Feedback

[bostonspaceman]

Hope someone can help with this question. Who is supposed to leave feedback first, the buyer or the seller?

[furbabygirl1234]

Thank you and good luck to you!  Just ask yourself who you'd rather buy from:  Someone who has a great reputation for honesty and quality products and who cares about their eBay reputation.  (or)

Someone who is lazy, doesn't care about their reputation and who thinks having credibility is optional?

WHO WOULD "YOU" BUY FROM?????

[soh.maryl]

Respectfully, have to disagree with you.  Yes, feedback may be your REPUTATION if you are a seller.  But, since countless others have pointed out, in the case of buyers, feedback means absolutely nothing.  You can be absolutely the worse kind of buyer ever, but your seller is limited to two choices: positive FB or none at all.

[mkys2021]

In my opinion buyer first. Seller's can and do receive unwarranted negative. 

[1786davycrockett]

In my early selling days,  I regularly left positive feedback to all of my buyers -- but I immediately stopped after:

(1)  An overseas buyer opened up an "item not received" case against me, knowing there was no way for me to prove delivery.

(2)  A nostalgia items competitor ordered one of my items; and, upon receiving it, deliberately folded it in half, then opened a "not as described" case against me.  Previously, we both had had the ONLY two copies of a particular item; but, after destroying my copy (and forcing the return), his was the ONLY remaining copy, upon which he then raised the price.

(3)  A third-party seller ordered an item through me, to be shipped to their customer.  However, the item became delayed by USPS, and an "item not received" case was opened against me, which I lost, after which the item was finally delivered.  The third-party seller refused to pay for the item again.

(4). The numerous buyers who purchased items from me, then decided to cancel their orders after I had mailed their items to them.

(5). Several buyers who, upon receiving their items, left insulting, derogatory and hate-filled email messages.

And the list goes on.  

And those are just a few of the reasons why I no longer offer knee-jerk positive feedback anymore to buyers -- I have no way to know who are the angels, and who are the crooks.

[downunder-61]

Always had mine set to leave upon receipt of - I get pos FB from buyer, system auto sends pos FB to buyer

[mudshark61369]

In my opinion I feel it should be first left by the person who is the first to know if a transaction has gone well or not, and that would be the buyer.  That was ebay's first suggestion about leaving feedback, after saying feedback was optional.  

If one checks most sellers feedback profile pages they will often find they have left far more feedback than they have received.

Seller reputations are based on non positive feedback received.   Buyer reputations are based on the feedback they leave, since all members who buy only,  will have a 100% rating that is shared with the slow/non payers, serial bid retractors and scam artists. 

  Feedback is supposed to be the last part of a transaction, and it should be based on how each side performed throughout. 

Sellers: Have to describe and photograph well. Ship items within their handling time, and pack well and respond to disputes in a timely manner. Any time there is a sale, a seller has the 900lb feedback boulder hanging over their head.

• Did the seller properly describe and photograph their item?
• Did they respond to questions?
• Did they ship packed well, within their stated time frame?
• If there was an issue how did the seller deal with it. Did they respond to a message about an issue in a positive or helpful manner, and issue a return label if requested, quickly?
• Did they Balk at a return/full refund/partial refund or try to trick a buyer into cancelling a dispute or stall them past the time to file a dispute? 
• Sellers should know that a buyer will not get a full refund including sales tax, unless the buyer files a dispute. Therefore, if necessary they should advise the buyer to go through the Money back Guarantee process.
• If the seller apologized and made the return process as quick and painless as possible, they should receive a neutral, no feedback at all, or a positive.

Buyers:  Have to pay before they can leave feedback. Paying is a buyer's minimum requirement. 

•  Did a buyer request cancellation after paying?
• Did a buyer pay quickly?
• Did they start asking questions after winning an auction or using buy it now, about the item, price or shipping and its cost?
• Were any questions about information that was already mentioned on the listing page?
• Did they request or demand changes to shipping or the cost, or try to seller how to pack an item?
• In cases of auctions ending several days apart, did a buyer notify the seller the in advance so they could prepare to send a combined shipping invoice and/or turn off the unpaid item assistant?
• Did the buyer start asking about when an item would ship, well before the last estimated delivery date?
• Did the buyer take into account Covid or holiday related shipping delays if tracking showed the shipper had received a package?
• If there was a problem did the buyer contact the seller first, in a respectful manner, giving them time to respond, especially on weekends?
• If they did message the seller did they mention feedback in any way?
•  When returning an item did they send it back in the same condition as received and packed so as not to damage it?  Did they return the same item and all accessories that were sent?

Depending on how a buyer handled themselves during a transaction a seller's only options are to leave Positive feedback or to leave none. Sometimes a buyer does not deserve a positive feedback just because they paid, which is their minimum responsibility.  Do keep in mind that if a buyer leaves a comment it can be replied to by the seller negatively and not be removed as long as it conforms to feedback content rules.  

[stephsden]

Having sold successfully many years ago, and just recently started selling again, I am appalled that ebay does not allow sellers to leave negative feedback.  (I found this out AFTER I signed up again!)  To the person who wrote the "Accepted Reply" (BTW, just who "accepted" it?), there are MANY things a buyer can do after they pay.  They wrote:  "Once a buyer pays for his/her purchase there is nothing they can do further."  How about claim it didn't arrive when tracking says it did.  Or, return the item broken without communicating first.  Or, returning a completely different item.  Or, leave negative feedback even though the seller did everything they could to make things right--just not the ridiculous thing that the buyer wanted.  EBAY KNOWS the buyer should leave feedback first because the transaction is not complete until they are happy.  And only the BUYER knows that.  That said, it is also DEPRESSING that some websites (like A certain book site) start their sellers off with 100% "Order Fulfillment," and ebay starts their sellers off with 0% positive feedback.  They really make us sellers work for our reputation, don't they?!

[soh.maryl]

On eBay, everyone, buyers as well as sellers. starts off with 0 FB.  That's because they have not yet received FB.

What kind of feedback do you believe eBayers should be started out with?

This is not the only place where everyone has to work for their reputation.

New football player in the pros or the local high school? New business opening in your town? New nurse in your local hospital?

New teenager starting out shoveling snow or mowing lawns? New stylist at your local salon?

[mkys2021]

As a seller I wait for the buyer because they can leave a negative but I cannot. I completely disagree with eBay's policy as it allows bad behavior by buyers with no recourse. 

[soh.maryl]

It doesn't really matter.  The buyer can still leave a negative if you leave feedback first.

[jlv-enterprises]

I agree, if the buyer pays promptly instead of making the seller wait for days to receive payment, they deserve positive feedback. Feedback should not be held like ransom to be handed out only if the buyer gives the seller positive feedback. Lately, I have purchased many items and paid withing minutes. After receiving the items, I left positive feedback because the items met my expectations. Even then, no feedback from the sellers. Feedback is just as important to buyers as it is to sellers.

[jlv-enterprises]

There are good buyers and bad buyers. If a buyer pays immediately and saves the seller from waiting for days to receive payment while their item is in limbo, they deserve a positive feedback.

[apx4_33]

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@jlv-enterprises wrote:

I agree, if the buyer pays promptly instead of making the seller wait for days to receive payment, they deserve positive feedback. Feedback should not be held like ransom to be handed out only if the buyer gives the seller positive feedback. Lately, I have purchased many items and paid withing minutes. After receiving the items, I left positive feedback because the items met my expectations. Even then, no feedback from the sellers. Feedback is just as important to buyers as it is to sellers.

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You’ve received 28, only given 23,  and you’re complaining about not receiving feedback?

Are you going to dredge up all of the old feedback threads to tell us how disappointed you are with people who receive more than they give out?

[stephsden]

One last time for those who don't get it:  The sale is not complete until the buyer is happy.  And only the buyer knows when that is.  So, it is up to the buyer to leave feedback first.  (And, yes, it's great if they pay promptly... but don't think for one moment that they can't screw up the sale after that, because they can!)

[mudshark61369]

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@jlv-enterprises wrote:

There are good buyers and bad buyers. If a buyer pays immediately and saves the seller from waiting for days to receive payment while their item is in limbo, they deserve a positive feedback.

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@jlv-enterprises,

Paying when a buyer commits to buy or wins an auction is Mandatory and the least expected of them.  Buyers cannot do much to a seller unless they pay.  Just because someone pays fast does not mean that they won't cause the seller problems later on.  

Check the feedback profile pages of people who only sell and you'll probably find even if they leave feedback first, they are lucky to get feedback for 50% of their sales.  Since buyers can only receive positive feedback, it is the feedback they leave that determines their reputation to sellers.