is Feedback not important anymore
Years ago I was a seller on Ebay. Feedback was CRITICAL. Literally people sweating little green apples over it. But it seems like now many sellers don't bother leaving feedback. Is this a new thing? I try very hard to always leave feedback that accurately describes the transaction. Thank you!!
27 comments
stainlessenginecovers
·7 months agoNot important anymore- even per ebay; in which they did away with using it against sellers.
frabulous
·7 months agoI had someone refuse to sell to me because I'd not had feedback in the past year (despite a loooong history of stellar feedback as a buyer). I explained I had indeed made a purchase in the past 6 months, but that the seller just hadn't left any feedback.
I was slack-jawed because I really wanted the item & even offered more.
But yeah, I've not been receiving feedback on purchases. I didn't think it was a big deal at first, maybe just a new era at ebay, but to have a seller hold it against me to prevent a sale was wild.
johnrj1226
·7 months agoDid you know that as of around 2008 buyer can only recessive Positive feedback. Any neg. wording can and will be removed. So all buyers have a "stellar" history since that time. It's better than a "mud slinging event to no where" - just folks that want to flex there internet muscles.
roccotacodad54
·7 months agoAs a buyer I always leave feedback. I don't like the thought of a computer speaking for me with auto feedback.
When it comes to vetting sellers, if I really want the item and they have an iffy feedback score I'll read the negatives and see for myself. If it's just shipping delays I'll buy anyway.
If the seller is combative about it in their replies though................na..................
johnrj1226
·7 months agoeBay no longer uses FB as a seller performance measurement - been that way for several years.
For potential buyers FB performance can be an important factor in deciding if the shopper wants to buy from you or not. I for 1 will use FB to decide whether to buy or just do a walk on by. As a seller I used FB received to measure what was important to the buyers. On the 1665 items we shipped, received FB on 63% all Pos but 1.
Also in my eBay selling experiences had more issues with buyers with 3 and 4 digit FB ratings and none with zero FB received. Heck I started out with zeros as both a buyer and seller.
Another fact not all sellers and buyers are angels
ccomic
·7 months agoYes, not leaving feedback for the buyer is like leaving a negative. Where is our auto-feedback? Actually, I’m kidding. My is private now anyway, so it doesn’t matter, but I get much less feedback now than I used to.
I genuinely believe its because sellers are not as concerned about getting feedback from us due to the auto feedback.
safan80
·7 months agoccomic
·7 months agoAuto buyer feedback would better reflect buyer activity on the platform. Perhaps allow the seller to report a ‘negative’ that just results in no score for the buyer?
Everyone complains about zero feedback buyers, but how are buyers supposed to get off zero if sellers don’t leave feedback?
safan80
·7 months agotobaccocardyahoo
·7 months agoI leave automatic FB for my buyers, only because I do not want to answer messages from needy buyers who require validation of the worth from sellers.
I never leave FB, Pos, Neg or Neutral for sellers. The sellers who have not resolved their problems with me have also been NARUed. Because they were crooks.
safan80
·7 months agomozartbach1971
·7 months agoI think it's not as relevant as before, however if a seller has a lot of negatives then I think that could affect their sales.
magicjohnsonsvariety
·7 months agoIf i get Feedback from someone I always leave FB for them in return...
12345jamesstamps
·7 months agoFeedback is important as a buyer looking at a seller's feedbacks...whether to purchase from them.
Other than that...A Top Rated Plus seller can have 1000+ negative feedbacks in a year and still be a Top Rated Plus seller...
ten_o_nine
·7 months agoThe critical nature of feedback changed years ago when eBay removed the ability for sellers to leave negative feedback for buyers.
It is meaningless for Buyers Since buyers can only receive positive ratings, a buyer's feedback score is no longer a reliable indicator of their behavior (e.g., a "scammer" can still have 100% positive feedback).
Some sellers avoid leaving feedback until the buyer leaves it first to ensure the buyer is satisfied and won't "retaliate" with a negative after receiving a positive.
1richdoug
·7 months agoas a seller of almost 10 years, i leave all buyers FB as soon says they have paid and i found correct card. I get about a 50pct FB reply from buyers, which is fine and ok. As a buyer of over 100 buys, i always leave FB, and all so far, have been a positive experience.
simba6
·7 months agoFeedback once had a purpose back when eBay provided no buyer protection. Today it's like the sport of fox tossing, just out of place anymore.
When it comes to feedback for a seller, no news is good news.
caldreamer
·7 months agoPersonally, before I make a purchase I only read "negative feedback" to determine if the Seller handled the situation professionally. If the Seller seems very angry and plays the blame game, I won't purchase anything from them.
Also, the good news is, now EBAY will automatically leave you "positive feedback" if your customer fails to leave any feedback.
tobaccocardyahoo
·7 months agoAnd the better news is that an Ebayer who views the FB can avoid viewing the automatic FB. And do simple arithmetic to avoid the distortion it might cause.
kibble-net
·7 months agoA feedback profile as a whole can be very useful for vetting sellers. Individually, feedback may not matter much. But collectively it matters tremendously. Not all buyers vet their sellers this way, but enough do to make it matter.
It's not the percentage, or even the feedback count that matters. It's the entire picture. Does the seller get negs/neutrals regularly? Is there a common refrain from the buyers, i.e. poor packaging, slow shipping? It's the best way that a potential buyer can know about the person they're buying from.
In the 1990s, when the term "e-commerce" was newly coined, I asked my mom if she knew what that meant. Her response? E-commerce is "mailing money to strangers". She may have been somewhat of a luddite, but she was right on some level about that. Unless your name is Newegg, MicroCenter, or any other major retailer, you're a stranger to any new customer. A feedback profile is how you let your prospective buyers know that you are a stranger they can trust.
bonanza125
·7 months agoYour question really varies by individual. Some individuals don't care about feedback at all and some do. I think that feedback is very important so that the buyer knows who they are dealing with and for the seller to know that the transactions being made went smoothly. It's more of a common courtesy to leave a positive feedback. If there were to be a problem where a neutral or negative would be give I will always be at the mind set that the buyer should reach out to the seller and work with the seller to resolve the issue.
soh.maryl
·7 months agoNow that sellers can be the recipients of automatic FB, not sure that FB for a seller really reflects the true experience.
dhbookds
·7 months agobonanza125
·7 months agoI am always been with the mindset that if a buyer truly had an unhappy experience they would work it out with the seller. Automatic feedback just provides that the item was delivered on time with no issue. So if there were an issue it is up to the buyer to voice that opinion as long as is within the guidelines of Ebay policy. Majority of buyers don't leave feedback at all. For me that was 70%.
bdmh-enterprises
·7 months agoWith only 30% +/- of buyers even leaving FB, automatic FB gives a much better reflection of the experience you can expect to receive from the seller. If a new seller sells 100 items, 99 of which were received with no issues, they receive 33 real pos FB from buyers, what best reflects the experience you're likely to receive: 99% or 67%?
tinsoldierunderground
·7 months ago@zombiehun33
I think it's important for a new buyer to rack up a decent number of feedbacks - only because there are sellers that cringe when they get a purchase from a low or zero FB buyer... I think I've got 49 transactions where no feedback was left by a seller, doesn't bother me at all. FB left for sellers is a good barometer for the type of buyer a seller encounters... as well as determining whether a seller with a less than stellar score has been unfairly 'dinged' by a couple buyers.
Repetitive negs & neuts left across the board from a given buyer is typically a red flag, letting a potential seller know they may well be in for a rough ride in their transaction, or that they've done a poor job of vetting the sellers they've bought from. Of course, this only matters if you take the time to READ the feedback, and not just go by the score. All that said, feedback has certainly become less important than it once was.
tobaccocardyahoo
·7 months agoMost buyers and sellers do not leave FB.
Many buyers never read FB, especially those who use mobile devices to purchase.
Ebay does not use FB to evaluate the performance of US sellers.
Many of the sellers who are concerned about their FB are concerned based on their sense of justice when they receive what they feel is undeserved negative or neutral FB.
Many new sellers live in fear of negative FB which is probably a waste of effort because many buyers are unwilling to buy from new sellers.
FB was Pierre's cheap way of avoiding policing the site, and may sellers who got lots of negatives were able to easily close their account and open a new account with a clean slate because Ebay never associated the new and old accounts.
With the Ebay Money Back Guarantee, many buyers feel they are protected from fraud and will order from anyone.