The ice finally broke...got my first negative feedback in 4 years

[craftycatsattic]

Boards are quiet these days...everybody must be busy trying to make the income tax deadline.

I got my very first negative yesterday and I have been selling on here for 4 years. It was exactly as I predicted...a silly neg from a buyer that did not bother to contact me first. I sent her a box of several items and she claims one of her items was not in the box. I am positive it was in there but that's besides the point. I would have given her the benefit of the doubt and refunded her had she emailed me. The funny thing in all this though is that my DSR's are still near perfect: 5.0's for the first 3 and 4.9 for shipping and handling.

So anyhow, I am taking it rather well. I knew the day would come...it was just a matter of time before I got to feel the sting like so many others. I must say it hurts a lot less than a sting from paypal. Thankfully the neg's drop off now in the feedback percentage after one year has passed. What is most bothersome to me about it though, is the precedent it starts. I have been monitoring the feedbacks of sellers in my category for years now and find the buyers are more likely to neg or neutral a buyer after someone else has broken the ice and done it already.

So back to working on taxes now!

[surplusdealdude]

Pretty darned good to get to 4400+ before running into a neg.

Kudos. -------------------------------------------------------------------

“Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream can I be.”
Karen Ravn

[snoopwiz]

And it was the same buyer that also gave you 12 or so positives, albeit, some of them were negatively worded. All that business with you and they didn't have the courtesy to even email you with their concern? What a dipstick. Sorry this happened to you.

[snoopwiz]

I also see another seller has left this numpty a couple of positives, saying "WILL NOT SELL TO AGAIN" Wonder if they report that comment if eBay will remove it. Hope note. I am sure the words are warranted.

[craftycatsattic]

Thanks so much surplusdealdude. I have never taken those positives for granted and know that luck in addition to great customer service was on my side for the past 4 years 🙂

snoopwiz....yes....I read through all the feedback given and received for this buyer and have determined that it's a very picky buyer. Most of the comments are regarding the cost of the item---and some items were only $2 plus $2 of shipping! (if nobody has figured it out yet $2 items are a waste of time...any profit you make gets eaten up in the time you spend to package!) I too also hope those comments won't be removed but I don't see it happening as I think this buyer is not very eBay "system" savvy right now. I really don't think she realizes the scope of what she has done. I always knew I would not be immune to to this type of buyer...got to love that blocked bidder list though! I'm sure she's already made it onto a few.

Believe it or not, I am still doing my duty as a seller and have filed a claim with Canada Post letting my buyer know that the only reasonable explanation is that the package must have been tampered with (although I'd put my chips that she misplaced the one item). But again. as I mentioned, without the negative feedback her problem would have been solved in a much more expedient manner!

[b2-gaming]

Sorry to hear about your neg. I would see if you can work with the buyer to get it removed. Most of the time sending them a polite email stating that you saw the feedback and wanted to know if there is anything you can do to make the buying experience a positive one. Most of the time if you kill them with kindness and once a resolution is met politely ask them if they would consider changing their feedback. Mention that had yo known there was a problem you could have worked things out before feedback was left.

This buyer may seem difficult but most are reasonable. Some of my bad first time buyers end up being good customers. Worst case situation you can ban them. You can get that 100% back much faster then a year 😃

[jakeeangel]

Aww that sucks! I'm sorry you ran into someone like that. I'll never understand agreeing to buy them and then complaining about the price. She seems to prefer the $1 patterns. fffttt Supply & demand baby, supply & demand!!

I have a whole whack of Annie's Attic patterns and the bed doll patterns that I need to list so I've put her on my BBL.

Thank you for that!

[surplusdealdude]

> Sorry to hear about your neg. I would see if you can work with the buyer to get it removed. Most of the time sending them a polite email stating that you saw the feedback and wanted to know if there is anything you can do to make the buying experience a positive one. Most of the time if you kill them with kindness and once a resolution is met politely ask them if they would consider changing their feedback. Mention that had yo known there was a problem you could have worked things out before feedback was left.
>
> This buyer may seem difficult but most are reasonable. Some of my bad first time buyers end up being good customers. Worst case situation you can ban them. You can get that 100% back much faster then a year 😃


I would disagree with that advice.

1 neg isn't going to bother you at all and it actually offers some protection against feedback extortion because the extortionists know that you will take the neg if push comes to shove. -------------------------------------------------------------------

“Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream can I be.”
Karen Ravn

[dipmicro]

It was relatively new buyer, she probably did not realize some sellers obsess about feedback and thought of it as some kind of constructive criticism or a way to communicate a problem.

I also had a buyer like that, he thought 9 day shipping (paid July 27, received Aug 5) is long time, so he negged me all over. He then retracted from eBay completely.

Today I got my first neutral because buyer thinks the product is smaller than he expected, although there is a supersizeable image and accurate dimensions.

eBay does very poor job preparing new buyers for their buying experience, because they are used to buy online from Amazon and other places, where stuff ships by courier and new buyer expects similar. eBay is shooting themselves in the foot because this new buyer is likely to leave (like guy who negged me last August). He was a good guy, not a sociopath, not a weirdo like my buyer from March 2009, he just was not prepared to wait. I don't blame him.

Your buyer spent about $60, right? That counts like a good size order in my store and I would rather keep this buyer happy and returning by explaining that you are willing to resolve issues just like Walmart.

Just my opinion.

[surplusdealdude]

Oh, you want to be better than Walmart - they only have a satisfaction level of about 78%, according to the last survey I read. -------------------------------------------------------------------

“Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream can I be.”
Karen Ravn

[westernstargifts]

I'm so sorry that happened to you crafty. 😞

But what a track record! Your first negative in 4 years on eBay! I am sure not a lot of sellers can say the same thing. You should be proud!

[craftycatsattic]

You guys are so nice. Thank you so much.

I am actually not going to try and get the neg removed and I have already blocked the bidder. The time I would spend trying to sort things out is time I could spend working on listings (I have so much inventory waiting to get listed it's unreal). Also, it draws attention to her along with the other things sellers have said or replied to...so I will let it stand.

I did a lot of nice things for this buyer. For one she never asked for a combined invoice and I took great care in refunding her immediately and explaining that she must ask for a combined invoice or would be paying way too much for shipping. I also went out of my way to send personal emails letting her know when her items would arrive etc, because I noticed she was a new buyer and wanted to make her first experience a pleasant one. I also gave her one of my $4 patterns for free and she got a nice note asking to email if there were any problems. So I think I did my job and have spent enough time on her. If she didn't get it after all that, she may never get it and I don't even want to try.

Thankfully my DSR's are really heathly 4.9's to 5's and I know that I myself don't judge any of my sellers if I see any negs or neutrals. I look at the whole picture and I think any smart buyer would do the same.

[ricarmic]

I always check the sellers feedback when I'm buying something. If they have a negative all I do is see what they responded with. As long as it is professional and not slamming the buyer I don't count it at all in my figuring and go ahead and purchase. However if I do see inflamatory response from the seller I don't make the sale and move on. So in my eyes negs only count if the seller doesn't deal well with them which probably means they wouldn't deal with any other issues well either. My 2 cents.