Buyers not leaving feedback
I've noticed recently a sharp drop off in buyers leaving feedback; please leave positive feedback when appropriate people!
37 comments
I've noticed recently a sharp drop off in buyers leaving feedback; please leave positive feedback when appropriate people!
luckythewinner
·9 months agoFeedback is entirely optional, so not leaving feedback is just as "appropriate" as leaving it.
simba6
·9 months agoWhen it comes to feedback for a seller, no news is good news.
eBay never required anyone to give feedback ever.
pastimpressions
·9 months agoI am with @kickin.assets and @a_c_green on this one.
I have mixed feelings about the auto feedback.
On the one hand, it's fine for quality sellers who suffer from the reality that most buyers refrain from providing feedback.
It's also a nice feature that if the buyer eventually decides to opine, the auto is replaced with the actual.
However, as a buyer I have been in any number of circumstances where there were some fundamental flaws in item descriptions and/or product quality. Not beyond the point of viability or "making it work" just not what was anticipated based upon listing pics & description.
This often happens to me with experienced long-time sellers with lots of rave reviews who notwithstanding seller merits, lack area/category specific knowledge that effects dramatically capacity to properly evaluate and/or safely ship said product.
I have also had the same happen with new sellers.
In these cases, as a seller myself, you try to err on the side of "making it work" and one of the tools that used to be available was NOT to give feedback. A sort of kinder, gentler neutral/neg. Speaking by not speaking.
As a fellow seller, I don't want to give a new seller a neg and give them a huge feedback hole to climb out of. I also don't want to tarnish an otherwise outstanding long-time seller who sells eclectically & just might have a blind spot in area specific knowledge.
I frequently will message these sellers (esp. the new ones) to coach/counsel/advise as to "best practices" going forward. I do, however, try to keep the matter professional and private. Let them "pay it forward" as it were. Coupling this with no feedback expresses what needs to be expressed.
"Be kind to the people you meet on the way up, because you're going to meet the same people on the way down." ----- Ralph Kramden
gurlcat
·9 months agoSo give them a neutral. No hole, no climbing required.
kickin.assets
·9 months ago@a_c_green
This ...
>>> I decided that if he's going to be that consistently sloppy in his listings in terms of what he's listing for sale, he'll get enough unfavorable feedback from other buyers who are a little less forgiving than I am <<<
Like the way you think ... very good point about burning bridges!
ðŸ‘
jerseyboymusic
·9 months agoWhat you're saying Mr Dobalena Mr @bobdobalena is you're feedback is Zilch...
It isn't my opinion that the people are attending
gurlcat
·9 months ago🤣 Is this just full of typo's or what? Can't even guess what you were trying to say. But it does appear the OP has (9570) feedback, a lot more than "Zilch" and a lot more than you.
kickin.assets
·9 months ago@bdmh-enterprises
Understand what you are saying and yes, appropriate feedback will be left as it should be, but as I stated, in the past, I could’ve just not thought about it again. I’m not an angry nor vengeful person and this feedback thing is a real catch 22 for me.
You’re correct, there are always other sellers, but for what I sell, theres not as many as you would think for brands I’m looking for and at the price point needed to turn profit.
I’m not doing an INAD because out of the 12 items, a little over half are something I can list/make money back plus some. Those items I immediately washed (twice) and now they are good to go. I also have someone who can fix broken zippers/buttons, so that’s a bonus.
Seller still did not disclose any of the stains, broken zippers nor missing buttons, did not/would not communicate and the SMELL! 🤢🤢🤢 … the smell was what got me … the majority of the other issues can be fixed if worth it. Agree, future buyers though, should be informed of these issues, even if only through a neutral, but wow, it’s just not something I like to do, but because of the feedback change, feel as if I have too.
My little rant was just more about the fact that now, instead of just moving on, I have to leave less than positive and honestly I don’t like it. I’d rather just not.
a_c_green
·9 months agoI've been there too, kind of. I made one purchase that was a bunch of old parts for restoration that I usually just fix, rebuild and resell, the kind of purchase I make all the time, but this one arrived with a number of components that were beyond saving. Unfortunately there's no way to judge that from photos alone, and testing the old parts I buy is beyond the average seller's capability.
I ended up leaving no feedback at all, as I had a feeling the seller could still be a useful resource in future, and I didn't want to burn my bridges with feedback comments that might land me on his BBL. I decided that if he's going to be that consistently sloppy in his listings in terms of what he's listing for sale, he'll get enough unfavorable feedback from other buyers who are a little less forgiving than I am.
gurlcat
·9 months agoYou're exemplifying how neutral feedback is the most poorly-understood and under-utilized option. It's perfect for "mixed" buyer experiences, as it neither harms nor helps the seller's % score, and you can write both the praises and complaints in the comment box.
Any seller who wouldn't trust you after seeing such a rational response from you is probably not disclosing every problem with their items either, so if they block you they'd be doing you a favor.
fern*wood
·9 months agoYou can subscribe to announcements if you are missing them. It was announced in August and started in September. I see you already have 23 automatic feedbacks. 🙂
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/Your-August-Seller-News-is-here/ba-p/35226341
soh.maryl
·9 months agoPerhaps you didn't know about a recent procedure that eBay has implemented.
If/when a transaction appears to have gone well without problems, eBay will leave an auto positive FB for the seller.
bobdobalena
OP9 months agoDid not know that; that's great. I'm surprised eBay didn't notify sellers about this
klhmdg
·9 months ago@bobdobalena eBay did notify sellers of this change.
You just didnt read the announcement when it was posted posted -
Top of the page "news and updates" "seller updates"
soh.maryl
·9 months agoActually it was announced somewhere, but now can't find it. Regardless, good news for sellers, isn't it?
kickin.assets
·9 months ago@soh.maryl
Yes and no.
Though I appreciate the thought behind it, it can be a real catch 22.
I like to leave positive feedback or if I’m not happy, none. Now though, because of this change, a perceived terrible seller receives a positive feedback unless you go in and leave a negative or neutral?
Last year I left my first neg because of this feedback change and now, after receiving an iffy lot that smelled horribly of smoke, with items that had broken zippers, missing buttons and stains where the seller also doesn’t communicate?! Do I let that seller just get an auto positive?
It’s a tough one for me as these “terrible†sellers would’ve just got no, nada, nothing, in the past and now? Now, I look like the bad guy if I send an offer in the future to a seller and they check feedback left for others and see I’ve left anything other than positive? It can and will get you blocked.
Sorry about this little rant … lol … IMO really not sure this has been such a great thing.
bdmh-enterprises
·9 months agoWhy wouldn't you do a NAD return on an order with so many issues? Auto FB doesn't get left if a claim is filed. Most bad sellers won't get auto FB because of the things that make them bad in the first place. Slow shipping, no tracking, INR, NAD all prevent the auto.
And if a seller is so bad to be labeled as "terrible" why would you not want to leave appropriate FB? IMO not doing that enables such sellers as much as an auto positive.
I wouldn't worry so much about being blocked by some random seller. Not only are there plenty more sellers out there, but at least half of eBay users probably don't even know how to find 'FB left for others'..
soh.maryl
·9 months agoSorry -- your message here makes it seem like you aren't using the MBG when you should, but that can't be possible since you obviously have a lot of eBay experience.
Are you not opening item not as described cases when you receive something with broken zipper, stains etc.
Are you not leaving negative FB in such situations?
Maybe I was not clear. There are limits to that auto positive FB left by eBay for sellers. It's only left when a transaction appears to have completed without issues. All you need to do is leave a negative and it will cancel out the auto positive left by eBay for the seller.
Most savvy sellers would not block a buyer who leaves a negative FB, especially in a category like clothing.
grand-and-glorious-purpose
·9 months agoLeaving one negative will not get you blocked.
Showing a pattern will.
slippinjimmy
·9 months agoThere are plenty of sellers who will block a potential buyer if that buyer has left a single negative for ANY seller.
Seller lists with Best Offer
Potential buyer makes an offer
Seller checks their feedback and see one neg given to another seller (plus 100 positives to other sellers)
Seller declines offer and blocks buyer
Happens every day
Or
Buyer asks a question about a sellers listing
The question is unclear or comes off as "curt" or "blunt" or "aggressive" or "stupid"
Seller blocks the buyer
Happens every day
Back in the early days of DSR's (when they counted) there were sellers who blocked buyers who gave them a 4 star rating rather than 5 stars.
There is a small segment of eBay sellers who are more interested in blocking then they are in selling.
chapeau-noir
·9 months agoThat's it right there. What are we focusing on - the 1% 'possible' scenario, or the 99% of the time where everything is fine? Are we so obsessed with the little gold star that we forget that we're in the business of selling?
grand-and-glorious-purpose
·9 months agoThere are plenty of unserious buyers and sellers on ebay.
Using the BBL by them or for them only makes ebay a better place.
meme6253
·9 months agoEbay did notify sellers about this change, But you must have missed the notification, But I do agree in general buyers are leaving less feedback than how it used to be.
stainlessenginecovers
·9 months ago@bobdobalena I'm surprised you don't look at your OWN feedback. There's only 100 of these 'automated' positive feedbacks in your own feedback.
So, why bother starting a thread like this??
jlckp
·9 months agoThey don't see the need to notify sellers about a lot of things such as installing select payment method auto pay without seller knowledge.
slippinjimmy
·9 months agoThere is a problem with your claim....
For both the Feedback change and the Auto-Pay thing eBay made announcements and sent notifications. eBay can't force sellers to pay any attention to these things and they shouldn't need to.
kibble-net
·9 months ago1.) Buyers aren't going to read this.
2.) I've got good news for you though. Ebay now does this AUTOMATICALLY for you.
rckr43
·9 months agoIf that automated feedback is: "Seller successfully completed a transaction" - I'll say no thanks - I don't need eBay to tell buyers I can sell. Geez... that's grade-school feedback.
chapeau-noir
·9 months agoIt's simply acknowledgement of a completed sale. That's all. Nothing more.
rckr43
·9 months agoSimple acknowledgement of a completed transaction is good for new sellers with little or no feedback - because a certain percentage of buyers do not leave feedback, and I don't think that's changed. I suppose it doesn't hurt experienced sellers with lots of positive feedback, it's just not impressive feedback. It's essentially 'neutral' feedback when a buyer doesn't have anything better to say.
chapeau-noir
·9 months agoIt's not even that - it's just an indicator of a completed transaction, and if the buyer does leave feedback within a certain time frame, it over-rides the auto feedback. It's really a total vanilla benchmark that gets blown up here into a big issue, seems like 99% of the time by sellers. Mercari has done the auto feedback (it's not even feedback, really) for years. I sell there and didn't even notice it for months after I had started.
soh.maryl
·9 months agoAs mentioned previously and announced a few months ago, if a buyer leaves no FB at all, but eBay perceives the transaction to have gone off without issues, auto positive will be left for that seller.
Also as mentioned, this can be a problem for some of us because, if the issue is very minor, we tend to leave no FB at all.
carlmarxx
·9 months agoEbay also know's very well in most case's the buyers that didn't give feedback are newer buyers with 10 to 90 transactions or more experiences buyer member on sit e, had issues with problem seller . there is the issue that it isn't to file reporting seller issues since the tech boys moving it and can take more time for the newer member to find the tools. The more experience buyer aware of seller's can get feedback removed in certain case's or not when it doesn't meet remove in the UA , but was done by a inexperience rep or bots . I have now been on eBay as of this year Jan. 30 years with my other ID. and I have just about seen it all here on eBay .. I have the point of view sellers and buyers .
gurlcat
·9 months ago@rckr43 No, neutral feedback is not the same at all, because it has no effect on your % positive.
You're going to have your "Aha!" moment about what's so great about auto's when you receive your first negative (since auto's began). I would explain what you'll observe, but it'll be more meaningful if you come to the realization on your own.
stainlessenginecovers
·9 months ago@rckr43 It doesn't say that, so don't bother worrying about thanking anyone,
gloryglorygifts
·9 months agoIt may be what you consider grade school feedback, but it will come in handy when you have 100% of the sales with feedback left instead of 30%.
soh.maryl
·9 months agoIt does count as a positive and isn't that all that counts?