ebay: A Rant
What are Fridays good for if not getting a good rant off your chest? This is something that’s been bothering me for a while, and I find that I frequently write it in e-mails, so I figure I can write it once here, and in the future when I need it I can simply point folks to this entry.
I purchased my first ebay item back in october of 1998 (if memory serves, it was for a Furby). Been using it for a while. While I’ve sold a few items on ebay, I’m primarily a buyer. As a buyer, nothing torques me off more than this:
When you receive your item, please leave feedback for me and then I’ll do the same for you.
That’s just nerve. As the buyer, I assume 99.9% of the risk. I’m buying an item that I’ve never seen. I’m trusting that the item is as described. I’m sending money to a person that I’ve never met. I’m trusting that I’m even going to receive an item (and then hoping it’s as described). In spite of these risks, I make my payment immediately via PayPal after the auction ends. At that point, as the buyer, I’ve fulfilled my obligation. As far as I’m concerned, it’s at that point that I should receive a (positive) feedback from the seller.
As mentioned, I’ve sold a few items over the years. As soon as I get payment, I leave a positive feedback. That’s the right thing to do. The buyer has done what’s expected of them. Now the ball’s in my court. Why do other sellers think they have the right to hold the feedback “hostage”, as it were?
A few years back I was in the market for a new digital camera. I saw one seller in particular that sold HUGE volumes of cameras at fairly cheap prices. I assume they were what’s referred to as “gray-market” cameras. They had a ton of feedbacks, many of which were negative. Shipping took too long, or the item was refurbished but wasn’t described as such, or the item was missing parts, etc. All valid feedbacks. And in response, this seller left the buyer “revenge” negative feedbacks, generally consisting of nothing more than the statement “NEVER AGAIN!”. Why? Why did the buyer deserve a negative feedback? They purchased an item in good faith, made prompt payment and in return received an item that was not as described. To add insult to injury, they got a negative feedback for their troubles.
This is the *only* reason I can see that a seller would pull the “I’ll leave feedback for you after you leave feedback for me” routine. So that they can mitigate the 0.1% risk that they assume in the transaction. Hey, sellers… don’t screw people over and I think you’ll find more often than not that you’ll get good feedback.
I’ve seen some auctions where the sellers actually state this in the auction. I don’t bid on these. When I do bid on an item (and win), and receive an email from the seller stating that they’re going to withhold feedback until I leave mine, I just generally don’t even bother.
What torqued me off today and prompted this is that I purchased an item about a month ago. I got the “please leave feedback for me and I’ll do the same for you” email. I got the item and everything was fine. I expected that it would end there. However, today I got an email from the seller stating the following:
I’m sorry to bother you with this email. I was just wondering if you would be so kind enough to leave me a good feedback? I noticed the order has been successfully delivered to your address. I will leave you a feedback as well.
And that’s what got me riled. I feel better now. Thanks for listening.
| 5 comments
Mike Benner
While I agree with you to an extent, there is a flip side from a sellers point of view (I buy 65% and sell 35%). Buyers forget or just don’t spend the time to leave feedback when they receive an item, they think paying is all they have to do.
From a selling point of view this could cost you money or sales as less people will be willing to buy/bid on your items. I personally on bid on items from people with 50 feedbacks and 99% or higher rep.
While I never "ding" someone who bought from me I do wait for them to leave feedback before I do as A) Confirmation they got the item and are happy with it and B) actually left me some feedback.
Communication continues on through out the process. What about a lost/damaged package and the buyer opted NOT to pay for the optional insurance? The buyer is upset and decides to negative the seller for what is unjustified. The seller then has no recourse since they already left positive feedback.
To me, from both sides of the fence, feedback should only be left when the transaction is complete, that means paid, shipped, received and closed. As a buyer with must do more than just pay, we must communicate and sometimes deal with shipping incidents beyond both parties control.
Charlie Griefer
hi mike:
i definitely see your point, and yes, the seller could end up receiving a negative feedback for something that was beyond his/her control.
maybe i’m biased as a buyer since i buy significantly more than i sell, but i could almost chalk that up to part of the risk that the seller assumes, or should assume, in a transaction.
again, the buyer assumes a LOT of risk. will they get the item at all? if they do, will it be in the shape/condition that it was described to be in?
in an ideal world, i agree with you 100%. it would be all about the communication and the communication would be thorough on both sides to ensure a smooth transaction.
accepting the world as it is, we all know that won’t be the case a large majority of the time. i assume my risks as a buyer, the seller should (IMO) do the same.
as the buyer, i’m trusting you, the seller, to be reasonable and send me the item i’m expecting. is it that unreasonable to expect the buyer to assume some risk here as well and trust the buyer to be reasonable and initiate some contact if there’s an issue rather than immediately resorting to a negative feedback?
ebay, for its part, has made efforts to allow both buyers and sellers to "follow-up" on feedbacks, giving each party the opportunity to at least explain what happened (e.g. package was lost in transit, buyer didn’t purchase insurance, not my problem). not a perfect solution as the negative feedback remains, but it’s something.
i think the playing field is fairly level in terms of the level of risk that both parties face. is it fair for the seller to take steps to mitigate that risk when the buyer really has no choice but to assume it? i suppose that’s a subjective question. i know where i stand on the issue, tho
J.J. Merrick
I’ve been using eBay for probably 9 years or so and have probably have a 5:1 Buy to sell ratio. We are moving so I just recently did about 6 auctions selling off various things I had laying around the house.
I ALWAYS leave positive feedback for the buyer as soon as they pay with PayPal and I have their money. To me the transaction is over for them. If for some reason they complain afterwards I will do everything to make it right in hopes that they are satisfied and give good feedback.
I have been known to send a followup email after the sell and I see through the tracking number that an item has been delivered. Something like "Hope the package came in correct order and that you are happy with it. If you could take a few minutes and give me feedback on eBay as to your experience".
In this I have seen if the transaction went well but did not ask for POSITIVE feedback… just for them to respond accordingly.
100% of the time they leave positive feedback and are happy with the transaction.
Mike Benner
Well, you must be psychic since I just went to leave feedback at ebay and low and behold "Buyers can no longer receive negative or neutral feedback".
But here is the problem I see with this, I currently have a buyer that is in Germany (my auction said I ship US only) and he is refusing to pay the shipping charges and is threatening negative feedback. I, as a seller, now have to no recourse (that I am aware of) in this transaction. I cannot state the the buyer doesn’t read and speak to their threats. I have to say, I am now officially only a buyer on eBay.
Charlie Griefer
@mike – yeah, i really don’t think i agree with the route ebay chose to go there. i think you can definitely have bad buyers. this really opens the door to people bidding on items they have no interest in purchasing with no fear of consequence, and potentially screws sellers pretty badly.
will be very interesting to see if there’s any significant fallout from power sellers and others who all but make a living selling items on ebay. i can’t imagine there won’t be. time will tell.