Don't give feedback to sellers until they give it to you.......

[wlkngdshbg]

Time and time again, I buy something on Ebay, I pay immediately with PayPal, and the seller does not give me any feedback until after I leave it for him first.

This is agains Ebay policy I am almost sure. A bit ago Ebay changed policy so sellers could not leave "retalitory" feedback, that is giving a buyer bad feedback who paid quickly, just because they gave well-deserved bad feedback for a good reason.

This ruined the feedback system for ebay, making it useless.

Now, apparently most sellers simply hold off on giving feedback as long as possible. Are they hoping the buyer gets tired of waiting? Are they hoping the buyer simply slips up and leaves it before they are supposed to?

Whatever the reason, there is no GOOD one for not leaving positive feedback for a buyer that pays lightning fast with PayPal. The buyers job is done at that point, and done very well.

Then it is up to the SELLER to pack the item well, ship it promptly, and have the item be as described in the auction.

If the seller screws up or sells something that is not as advertised, then they damn well deserve bad feedback so that the next buyer can be informed of the bad apple.

So in a nutshell, if you are a buyer on ebay, lets start holding that feedback back until the seller does what they are supposed to for a prompt-paying customer. And if they do not leave feedback, lets report them to Ebay so the feedback system is not compromised as it once was, and so buyers can be properly informed of a sellers performance when they are shopping.

Thanks

[mybrands4u]

You have it backwards. What causes a problem is that sellers can not leave negative feedback for buyers. You are not sainted simply because you paid. For example, I speak from experience, I had a buyer that had their item stolen after it was delivered....I did my part...I shipped exactly what they asked for to exactly where they asked for it to be sent and then it was stolen. They gave me negative feedback as though it were my fault that it was stolen. I had someome return clothing that reeked of cigarette smoke...again I did everything I was supposed to do but they do not deserver positive feedback even though they paid. I had someone leave negative feedback because the shirt I sent did not come out of the clothes dryer perfectly pressed or like it had been ironed....I never made a claim that it would do anything of the sort...it's just what they wanted. Again in that instance I did what I was supposed to do. I had someone give me a negative feedback because I wait to give feedback until after I get mine , I state that is how I do it in my ad. So again I did what I was supposed to do...I could go on and on....but the point has been made, buyers do not get an automatic pass simply because they paid. Fortunately I get overwhelmingly positive feedback from my awesome customers and most people do not have the entitlement metality.

[true-blue1]

I feel the same way. I was a buyer for a long time before I ever started selling on ebay. At the beginning I always left everybody feedback for paying, out of 25 sales I may get two feedback. Even that we remind buyers to please leave feedback. We have bought many items from sellers at the beginning from ebay what sold us total bogus stuff cd players what skipped, VCR what did not work had wrong european plugs on it, VHS tapes what did not play in US VCR's. Only one time did we want a refund for the VCR what had the european plug on it. We try very hard to detail every little scratch dent measurements on the items we list, we take many pictures for buyers. We ship fast and buy a lot of wrapping material to ensure good packing. I always say "no news is good news" in ebay. In three years I have had three great customers what thanked us for packing well shipping fast and offering something they really wanted in a "message" to us. What get's me is the buyers what don't read all the descriptions and then changes there minds after they receive there items. They think we can just pack and mail stuff all over the country and then send them a return label if they change there mind. We are not Wal-mart and even that I want my buyers to be happy with there purchase. A seller would go under with the ebay fees, time and resource to run a store in ebay and the hassle of returns. I don't think buyers realize the time it takes to list items in ebay. I never knew when I bought in the past. So feedback is important to me, but yes I do wait now to see if the buyer will take time to leave us feedback and then I will Thank my buyers with feedback.

[revolverman]

Don't agree.  Buyers should be First to leave F/B after they receive item and are satisfied the transaction went smoothly.  Sellers should leave F/B on the conclusion of the deal that way if there was some issue the seller had the opportunity to correct things before getting unnecessarily trashed.

[tintwiz]

Exactly how I work, buyer pays in good faith up front before seeing the item. Seller is obliged to do the same with + feedback for buyer. If seller has good products service, only malcontent buyers will abuse the system. Just like no news is good news, no feedback is the same.

[rlwieneke]

https://pages.ebay.com/services/forum/changes.html Sellers are encouraged to leave Feedback as soon as payment is received (or has cleared). That will start the Feedback process off on a good note. Buyers should wait to leave Feedback for sellers until after they receive the item. If the item doesn't arrive, the buyer should double-check the shipping time in the item description and contact the seller if the package is clearly late. If the seller sent a tracking number, the buyer should check with the carrier to see when the item should arrive. It's important to take these steps before leaving Feedback.

[zdirbyh]

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@roknrik wrote:
As a buyer I always leave feedback when the item is received. As a seller I used to give feedback when payment was received. Now, because so many buyers do not leave feedback, I do not leave feedback until it is received from the buyer. As a seller I can not believe how many buyers do not leave feedback.

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Agreed.  For a decade, I was only a buyer.  Recently I am selling a few things.  First, I had been leaving feedback when buyers bought and paid.  Now I am waiting to give feedback once they received the item, hoping that they are pleased with the purchase and when they see I've left feedback, they will send good feedback in return.  But I'm running at about 20% giving feedback, even with that system.  It's painful.  As a buyer, feedback is pretty useless.  As a seller, feedback is KING along with a competitive price/value for your items.

[scottlockwood]

I usually post this as an auto reply:

Sorry, but since you have used the option to auto feedback you could have just as easily used the option to auto post upon payment. As the buyer, I take all the risks, paying in advance, waiting for my item...now you want me to post feedback first. Been burned by that too many times. If you want feedback either set your system to auto post on payment or manually do it. It's your 5 star positive feedback that is waiting. As the buyer I paid immediately after the auction. You have no choice but to post positive feedback for me. Your call, regardless, thanks for a great item!

[ldp_hunter_lattimer]

This is very WRONG. For one thing, sellers can no longer leave anything but positive feedback which I also disagree with, but the concept presented here makes zero sense. The transaction is not over until the buyer is happy. As a seller (and a buyer) I will NEVER leave any feedback for the buyer until THEY are happy. Especially now with the inability to leave negative feedback. The item arrives and you are happy with it, why would you not leave feedback. The seller has to make sure the buyer is happy before they can fully evaluate the transaction. Not being happy with something that you, the seller, know is exactly as you described is a bad transaction and the seller should have the ability to know that the buyer is not trying to get some money back or return the item altogether. I don't see the issue here. You can keep doing what you do, and you will never get any feedback from sellers who feel the way I do. It's fine with us.
Your argument is silly and backwards. You say "If the seller screws up or sells something that is not as advertised, then they **bleep** well deserve bad feedback so that the next buyer can be informed of the bad apple." I TOTALLY AGREE. So by your method, you won't even leave them feedback because they have to leave it for you 1st. BUT, if you get what you expected and you are happy, why wouldn't you leave positive feedback then?
Even if a seller could still leave negative feedback, why would they at this point. And by the way, if there is a dispute, you as the buyer always have the advantage in any dispute.
I say that the buyer should always leave feedback first, just not in your ridiculous example where you don't even know what you are getting yet. No one should leave feedback before they get the item.

[ldp_hunter_lattimer]

To anyone who thinks that a seller should leave feedback after "prompt payment" this is just insane.

Buyers already do not have to worry about negative or even neutral feedback and you want feedback just for PAYING?????  I can't even imagine that I have to tell you that the transaction is FAR FROM OVER when you pay.  You have to get the item and be happy with it.  ALSO, you have to be a reasonable person who doesn't expect more than what was described.  Even worse, what if the buyer is a scammer and wants some money back?  If you are a good buyer, thank you; but sellers, who CAN receive negative feedback, have no way of knowing that.

Maybe you are not aware of a little scam that works quite often and if I point it out, you may hopefully feel a little different about this.  Seller sells an item, let's say it is a $25 transaction.  Buyer e-mails that he is not happy.  He wants $5 back.  Now, the seller can refund $5 OR accept the return which will end up costing the seller at the very least time, but most likely shipping fees both ways,  and now they have to start over.  It doesn't matter how wrong the buyer is about the condition of the item, the seller can refund the money or lose even more money.  What would you do?  So if you are in fact a great buyer, good for you and for us, but we have no idea just because you paid, that all will go well with the transaction.  So if you had to return money or reverse the deal, would you want to leave positive feedback for that buyer?  

What we are asking for should be NOTHING to you.  Wait til you get your item and you are happy and leave feedback.  You will get your positive feedback. 

Buyer leaves feedback then seller leaves feedback.  This is the only way to do it and why you think you deserve feedback just for paying makes no sense.

[downtimeguy]

As a seller, what course of action would you take if a buyer reports being satisfied with a transaction by way of a regular eBay contact seller message? The buyer has met the requirement of being happy with the transaction, so would you then invite the buyer to leave feedback by leaving first?

If the answer above is still No Buyers Should ALWAYS Leave Feedback First, then the issue here is not actually about who leaves feedback first. The core issue is about sellers who cannot handle the emotional risk of being judged negatively by another person over the internet.

[chfotiou]

You want the Buyer to leave feedback first so that you dont leave positive feedback to the 1 or 2% that try to scam you? The seller says thank you by leaving feedback to someone spending their money with you. You try to make it sound like you have more scammers than good buyers. I doubt it. When you decided to sell merchandise and reach out to millions of people on ebay as your customer base, you take the chance of dealing with scammers. Price of doing business because scammers are everywhere.  You said:  "Wait til you get your item and you are happy and leave feedback.  You will get your positive feedback". I haven't received feedback from over a dozen sellers after leaving positive feedback, so you can stop trying to persuade intelligent people that this statement is true, it is not. I now no longer buy from these sellers anymore. That's my way of handling ignorant sellers. On the other hand you can handle ignorant buyers by blocking them from the ability to buy from you. This is a function that ebay provides sellers to deal with buyers you dont like. 

[ostrich03]

Thanks so much for helping resolve this so amicably. However, feedback should only be left after everything has been resolved, as stated by ebay. But don't worry, I'm very happy with how everything's going. You've been very responsive and understanding. 

[ken.bos]

Re: Don't give feedback to sellers until they give it to you

VICEVERSA!!!

Vice versa is a Latin phrase that means "the other way around".

Don't give feedback to BUYERS until they give it to you. Especially with the new 30 free return system. When they tell me "all is well" via feedback, then and then only do I leave feedback on the transaction prior to 30 days.  Otherwise I wait till 30 days are up before I leave the buyer feedback, safely assuming "all is well" because they can no longer do a free return.

I have bent over backwards to ship things out ASAP...sometimes within hours of receiving payment (instead of the 3 days I have), free upgrades to Priority Mail, etc. and still I get zero feedback from some buyers.

What we need is  a "failure to communicate"** rating for buyers who fail to give feedback.

**quotation from the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke, spoken by Strother Martin

[downtimeguy]

Hard to imagine a more inapt reference of Cool Hand Luke. Likening the paragon social malcontent who cut the heads off of parking meters for kicks and shrugged off any rules of polite society to proper eBay feedback etiquette takes an especially powerful brain. There should be an option to pay sellers solely in positive feedback because there are definitely some who value the approval of total strangers over the internet more than money.

[dkmotosports]

I have been on ebay since 1998 and have seen a lot of changes, good and bad. The worst one is the feedback system., it is one sided and for the buyer. All they think they have to do is pay and it entitles them to dish out feedback as they see fit. I sell USED motorcycle parts and the key word is USED. We take lots of pictures and in our descriptions we actually make our parts sound bad because we mention all the defects. We still get someone expecting a dent or scratch to disappear in shipment and when they get it they didnt see the picture or read the description and then they feel WE did something wrong and they give us a bad feedback and in the meantime we have already given them the positive for fast payment. I would have given them NO feedback before giving them a positive. How many times does a seller hear that they have a lower score than the buyer and the buyer blames us saying we are living up to ebay standards. Its easy to have a 100% if ALL you do is buy and never have to sell to a buyer that expects USED to be NEW at a cheap used part... go buy it new at a dealership and see what you pay.