eBay

rio1953 · ‎07-22-2017

I didn't know there was such a thing as private feedback.

i just learned of it tonight after I went to check this buyer, who is giving me some troubles, feedback.

Surprise.....even if he/she has almost 900 feedbacks really you can see any.

I don't think that is fair......any thoughts?

pjcdn2005 · ‎07-22-2017

It tends to make me a bit nervous although to be fair, I've never had any problems with a private feedback buyer.

I suppose people have their reasons for wanting it that way although I"m not crazy about the idea.

thestuffofchris · ‎07-22-2017

Personally, I think it's a bit shady. No one can see what you buy anyways, only what you've sold (unless it's a private listing, I believe).

I would think (purely speculation here) that the only ones hiding their feedback are the ones who have something to hide or are paranoid.

pjcdn2005 · ‎07-22-2017

Perhaps those who have private feedback started doing that when their purchases could be seen and they just never changed back. I don't know...but whether it's rational or not...I do think that it can make some sellers nervous.

I find that sometimes if there is a problem or I am debating on whether I should use tracking or not...a look at a buyer's feedback left for others will sometimes help me to decide. So I miss that option when it isn't available.

thestuffofchris · ‎07-22-2017

That could be true, too. I've been around long enough to remember that.

I personally haven't had a buyer with private feedback before, so I can't really speak much on that, but I think how nervous it would make me would depend on what I was selling and the value. A $10 game, probably not. A $250 mobile device, more likely.

cumos55 · ‎07-22-2017

The are several reasons why a buyer may want private feedback..

Sometimes it is based on what they are buying... There are some "questionable" items for sale on eBay, things that people will buy and want to keep.. private

Sometimes it could be the type of feedback they leave for sellers.

and... then

Sometimes they just want to be incognito.

If they sell something they cannot have private feedback... but then they can become private again... I assume this is the situation

pjcdn2005 · ‎07-22-2017

Sometimes it is based on what they are buying..

But even without private feedback, no one can see what they are buying. I guess I could click on all of their sellers to see if they sold funky stuff. 🙂

momcqueen · ‎07-23-2017

I share your distrust of Private Feedback buyers and, personally, wish there was a Block to disallow them from choosing me as their seller.

I liken it to, "Why hide what you've done if you've nothing to hide?" It would be like me wearing a balaclava into 7-11 at 3 am in the middle of July to buy a slurpee and expecting NOT to be greeted like a robber.

Private Feedback may have been useful when ebay was first created, when everyone's purchases were more transparent, but now no one knows where I've shopped or what I've bought so the only reason I can think to cloak it is some nasty Feedback Left For Others. Or retaliatory non-positive positive feedback from a seller, or a feedback follow-up comment that is embarrassing.

Come to Weekly Board Hour on Wednesday to politely request the feature be retired.

In the meantime, call ebay to Report that Buyer for hinkey behaviour.

dutchman48 · ‎07-23-2017

If you don't have your feedback as private, anyone that clicks on the seller's ID can get a fairly good idea of what you are buying by what they sell.

Some buyers buy things they don't want anyone else to know about and I personally feel that is their choice. It does not always mean they have anything to hide. That tends to be what a lot of Ebay sellers think, due to all the mistrust Ebay has created on their site with buyer, sellers, and Ebay as a whole.

It would be really nice if Ebay totally got rid of the whole feedback system as it is totally useless.

If you have a website you have no idea what the buyer is like until well after the fact. I have 2 and have not had any issues in almost 10 years.

dutchman48 · ‎07-23-2017

This was brought up on the US boards as an example:

Try searching art photo category.

You come up with some things that should not be here and so easily found.

If someone with non private feedback buys fro one of these sellers, and anyone clicks on the seller ID, they will have a very good Idea of what you bought.

Many other examples can be shown for a variety of other things and reasons.

People's privacy should be protected

zee-chan-jpn-books · ‎07-23-2017

I don't think private feedback should be retired but I do think sellers should have the option to block them.

maggiebvintage2010 · ‎07-23-2017

People may not know exactly what you have bought, but they can certainly see who you bought it from, and look at what they sell. Many people value their anonymity to a great degree. Choosing private feedback does not necessarily mean that the buyer engages in nefarious activities. Life is not lived in black and white.

lady.stark · ‎07-23-2017

I recently had a buyer with private feedback. I was more nervous than usual when shipping the item. It had a very low value, so not worth sending with tracking. And everything went well. Buyer left me positive feedback and I did the same.

So not every "private" feedback buyer is shady. Since I began selling, I had maybe 2 buyers with private feedback (including the recent one) and it went well the 2 times.

I'm sorry to hear one is giving you troubles. If you want to elaborate on the situation, maybe we can help.

thestuffofchris · ‎07-23-2017

Frankly, how many people actually care that much about what someone else might be buying to go that deep and try and figure out what they may have purchased? I think the most likely scenario is a seller may look at the recent feedback of a bidder to see if there are any false positives or a history of negative feedback to sellers, but I doubt few people would go as far as to check out who someone bought from to see what they may have bought in the past.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for privacy protections, both in the digital and real worlds. I also don't think just because someone chooses to hide their feedback that automatically something is wrong. I just think, in relation to something as meaningless as feedback on a shopping website, some people get a bit too paranoid. I'm far more concerned about someone stealing my credit card information and personal identity than I am someone seeing what I purchased online.

cumos55 · ‎07-23-2017

In some categories of inventory... sellers do pay attention to who the buyer is.... and what he buyer leaves as feedback

Sometimes when I get a strange looking feedback I do look at that buyer's feedback...... and then find out what this buyer leaves for feedback.

Sometimes buyers will leave feedback that can be graded as .....Good... better... Best....

It is always interesting to take a look...

and ..... There will always be a buyer which buys and everything is OK... but feedback left by that buyer might say otherwise....

Sometimes a buyer might ask a question. Things might not sound well... and to me if that buyer has private feedback.. they get blocked.

Sellers learn how to protect themselves... Private feedback buyers will always be considered .....with care.....

Buyers with private feedback will always wave a red flag.

cumos55 · ‎07-23-2017

At times there has been a discussion on eBay.com, where a seller had a problem with a buyer....

Other sellers were contacted based on the feedback record....... Several sellers had the same problem.

The sellers ... all... reported this buyer... and the buyer was gone from eBay.

If the buyer had private feedback this could not have been done.....

dutchman48 · ‎07-23-2017

@cumos55 wrote:
In some categories of inventory... sellers do pay attention to who the buyer is.... and what he buyer leaves as feedback

Sometimes when I get a strange looking feedback I do look at that buyer's feedback...... and then find out what this buyer leaves for feedback.

Sometimes buyers will leave feedback that can be graded as .....Good... better... Best....

It is always interesting to take a look...

and ..... There will always be a buyer which buys and everything is OK... but feedback left by that buyer might say otherwise....

Sometimes a buyer might ask a question. Things might not sound well... and to me if that buyer has private feedback.. they get blocked.

Sellers learn how to protect themselves... Private feedback buyers will always be considered .....with care.....

Buyers with private feedback will always wave a red flag.

I use it to determine how I will ship in some cases. I also helps to see if an account is dormant and possibly hacked.

There are many reasons, and not all because the buyer is hiding something. With Ebay being what it is, anything that can help a seller is worth it.

Are they regularly a buyer of this type of item or is it out of the norm is a big one for me.

tgzg8296 · ‎07-23-2017

This is the scenario. This buyer bought one of my Figurines. I shipped the item tracked and up to this point everything is fine.

Last week she contacted me saying that the Figurine was damaged( she said a few chips) and that she would like to send it back and open a return request. I sent an email asking if a partial refund would make her happy to which she answered that she wished that I had offered the refund before because she had already open the return request . I told her I would see what I could do. To make things short I offered the refund through Ebay return request but she declined and wanted me to send her a return label which I tried but couldn't created. I contacted her and explained the situation then I offered to send her the shipping money but she wants EBay to step in. I don't know why. At this point i don't have any choice but wait.

Can any of you offer any suggestions on how to handle this? Or what to do?

momcqueen · ‎07-23-2017

I think that if eBay steps in and sees you haven't created a label for her, theylll refund the buyer with your money AND allow her to keep it. Keep trying to print a label for her. Or call Customer Service.