How much is a negative feedback worth???

[nafti7]

Hello,

I was lucky enough to have a buyer remove his negative feedback he left on me through Squaretrade. That brings me to this question. How much money is a negative feedback worth if it's removed from you? Is $20 that Squaretrade charges too much or not enough?

Personally, I feel that it's not enough. Obviously, the less negatives you have, I feel the more bids you will have. I think I would be willing to pay $50 or more if I knew that the buyer was going to have it removed.

Looking forward in hearing some decent answers! 🙂

[doc_scribe]

If it's unjustified, petty, or retaliatory feedback, especially from a Non Paying Bidder who's been had an FVF filed against them, then negative feedback removal should be F-R-E-E.

[gem-n-i-gemstonz]

I agree with Doc_scribe. Right now, the only neg I have is a retaliatory one from a NPB. That shouldnt have even been allowed to be placed...nevermind me paying to have it removed.

I wouldnt be willing to pay more than the current $20....I am already paying them a monthly fee. I think $20 is enough if i had a neg that was deserved.


Jaqui

[shoplineca]

If someone sells 5,000 items per month and gets 4,000 unique positives, then 1 negative FB has almost no affect on his FB rating so $20 would be too much to have it removed.

There are some Sellers who feel that keeping a neg in order for the buyer to carry his neg (in certain situations) is more important than having the neg removed. I have one such neg that I will keep in order for the buyer to keep the one I gave him to warn others about him.

If someone sold 25 items at $10 each per month, well the $50 you suggested would represent 20% of his sales to get one neg removed which is inordinately high and likely not leave him much profit. So what would be the point to have an improved FB rating with less or no profit?

You can also spend more time in the ST process of getting rid of one negative than listing and selling more product to get 20 more positives.

Personally, I would sooner spend my time getting more business, getting in new product lines and worrying less than the one or two unjustified negatives I get from loonies every 6-months.

When someone can prove to me without question that I would have more sales with a 99.1% FB rating than my current 98.6%, I will consider changing my opinion but I have not seen that in any report and it certainly doesnt reflect my personal results. My volume of sales hasnt changed since dropping from over 99% to 98.6% due to my last neg.

You said "Obviously, the less negatives you have, I feel the more bids you will have". Its not obvious to me unless the seller has something below a 75% FB rating.

Malcolm

[mevans_dot_net]

ST's worth went down significantly after Feb 9th since eBay's mutual feedback withdrawal came into effect. Why pay ST $20 to have the neg withdrawn when eBay does it for free? Either way you still retain the text and the notation at the top of your feedback history showing how many you've had mutually withdrawn.

[shooger]

I disagree with being able to pay money to have negatives removed. I like the mutual feedback removal system, so long as it doesn't allow eBay to get lax in their regular removal system. In other words, if a NPB leaves you harassing feedback, and refuses to do the mutual removal thing, eBay should still enforce it's regular feedback removal rules.

Malcolm - glad to hear your business hasn't dropped since you plummetted to 98.6%, but just remember that one more misplaced negative and you won't be a powerseller anymore. 😞

[tinyclocks2003]

I don't like to have any negative feedbacks regardless of how many positives I have a month. This is just my preference because we strive for 100% customer satisfaction.

If you are a member of Square trade then arbitration and removal is only $10 per.

Troy S.

[doc_scribe]

I think we all strive for 100% positive FB, but I certainly don't lose any sleep over the negs*, especially if my conscience is clear that they were undeserved. Considering how many ways the deck is stacked against dilligent sellers and in favour of renegade buyers, not only in the FB system but also with PayPal, I'm always amazed we don't receive more random whacks from the Ritalin-deprived.

But strictly from a business standpoint, it makes little practical sense for me to throw good money after bad pursuing FB removal--I mean, there's the cost of invoking Square Trade + the cost of my lost original listing (FVF too, if I didn't file it soon enough) + the drain on my most precious resource, time. And for what...to see my percentage nudge up a tenth of a point? Can't be bothered, and don't think it's worth it.

* except my first, that hurt.

[shoplineca]

I also dont loose sleep over the negs. I strive for 100% customer satisfaction and I give EVERY customer the same courtesy and attention before and after the sale.

But there is only so much you can do and then it no longer makes any business-sense and I wont be party to a scam nor feed into the ocassional idiot buyer and those generally mean a neg is on its way.

Malcolm

[gem-n-i-gemstonz]

In eBays feedback removal rules, it clearly does state that if a buyer does not comply with the terms of the auction, you can have the feedback removed. Now, IMO, if a buyer is not paying for the item....that is not complying with the terms of the auction. My auctions clearly state that payment is to be received within 7 days. Why then, does eBay not agree to remove that feedback?

Jaqui

[shoplineca]

Jaqui
Buyers sometimes have good reasons not to pay an unscrupulous buyer and have a right to warn other buyers about the bad seller, so a negative given has its place.

There are hundreds of examples I could give you however not all sellers are decent sellers with business and moral ethics.

eBay could never employ sufficient numbers of people to determine on a one to one base, who is right and who is wrong.

Malcolm

[shoplineca]

Sorry meant to say "Seller"

Malcolm

[dynomitedeals]

I have used Square Trade several times for unmerited negatives because I wanted to keep my 100% rating. However, recently I had a customer in Germany who purchased three items from me. Two items were exactly as described but on the third item, the wrong size was shipped by my warehouse. I was left 3 negatives by this buyer who I might add, has private feedback(why is this allowed????) This is where it gets confusing....I also offered a second chance offer to this customer and they send me back an email which I thought they said that they were passing on the item.
What I discovered was that they were complaining but believe me, this is not what the email said, it did not even make sense. Please note that this persons first tongue was German and they did not speak English well. I used a translation program to send them emails offering them a discount and asking them to please allow the feedbacks to be removed due to an unfortunate language barrier but to no avail. I could not get them to agree to this even with my added effort.
The point of this whole long wided story is to say that now I have a 99.9% rating and I will not lose sleep over it. Although it was 1 buyer, it would still cost me $60 to try and have these removed by Square Trade. I applied to have them mutually removed but so far no such luck. I tried my best but it is like playing russian roulette.....you never know. I also find that many new buyers do not realize how negative feedback works and that it should be used as a last resort. Mistakes happen, what is important in such cases is how the seller handles it and I pride myself on my customer service.
This is my experience.
P.S. Does anyone know of an excellent auction management software. I have looked at many and am now trying auction hawk but I am having problems...

[mevans_dot_net]

dyno,

You can have multiple negs removed for the price of one. I think there is a limit, but I'm sure 3 is within that limit. I believe you have to put all the item numbers in the case notes and the mediator will recommended removal of all under just the one $20 case. And you can have them withdrawn if the other party does not respond to the ST emails, which they may not by the sounds of it.