I have only made purchases and here’s the thing - I never remember to leave feedback. Is that terrible of me or what?
Not leaving feedback is a little uncourteous and possibly counter-productive. Only using it to buy is rather common and not terrible at all.
I meant only the feedback thing, actually. Can you get bad feedback for not leaving feedback?
Yeah, but that would be silly.
Feedback is available for both parties after the transaction. It provides a guide of sorts for what the person is like to do business with. (Dear God, please reparse that sentence. Amen.)
It’s also used as a sales tool by some. “Look at my feedback. It proves I’m a good customer/seller/eBayer.”
I generally wait a couple of weeks to make sure everything’s gone right, then I post it. Haven’t given or received a negative yet. And I do a lot of eBaying. Just lucky, I guess.
I hadn’t even realized there was feedback until I got notification of recieving some. So I hurried up and gave feedback to the seller! embarassed smiley
Well, eBay is built on feedback; many buyers will not purchase from a seller with excessive (more than a few) or sparse feedback. So yeah, it’s kind of a big deal.
OTOH, if the person has 5000+ (or similar crazy amount) of feedback, then yours probably won’t make a big difference.
Maybe I’m a bad Ebayer too. As a buyer, I only leave feedback if the seller leaves me feedback. It seems like most sellers withhold feedback until their sure they’ll get positive feedback. To hell with that! When they receive prompt payment, my part of the transaction is complete and they should leave feedback.
But, what about this scenario?
You, as a seller, get a PayPal the same day. You send out product. Buyer finds something wrong with product (could be damaged in shipping, could be something seller overlooked, doesn’t matter for this example) and fires off seethingly hateful e-mail. You try to please customer, either with refund or discount, but they immediately posted a neg feedback before the WHOLE deal is finished. Now, you have a negative. All you can do is responed to the neg in your feedback (as if anyone reads those…) or respond in their feedback.
That’s why I think it’s not a bad idea to wait before posting feedback. I always post it. I just wait to see the end of the deal.
The above story happened to a friend of mine.
I’ve only bought on Ebay, and not a lot of things at that.
I think I’ve only failed to leave feedback once.
I appreciate it when sellers leave feedback before I leave feedback for them, but it’s rare that that happens. I’ll leave feedback (all positive, so far) and send the seller a note saying that I’ve left positive feedback and hoping that they’ll do the same if they’re happy with the deal.
I ALWAYS look at feedback before I consider bidding on an item. I look at the kinds of negative feedback a seller gets. If it looks like negative from a newbie that didn’t really understand the process, I take that into account. If the seller replies with nasty comments to negative feedback, that’s a strike against the seller, in my book.
It’s not required to leave feedback, but it’s good policy. You should do it.
I’ve been buying and selling for 5 years. I always give feedback upon the arrival of something I bought, but I’m bad about forgetting to leave feedback when I sell something. I try to do it after I’ve packed everything up to send, but I just put it off. I’m always afraid the buyer will think I’m one of those sellers that holds the feedback hostage until they see if the buyer is going to cause a problem.
Keep in mind that the whole feedback system in general is a tad weighted too much on the positive side. People are trigger-shy about leaving negative feedback. Looking at feedback is wise but its not a panacea.
Why is this a big deal? It’s so easy to leave feedback.
There is feedback button that will automatically pop up all the people you need to leave feedback for.
If they were good transactions do one or two complimentary phrases and pop it into everyone’s comment box . ie
Selling: "Great eBayer! Product as described. Would buy from again!
Buying: “Great eBayer! Speedy Payment! Good communication!”
Make your own, then dump into the appropriate boxes. Even with a dozen feedbacks you can be done in a minute of two. I have perfect feeback with 158 unique transactions to date. There’s no way I’m going to craft a special little message for each transaction unless someone went above and beyond.
I used to be a terrible feedbacker, until I realized how easy it was.
Question: Is there any rule on providing really feedback on really old transactions (6+ months ago)? I still have some of my old transaction #s and would like to go back and leave feedback (all positive; I think neg at this late date would be mean) but don’t know if there’s any E-Bay rule forbidding it.
Leaving feedback used to be much more inconvenient. You had to seek out the auction URL, and jump through a few hoops to leave feedback (and if you had a lot of auctions, you could easily miss one and never know).
Now eBay has made it very easy. They have a special link that you click on and it’ll list all the auctions you have yet to leave feedback on. Simple and easy.
This does not mean I am Johnny-on-the-spot leaving feedback. I usually do a “mass feedback” session and leave feedback for the last month or so. I am sorry if some eBay people get their knickers in a twist over me not being exactly speedy, but screw it. I do leave it, eventually, dammit!
I do a fair amount of deals on Ebay (I used to only buy but I have started to sell and I have an Ebay store now), and I think it is “odd” (I know it makes me think twice) when sellers withhold feedback so when I sell something I leave feedback as soon as I get paid and if I am the buyer I leave feedback when the stuff arrives (safely and as advertised).
unclviny (same name on Ebay)
You fail to leave feed back on haunted lesbian pictures?
Shameful. Just shameful.
Practically the only thing that makes eBay workable is the feedback system. Not leaving feedback impairs this system. You are part of a community, be responsible about your place in that community.
As a seller, I view it is the buyer’s job to leave feedback first. Then I can respond suitably. Sometimes you don’t know for weeks afterwards that the buyer has gone nutso on you.
(I’ve just encountered my first crazy buyer. Ugh. Next time try reading the ad doofus.) I was happy, now I am very much not happy.