Leaving feedback as a seller

[texasfredi]

I am a long time eBay seller and buyer, and when sellers wait to see if I've left them feedback before leaving feedback from my purchase it really makes me mad.  Feedback as a seller means, the seller leaves feedback about the transaction, i.e., paid promptly, answered questions quickly, etc.  The feedback should be left for the buyer as soon as the seller receives payment or at least as soon as the item is shipped. 

Come on sellers, you can even set up automatic feedback's and you don't have to do a darn thing.  

[inhawaii]

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@48hrs-clothing wrote:

For a seller transaction does not complete when item is shipped.

For a seller transaction is completed when buyer either leaves a feedback or messages the seller confirming that item is received and they are happy with product and service provided by seller and item will not be returned.

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I respectfully disagree with you.  As a seller, my part of the transaction is done when i ship the item.

I do not...

Message the buyer.

Follow up with the buyer.

Check to see if the buyer received the item.

Check to see that he buyer left me feedback.

Check to see if the buyer likes his item.

Check to see f the buyer is happy.

Thank the buyer again.

[inhawaii]

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@crazystuff4sale wrote:

Here is my advice for everyone reading this:

One of the easiest things you can do to increase your success on Ebay is to leave feedback as soon as payment is received. Buyers appreciate that and it shows you have confidence in yourself and your products. There is absolutely nothing to be gained by withholding it.

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 I agree with you. I leave feedback when i pack the item.

[gosimus]

@bigdeals.etc 

< What's the average buyer feedback received/purchase ratio ... 1 out of 3 I'm guessing? >     

Don't know overall, but my own is 1242 to 1405 for a tad over 88%.  I know I've made 1405 purchases because I've left feedback for every purchase except one, and the "Left" total on my feedback profile is 1404.  The reason I didn't leave feedback for one is that the purchase was a custom item, and we were still working out the details when the window to leave feedback expired. 

[inhawaii]

When sellers say they hold off on leaving feedback until the buyer leaves them feedback first ... what the really mean is ... they are holding off on leaving feedback until the buyer leaves them POSITIVE feedback first.

Have you ever seen a seller leave a buyer  positive feedback AFTER the buyer left them a negative feedback?  No, you haven't. 

[redmodelt]

You mean like sellers that leave the same message 20 times in a row for different customers? That would tell me, looking at that feedback, I really count to that seller. Why bother if it just an automated reply. Thank you, written on the invoice is way more important to me.

[div_style]

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@gosimus wrote:

@texasfredi 

< feedback should be left for the buyer as soon as the seller receives payment >     

Is that the way you do it?  Did you ever leave immediate good feedback for a buyer, only to have him open a fraudulent Not As Described a week later, and send you back a rock or an empty box?  You couldn't have left negative feedback, but did you wish you hadn't left positive?  

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I really could not care less that I have (automatically) left +feedback for a bad buyer.  It's just too unimportant to even think about.

[oneblindcat]

Feedback for a buyer does have value.

If you read the feedback, you can get an idea of just how happy the sellers who leave custom feedback are with the buyer. The small sellers are more likely to do this, the mega-sellers not so much.

I believe the quote is "damning with faint praise."

Not necessarily a negative comment under a green circle, but a wholly unenthusiastic one.

Personally, I hate leaving negative feedback for a seller. I would rather communicate and resolve the problem. But I must be lucky, it rarely happens.

But when a seller leaves me a positive comment, I am more likely to spend with them in the future. Ebay is competitive, grab whatever small advantage you can.

[mspirit57]

Feedback is optional…not mandatory. 

[bigdeals.etc]

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@gosimus wrote:

@bigdeals.etc 

< What's the average buyer feedback received/purchase ratio ... 1 out of 3 I'm guessing? >     

Don't know overall, but my own is 1242 to 1405 for a tad over 88%.  I know I've made 1405 purchases because I've left feedback for every purchase except one, and the "Left" total on my feedback profile is 1404.  The reason I didn't leave feedback for one is that the purchase was a custom item, and we were still working out the details when the window to leave feedback expired. 

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Jeebus. 88%?! If that happens to be anywhere close to the global buyer average that’s insane. 

And here I am sitting around just under 20% for seller feedback received. I fear buyers’ heads will pop if they decide to sell on eBay… given if they have issues for receiving anything lower than 88%.

[bigdeals.etc]

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@mspirit57 wrote:

Feedback is optional…not mandatory. 

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OT, but these days paying for purchases on eBay is also optional… not mandatory. 😉

[rosachs]

You're looking at this as very black & white and missing the beauty of the gray space between.  Let me explain...

I leave feedback for ALL my buyers, except those few who have left negatives and I'll explain that in a bit.

All buyers received feedback.  Period.  However, WHEN they receive their feedback depends solely on them, not on me:

- buyers who are polite and pay on time receive positive feedback as soon as they've left their positive feedback for me.  This mutual feedback should, and in these cases does, mark the end of the transaction -- we're both happy with how things worked out, nothing more to be said.

- buyers who are nasty, impatient, or just difficult will receive their feedback as soon as they've left their feedback for me.  It will still be positive since buyers can only receive positive feedback (participation awards, in effect), but it won't be as effusive and unique as the first group.

- buyers who are just plain negative/nasty/foul-mouthed or threatening will receive a simple Thank You For Your Purchase upon receipt of their feedback.  If they get miffed and don't come back, I'm quite OK with that.  Some of these folks end up on my BBL anyway -- I do not tolerate profanity or threats (they get forwarded/reported to eBay as well).

Buyer who leave negatives, despite my best efforts to satisfy them, receive nothing.  Since I can't honestly post feedback for their behavior in the transaction (eBay limits buyers to only positive feedback, and will remove negative comments posted as a positive feedback, depending on the wording), there's no reason to leave feedback at all.

And those buyers who prefer not to participate in the eBay Feedback system?  They receive positive feedback, textually somewhere between the first two cases, at 45 days past date of sale.

Using automation (SixBit) makes this much easier to do than to explain.  Takes me about 3-5 minutes, once a week, to get everything taken care of.  I check for positive received each evening before bed -- clickity-click and my feedback is posted for those folks.  The others are done on Saturday afternoon -- clickity-click and my feedback is posted for those folks too.

Why don't I post as soon as a customer pays?  Because that's not the end of the transaction, obviously.  I haven't shipped anything, it hasn't been delivered, the buyer has visually inspected it, and they haven't accepted it as satisfactory.  So there is still a lot of transaction to be completed before I can honestly and truthfully leave feedback.

And if I'm not being honest and truthful, what good is feedback at all?

-Bob.

PS: my repeat buyer percentage hover around 50% -- half my customers each month/quarter/year are making a repeat purchase.  None have complained about how I handle my feedback - most actually seem to count on getting that positive feedback, based on how they space out their purchases.  I'm good with that.

[rosachs]

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@inhawaii wrote:

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@jonathankirkland wrote:

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@inhawaii wrote:

I agree with you but others will disagree.

I leave feedback for my buyers as soon as they do the one thing  they are required to do ... pay.

This has been an on-going debate on the boards for years.

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And that's the beauty of it being optional!

Each individual gets to choose for themselves when, if, and even how feedback is left.

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No way.  The way i do it is right.  All other ways are wrong.   😉

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"I want my feedback and I want it NOW!!!"  shouted Veronica to Willy.

[rosachs]

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@jack-falstaff wrote:

I would agree with you for the most part.  To me its reciprocal.  I will always leave feedback if feedback is left, or something extraordinary happened (They put amazing care into packaging... really helped out with something... etc).  If a seller doesn't take the time to leave feedback, Its not important enough so I won't bother either.   When I sell something, I leave feedback the moment that money is in the pipeline.  Does it suck when I dont get feedback in response, sure... but I put my best foot out there as a seller.

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To me, it's never been about getting feedback as a seller - it's always been about receiving that feedback from my customer, knowing they are satisfied.  To that same end, I also ask my customers to contact me if there is a problem so we can resolve it.  I don't need to be hit on the head with the eBayStick -- I just need the customer to let me know things didn't go right and allow me to work with them to a mutually satisfactory solution.

I know it's a radical concept... buyers and sellers working together until everyone is satisfied (which is often quite different than 'happy').  But wouldn't eBay be a better place if ALL buyers and sellers felt that same way?

-Bob.

[popblox]

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@dryophelia wrote:

@texasfredi 

Paying is required and in and of itself does not warrant feedback. 

Buyer feedback can only be positive. That renders it meaningless. 

I’m not aware of any other venue that has any kind of feedback for buyers. 

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Sellers can leave negative feedback ('reviews') for buyers on Mercari - the catch is a seller can't see the fb they've received until after they rate the buyer.

[rosachs]

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@fashunu4eeuh wrote:

Feedback no longer represents what it once did—a primary avenue to define one’s trustworthiness as a trading partner in the community of buyers and sellers. As the platform evolved, eBay dropped a seller’s ability to give poor ratings to buyers, and feedback’s place in the community was altered substantially.

Now feedback is the traditional evaluation of a seller’s standing only. Where it was once a vital part of the community, it has become less important. Fewer buyers leave it, leaving some sellers frustrated. Therefore the withholding of feedback by some sellers hoping it spurs buyers to leave it.

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While I understand what you are saying, I've never really worried about whether or not I would receive feedback.  It's always been voluntary, and if you check my stats, I've left far more feedback than I've received.  To me, it's a recognition that I've done a good job, and it's my recognition that I'd be happy to work with this customer again.  That's it.  No need for a 500 character paragraph - 80 characters is more than enough to say "Thank you for being a good person".

-Bob.

Buyers today just don't care unless they want to lash out, IMHO.  Many buyers are using Guest accounts -- do they even know that they can leave feedback?  How do they do that if they didn't create a real account that they remember to use again and again?