unwarranted negative feedback

[gmas7readers]

I sell children's books. I described the six books in the condition area and again, with very detailed information about the writing in the books in the item description. There was no contact with me, the buyer just immediately gave negative feedback "books were written in" Please advise: What do I do? My consistent 100% went down to 97.6 Thank you for any ideas, Pat

[legalbeagle52]

@fbusoni 

That's an great way to describe it!   LOL ... I think the same way when writing a description, but my thoughts aren't quite as 'flowery' .. I generally stop at 'mean-spirited.'    But an excellent analysis!

[animal-house-8]

Ever think it may be a jealous competitor, you had 100% feedback and they didn't. I knew this nut case once who told me he would do all kinds of crazy things to get his competitors off ebay, like have friends buy 20 things and return them constantly. Just a thought cause the big ebay scam going is people asking for money to remove feedback which didn't happen to you.

[lakefor94]

@gmas7readers 

When I look at your feedback, relevant is the default feedback choice and I do not see the neg on the first page.  I had to click on the neg in the feedback ratings box to see it. 

If you feel the need to respond to the neg, leave a highly professional response without directly accusing the buyer of anything. Make yourself look like a saint. 

A response is not a necessity, imo. The neg does not look that bad.

[aproudparent2010]

I have seen many other sellers here say this advice:

Take pictures like there is no description

Write a description like there is no pictures


I would have taken pics of front, back, and any writing in books.

[1786davycrockett]

@gmas7readers 

Unfortunately, your condition description of "Like New" did not match your buyer's definition of "Like New."

And many antiquarian booksellers would agree -- a "gifted" book which includes ANY writing is not a "Like New" book -- it would drop it down to no higher than "Very Good," by eBay's grading guide.

Perhaps your buyer was also interested in gifting the books which they had purchased -- certainly with a condition description of "Like New," many buyers would have felt safe in making a gift purchase which had included that designation.

So imagination your buyer expecting some "Like New" books in gift-worthy condition, and receiving instead some books that were NOT in gift-worthy condition.  Your buyer was probably quite upset by the over-grading, which requires your buyer to begin shopping all over again.

And keep in mind, as well, that a huge number of eBay buyers shop on their phones now, and that the small screens on the phones don't display all of the information that is discernible on a desktop or iPad -- your buyer may never have even seen your more detailed item descriptions.

In the future, I would advise not using the grading condition "Like New," as it its definition is too open to individual speculation.

[rugerskick]

Buyers dont read our descriptions.  The thing is we still need to put that stuff in for cya scenarios, so its still critical to do so.

I would try to get CS to call and ask about fb removal.  Be prepared they probably wont even though they will agree you have it in the listing.

I would just put a factual response/reply to the feedback something like, "Buyer didn't read the item description stating the condition issues they were upset about, didn't contact me before leaving negative feedback, leaving me no chance to resolve anything."

[fbusoni · Accepted solution]

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@legalbeagle52 wrote:

@fbusoni 

That's an great way to describe it!   LOL ... I think the same way when writing a description, but my thoughts aren't quite as 'flowery' .. I generally stop at 'mean-spirited.'    But an excellent analysis!

---

@legalbeagle52 

LOL!  You are too kind.

Unfortunately I had to work in a professional environment for 40 years; the experience left some indelible impressions on me!  😂

[bisbeeminerals]

This is the problem with selling on Ebay and why I use other outlets. Ebay was once my go to selling platform, but they are buyer oriented, not very supportive of sellers.

[lilyswan2]

maybe you can get the feedback removed through ebay as what she was complaining about was in fact descibed

[powerseller.407]

Ebay feedback

It should be divided into 2 parts--The seller & the product.
The seller can sell a NEW item and get negitive feedback because they are disapointed with the product. That should never happen. And don't get me started on trying to get the unjust feedback removed. Calling Ebay is a waste of time, THEY DO NOT CARE EVEN IF THE FEEDBACK IS WRONG OR A LIE. I always take care of my customers, for 30 days you can return anything to me at my expense and get a full refund. If you do this consistantly for years Ebay should never allow you to get a negitive feedback. Now back to the point of this all, if I got a negitive feedback on a product I would not care that much. But to give me one for a product thats crazy. I can't bend over backwards more for my customers that I do now. There needs to be 2 completely seperate feedbacks. And you must rate the products first, then the seller. Think about the advantage Ebay would gain, no#1 less feedback calls and complaints including losing sellers, no#2 Ebay would have 1 of the best product rating indexing in the country. They could bring new customers to Ebay.
If I was Ebay I would allow product rating changes to be available for 6 months. And sure would help Ebay with less customer service also if they allow changes to be done to sellers personal feedback for 30 days and then feedback revision as they do now.
Think about this Ebay: If all the sellers had positive feedbacks would EBAY make more or less sales? Easy answer of course is more sales, less chance they will buy elsewhere. But EBAY does the exact opposite. They prevent you from giving a bad mark to a buyer NOT the seller. I understand that is a good thing also for making more sales.
I would like to add that I know feedback is a very sore spot for Ebay. It is a near impossible task. You can't make everyone happy. But my idea would make a big difference, and of course the bottom line is always money. Ebay would make more money, less customer service. More customer coming to Ebay for product ratings. Ebay will be the new Consumers Report.
Rating the seller separate from the product is exactly how it should be. The other way doesn't even make any sense.

Andrew Hecker
Powerseller.407