUOTE=DrDeth]

Sorry, but I have never seen an experienced buyer NEG a seller for:
"wanting to use an alternative method of payment not offered in auction Or

not using the Checkout system "

I don’t beleive that happened.

[/QUOTE]

This made me lol. I assure you that it not only did happen but I have the emails (I keep them purely for entertainment value you understand) and the non-payers also stated so in the feedback which they left - which was a saving grace really as then others could be as incredulous as you.

[QUOTE=DrDeth]
And even so. let sus assume some incredibly stupid but not new ebay buyer did give you a totally undeserved NEG for “for wanting to use an alternative method of payment not offered in auction”- how does giving FB last protect you from that NEG? It is already given, it is there, you having already given a POS for “fast payment” does not change things at all.
[/QUOTE]

Yup. Nothing protects you against a loonie however when the lunacy emerges is at question. I’ve had perfect buyers (polite, prompt, no hint of insanity in the family) turn bad when something doesn’t go to their liking. I’m talking caps-locked, swear-word emails (and before you jump in that was without any provocation from me. You should see the ones I get from people whom I deservingly provoke). In my opinion, feedback is a measure of the transaction as a whole, and that includes how the buyer handles problems, not just of how quickly the buyer pays. If you’ve already left feedback on payment, you lose that opportunity. Ebay is a community. Other sellers need to know this stuff. I have and will continue to block bidders on the basis of feedback relating to post-transaction sales.