feedback changes

[beansantiques]

I can see many problems coming from this new feedback system. The first and most important is that it completely negates the system. There are many problem buyers out there as well as some sellers but the feedback system has always given us a way to weed them out. Ebay is saying that this new policy is because sellers retaliate with neg feedback more than buyers but if it were retaliatory in nature this ratio would remain at 1 per 1 not the eight times higher that is claimed. It may be that this eight times higher ratio is deserved. I do not know. They may look at the figure ratio between buyers and sellers. It may be possible that there are eight times more buyers than sellers and that would make it even.
I do know that sellers that make there living this way do not mess with buyers feedback in an un called for way. This would cut off further sales to the buyers and that is just bad business.
In all the years we have been doing this we have only left a few neg and they were deserved.
As far as the discounts for power sellers goes we have a good rating in the star system but that really does not mean a lot.
We always ship the next business day and at actual mailing cost. (price of stamps) No handling fee or material charge. We should have a 5 star rating if buyers were using the system correctly but they do not.
The buyer retaliates in this system with a lower rating if the post office charges more that the buyer thinks it should cost and also if it takes longer.
I did not mind this as it gives the buyers a way to vent on postal costs but with the new discounts offered to power sellers this will now cost me 10% of my sellers final fees.
I think one way around this feedback issue would be to target sellers and buyers who are in the habit of leaving a lot of neg feedback. Not the vast majority of users who just do there busness and leave there feedback as it should be. This new method is assuming that all sellers are untrustworthy and do not deserve the right to leave approiate feedback.
A buyer with all positive feedback used to mean something to sellers and buyers also take pride in there ratings but this new system will destroy that pride and more importantly it will destroy seller confidence.
Sellers need to be taken care of as without us this platform will stop being the #1 selling platform that it is. It has slid downward quite a bit over the years and I think this will drive it even lower.
There was a day that you could search anything you could come up with and there was always a like item on ebay to compare yours to but now most times this is not the case. You do not find items listed anymore.
I hope they think long and hard about these changes as it will effect us all.
Ron beansantiques

[treasure-pot]

Hi Ron - I hope things are going well for you and Sheri!

The more I read comments of concern from sellers with immaculate records like yours, the more I'm convinced that eBay will have to do some tweaking to get this right. In many respects I think their intentions are good but, as was mentioned in the Q&A session, eBay and PayPal do not have a monopoly on great ideas. I really hope they listen to the concerns regarding specifically the S&H DSR because it appears that so many buyers misinterpret what it really encompasses and are far too brutal on sellers in their scoring. One seller even suggested that maybe there should be a fifth DSR category - USPS Delivery Time. As I mentioned on another thread, some sellers with free shipping are averaging 4.7 on the S&H DSR.

Unfortunately I don't think that this thread or others on the boards will make their way to where they need to be which is why I encourage sellers to find other ways to make their feelings known. A good place to start might be Griff's call-in segments on Tuesdays and Sundays because the top brass do listen in frequently (not this Sunday though as they will all be watching the SuperBowl). Flood the phone lines and talk about nothing else. It will be noticed.

Another place that rarely gets used is the eBay Suggestion box (http://pages.ebay.ca/help/newtoebay/suggest.html). It's important that they get constructive criticism and legitimate ideas. I really liked a couple of the ideas from the Q&A and I'm sure that sellers have a lot more great ideas to offer.

eBay fully expects a storm of protest any time they make even small changes on the site. History should show that they pretty much stick to their guns unless they can be shown less Draconian alternatives that accomplish the same goals.

[jakeeangel]

I have a couple of ideas. Ban private feedback of buyers. That way sellers can still read the green negative comments and more importantly, read the feedback left for others to add the buyer to their BBL.

They knew there were going to be problems or they wouldn't have increased the BBL to 5000.

I doubt this will happen, but I'd like to see sellers still able to leave negs and neutrals for buyers BUT kill the Mutual Feedback Withdrawl system. It's too much of a coincidence that the 8x increase in retaliatory negs started around the time they introduced the MFW.

Without the MFW sellers can't neg a buyer and then hit them with a request to withdraw. It's my understanding that the MFW is going to end mid-2008 anyways, give us the ability to neg deserved non-paying bidders and kill the MFW abuse.

---

When you find doing what's right hard to do - you've got a problem.

[autogrilles*]

"I doubt this will happen, but I'd like to see sellers still able to leave negs and neutrals for buyers BUT kill the Mutual Feedback Withdrawl system"

Bad idea. By saying this, you are saying that buyers not only won't get negative feedback but also can leave it freely on us withour repercussion. You know how many moronic buyers there are on Ebay?

[recped]

autogrilles...try reading what jakeeangel actually wrote.
"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

[alero0]

Like it or not the feedback system will change. The only thing I'd like to see is a system where we as sellers can see how many purchases a buyer made (from the time the changes take place) so we can rate them as to how many FB's they received. If they made 20 purchases and only received 2 FB's we'll know there's possibly going to be a problem with that buyer. There won't be any negs but every item that doesn't have a FB can be considered a neg. We can then try to take appropriate action, i.e. contact them before the auction ends or cancel their bid and block them.

The number of honest buyers by far outweigh the scammers so if you're an good and honest seller I don't see this FB change as a major problem

[treasure-pot]

Harvey, you raise some valid points. Sellers will have improve in their ability to read "between" the lines in a buyers feedback. There are a variety of tools that eBay makes available that allow us to do just that.

Also, it bears remembering that sellers will still be allowed to respond to feedback received. Even though sellers will no longer be able to leave negs or neutrals, I suspect we will begin to see an abundance of responses.

[chany1230]

Without being able to leave negative feedback for buyers that deserve it, how are we as sellers going to be able to know if these buyers are worthy of a sale? I believe it to be discriminatory for sellers. All of us sellers are also buyers at one point or another so we all have experienced bad sellers but as sellers we are all trying to make a business work and I feel that Ebay is not taking us seriously or respecting us. By saying that buyers can basically say and do whatever they want but we can't is wrong. In Ebay's statement, they say they have made these changes based on our request and they have listened. I don't remember asking for this did you?

[recped]

here won't be any negs but every item that doesn't have a FB can be considered a neg

That's ridiculous, not all sellers leave feedback for all buyers all the time and the "quality" of the buyer has little to do with it.

how are we as sellers going to be able to know if these buyers are worthy of a sale?

You can't stop people from bidding or doing a BIN regardless of their feedback (unless it's below 0). Cancelling bids before an item ends is shooting yourself in the foot. If you want auctions to end with a bidding battle you need multiple bidders.

I don't remember asking for this did you?

Maybe not you personally but sellers and buyers have been screaming for changes to the current system for years.
"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

[westernstargifts]

You can always check to see if the buyer is also a seller. If they are and they leave you a negative you could always buy something from them and do the same thing back. It would probably have to be a Buy It Now purchase or they would just cancel your bid.

I'm not saying I would do this but it was just a thought......I have them occasionally....lol.

[recped]

They would report you and you would be turfed from eBay immediately.

There is a much easier solution...pull up the offending buyers profile, scream out at the top of your lungs every expletive you know, 5 minutes later you'll either feel great or embarrassed!

If that doesn't do it then open a window and shout "xxxxx is a (%^*%^#&#)^_$#!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Next, grab your kitty (or equivalent) hug tight and say "why can't buyers be as wonderful as you are".

Final step, indulge yourself with some chocolate! (don't share with kitty of course).
"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.