Whatever happened to Positive Feedback ?-Ah-the good ole days!

[stillyesic]

Just wanted to get something off my chest-the fact that in my last 10-12 sales-I have not received any feedback at all-good or bad.I guess with this total crazy and cluttered Selling format-new buyers just can't seem to find the Positive button. -Its sad how after 20yrs of trying my dambdest to be a good buyer and seller-it doesn't matter now how high your rating is or what color your star is?-I thought that this was our ID-a ranking of how professional we were as sellers?-I always left my Positive feedback for the buyers after payment received -even changing their (0) to their first feedback ,welcoming them to ebay. I gave a great item at a great price with professional packaging -sent to another country safely arriving in the same condition as it was sent. I take pride in being a Seller and would like to receive just one positive note.It would be greatly appreciated . To all you buyers out there-if you were happy with the transaction and especially the item when received -please let us know by finding that feedback button-thank you.

Shortchanged Seller

[msau4301]

I also like to receive the positive feedback. It might not matter in terms of more sales but it's always nice to hear someone is happy! It's like being complimented for a meal you cooked or thanked for holding the door for someone. It isn't going to change anything but it's always nice to feel appreciated!

[watermelonmemories2005]

I agree ! especially after they offered you 50% of the Buy it Now price, was nice to be told how happy they were and what a great Deal too! LOL --- OK I came here to find out how to leave FB now for my buyers??? Come on - I've been too sick for a while to be listing etc -So trying to catch up on some business tonight, only to find that the format has changed again!! I don't have time to learn new tricks! The old way wasn't broken. So something that should have taken me 5 minutes, has gone over 30 minutes now and still NOT resolved. So I guess sorry buyers no FB for you, which my mean no repeat visits for me. I am so fed up with all my time they waste.

[femmefan1946]

Feedback has never been higher than 40% of transactions and is only the buyer's opinion, since buyers can only get positive * feedback.

Personally ,  I think FB is a relic of the 20th century internet, when buying from a stranger thousands of kilometers away was scarey and only for the few brave early adopters.

I'd like to see it dropped entirely, in favour of a public count of transactions, that includes the number of Disputes and Claims the member has been involved in, whether they won or lost.

*And a good thing too.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

How it was in 1996 from the eBay founder.

https://pages.ebay.com/services/forum/feedback-foundersnote.html

Posted: February 26, 1996,
To: eBay Community

I launched eBay's AuctionWeb on Labor Day, 1995. Since then, the site has become more popular than I ever expected, and I began to realize that this was indeed a grand experiment in Internet commerce. By creating an open market that encourages honest dealings, I hope to make it easier to conduct business with strangers over the net.

Most people are honest. And they mean well. Some people go out of their way to make things right. I've heard great stories about the honesty of people here. But some people are dishonest. Or deceptive. This is true here, in the newsgroups, in the classifieds, and right next door. It's a fact of life. But here, those people can't hide. We'll drive them away. Protect others from them. This grand hope depends on your active participation. Become a registered user. Use our feedback forum. Give praise where it is due; make complaints where appropriate. For the past six months, I've been developing this system single-handedly, in my spare time. Along the way, I've dealt with complaints among participants. But those complaints have amounted to only a handful. We've had close to 10,000 auctions since opening. And only a few dozen complaints.

Now, we have an open forum. Use it. Make your complaints in the open. Better yet, give your praise in the open. Let everyone know what a joy it was to deal with someone. Above all, conduct yourself in a professional manner. Deal with others the way you would have them deal with you. Remember that you are usually dealing with individuals, just like yourself. Subject to making mistakes. Well-meaning, but wrong on occasion. That's just human. We can live with that. We can deal with that. We can still make deals with that. Thanks for participating. Good luck, and good business!

Regards,
Pierre Omidyar

And the reasoning for the change in 2008:

1. Why are sellers allowed to leave only positive Feedback for buyers?
   Sellers used to be able to leave negative Feedback for buyers. Unfortunately, we found that when buyers had bad experiences with sellers, they were often reluctant to leave neutral or negative Feedback out of fear that the seller would retaliate by leaving negative Feedback for them. And when buyers did receive unfair negative Feedback, they usually decreased their shopping on eBay. Overall, it became clear that the fear of retaliatory negative Feedback made it more difficult for good sellers to distinguish themselves from not-so-good sellers, and made the Feedback system as a whole less reliable.

 

Crazy how things have changed!!!

-Lotz

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

---

@stillyesic wrote:

Just wanted to get something off my chest-the fact that in my last 10-12 sales-I have not received any feedback at all-good or bad.I guess with this total crazy and cluttered Selling format-new buyers just can't seem to find the Positive button. -Its sad how after 20yrs of trying my dambdest to be a good buyer and seller-it doesn't matter now how high your rating is or what color your star is?-I thought that this was our ID-a ranking of how professional we were as sellers?-I always left my Positive feedback for the buyers after payment received -even changing their (0) to their first feedback ,welcoming them to ebay. I gave a great item at a great price with professional packaging -sent to another country safely arriving in the same condition as it was sent. I take pride in being a Seller and would like to receive just one positive note.It would be greatly appreciated . To all you buyers out there-if you were happy with the transaction and especially the item when received -please let us know by finding that feedback button-thank you.

Shortchanged Seller

---

@stillyesic 

@rocketscollectibles 

Re: The current relevance of leaving feedback

I used to have a subscription to Mystoresmaps that added a map to your listings showing where I had shipped to. Showed sellers I was willing to ship almost everywhere. Was up to approx. 75 countries. The fees were based on your feedback score. When I hit 2000 feedbacks sometime in 2017 the monthly fee went up jumped substantially so I cancelled. Since then I have accumulated 300 more feedbacks. Goes to show you how much feedback has become obsolete in the minds of the majority of buyers. In trying to locate the program for current fees, it appears to be MIA.

-Lotz

[rocketscollectibles]

This system is totally outdated. Most people don't care about positive feedbacks when buying and they are kinda right, i mean 99% of them are generic meaningless feedbacks saying nothing about nothing. The only thing people look for when buying is negatives, because negatives are personal feedbacks and actually says something

People starting to sell today are so disadvantaged . On this account and my other selling account, it took me about 1 year each to reach a score of 100. I ship very fast, pack nicely, add gifts, etc. Nothing really matter. I have around 20% feedbacks for my transactions

At some point i started giving up about caring about it, this system is outdated and meaningless

[brettjet38]

@stillyesic Ah-the good ole days!

Like this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKtlK7sn0JQ&ab_channel=lametrain

[femmefan1946]

Yes -- that's the idea.

Right now buyers  lose points on non-payment, something that sellers can guard against with effort if they know about it.

But what about a serial complainer? Whether they win or lose , they would lose points.

So the buyer with a 90/100 rating might be a non-payer, or might have made some bad choices that led to winning disputes with a scammer,  or losing disputes with a scammer, or trying to get freebies by refusing to complete an NAD return for refund.

Privacy covered by no disclosure of the reason for the 90/100.

I'll settle for prosecco and salmon caviar, though.

[roadie16]

I always give feedback. I will fllow-up on my feedback with a message to the seller that my item has been received. I have had a few issues, not many, over the years but these have been resolved through messages between me and the seller. 

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

@femmefan1946 

So for your caviar wishes and champagne dreams optimistic request, would there be full visibility(transparency) for any buyers blemishes? Hey, c'mon...fair is fair? 

-Lotz