When will eBay stop with the pointless situation of sellers leaving feedback for buyers?

[adkhighker]

I know this has been discussed before, but can anyone tell me any good reason why eBay still allows sellers to give feedback to buyers when sellers aren't allowed to tell the truth about a bad buyer?

You can't leave anything but positive feedback for a buyer even if they're a scammer and a thief, so feedback for buyers is meaningless, right? The idea that scammers and non-paying bidders can only have 100% positive feedback is just wrong. I don't know how many times I've heard newbie sellers say they're relieved because the buyer who just bought something from them has 100% positive feedback, LOL.

Since feedback left for buyers can only be positive even if the seller scams you, there are those sellers who no longer leave feedback for buyers because it is so meaningless. Unfortunately, there are plenty of buyers who will give neutrals or negatives to sellers just because they didn't receive lovey dovey feedback from the seller first. For that reason, and for the fact that sellers can't reveal crooked buyers through their feedback, eBay should just stop with that silly end of it and only have it so buyers can leave feedback for sellers, period, IMO.

I can understand that feedback left for sellers is important because it does help buyers eliminate dealing with those sellers who seem like bad apples or those sellers who are very slow in shipping or whatever the case might be. Hey, that's fine, and it's an important part of the buying and selling process. OTOH, if sellers can't tell the truth about a bad buyer, then what's the point?

I love selling on ebay, but wouldn't it simplify things and be a big improvement to everyone involved if only the buyers could leave feedback for the sellers?

(This is my posting ID)

[slippinjimmy]

One good reason? Sure that's simple......

A lot of buyers like it!

Not sure any further reasons are needed.

[castlemagicmemories]

It's something that buyers like, and costs nothing to give them.  I doubt Ebay would do away with a perk like that.  Why not make them happy?

Unfortunately truth may be elusive.  Sellers abused the privilege of negs for buyers and used it as a retaliatory weapon when they got an honest neg.  It soured buyers on Ebay and they left.  So Ebay eliminated it.  It doesn't really warn anyone as most time you don't know who your buyer will be.  Auction may be sniped in the last few seconds.  You don't know who will buy a fixed price listing.  So not effective.  Giving not paying buyers strikes that may automatically block them via unpaid item disputes is far more effective.

[goodluckselling]

I just try not to engage in pointless situations.  You can do the same if you want.

Good Luck Selling!

[dirk12955]

I have no problem finding 5 seconds to leave feedback for my buyers.

They've been taught over the years that feedback is important. I'm not about to try to steer them into thinking different and having a buyer hacked off because he didn't get his feedback.

It's also a fair measure for score keeping.

[adkhighker]

I don't know, anytime I hear that it's the way it is because buyers like it, I have to chuckle to myself because if buyers like getting the same meaningless feedback that their seller gives to every buyer they deal with, then ebay buyers in general must be more naive than I thought. 🙂

[adkhighker]

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@dirk12955 wrote:
I have no problem finding 5 seconds to leave feedback for my buyers.

They've been taught over the years that feedback is important. I'm not about to try to steer them into thinking different and having a buyer hacked off because he didn't get his feedback.

It's also a fair measure for score keeping.

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That's the point. If ebay stopped with the pointless Seller to Buyer feedback altogether, then the buyers would know it, and they wouldn't get hacked off for not getting feedback if it wasn't possilbe for them to get it, right? 🙂

[luckythewinner]

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@adkhighker wrote:

I love selling on ebay, but wouldn't it simplify things and be a big improvement to everyone involved if only the buyers could leave feedback for the sellers?

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Since feedback is entirely optional, I guess I don't really see the where the "big improvement" lies. 

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

"That's the point. If ebay stopped with the pointless Seller to Buyer feedback altogether, then the buyers would know it, and they wouldn't get hacked off for not getting feedback if it wasn't possilbe for them to get it, right? "

Or, as you note, since the seller can't leave anything but positive feedback anyway, and since it costs the seller little if any time to leave it (feedback can even be automated), the seller can simply leave feedback after he's been paid or after he has shipped, and he'll NEVER have to deal with a buyer who is upset because the seller didn't leave feedback first. Problem solved.

[adkhighker]

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@luckythewinner wrote:

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@adkhighker wrote:

I love selling on ebay, but wouldn't it simplify things and be a big improvement to everyone involved if only the buyers could leave feedback for the sellers?

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Since feedback is entirely optional, I guess I don't really see the where the "big improvement" lies. 

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One of the big improvements  if Seller to Buyer feedback was eliminated would be that buyers wouldn't give neutrals or negatives to sellers just because the buyer didn't receive meaningless feedback first from the seller.

Another big improvement would be that sellers who received negatives from scammer buyers wouldn't have given that buyer some generic praise in the form of a "positive only" feedback just because the scammer paid them to begin with.

[cubano4u]

As a seller I have no problem with leaving positive FB for my buyers. They paid me for one of my items so they did their part as far as I'm concerned. As a buyer myself, I like receiving positive FB when I purchase something, it makes the transaction seem sweeter to me.
I also believe in karma and when I find a seller who has stopped leaving FB, which just happened to me, I feel that they are creating situations where they will stop receiving FB from all buyers as well. In the end it's that seller who loses out as their rating stops growing.
I find the Universe pays one back for their actions....
Good luck with your selling....

[adkhighker]

Nicely put!

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

99 percent of buyers are good and never deserved bad feedback. Why would you want to stop free good will and marketing to those buyers? Why would you want to punish good buyers just because you can no longer spank a tiny percentage? In what world does it make sense to punish potential customers?

Back in the old days unethical sellers would leave retaliatory bad feedback togood buyers. To your potential customers. How could that be a good thing?

Feedback is about much more than mad sellers punishing buyers. Most buyers have no idea feedback has changed.  Why only think about feedback as a weapon when I can be a tool for good?

[18704d]

""I know this has been discussed before, but can anyone tell me any good reason why eBay still allows sellers to give feedback to buyers ..."

Because taking feedback away would diminish the buyer experience here.

"... when sellers aren't allowed to tell the truth about a bad buyer?"

Because that would diminish the buyer experience here.

And buyers come here with the money...

that both sellers and eBay wants.

Next question?

Lynn

[castlemagicmemories]

OP, since feedback is voluntary, if it isn't something you care to post, you don't have to. No one forces you to participate in something that you feel is pointless.