Feedback needs an overhaul
Ebays 30 year old feedback system needs a overhaul, BAD!! Why are we not getting a score for successful transactions? Most people don't leave feedback at all, mecari has it right... shouldn't a buyer be required to at least click a few answers before leaving negative feedback? (Did you message the seller?) (Did you open a return?) Something.. last year I only was left 3k feedback out of like 10k sales,, but because of a few new buyers that don't understand the system, and a few crazies I'm at 99.6. Had I at least got a (successful transaction) or something after 30 days, it would be 99.9. The feedback score doesn't accurately depict the amount of happy buyers you had that just don't leave feedback. It needs to change.
33 comments
pastimpressions
·1 year agoI did originally preface my suggestion with the proviso "perhaps this is a bit off topic"
I was merely making a suggestion as to what might stimulate additional feedback from the consumer.
I was aware of no restraints and/or limitations with regards to the idea process.
I certainly was not asserting that this should or should not be, only that it could be.
Also, with all due respect to the superior expertise of @mam98031 the fact that any entity (in this case an online venue) hasn't done a thing before is not necessarily the disqualifier for that thing in question.
As I said in my original commentary, merely food for thought.
mam98031
·1 year agoI didn't say all that. I didn't say anything about you being off topic either.
Incentives can bring in more buyers. And sellers offer incentives from time to time as does Ebay. But that doesn't do anything for getting members to leave feedback. It is just getting less and less common on the internet. Heck most sites like Ebay don't even have buyer feedback anymore.
I also didn't say anything about not doing something because it has never been done before. That would be a silly thing for me to say and simply isn't anything that I would ever say.
I'm unsure as to why you want to contribute so much to what little I said.
pastimpressions
·1 year ago@mam98031
most every major B&M retailer.
It is strong feedback stimulator.
Someone angry, upset or with a complaint will gladly offer feedback to anyone & everyone that will listen.
Those that have had decent to great experiences are far less likely to do so w/o incentivization.
mam98031
·1 year agoWe are NOT B&M retailers here. B&M business operate differently that internet sites do. Are you aware of any internet sites that offer these types of incentives?
Ebay has never offered incentives and is almost 30 years old. I'm not sure what you are basing you opinion on, but it is clearly not something done on this site.
pastimpressions
·1 year agoPerhaps a bit off topic, but many venues offer the buyer/customer an incentivization to leave feedback.
Sometimes a % off or fixed dollar amount coupon to be redeemed upon their next shopping visit..............
................in exchange for a few moments of their time to answer some questions re: their shopping experience.
Sometimes an entry into a larger prize or sweepstakes. How about a $100.00 eBay gift card award monthly?
Whatever form it takes, in this ever-busy world where people are multi-tasking & have been conditioned visa vis automation/technology to not spend excess time on "non-essential" matters or dare I say activities that do not profit or benefit the "self," incentivization for the consumer in business has become mandatory & not optional.
Just food for thought.
mam98031
·1 year agoWhat venues do that? @pastimpressions
dbfolks166mt
·1 year agoPersonally I think it should just go the way of the Dodo bird. The number of buyers who have been leaving feedback, unless it's negative, has fallen off drastically over the last few years and sellers can only leave positive feedback. While I always leave feedback I generally expect nothing from the buyers these days.
tinsoldierunderground
·1 year agoI don't think forcing the issue is a good idea... I've religiously left feedback for sellers since 2010, when I came onboard. The very few times I didin't were due to not wanting to leave a negative, as @annadryl stated.
In those instances, I was relieved to find my item unscathed, in spite of the seller's absolute worst efforts in packing and shipping.
adamcartwright
·1 year ago@nerdarsenal
I would support your idea about asking buyers a few questions before they leave a negative.
It might help out both buyers and sellers, alike.
mam98031
·1 year agoEbay does flag a buyer that they are about to leave a negative feedback and they ask them if they have contacted the seller with the issues. There are a few steps a buyer has to take before a negative feedback actually gets posted. So they can't do them by accident although some buyers say that.
adamcartwright
·1 year ago@mam98031
Thanks for letting me know. As long as my items arrive intact, I leave positive feedback even as I gripe about the quality of packaging.
I'm re-evaluating leaving any FB at all, though, as I don't even see Sellers leaving it -- even just to say TY. What's good for the goose, right?
mam98031
·1 year agoI have my automated feedback set to post AFTER the buyer leaves feedback for me.
But if a buyer were to message me and ask me about their feedback, I would apologize, I just got busy, and then I'd go post their feedback. This however has not happened since I went to automated feedback just a month or two ago.
inhawaii
·1 year agoDoes that go for negative feedback also?
Will they get a automated positive feedback from you if they leave you a negative?
I think I know the answer.
After all these years on the boards I think you know my opinion on sellers leaving feedback for buyers.
If everyone waited on the other guy to leave feedback first, nobody would ever get any feedback.
Just my opinion.
mam98031
·1 year agoIt does, or at least I think it does, but that really isn't a big concern for me. They rarely happen and if one did and it isn't removeable, I can always leave a comment to it and I can leave one to the feedback I left for the buyer if I wanted to.
I've been here a long time. Sometime around 2014 I've seen significant changes on the site and buyer behavior. I've tested all kinds of ways to leave feedback for LONG periods of time so that the outcome was likely to be more accurate.
I've posted first to encourage the buyer to leave feedback. That didn't work.
I've posted after they have left feedback, that didn't work.
I've posted after the item was received, that didn't work.
Now I do automated feedback and things stay about the same. Less than 25% of my buyers ever leave feedback.
For me it is fine. I have plenty of feedback. So not an issue for me. People will leave feedback if they want to and others just won't.
I know there are many newer sellers that this is a big issue and that I understand. Ebay is testing out a new way to help some of those sellers and hopefully the testing turns out to work for them.
inhawaii
·1 year agoI realize that everyone has their own way of doing things.
There is no right or wrong way.
If you like the way you're doing it now, that's all that matters.
rudy2828
·1 year agoI enclose a note saying FB will be reciprocated within 24 hours. No bad consequences.
kennys-kollectibles
·1 year agoYes, feedback used to be better.
for one, as a seller who sells lots of items, I used to be able to do dozens of feedbacks at once.
Then they changed it years ago, to where i could do several at once.
Now, I can only do one feedback at a time.
I don't have time for that.....It has gotten a lot less efficient.
So, I don't bother anymore.
inhawaii
·1 year agoFor such a successful seller, why wouldn't you use auto feedback?
Unless you're one of those "I wont leave you positive feedback until you leave me positive feedback first" sellers.
kennys-kollectibles
·1 year agoNo, I'm not one of those.
After 25 years I find feedback unimportant.
And doing "automatic" is just not a good idea.
I don't bother with it anymore.
Since, everyone on this forum says, feedback is really about
posting your experience with a certain seller, then I don't see the point anymore.
mam98031
·1 year agoI've been a seller for a very long time. Recently Ebay has made some changes to the Feedback system and how and where we can see it. Also in how we get to a place where we can leave feedback for buyers. All the changes made it more time consuming to leave feedback for buyers.
So initially I said I was going to stop leaving feedback for buyers. Which is what I started doing. Then I changed my mind and for the first time ever, I used auto feedback. There are different rules you can apply as to when the feedback posts. But for me, I glad I made the change and it works just fine.
inhawaii
·1 year agoJust curious, why not?
I've used it for years.
It allows me to thank my customers as soon as they make a purchase.
fern*wood
·1 year agoIt's kind of funny that just yesterday was a thread by a buyer angry that he wasn't getting feedback from sellers and wanted automatic feedback to be given to him. (He didn't like that ebay will now give automatic feedback to NEW sellers).
If feedback were mandatory, you can't assume all would be positive and receiving more negatives will keep your percentage down too. I truly believe some buyers skip giving feedback because they weren't thrilled with their item, but would certainly rethink giving negatives if forced into feedback. Be careful what you wish for.
trickcomputer
·1 year agoWhy?
eBay needs a system to keep sellers in their place. It is designed to keep sellers heads’ ringing with tech issues, with targeted bad feedback, with a a feedback revision department that doesn’t even exist at eBay, but is somehow “active†and “functional†on Facebook, X and Instagram. It’s more of an engagement through e-n-s-h-t-t-i-f-I-c-a-t-I-o-n.
What we need is a feedback system for eBay management and eBay operations, because this cesspool is just a compensation scheme for criminally incompetent lifer executives that have created an ecommerce LIABILITY for a majority of their users.
eBay’s Glassdoor rating is in the 70%. How many people selling on eBay have a feedback rating in the 70%s
natoman777
·1 year agoMercari is NOT nearly as reliable a site as eBay. You think customer service is tough on eBay...and buyers can lie and get away with it and you don't get paid. eBay updated feedback in the last 2 -3 years a few times. People can leave negative and neutral. I hate it, and usually it is unfounded, but doesn't really effect sales
soh.maryl
·1 year agoSeems like an odd message from someone who has 5489 feedback.
bennotbill
·1 year agoAs I see it feedback just needs one small change. Instead of a neg percentage based on the current years total feedback, it should be based on the current years total transactions.
luckythewinner
·1 year agoeBay already has a percentage that makes assumptions about a buyer's experience when there is not a negative.
It is called the seller's "Bad Buyer experience rate" - perhaps eBay should just publish this instead 🤣
mam98031
·1 year agoThat has been something I've said over the years for ALL feedback, not just negative FB. It makes sense to me as the actual feedback numbers only reflect a fraction of my actual transactions.
slippinjimmy
·1 year agoAccording to eBay you have about 16,000 sales.....
Anyone can see that number on your profile page.
mam98031
·1 year agoYou have received plenty of feedback over the years. From the beginning it was a voluntary system. Ebay is not going to change it to mandatory. That would be a HUGE disaster for sellers if buyers were being forced somehow to leave feedback.
Most sites have feedback only for sellers and I wish Ebay would go to that too.
For newer sellers however the lack of feedback can be a problem. Ebay is testing something in the UK that will help them.
I understand what you are saying. Heck for a long time only about 25% of my buyers leave feedback. So I get it. There just isn't a good answer for it.
annadryl
·1 year agoOn the other hand there may have been a buyer that could have but chose not to give you a negative. If they were forced to leave feedback it might have gone your way. Do you REALLY think feedback should be forced? SO many buyers would just be annoyed!
luckythewinner
·1 year agoWhy are we not getting a score for successful transactions?
Because a count of successful transactions is not feedback. It is just a transaction count.
I'm at 99.6. Had I at least got a (successful transaction) or something after 30 days, it would be 99.9
So you think the solution to the problem with the feedback system would be to artificially increase your feedback score based on something that wasn't actually feedback?
It needs to change.
As you said, it is 30 years old. Perhaps a better choice of words might be "I want it to change" rather than "It needs to change".