Feedback System ... lets be objective

[mr_lincoln]

In an effort to be objective about the current FB system I would rather see it harder to obtain and come with potential short term restrictions then allowed to run rampant as it can at times. If I were King, these are just several features I would consider changing in the current system. Buyers & Sellers are welcome to add their own views (minus personal FB experiences if possible). I would rather see, in general, lower FB ratings that reflect a higher quality Buying and Selling experience on eBay AND reflect more on a Buyer & Seller's recent activity. I also think Buyers & Sellers would think twice about leaving neutral or neg FB knowing they may get restrictions if the system is abused.

1. Buyers and Sellers are allowed to leave all three type of FB – Positive – Neutral – Negative
2. Selling accounts that Buy do NOT get an FB count credit for purchases so FB reflects Selling activity only.
3. Buyers get an FB count and % rating just like Sellers. So if they leave 2 neg / neutral FBs in 100 they would be at 98% FB
4. Negative and Neutral FB rolls off after 6 months for BOTH Buyer and Seller … and by “rolling off” I mean gone, deleted from public view.
5. An account that Buys and Sellers has two FB counts … one is displayed as a Buyer and one as a Seller … the FB History would have both displayed for review.
6. Total FB count displayed should be limited to (2000), meaning Buyer – Seller has obtained the highest displayable FB Rating allowed. Sellers & Buyers would have their actually FB count displayed on Seller Dashboard but for public consumption and display limit the total making the number more important.
7. Seller & Buyer IDs with more than 2 Neg – Neutral FBs in the last 6 months receive restrictions until the FBs roll off.
8. New Sellers AND Buyers are not allowed to leave FB for 2 months AND 10 transactions.
9. Neutral – Neg FB is not allowed to be left unless there are messages between Buyer & Seller in eBay Messaging making an attempt to resolve the issue PER eBay Policy. This would eliminate the blindside neg FB Sellers get.
10. On any Return, Cancellation, FB from both Buyer and Seller are deleted.
11. Members with more than one ID (Buying – Selling or both) would receive restrictions on ALL IDs if one met the restriction metric.

[sg51]

Yes, my goal would be to re-value the system ...

Ending feedback all together would be the easiest way to do that.

Ending all buyer feedback seems an obvious easy re-value, perhaps replaced with a silent way to block purchases using a few more thresholds, in the way that unpaid item striks works today.

There is absolutely no way it makes sense to ever say bad things about buyers in public.

And there is no value in sticking seller with the burden of posting a public platitude for each sale.

[myangelandmyprincess]

1.  Not sure about that. I find out more by what a buyer leaves anyhow. 

2.  Kind of agree but should be somewhere to see the buying feedback but only the selling should show up on an item page. 

3. Kind of goes with one 

4. I don't think it should ever just roll off to never be seen 

5. That wild be better 

6.   No I see no reason to do that 

7.   No that's extremely low and could easily be abused especially when used with all your other ideas 

8   No

9.   I do think contact should be required first. 

10.  No if a seller cancels for some reason on me or if I have to return for not as described I should still be able to leave a feedback about the issue.  And as a buyer I'd want to be sure others can do that so I can accurately get an idea from feedback. 

11. Yeah 

[ooak-tammy]

It's over and done. Sellers abused the feedback system and lost the ability to leave neutral or negative.
It's been nearly a decade, it's time to get over it.

[myescape]

To be truly objective one would need to be uninvolved in the system rather than having a stake in it

3.I am not understanding buyer would have 98% if they LEFT a neg/neutral is how it reads to me?If so ebay will not do anything buyers would not like and not having 100% because seller messed up what not go over well

6.If a seller is very high volume 2000 may not adequately  show a fully enough pic of their customers experience

7.Again ebay will not risk losing buyer unless their behavior become egregious and 2 negs if you had 2 bad transactions does not reach that level especially high volume users

8.Allows new user that are scamming 2 months to scam w no sign(.why punish a good seller if they get 2bad sellers on their other id and vice versa

You suggestions just complicate and already bedevilled system that sows distrust in use and function has it is.

[tunicaslot]

I rely on Feedback when buying but also to check someone out who may have bought from me and is causing an issue.

That said - if Ebay would tighten up the reins on bad buyers and bad sellers - there would not be any need for feedback.

At this point buyers are buying from individuals - not a company who they can appeal to if they have problems. Nothing is uniform as far as return policies - stocking fees ect.. and that's the way it should be and why we need feedback for sellers. It likes stores getting favorable or negative ratings on the BBB.

Every week we see threads of problem buyers with a history of negs left, feedback revisions or phrases that give the appearance they know how to play the game to their advantage. These buyers should be suspended automatically after so many infractions. We are told they are but there are still a lot using Ebay and playing games on other sellers.

We also see sellers - complaining of problems and when we look at their inventory, feedback and selling history make us all shake our heads and wonder how they can still be selling here.

Not eveyone bothers to read feedback - most of those we see on the boards - or they call Ebay and then more stringent rules are imposed on all sellers. If I had to purchase on Ebay with no idea of whether a seller is reputable or not - I'd shop elsewhere.

[alanadamsbidder]

For what it's worth, the "problem" I have with eBay's feedback approach is that they offer it as a five-star system.  But apparently have USED it in a way where now every seller thinks "I need five stars or nothing at all."

If you give me a five-star system to rate something I do a lot of (stream movies, online purchases, whatever), then I'm giving five stars when something actually stands out.  And something less than that (the middle? three stars?) when something is exactly as I expected it should be.  Getting exactly what I asked for, being mailed out on time, and arriving in good condition are all "exactly as I expected it should be."

If five stars is what eBay is going to treat the sellers as "the only acceptable thing / the only acceptable goal", then the rating needs to be pass/fail, not "a five star system."  Otherwise the five star system is just "1 - unacceptable, 2 - unacceptable, 3 - unacceptable, 4 - unacceptable, 5 - as expected".

[tdumonde2014]

Ebay is not about to create a feedback system that would require three mathematicians to explain. The system as it stands is simple, the buyer was either happy, unhappy, or indifferent. Most retailers allow a buyer to rate the transaction and/or the product, and this will never change. No retailer publicly rates their buyers, and if they did they would have less of them. The smart sellers and buyers know how to "read" feedback, and those that don't will continue to throw money at "0" feedback sellers or those with thousands of negatives. If there are buyers that abuse the system, then they should dealt with in the same manner that buyer's who abuse the MBG are, they lose the right/privilege to leave feedback.

[goodluckselling]

Seller feedback is actually fairly useful to a buyer and seller now.  In my listings a buyer can see the exact feedback already left for the items they are considering buying.  The see feedback tab shows the feedback buyers who have already bought this item have left for the transaction.  If you are an outstanding seller as I think I am this is actually a seller feature although disguised as a tool for the buyer to use before they buy.

 

 Good Luck Selling!

[lintbrush*]

Most of that is a trainwreck.

2 or more get restrictions? both buyer and seller alike?  What if I sell 2 items and you sell 20,000.  You think they should be treated equally?

And buyers getting negatives?  No way.  No how.  We already see some of the petty negatives that get left by buyers which make no sense.  Could you imagine a seller who leaves an unjustified neg?  "Buyer is an idiot and returns stuff" when the Seller has a return policy?  As a buyer, I would not shop here if that were to happen.

10 transactions??  Huh?  How would that be beneficial? 

A Return or Cancellation disallows feedback?  Why?   So a seller that cancels because they have no inventory control or didn't get the price they wanted don't deserve to be rated?  Or a buyer who needs to return a SNAD can't rate the seller's poor listing/item/customer service?

You posted this to stir the pot, right?  I'm hoping you can't be serious.

[mr_lincoln]

@lintbrush*  wrote: You posted this to stir the pot, right?  I'm hoping you can't be serious.

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No, not to stir the pot.  Yes, I am serious.  I respect your opinion but don't agree.  This thread is not intended to debate the issue,  its simply my opinion.  You are more than welcome to disagree, which you have and of course I take no offense whatsoever.  Now, I welcome any opinion you have, care to share what your ideal FB system would be like?

Linbrush also wrote: What if I sell 2 items and you sell 20,000

_________________________________________________________________

I'd retire ...

[etvideo1ataol]

Goodness, more feedback obsession.

I remember when you could contact a member that lost an auction of something you had.  Offer yours for what their bid was and sell it to them with no eBay involvement at all.  No fees at all.

And THEN, you could give and received feedback on the transaction.

Made a lot of sales that way and eBay didn't care since they were making a lot of money anyway.

Since almost everything you listed sold, you didn't mind paying that nickel listing fee or the FVF.

BAck then, the reason for eBay was SELLING.  Now, it's all about listing.

[*eponymous*]

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@pikabo-icu wrote:

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@klassic*kids wrote:

I think sellers should be able to give a buyer a negative in only one instance:  an INR case open and closed without payment.  Otherwise it will be like the wild, wild west again with all sorts of retalitory FB.  In fact, rather than the buyer leaving it there could be an automatically generated one when a case is closed with no pay.

I like your idea #5 making the feedback for buying and selling seperate.

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Since eBay will never allow a Neg for a buyer how about just adding a count for non-payment?

Similar to the bid retraction count. 

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INR is too complicated to suggest negs for buyers.  What it really does is provides an opportunity for sellers who "noticed" the item was damaged or lost, for sellers who are advised on this board constantly to block non-domestic payments in PayPal AFTER a listing has ended, for sellers whose PayPal account was set up improperly to accept payment, and for sellers who change the terms after a sale or provide info not in the description after the listing ends (all of these occur regularly, if not more often), to impropertly neg buyers...again...giving them a chance at revision...again...and leading to a mass exodus of buyers...again.

No other website has fb for buyers, and demeaning sellers by continuing to insist that buyers want a "thank you" is just plain mean and doesn't help the us vs. them mentality.  The vast majority of us consumers (that's all of us) don't need a thanks for buying something we wanted.