FB System Improvement

[shoplineca]

Different forms of this topic get bantered around on this forum as well as the US board quite often with different twists. A new one started on the US Board today and I came up with an idea I would like to share on this board for comments.

I would like to see newbie eBayers have to earn the right to leave FB. I suggest that newbie members would have to have a positive FB score of 10 before they could leave FB for anyone else. If they had 10 and received a negative FB that dropped them below 10 then they would have to work towards earning sufficient positives to get back to their positive 10 rating before they could leave FB for others again.

The principle behind this is that they will better appreciate the value of FB to the people that they are dealing with and perhaps take those extra steps to find a solution with the seller before arbitrarily leaving a negative through frustration.

The one argument to this suggestion on the US board was addressing the crooked sellers who will take advantage of newbies, knowing that they cannot leave them a negative.

My argument to that was that a negative FB left a crooked seller will not recover your money. You still have to rely on the other eBay, Paypal and ST avenues for that.

At the same time, eBay could incorpoate a policy that should it be determined that the seller was at fault, his FB is removed from the newbie's record.

Malcolm

[mevans_dot_net]

I read that thread too. I liked the idea of having a 7 day waiting period, sort of a cooling off and working it out period. Heck, we have to wait 7 days to file NPB and then 10 more to get our FVF credit so why not do something similar with the feedback system. It would still allow eBay to remain impartial and removed from the feeback forum which is what they want for liability reasons. That is the problem with incorporating a policy whereby feedback would be removed if the seller was found to be at fault. Ebay would have to police it and thus be liable for it.

I don't disagree there is a learning curve for new eBay buyers with respect to leaving feedback but eBay wants this to be a level playing field (I know I'll hear it for that one!) so I can't see them discriminating against new users. But I think the waiting period idea goes further in convincing people to take those extra steps to resolve their issues. Some buyers regardless of the number of feedback, just have that knee-jerk reaction to "press the red button" when they're upset and still in the moment. Right then, they aren't thinking of the value of feedback for themselves or the recipient of the neg. In fact, they often don't even think you can leave one in return because they assume their ONLY responsibility is to pay on time.

Now, if we're going to talk about restricting the ability to leave feedback for anyone, I would start with NPB's. If the the deal is done and FVF credit is received with no protest from the NPB, then why in the world can they leave a seller feedback? They never paid, they didn't notify eBay that they HAD paid and the NPB alert was wrong. I would think the matter should be closed for the bidder unless the seller refused to sell - there's a complaint form for that as well so it could be countered by the bidder if all was not on the up and up.

Good thread though, I'd like to hear others opinions on the issue. I'm sure there will be lots of ideas to contribute here.

[shoplineca]

Its a tough one because I see the waiting period being a solution that in fact opens the door to people ripping off other sellers without their negs being reflected for that 7-day waitning period.

There is no level playing field on eBay because there are so many scam artists on eBay both as sellers and as buyers.

Same problem with the NPB idea. The deal may not have gone through because the seller insisted the buyer pay $200 for shipping a $10 item (just as an example). I would want that buyer to leave a neg about that seller.

The people who are happy with the system are the ones who live for positive FB. They are the ones who write and email their customers asking them to leave positive FB and invest in ST reversing negs.

I pointed out a problem with ths existing system as it is not weighted to the value of business. In other words, I could sell thousands of low-end items for less than $1 and get 99.99% positive FB and scam buyers on $500 or $5,000 items and the couple of negs I would get would have virtually no affect on my FB score, making me look like a perfect seller.

Its a marketing tool for eBay to sell assuarances about trading on eBay that often gets alot of sellers and buyers upset when they get undeserved negs.

Any solutions are welcome.

Malcolm

[shooger]

There is already a 5 (or maybe 7?) day period for new eBayers. They can't leave feedback (neg, neut, or pos) for the first 5 days. I think this is a good idea as it stops feedback harassment. Someone can't create a bunch of new accounts, buy one Buy It Now auction from a seller using each of the new accounts, and then leave a negative feedback from each account. They may be able to do so after 5 days, but it definitely cuts down the "instant gratification" of these kinds of idiots. In all reality, they're not going to bother their feedback harassment plans if it's going to take them a week and a lot of effort to do it. Secondly, it stops scammer sellers. They make several new accounts and leave each other positive feedback for bogus auctions until they all have 10 feedback, the magic number to start selling using Buy It Now auctions, at which point they can make even more bogus accounts, make 1c Buy It Now auctions and get even more feedback, and finally sell fake Plasma TVs for $2000 and run away to Mexico. It definitely slows down that kind of shenanigans.

I don't agree with forcing new eBayers to rack up a rating of 10 before they can leave any feedback. What about someone who wants to buy something on eBay, so they sign up, and buy it. When the item comes, they try and leave feedback, but they can't and they will never be able to. This violates a fundamental right of eBay members which is the right to leave feedback in a publicly displayed location about those they have dealt with. You can't take away that right, according to eBay's rules.

I'm afraid that this just isn't the answer. I don't know what is.

Currently, if a new member signs up, buys something of mine, and leaves me negative feedback, I get the feedback removed on the grounds that they signed up specifically to harass me with negative feedback. It works.

[gem-n-i-gemstonz]

Shooger,

How do you prove that they signed up under a new name just for that reason(harassment)? I'd love to know that one! I find the times when I am most apprehensive of feedback is when its a new user...especially one who doesnt pay.

Jaqui

[shooger]

I don't have to prove it. I just file for feedback removal under the reason "feedback harassment". If it's a new account, that's generally all you need. Also, if the feedback was left soon after the purchase (ie: they bought something and left negative feedback saying "item never arrived" an hour later).

[gem-n-i-gemstonz]

Thanks shooger, that'll be helpful to know. I wish I had known that one before!

Jaqui