Just think of what you have said here regarding the buyers obligation ending after they have paid for the item. Ok...so they search ebay for something they desire, find the item that you are selling and they WANT it. You've taken the trouble to describe it acurately, taken great images and offered reasonable postage rates, otherwise they would not have WANTED it. If you want something badly enough you will either steal it or buy it. In the case of ebay you will more often than not click through to paypal to complete the purchase. All pretty obvious right, but that is ALL they are doing, just like you or I do to get something into our posession. Where on earth is there the justification of sellers heaping praise and glory (as I see all the time) on buyers for simply clicking and paying for their desired item. Ridiculous. A buyer has not proved a **bleep** thing about their credibility or honesty at such an early stage of a transaction. You, as a seller on the other hand will have to prove your worthyness by offering an excellent service to that buyer by way of efficient communication, secure and tidy packaging, and prompt dispatch of the item. If the seller has done all that as they should do, then that person has earned a positive feedback from the buyer, and note that I use the word 'earned'. Now, if the buyer, once in posession of the item changes their mind and no longer wants it, or damages it and then makes out the seller didn't wrap it properly or attempt a whole process of lies in order to get something for nothing, the seller cannot retract the "Fabulous fantastic ebayer, good to do business with you, come back anytime, clap clap clap :-)" comments that they have already left. On the other hand, if the buyer is a reasonable customer and then takes the trouble to let the seller know if they are happy with the item and service via a positive feedback then THEY have earned theirs in response. That is fair in my opinion. The reason I think so many sellers are so quick to leave a positive in response to getting payment is that they hope that by doing so the buyer will be easy on them and reciprocate. In other words they are 'crawling'. Simple as that.
This is what I do. When a buyer pays for my item, I thank them for their purchase personally through the contact the buyer message service. If it is prompt payment I tell them that I really appreciate it. I tell them that I will dispatch item as soon as possible well packaged and confirm postage details. I finish message off with 'Regards ****'
Here is a little story. A nice lady purchased an item from me at a higher than expected bid and I was delighted. After she received the item she messaged me to say it wasn't quite the colour she was expecting and could she return it for a refund. My answer was "Yes of course, as soon as I receive it back I will refund your paypal account immediately". I knew for a fact that there was a change of heart here because my images and description of the item were brilliant, which she acknowledged in the message funnily enough. However, she apologised, and I said "No problem at all". When I received item back in the same perfect condition well wrapped by her, I immediately left a positive feedback for this lady telling others she was a recommended ebayer. She behaved properly and EARNED it even though I missed other great bids on same item. I eventually sold at far less to another buyer.
