Changes in how feedback works

[mustardjo]

My brother and I had a store from 2005 to 2014.  We let the store remain active from 2015 till present...selling very few items. My brother passed away last June.  Now I am trying to get back into selling to make ends meet.  There was one transaction where the buyer left a negative feedback before contacting me.  I had always thought the negative was a last resort if buyer and seller can't work it out.  So I put it out there to the community...and most agreed the buyer's right to leave negative.  I never leave a negative until I contact seller first to work it out.  Don't you think that should be one of the rules on ebay...communicate with seller before leaving negative?

[frankenhobbit]

I don't see a negative on your feedback. Yes, they SHOULD try to work it out before leaving a negative, that's just proper behavior. Some however just don't and that's unfortunate. I'm not sure you can effectively regulate proper behavior. 

[toomuchstuffagain35]

With the attitude of some seller, some buyers don't feel inclined to deal with them after they've already had a negative experience.

[mam98031]

Your one negative Feedback doesn't even show up anymore in your stats.  The vast majority of buyer will never know it even exists.

Buyers have never had to communicate with the seller before leaving the FB.  Ebay does ask them before the negative FB will post if the buyer has contacted the seller.  Clearly many not answer that question honestly. 

It is just something we have to deal with on this site.  Thank goodness we are no longer evaluated by Ebay with our feedback stats.

[jerseyboymusic]

I don't see any negatives on your account... but nothing has changed in the feedback department, but I agree with you in that things should be worked out and resolved before negative feedback is left.

So sorry on the passing of your brother!

[mam98031]

@jerseyboymusic 

The negative is very old and no longer shows in their current percentage.

[lacemaker3]

OP received a negative last month, for an item which the buyer returned because they felt it was NAD. It has now been removed. You can see the item involved, because OP left the buyer false-positive feedback.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Just-experienced-worst-buyer-in-20-years/td-p/34245234

[buyselljack2016]

Did we not have a long tread about the "doll sale" and another about the feedback not that long ago?

[luckythewinner]

---

@mustardjo wrote:

 Don't you think that should be one of the rules on ebay...communicate with seller before leaving negative?

---

This is a common complaint about eBay, but in 25 years eBay has not chosen to change how feedback works.

Generally speaking, most buyers do communicate.

[mam98031]

When a buyer goes to leave a Negative FB, this message appears on their screen.

They must click on the Give Feedback button to continue without contacting the seller.  

This message can be helpful for some buyers and remind them they should contact their seller first.  Others simply don't care what the seller has to say and continue to leave the feedback.

[lacemaker3]

In this case, I believe the buyer had already had to go through a NAD dispute with the OP, which probably wasn't pleasant, and may have included some name-calling, from what the seller said later.

That would certainly fulfill any expectation of contacting the seller first, and of giving the seller a chance to make it right, which the seller did not do.

One thing that hasn't changed about feedback. Sellers are not supposed to leave false positive feedback for buyers.

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/feedback-policies/feedback-misuse-policy?id=5030

[mtgraves7984]

One thing that hasn't changed about feedback. Sellers are not supposed to leave false positive feedback for buyers. 👋

@mustardjo 

With all due respect, I think that you need to revisit Feedback, too. Not from a buyer's perspective, but from the seller's.

[mustardjo]

I had a negative feedback a few weeks ago. The buyer returned the doll with the neck knob broken.  ebay removed her feedback.

[mustardjo]

Yes I would say about 90% of buyers will communicate before leaving negative feedback.  I recently got a negative feedback that ebay finally removed.

[mustardjo]

Then what should a seller do if they have a problem buyer?  Do nothing to warn other sellers? A lot of buyers use the implied threat of negative feedback to get what they want...like a discount.