Feedback Nags

[tobey_arih]

I dun get it. Why do winners do not bother to provide the common courtesy of leaving feedback after getting a great deal?  Even on the feedback page, you can literally send one feedback to all other buyers or sellers or both without the tedious effort of inputting for each one on the Accounts tab.

I got 22 waiting  sinct the start of February.  I have go nag and nag and nag.  its my pet peeve.  

Anyone have the same problem?

[jt-libra]

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@reallynicestampswrote:

Those 'reviews' worry me.

Pedantically, because I've noticed some posters referring to feedback as reviews. Perhaps they are getting the name from some other site, but I worry that they are confusing a review of a product with feedback on a transaction/seller.

And I have seen one or two US sellers complaining that their listings for a mass merchandise product has been dogged with a product review that is actually a complaint about a transaction with an entirely different seller.

If that continues, then it will be necessary for eBay to allow sellers to delete product reviews that do not apply to a particular seller.

And who polices those? Should a seller be allowed to delete poor reviews of her product, ad lib? How can eBay police which are product reviews and which are seller /transaction reviews?

Am I over-thinking this?

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No, I don't think you are.  When I first noticed reviews at the bottom of my listings, I was able to, with close attention, see the name of the seller the review applied to.   And the only reason I did this was because, at first, I thought the rather negative review was left for me.  I can't help but think that the occasional shopper, or even the experienced one, will associate the review with the seller of the item they're looking at.

While re-listing an item the other day, I noticed that out of five reviews for the product, only two showed "Sold by" in very small print.  The others did not show the name of the seller.  It's worrisome.

[momcqueen]

Those product reviews without an associated ‘sold by’ are the equivalent of ‘unverified’ reviews wherein anyone can come along and rate any product that strikes their fancy regardless of whether they’ve experience with it or not. It’s one of the main failings of Product Reviews. And then there’s the voting thumbs up or thumbs down on whether reviews are helpful or not: essentially reviews of the reviews themselves. Yes, let’s open the floodgates to the great unwashed. I NEVER read Product Reviews from average users. I seek the opinions of professionals when I need to know something about a product but apparently I’m old-fashioned.

[rose-dee]

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@momcqueenwrote:
Those product reviews without an associated ‘sold by’ are the equivalent of ‘unverified’ reviews wherein anyone can come along and rate any product that strikes their fancy regardless of whether they’ve experience with it or not. 

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Yes, I agree.  The problem is that eBay has attempted to splice a single-retailer product review system onto its infinitely varied seller base.  It just doesn't work.  EBay is not Sears (well, what used to be Sears) or HBC, etc. 

I have to admit that whenever I make a purchase from a single online retailer, I read through the available product reviews and attempt to "average" the overall reaction in my mind (on the principle that there is always a certain percentage of people who will be unhappy about anything for any reason, or who won't even understand the concept of "product review").  For the most part that kind of review system makes sense when it's one product from one supplier.  On eBay, it just creates a mish-mashed mess, with all the inherent problems 'reallynicestamps'  mentioned.  

Oh yes, brilliant idea eBay had to let people give thumbs up or down on reviews -- meaningless opinions on other mostly meaningless opinions all over the place.  

To my mind, eBay's old FB system and this "product review" idea are incompatible and even mutually defeating.  Newer buyers to the site who want to praise a particular seller may not understand where to go to do that (and end up using the product review instead because it's handy and visible).  On the other hand, buyers who want to complain about a seller's service may use the "product reviews" to rant because it's more visible.   I feel EBay should really dump both systems and go back to the drawing board to re-think its feedback/review system altogether.  

[momcqueen]

Product Reviews have to do with Search Engine Optimization.

[momcqueen]

I had a big fit when Product Reviews were first announced as coming to eBay, Raphael laid it all down on the line.

[ricarmic]

But they can really misrepresent things.

It turns out I have a number of items with close enough titles that they've been grouped together, and some folks have reviewed them.

Here is one (remember I'm a stamp guy):

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Canada-about-1-000-used-stamps-from-mega-mixture-hoard-of-millions-plz-read...

Here is another:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/USA-mixture-about-1-000-used-stamps-from-mega-hoard-of-millions-PLZ-read-de...

Now it turns out that the poor rating guy rated the USA 1,000 mix (he's the same guy that gives out neutrals often in feedback including me).

However, someone looking at my 1,000 Canada mix, sees ratings that were left for the USA lot, they have nothing to do with the Canada lot, but if a potential buyer sees them, they see the USA comment as though it pertains to the Canada one, which it does not.

This is why I don't like these things in my category....

[momcqueen]

Don't get me wrong, I HATE Product Reviews on my listings. I do my own reviews of the products I sell, I am knowledgeable about the products I sell and honest with the pros and cons of the items I've got in my store. Products get lumped together, reviews are misrepresented, sellers get less actual feedback, I think Product Reviews are a shame and I want to be able to opt out of them. Raphael made it abundantly clear that was NOT going to happen.  We are stuck with Product Reviews. All you can do is report a review as being inappropriate and hope for the best. With one of my own, I had a buyer of mine leave review for his order that said literally: "I don't understand how the currency exchange rates work!" One star. (He was American.) Obviously, that product review had nothing to do with his item. I reported that review five times and it still took two months to be removed. 

[mcrlmn]

Am I off topic?

I've had hundreds not leave feedback.

What bothers me the most... In fact my blood pressure is starting to rise just thinking about it...
Is the dozen or more sellers I bought from and haven't ever said thanks, let alone leave feedback .
Did I miss something else other than paying promptly? I did leave a positive thank you etc. I don't even ding 'em for late delivery. Am I missing something?

That's my gripe.
As for yours... suck it up and be careful what you wish for.
Everybody's in the same boat.

[mcrlmn]

Is this off topic or on topic?

I've got all sorts of product reviews.
None of them are actually for my specific items.

They just show up in my listings, raving about how great life is after their purchase.

Fine with me.

I didn't know we could do our own reviews. Ha!

[tobey_arih]

To redesign the FB like that would take huge costs and time to reprogram Ebay.  If the buyer[s] did not much care about the courtesy of giving FBs, reviews would be another waste of time for them, depending how frequent buyers buys on Ebay.  Though, on Amazon, I do see the reviews but I don't have the patience to read all of it unless I am unfamiliar with the product I might be interested in buying.

Even with these "many" options, Ebay still dominates the market right beside Amazon.