Why does ebay punish GOOD sellers so harshly for a bad feedback?

[beautyandthebeads]

Absolutely unfair ebay lowers a good seller's feedback by so many points for one bad feedback.   No one in their right mind thinks this is ok.  One bad feedback should equal just one point drop.   And, if the seller is exemplary with a ton of transactions, the points should be added back on in less than three months.  Please don't tell me that you can contact the buyer.  If someone is nasty enough to leave bad feedback, in the first place, for an item getting lost in the mail, it is hopeless they will remove it.  They wanted to put it there for whatever journey they are going through in their miserable life.   Venting.  I'm sure there are many others out there.  Sorry, but I'm not interested in responses claiming this is a good system - lots of laughs there.  It definitely doesn't make me want to improve because I do a great job already.  I can't offer better service than I do.  Nasty buyers are a fact of life here, but Ebay should be a place of protection for sellers who are awesome, follow the rules and strive to give Ebay a good name.

[heckofagame]

It's unlikely that most buyers even look at feedback. There are sellers with literally thousands of negatives and they still do a robust business.

However, if a buyer does read feedback, they may be steered elsewhere not by the negative itself, but by how the seller responded to that negative. Responding by blaming the buyer, name-calling and other derogatory comments are unprofessional and will have a much greater impact that what any buyer may say. 

[lakefor94]

I don't see anything wrong with your feedback aside from receiving a recent negative. 

Your percentage rating is based on math. 

• Positives: 295 Negatives: 2
• This member's positive Feedback percentage
• 295 / ( 295 + 2 ) = 99.3%

You are good to go at 99.3%. Carry on.

[beautyandthebeads]

I appreciate your response.

[beautyandthebeads]

Nah..bad  feedback is mostly read in numbers and what the actual complaint is.  I wouldn't buy from a seller with bad feedback if they don't respect themselves enough to respond.  Even with anger.  Otherwise, I assume seller is guilty.  Spoken to many people on this.  

[robbie31415]

I don't think eBay can change how math works. 🤔

[chapeau-noir]

I understand your upset, I've had some annoying feedback, myself, but that feedback in no way will hurt your account as much as your response. It's better to cool down before responding, to assure future buyers of your excellent customer service, not argue or threaten the neg-leaver who obviously doesn't care one way or another. This is the kind of thing that you can actually turn to your advantage.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

Nothing wrong with Ebay's methodology. It is subjective.

Your responses to your negatives and neutrals are a tad defensive.

The negatives and neutrals seem real buyer impressions of the transaction.

Everything is working as intended. I doubt if you will lose any sales which you would want to have.

[beautyandthebeads]

Honestly, going to keep doing what I do.   I have just resolved myself to accepting this is a hazard of selling here.  Yeah and threatenng a buyer is dumb.  Don't know who would do that lol.

[ebooksdiva]

The negative feedback you received isn't as bad as the replies you left. Sounding unprofessional with name calling and derogatory comments would be a sure fire way to turn away a buyer should your feedback be read. You may want to refrain from replying to feedback if you can't respond with a more professional tone. 

[bennotbill]

In these days of more buyers only bothering to leave feedback if it's a neg, things should/need to change.

The percentage should be worked out against total sales and not just against the sales that had feedback left.

Otherwise the feedbacks decline into pointless nonsense will only accelerate.

[inhawaii]

Why does ebay punish GOOD sellers so harshly for a bad feedback?

I don't think ebay punishes sellers AT ALL based solely on feedback.

[mam98031]

@beautyandthebeads 

You have two and Ebay hasn't evaluated sellers on feedback in years.  With that said, your responses to the two negative FB you left is likely more harmful than what the buyer said.  

Well no, not hopeless as many sellers do just that , contact the buyer, all the time.  Success will largely depend on how the seller treats the buyer.  Neither of the negs you received were "nasty" comments by the buyer.  Calling your buyer's names will rarely win anyone over.

[mam98031]

---

@beautyandthebeads wrote:

Nah..bad  feedback is mostly read in numbers and what the actual complaint is.  I wouldn't buy from a seller with bad feedback if they don't respect themselves enough to respond.  Even with anger.  Otherwise, I assume seller is guilty.  Spoken to many people on this.  

---

Guilty of what?  Lost packages happen, it is the responsibility of the seller to make sure the package gets to their customer and if it is lost, then the seller does need to take care of the buyer and refund them.

A seller should NEVER EVER respond in "anger".  We are all adults.  These are business transactions not personal transactions.  Buyers see the FB that a seller responds to in anger and calling the buyer names, makes for a great reason for that buyer to move along and find another seller.

[12345jamesstamps]

All we can do is block these buyers...and at some point these buyers will wonder why they can' buy again.

It's a silly negative feedback you receive and it really wouldn't keep me from buying from you.

And I wouldn't even waste my time of day replying to these silly negative feedbacks buyers leave.