What is the punishment for seller leaving a neg-pos feedback on buyer?
You know when the seller picks 'positive' because that's the only option to leave for buyers, but then writes a negative comment. -I understand that's a no-no, but I don't know what happens if Ebay catches it. I want to warn a friend (er, someone I respect anyway) about this, but I don't want to just say, "Ummmm! You're gonna get in trouble!" like a little kid, ha.
54 comments
kh-shakhib
·1 year agoHi everyone,
Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.
Thank you for understanding.
gurlcat
OP2 years agoKyle's reply is the same policy link that Wasting Time posted as the very first reply. There's that word "may" again, and nothing quantified like we get with the transparent hard-number behavior = consequences Service Metrics page (which also shows the timeframes after which the defects fall off).
That's what I was asking about.
The lack of an answer is informative enough though.
mam98031
·2 years agoEbay's use of the word "may" is a legal thing. If it is written in absolutes that leaves no room for them if there is something else that needs to be considered. Most of Ebay's policies are written this way now. It is not new, it has been this way for years. I for one understand why they do it.
gurlcat
OP2 years agoYep, as Kyle himself said, "depending on the situation." It would be great to know if (and what) situation has ever actually caused a seller consequences, and what they were. Seems like there would have been posts about here in the Community forums, IF ebay emailed them to notify them of what/why. And if they don't give that notification, it's kinda hard to guess the purpose of the consequences, especially if they are something as unknowable as having one's listings hidden or lowered in search results. That's hard enough to discern when you suspect it might be happening, never mind why it might be happening. Normally the point of punishments is to get someone to stop doing something ..... so how would a seller who abuses buyer feedback enough to get their listings hidden or lowered know that it happened, let alone what behavior to stop doing?
mam98031
·2 years agoI'm not sure what exactly you are after. Seems you want Ebay to tell you private account info on other sellers. If that is correct, then you will be forever disappointed because they won't be doing that.
Of course it is is "depending on situation", not all situations are the same, there are variables. If you are looking for an extremely unfair policy that is handled one way and one way only no matter what, I for one am glad Ebay doesn't do that.
You should be aware by now that only a fraction of active members even post on the forums.
"Normally the point of punishments is to get someone to stop doing something ..... so how would a seller who abuses buyer feedback enough to get their listings hidden or lowered know that it happened, let alone what behavior to stop doing? " That is a good question. Likely it is just the threat of what could happen to them if caught.
gurlcat
OP2 years agoNot sure why you think I want Ebay to tell me anything, considering I came to the Community forum to ask my question. This is where we can often find out the "between the lines" truth about Ebay policies and procedures, is it not? In this case nobody seems to know of any cases (their own or ones they've read others having), and that's totally okay; it is an answer in its' own right. I was basically satisfied with the responses two pages ago, and said as much in message #10.
mam98031
·2 years ago@elizabeth@ebay
@kyle@ebay
@devon@ebay
Would you please recap for us what you can regarding sellers that leave feedback for a buyer that is negative in nature, knowing we can only leave positive FB for a buyer. But sometimes a seller tries to get around that by leaving a negative comment. Like buyer didn't pay or buyer was difficult to work with or some other negative remark.
There seems to be some confusion on this thread about what Ebay will do to sellers that get caught breaking this rule.
If we could have the link to the policy and steps Ebay is willing to take for sellers that break this rule. Knowing that any sanction Ebay takes against a seller is private account info, I'm not asking for any of that. But there must be some kind of steps Ebay will take similar to what they will do with out infractions of the rules.
Just some guidelines please as some are having difficulty believing that there is any ramification for sellers that do this.
kyle@ebay
Hey @mam98031 and @gurlcat that's a good question. The consequences can be pretty steep, depending on the situation. I grabbed a bit from the help page that talks about this:
"Such actions may include, as an example only: administratively ending listings or canceling transactions, hiding or lowering the placement of listings in search results, lowering seller rating, restricting buying or selling, forfeiture of fees, loss of buyer or seller protections, restricting access to member communication and rating tools, removing feedback, and account suspension."
If you want to check out the rest of the help page this excerpt is from, you can find it here.
soh.maryl
·2 years agoIsn't the bottom line here something like: Don't do it (leave pos FB with neg wording for buyers) because the consequences most likely will not be good?
kh-vince
·2 years agoHi everyone,
This discussion has gotten a bit heated and off-topic, and as a result some posts got removed. Please remember that, while it is fine to disagree with others, discussion should always remain friendly and respectful as required by the Community Guidelines.
Thank you for your cooperation.
luckythewinner
·2 years agoeBay does not have a list of policy violations and their consequences.
Like many other things on eBay - best match placement, promoted listing placement, payment holds, seller verification, etc - there is probably a complex algorithm that takes many factors into account when determining the outcome.
The range of possible responses starts with nothing and ends with permanent suspension.
snoopwiz
·2 years agoWhat is the punishment for seller leaving a neg-pos feedback on buyer?
Depends on the state. Punishment tends to vary from a simple written reprimand to house arrest and apparently all the way up to 6-8 in a federal prison.
mam98031
·2 years ago@snoopwiz
This post has NOTHING to do with ANYTHING on this thread.
anjofak
·2 years agoI see them all the time..."no communication, no payment..canceled"
Now if only the failed transactions would stop showing up in the see how others priced it past 90..same item 3-4 times..ha
toomuchstuffagain35
·2 years agoI'd call that more factual than negative.
anjofak
·2 years agoNot really a negative unless they think what they did to be bad.
josephb555
·2 years agoThere is another option. If you feel that you can't leave a positive feedback for the buyer, you could choose to leave no feedback at all. You should never leave positive feedback for a bad buyer, it is better to leave no feedback at all.
gurlcat
OP2 years agoCertainly leaving none at all is what I've done for all(?) my bad ones, but if I had one that was so downright crooked as that ^ one and they got away with it, I understand the impulse to warn other sellers.
mam98031
·2 years agoThis I don't understand. VERY FEW sellers check a buyer's FB before processing a sale with them or as a bidder may be bidding. Most sellers simply have no time for that.
Seems this is something told to ourselves to help justify a bad action one that potentially can cause harm to the health of your selling account.
It all seems silly to me.
gurlcat
OP2 years agoWell, I was one of the few apparently. This buyer was considering buying my antique gold and silver jewelry for melting. And from their OWN feedback to other sellers, as well as this one feedback from a seller, their obvious m.o. is to buy, complain-push for partial refunds, and if that fails do partial returns (as in KEEP the pieces "worth" melting). I have since been corresponding with the seller, who painted an even clearer picture than what that feedback exchange showed. Ebay (EFB on Facebook) actually sided with her on that one, giving back some of her money, because she was able to prove with photographs what that buyer did. Even the pieces he did send back had big acid spots on them, from where he tested the metal, on the fronts of the pieces by the way, so she couldn't resell them. The buyer is worse than your typical scammer; he is SCUM. OF. THE. EARTH. So I couldn't be happier to put his name on my BBL. Think it's silly all you want.
gurlcat
OP2 years agoWHOA. I have never seen Ebay blatantly threaten: "hiding or lowering the placement of listings in search results". !!!!
So, if a seller had a "policy violation on their account" -where would they see that? I don't believe I've ever seen a section for it on my Dashboard or whatever. Also does it have a 'falloff' date, like when it goes away if the seller behaves themselves thereafter?
wastingtime101
·2 years agoIf the seller is notified it will be through eBay messages. I don't know if the seller is always notified unless they're a repeat offender. Maybe they are. When a seller reports a buyer, the buyer is not notified unless they accrue enough violations for eBay to take action on their account. I don't know if this is the same or if the seller gets warnings. You can tag someone from eBay to ask if you really want to know.
Only once did I see a seller face serious consequences from leaving buyers false positive feedbacks; they were an habitual offender.
The only policy violation visibility a seller will find is in the policy section of seller help.
https://www.ebay.com/sellerhelp/policy
But that only lists certain types of violations, and only shows violations from the last 60 days. I really don't think FB violations appear there.
eBay does not typically tell sellers which violations may or may not age off. Some selling violations will age off, but eBay doesn't reveal specifics otherwise sellers could take advantage. Some stuff ages off after a year, but no idea if that applies to FB violations or not.
gurlcat
OP2 years agoThank you. So then my takeaway from that is: don't do it. But if you're going to do it, do it rarely, and do it when it REALLY matters. Like that ^ seller did (clearly helped me dodge a bullet). Now I'm going to write to thank them for it, but inform them it's a violation, in case they didn't know.
mam98031
·2 years agoClearly you don't take this seriously or as seriously as you should. Writing "thank you" isn't going to save you, what you stated above is still a violation.
Your choice to make of course. If this makes you feel better and you want to take the risk, that is your right. But you are allowing your emotions to override your better judgement. These are NOT personal transactions, they are business transactions, all of them.
gurlcat
OP2 years agoHow seriously I (or any seller) should take it was the precise reason I started this thread. From the sound of it, it's not that serious at all. A bunch of "might"s and"maybe"s. Zero teeth. Zero concrete consequences. Not even any stories or rumors, like I would have expected at minimum.
wastingtime101
·2 years agoHere you go @gurlcat - seller restricted for leaving buyers false positive FB.
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Account-Restricted-for-Leaving-Honest-Feedback-for-Buyer-Who/td-p/29232849
I've seen others post consequences over the years, but this post was the first I found when searching.
gurlcat
OP2 years agoThank you! That's what I wanted to know. However, I wish they had been more specific, like what kind of restrictions, and how long they would last (if they knew). I got hopeful it would be addressed when Cool asked:
Like it would be great if the OP replied with how they knew it was from leaving the buyer feedback and maybe shared exactly what the email said. But they quit replying on page 1, and the wholllle rest appears to be members talking among themselves for the next 15 pages, lol.
toomuchstuffagain35
·2 years agoThey used to show your policy violations on your dashboard but decided THAT was a bad idea (too much transparency no doubt) quite a few years back.
mam98031
·2 years agoLots of sellers get away with it because buyers don't report the FB. Likely because they don't know they should.
Ebay doesn't like sellers doing this and they take it very seriously. It is not worth the risk for a seller if they are trying to have a viable business here.
gurlcat
OP2 years agoWell I sure appreciate THIS seller risking it, lol. Pretty much everything I needed to know about this buyer (who had just written to me, to ask for the precise weight of a mixed jewelry lot that happens to contain some precious metal items). From this comment (and their reply) , as well as comments they left for sellers, they are clearly a scrap scavenger, who'll MELT antique pieces worth more for their history than intrinsic value, and apparently they will also complain about what they bought, ask for partial refunds, and if that fails, ship back only some of the items they purchased. -Note they don't specifically DENY that they didn't send back all the items to this seller.

The funniest part is that they COULD have reported the comment, but instead they replied and made their repugnancy all the more clear. My favorite is the last line: "... no one would want to sell me anything" -well ordinarily no would be able to KNOW if they committed crimes or other unethical stuff as a buyer. But I do, thanks to this daredevil seller, so I went straight to my BBL with that knowledge.
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoOh man, you really caught the partial refund scammer on that reply they gave you. Good job.
gurlcat
OP2 years agoNo that was someone else's feedback, a coin and watch seller. But it sounds like they didn't really catch the scammer, since ebay approved a full refund.
wastingtime101
·2 years agoIt's stated clearly in several policy pages.
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-policies/seller-standards-policy?id=4347#section4
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/member-behavior-policies/membertomember-contact-policy?id=4262
I'm not going to go through a zillion pages pulling out examples, but I had those 2 open and info about hiding or lowering search placement of listings is in both of them. I guess you haven't checked out the policy pages much? 🤷
gurlcat
OP2 years agoBut what about the question I asked -where can a seller see if they have policy violations and do they expire or fall-off?
wastingtime101
·2 years agoScroll up to read the reply?
toomuchstuffagain35
·2 years agoYou can't anymore.
They "say" they fall off but I very much doubt they do. Once they're on your record they stay there I'd say.
monster-deals
·2 years agoSeriously?
They have a program in place where you can pay to do that to a competitor.
...and we sellers "asked" to have our FVF discount cut in half to be able to do so.
It's not even new.
gurlcat
OP2 years agomonster-deals
·2 years agoYou haven't heard of promoted listings?
It's a few years old now.
mam98031
·2 years agoWhy not just say it? However what you describe is not how PLS works. So I'm not sure of your point here.
Yes PL started in 2015.
monster-deals
·2 years agoIt is EXCATLY what PL is. You pay to lower other sellers results.
What would the point even be if it didn't do that? Promoted to what? Status quo?
Pay extra money to be equal?
mam98031
·2 years agoPromoted listings is a marketing technique used by many companies over many years. Long before Ebay came up with their version in 2015 and the newer versions of the program.
PL is a tool. Some sellers may choose to use it and some may not. It isn't a requirement. The seller CHOOSES how much more in FVFs they are willing to pay for a sale. If you don't like it, don't use it. It really is that simple.
PL can work well in some categories and not in others. So each seller needs to determine if this tool is something that may help them.
If you look at Ebay's most current financial statements you would see that most sellers don't even use PL in any form. It is growing because Ebay is pushing it and some sellers feel if they don't use it they can't get a sale.
There is no right or wrong answer here. Use PL if it helps you with sales. Don't use it if it doesn't. It really is that simple.
gurlcat
OP2 years agoCome on man. You know that's not what this thread is about. But since I basically got my answer about punishments for negging buyers, I might as well ask - what did you mean about cutting FVF discounts in half? What discounts, and how does promotion cut them in half?
monster-deals
·2 years agoWe used to get 20% off FVFs. ebay literally told us we sellers collectively demanded our discount get cut in half to 10% so we could have Promoted Listings. You spoke, we listened was how the snake oil was sold.
Probably doesn't do a thing but make you spend money.
...but the crux of Promoted Listings is you pay your own money, in the % you chose, when your item sells, to elevate your listings over someone that isn't promoting or promoting less than you are.
It is pay to play. You spend to depress a rivals items so yours gets better placement.
Anyone telling you ebay has no financial reason to hide listings is being disingenuous.
They have an ENOURMOUS financial reason. PL is why the shareholders are happy.
gurlcat
OP2 years agoWhen you say "we" I don't know if you mean everyone or just your store. But I certainly don't recall ever being charged 20% FVF or ebay telling me they were cutting it to 10%. It's not the same for all item categories anyway. I think you must be thinking of something else.
mam98031
·2 years agoMore details please. What "program" are you talking about?
@monster-deals
mam98031
·2 years agoThere use to be a section on our Seller Dashboard where we could see how many policy violations we had on our account. Ebay took that away many years ago.
Because you haven't seen Ebay sanction a seller for feedback abuse, why does that matter? Ebay doesn't give out private account information, so why do you think you would have known about it?
toomuchstuffagain35
·2 years agoThat particular phrase in that policy is what always makes me giggle when some posters say ebay would NEVER hide listings.
mam98031
·2 years agoThat usually comes from people that haven't read the User Agreement.
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/member-behaviour-policies/user-agreement?id=4259
6. Listing Conditions
When listing an item for sale on our Services, you agree to comply with eBay's Listing policies and Selling practices policy and also agree that:
wastingtime101
·2 years agoIf the buyer reports it eBay will remove it and the seller could get a policy violation on their account. If it becomes a bad habit eBay may take further actions.
Send your friend this page:
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/feedback-policies/feedback-misuse-policy?id=5030
If activity doesn't meet these requirements, eBay may take action consistent with applicable laws and the eBay User Agreement, and may even be legally required to do so. Such actions may include, as an example only: administratively ending listings or canceling transactions, hiding or lowering the placement of listings in search results, lowering seller rating, restricting buying or selling, forfeiture of fees, loss of buyer or seller protections, restricting access to member communication and rating tools, removing feedback, and account suspension.