eBay

seller_update@ebay · ‎02-09-2022

Today we announced how we are evolving the ways we encourage Buyers to leave feedback in the eBay app. Also making important information about Sellers’ brands and businesses more visible to buyers. You can learn more about that here, feel free to review and post any questions you may have below!

Please note that eBay experts will be present and engaging on the boards between 8 am and 4:00 pm PST on 2.9.

velvet@ebay · ‎02-11-2022

Hi everyone! These threads are closed from further replies. If there are outstanding questions that we are waiting for additional information with, we will update the thread with the response we receive and tag you to make sure you get the notification.

Velvet,

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a_c_green · ‎02-09-2022

Quoting the Update here: "[...] we're launching in-line notifications for buyers on the eBay app to proactively remind them t...

Historically, you should know that badgering buyers to leave feedback does not end well. A buyer who's happy with his purchase may or may not leave feedback, but if he's happy with his purchase, getting reminders from eBay that he has somehow failed to express how happy he is with his purchase is not going to increase his level of satisfaction.

In addition, buyers do not always distinguish between whether it's eBay sending the annoy-o-gram, or the seller himself.

If you feel you must add this feature, please make it a Seller Preference as to whether a buyer should be automatically hounded to leave feedback.

b86fiero · ‎02-09-2022

What percentage of buyers leave feedback?

Based on my experience I believe about 30% of my buyers actually leave feedback. Might be less than that.

coffeebean832 · ‎02-09-2022

Did you notice the text that said they will start sending reminders after the estimated delivery date- not after the actual delivery scan? Way to go on the bad decision-making with this one, eBay!

a_c_green · ‎02-09-2022

@coffeebean832 wrote:
Did you notice the text that said they will start sending reminders after the estimated delivery date- not after the actual delivery scan? Way to go on the bad decision-making with this one, eBay!

Oh! Good catch; I missed that.

Yes, it would make no sense to be asking buyers for feedback before the tracking actually shows a Delivered status. That will just lead to an increase in comments such as "Why are you asking me for feedback? I haven't got the package yet."

coffeebean832 · ‎02-09-2022

@a_c_green wrote:
If you feel you must add this feature, please make it a Seller Preference as to whether a buyer should be automatically hounded to leave feedback.

I had that option disabled on the manage communications with buyers settings page- then eBay changed it a year or two ago and took away the option to turn it off.

eBay does still allow buyers to turn of FB reminders from their side- but unfortunately it's through the web, not the app- and these FB changes are being pushed to app users. I'll have to explore the app more to see if I can find a way to turn off the settings there. Chances are it's not intuitive or easy to find.

I hope eBay adds an option to these annoying FB reminders to "don't show me feedback reminders again" to make it easy for app buyers to turn off! seller_update@ebay- can you tell us if that will be an option for app buyers?

coffeebean832 · ‎02-09-2022

@a_c_green wrote:
@coffeebean832 wrote:
Did you notice the text that said they will start sending reminders after the estimated delivery date- not after the actual delivery scan? Way to go on the bad decision-making with this one, eBay!
Yes, it would make no sense to be asking buyers for feedback before the tracking actually shows a Delivered status. That will just lead to an increase in feedback such as "Why are you asking me for feedback? I haven't got the package yet."

And an increase in INR claims. Us sellers love those INR claims when there are shipping delays!

rustydalmatian · ‎02-09-2022

"The shirt was nice, but he told ebay to force me to leave feedback. What's up with that??" OOOOOOOO

Rinse and repeat 6 million times.

glasser · ‎02-09-2022

A complete overhaul of FB is long overdue:

Show number of items sold overall and FB rating so buyers see he has a 100 FB rating but has sold 400 items. Better data for potential buyers
Allow feedback to be left by just clicking stars and not force a written comment
Perhaps even got to one or two categories like overall satisfaction with transaction
If they really want buyers to leave more feedback, maybe eBay should make some incentives for buyers like if you leave feedback for 100% of your purchases for a year, you a onetime 5% discount. They shouldn't leave it on sellers only to encourage FB
Consider eliminating FB all together. Maybe just rate sellers on eBay metrics. Metting shipping times, returns, out of stock etc.

coffeebean832 · ‎02-09-2022

seller_update@ebay- Can someone from eBay post a preview of what this will look like?

"Our research shows that buyers want more information about your business to help them make purchasing decisions. As a result, over the coming months, we’ll test displaying new information such as sales history on Stores and View Item pages."

fern*wood · ‎02-09-2022

Please don't do this. I really don't want my buyers bombarded with ridiculous feedback reminder emails. I don't want feedback and they don't need to leave feedback. Feedback just needs to go away.

glassdesignsbydq · ‎02-09-2022

I totally agree that it shouldn't be after estimated delivery date. The post office is on their own schedule lately and it would be detrimental to the seller if these messages were sent.

my-cottage-books-and-antiques · ‎02-09-2022

So, Stores will get a new "feedback" tab---I see it's already there in the app---but wouldn't be more helpful if the Stores Team FINALLY gave us the long promised way for store visitors to sign up for our store newsletters?

Should I retain even the slightest hope that ebay will provide this before the end of 2022?

Or is this another case of ebay's belief in "over promise, under deliver"?

eburtonlab · ‎02-09-2022

If they really want buyers to leave more feedback, maybe eBay should make some incentives for buyers like if you leave feedback for 100% of your purchases for a year, you a onetime 5% discount. They shouldn't leave it on sellers only to encourage FB

Incentivizing feedback like that will not encourage thoughtful feedback -- just pro forma feedback for the sake of the incentive.

Voluntary feedback is a signal; compelled or overly-incentivized feedback ceases to be useful as a measure of buyer satisfaction, and just becomes a tally of transactions.

Consider eliminating FB all together. Maybe just rate sellers on eBay metrics. Metting shipping times, returns, out of stock etc.

Buyers need a way to distinguish legitimate sellers from fly-by-night scammers. The Current feedback system is very good for that when used wisely.

Metrics have their place, but it is dangerous to rely on them too much, as scammers will find ways to game those metrics by selling a few keychains before starting the big scam listings.

Currently the only way to tell if a seller is actually delivering what they are advertising is by looking at the seller's feedback page and reading some of the comments. A seller with little or no track record or who relies too much on private listings is easy to spot, even if they have no negatives and their metrics are otherwise fine.

coffeebean832 · ‎02-09-2022

@coffeebean832 wrote:

Also- take a careful look at that buyer setting. Why would eBay ever think it's a good idea to alert a buyer when FB is removed? It's not like eBay is going to restore the FB and most of the time it's removed because it either violated policy or was part of seller protections- with some exceptions made for mega sellers that appear to get FB removed in bulk. Alerting buyers that their FB was removed does nothing except create more tension and negative experiences. seller_update@ebay