is it bad form to prompt a buyer for feedback or to follow up to prompting?

[gonzobuyer2013]

Is it a good idea to contact buyers who have not left feedback and ask if there was a problem and if not will they please leave feedback? I am new to ebay and working hard to please and want my feedback. What I don't want to do is p off my buyers by bugging them for feedback. Please forum, what's a seller to do?

[pierrelebel]

Contacting buyers and asking for feedback is not a good idea.  You may end up getting a negative feedback from a buyer who was not fully satisfied for the transaction.

On eBay anywhere from 50% to 85% of buyers leave feedback for their sellers.  15% to 50% do not.  And life does go on.

In future, what you can do is insert a note with your shipment thanking the buyer for their patronage and asking to please leave positive feedback if satisfied with every aspect of the transaction.

That does not mean every buyer will leave feedback but it may increase your percentage of buyers doing so.  That is it.  Do not chase feedback.

On a different note, you may want to remove the following from your listings: "The seller will not accept returns for this item." That sentence is counter-productive. 

Some potential buyers may take it seriously and hit the back button ("who wants to deal with a seller who does not guarantee his products?") while others will not care knowing that if the goods are not satisfactory (not as described) they can make a claim with eBay/PayPal and get their money back.  eBay/PayPal guarantee your products whether you want to or not, whether you like it or not.  May as well turn that into a positive by offering complete and unconditional guarantee in your listing.

[triber]

That is what I do Pierre, I just insert a thank you note in my packages and say that if they are happy with the transaction, they can let me know that, and that it has arrived safely by leaving feedback.

Feedback for me has got less and less. My sales are down, but today I counted the transactions with no feedback left in the last 2 months, and that is about 60. I have however had several emails telling me the same facts and saying I am a 5 star seller. Problem is, that doesn't count to reduce defects, which is the main reason I want them now. Otherwise, I wouldn't be concerned, I have plenty of feedbacks.

[ricarmic]

Tribe, I may be wrong but defect wise, it does not matter if people leave no feedback, the comparison is defects against total transactions - so if you have only ever received one feedback and it is a negative, that is still only 1 against however many transactions you have including all those that did not leave any feedback or DSRs.

Gonzo: This is why as Pierre says don't prod the buyers, you're more likely to provoke someone to generate a defect that wouldn't have otherwise.

I also think that there are a lot of buyers that don't understand the feedback system, I too get emails or ebay messages from buyers who tell me how much they liked my stuff but do not leave any feedback. I leave it as it is for the reason above....

[mdf_jersey]

"Contacting buyers and asking for feedback is not a good idea.  You may end up getting a negative feedback from a buyer who was not fully satisfied for the transaction."

Be careful what you wish for.

[pjcdn2005]

You're right. Just like the DSR's, the defect percentage is based on total number of transactions, not on feedback received.

[triber]

Thanks, that's good to know. I have to wonder why there is a drop in feedbacks received, or is it just me?

[pierrelebel]

"I have to wonder why there is a drop in feedbacks received"

As stated in another thread last week, it may be a coincidence.  I checked my records and the feedback received this year is still the same 80%-85% it has been for fifteen years. I do not do anything differently.  I realize some sellers have different experiences.

[mr.elmwood]

Pierre, you deal in a different genre. My FB has dropped from around 60% down to around 30%. I get a lot of low FB buyers, zeros, who do a one-off purchase. FD means nothing in their world.

FB is dropping for everyone, well, except Pierre!

eBay acknowledges that. They used to base a lot on FB scores. They have now changed it to based on total sales. More and more they are de-emphasizing FB. Now, if we could wean the OCD off of it as well.