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FilthyRaider
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Reg'd: Thu
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Loc: It's dark very dark.......
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Well, it's coming. It has been rumoured for months after someone translated a foreign eBay.com site.
Coming soon will be the inability for a seller to leave a buyer anything but No feedback or a Positive. So a seller is unable to leave Negative or Neutral for buyers.
Now a lot of eBay sellers are through the roof on this, but personally after thinking about it I can only see one downside.
The pluses are you can actually rate a seller now with no worries about retaliation - well, apart from the nasty email you might get. You do have to 'cool off' for three days before it can go through, but that is supposed to get you to sort it out with the seller.
The only negative I could initially think of (sorry for the pun)is the fact that you could no longer neg non payers. But on the counter side of that you will be able to block 5000 bad buyers as opposed to the current 1000. Also what is the point of a buyer neg? It doesn't stop them buying, does it? It's not like the seller has a choice. I prefer just to follow eBay's Unpaid Item Dispute and put a strike against a non payer - that restricts their account (Sellers have always been able to set that they will not take bids off buyers with recent strikes) and eventually can get them kicked off.
The ONLY real downside for a seller, that I can see, is that punters will turn to Negative rather than actually try to sort out a problem. Will be interesting to see what happens as some sellers are calling for a Strike! and not a fat lot happened out of the last one.
EBay is basically someone else's playground, and as a Buyer or Seller you just have to abide by the rules.
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I loved my grandmother very much.......and she fetched a good price on eBay.
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Ellen
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Reg'd: Tue
Posts: 1584
Loc: Bucks, England.
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I am shocked to read that sellers will not be able to leave negatives or neutrals. I have never left a negative yet, but it was useful to be able to threaten a negative if a buyer was slow paying or non-paying even. There are lots of time-wasters who bid with no intention of paying, so are they going to get away with it? Buyers also have the privilege of grading the seller by the star system, a seller has no such comeback. I have not listed anything since mid-December and was just thinking of starting up again...but now...having second thoughts, with all the changes going on.
Just another way ebay canes the UK sellers, in the USA they often have 'one cent listing days' ONE CENT??? that's half a pence to us. The cheapest we get is maybe 10 pence listing days. After paying listing fees, a percentage of the final value plus VAT....is it really worth it? Postal charges go up again soon, although in some post offices ebay packages are all that keeps them going. I think I may just do a carboot sale in the Spring and get rid of it all, instead of lining the ebay coffers even more.
Ellen
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 Visit my web *HERE*
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FilthyRaider
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Reg'd: Thu
Posts: 472
Loc: It's dark very dark.......
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Can't agree more about the one cent days when the best we have had lately have been 'half price' days.
The issue of feedback: At the end of the day what good does negging a bad buyer actually do? When they bid or buy off you, you can't filter them out. So to be blunt it is little more than giving someone the finger who cuts you up when driving. Satisfies the demons but otherwise they can still carry on driving!
Best route is ALWAYS to file an Unpaid Item Dispute and block them and issue them with an Unpaid Strike. I think three strikes is enough to get someone kicked off, but I have seen loads of people with bad buying feedback still going. Why? Because the sellers flicked the 'neg finger' but did nothing else.
EBay are doing it to stop rogue sellers using the threat of feedback as a way of avoiding bad feedback for bad service or product. THis forum alone is filled with people saying how they wanted to leave a neg but did not want one back.My main concern on feedback is that some buyers will now start leaving negs and neutrals as they know there will be no comebacks.
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I loved my grandmother very much.......and she fetched a good price on eBay.
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Ellen
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Reg'd: Tue
Posts: 1584
Loc: Bucks, England.
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well, I still think it's unfair. There are plenty of rogue buyers too. My sister sold an expensive item, the buyer paid and was given positive feedback. The buyer then complained of non delivery, so she was refunded her money. A few days later the goods turned up and the buyer signed for them. However she did not repay my sister or return the goods, so she got the item for nothing. It was reported to ebay who said it had to be settled between the buyer and seller personally, they would not strike the buyer as a non payer, as she did pay originally. My sister emailed many times and got no replies so she obtained the phone number of the buyer from ebay. When she called the buyer she was told each time she was not available. This was fraud, but ebay did nothing to help, apart from giving the phone number.
Another instance, my daughter sold some Royal Doulton items, which were bid on and won by a woman who took ages to pay. Then she said they hadn't all been received, quoting the most expensive as having not arrived, and asked for a refund. As my daughter works in a post office she knew always to send items to be signed for, so she checked and found they had all been signed for by the same person at the same time. When she emailed the buyer to say she had proof she had received the item, she eventually admitted she had got it, and said she found it had been just left on her doorstep after all. So you see, neither of these buyers looked like cheats at first but respectable ladies bidding. If a seller can't actually leave a comment to warn other sellers then it's too one sided and favours the buyer too much. Without sellers ebay would be nothing. They need to take care they don't kill the goose that lays the golden egg!
Ellen
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Visit my web *HERE*
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Ellen
regular
Reg'd: Tue
Posts: 1584
Loc: Bucks, England.
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Other on-line UK auction sites
for people like me who are sick of being ripped off by ebay.
Ellen
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Visit my web *HERE*
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FilthyRaider
regular
Reg'd: Thu
Posts: 472
Loc: It's dark very dark.......
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Ellen, I do agree, but, and it is a big BUT, at the end of day it's EBay's playground and they make the rules. As I may have mentioned before, after the last lot of changes (about which I really wasn't happy) we doubled our income, so this time round I'm 'happier' to see what results it brings.
Trouble is, as I said before, leaving feedback does not warn a seller other than you trying to cancel bids - most business sellers on eBay use Buy Nows, and you cannot stop a buyer with bad feedback (unless they are in the minus) from buying.
Today's example: Buyer buys item off me on 25th Jan at 23:33PM. I send the next morning (Saturday) First Class Recorded. Today the postie rings the bell and I am signing for the return of the package. She hasn't bothered to collect it, even though delivery was attempted on 28th. Today I know that she can't threaten me with a neg cos she knows what I will do back - and I'm sure you will agree with VERY good reason.
But when the changes happen?? Who knows.
Personally I have traded for a long time on eBay with no negs (touch wood) to date. Even a Neutral I had two years ago was withdrawn.
When the first one comes, it will be hard to take, but I will be looking for other actions to carry out. Nothing sinister, but blocking will be one, reporting them another.
For the other auction sites - nice link.
However, eBid is practically dead. No response off there for almost 12 months. TazBar we do get the odd sale but we have a 1 in 2 unpaid rate on it as well. Amazon was nice, but I got told off for selling a similar item rather than the same item. Basically if Amazon don't list it, you can't sell it.
Most eBayers chomp on about their own website and for a few quid a year you can bring in a return, but you have to get traffic to it.
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I loved my grandmother very much.......and she fetched a good price on eBay.
Edited by FilthyRaider (Fri Feb 08 2008 11:58 AM)
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greysts
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Reg'd: Thu
Posts: 17426
Loc: Colchester
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I use eBay infrequently and have never had any problems either as a seller or buyer but I do try and stick to what appear to be reputable sites. I'm not too worried about a few negatives when I'm buying, I don't see how you can avoid at least one angry customer a year!
However Amazon is a whole different world. I really do not like the Amazon Market Place. It's very difficult to find out what you really will pay at the end of the process because the postage rates are so well hidden. You normally have to add the item to your basket and go through nearly to the end to find out. I saw some Canon cartridges for sale at around £4 each which was remarkably good for the genuine article. Right at the end it turned they wanted £3.50 postage. That wouldn't have been to bad if it was, say, £3.50 for up to 5 cartridges. Turned out it was £3.50 for every cartridge!
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Do you know that we're all in line for succession to the throne? Really?
Well, if forty-eight million, two hundred thousand, seven hundred and one people died I'd be Queen.
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FilthyRaider
regular
Reg'd: Thu
Posts: 472
Loc: It's dark very dark.......
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The problem we had selling on Amazon Marketplace was when someone bought multiple items. There is no facility to discount postage and Amazon were charging some ridiculous amount per item - actually I reckon it was £3.50 - that we could not alter. Your best bet is often to email the seller and ask them if they have a discount available. Most do.
I'll be honest, unless it is actually sold by Amazon, though, I rarely buy from there.
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I loved my grandmother very much.......and she fetched a good price on eBay.
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Baz94
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Reg'd: Tue
Posts: 739
Loc: Kent
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Personally, It wont bother me not being able to leave feedback for buyers.
As mentioned, sellers often use feedback as an insurance to make sure they don't get any neg even if they are bad sellers.
People seem to be getting narked by this but I don't see why.
When a customer leaves a store, you don't see the staff calling out to others about the customer but you DO get customers saying about their opinion of the store.
I agree with this.
Many people wont leave neg feedback for a seller for fear of getting one back and this is understandable as many sellers do leave retaliatory feedback and this can spoil someones 100%.
If a customer is non paying etc then simply don't post the item and report them to e-bay.
I buy and sell and I personally like the idea of sellers not being able to leave feedback.
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Braindead
regular
Reg'd: Fri
Posts: 446
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My current experience makes me support buyers not being able to leave negative feedback.
I just bought an item & paid for it the same day by PayPal (the only option). The seller didn't accept my payment immediately, but (unknown to me) relisted the item as a buy it now, for 25% more than I paid. It sold, he accepted the other payment and rejected mine. Needless to say he tells me it was all a mistake.
I've left negative feedback, but now I'm waiting for him to do the same in retaliation.
As Baz94 says, I had to think long and hard about whether to leave the feedback and run the risk of losing my 100% positive record.
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FilthyRaider
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Reg'd: Thu
Posts: 472
Loc: It's dark very dark.......
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Our recent experience with buyers has been one making us wait 9 days to finally pay by Postal Order (£2.99), another emailed to say 'My two year old clicked the button' (oh yeah? Twice?), another buying Valentine's item on Saturday who still has not paid and will probably pay shortly and DEMAND delivery by 14th, and that is just one week.
As I said earlier, sellers leaving feedback is and always was pointless. We still get buyers now complaining because we leave feedback after they have left their's: this despite the fact we use auto feedback, it's clearly stated in the listing and the transaction isn't really over until the buyer is happy.
All I can see as a concern is that 100% will be a thing of the past, and buyers will use feedback first to express displeasure rather than contacting us.
To date we have refunded in full (including return postage where applicable) every buyer who has had a problem (not many of them, mind). All of them have been perfectly happy, but all of them contacted us first - and some probably only did that because they knew if they left negative we would have retaliated.
And would we have retaliated? In one case I measured something in cms, then listed it in inches. Buyer unhappy that items were smaller, but I gave him half his money back. My mistake - and I would NOT have retaliated.
In another, a buyer bought an item, didn't like it, and we refunded in full (grudgingly, but that is the DSR rules). Would we have retaliated? Hell, yes. Not our fault and we acted impeccably.
A final example: We sold an alumminum tool that the buyer left positive feedback for, but said 'Pity it was actually plastic'. It IS alumminum, but so light the dolt could not tell. It even says so on the packet. Did we retaliate? Yes, with a neutral telling him to contact us first next time!
I'll state again what I think I have said in another thread: When eBay last changed things, business has doubled since. This new load of changes is actually cleaning out the chaff, so can only help again. If I get my first neg, I'll stew for a few days (consider the Baz 'slap') but at the end of the day, I'll get on and sell properly. Maybe even find something to learn from it - you never learn from praise only the complaints.
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I loved my grandmother very much.......and she fetched a good price on eBay.
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Baz94
regular
Reg'd: Tue
Posts: 739
Loc: Kent
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lol, the Baz slap!
Makes me sound a right thug lol
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FilthyRaider
regular
Reg'd: Thu
Posts: 472
Loc: It's dark very dark.......
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I thought it was from The Karate Kid!
Wax on, wax off, Baz slap!!
Anyway, my Valentine's buyer FINALLY emailed me to say her boyfriend had dumped her and she was sooo sorry, but could I cancel the sale and forget all about it...............Potential for the best excuse of the week, that.
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I loved my grandmother very much.......and she fetched a good price on eBay.
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Baz94
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Reg'd: Tue
Posts: 739
Loc: Kent
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That IS the best excuse I have ever heard!!!!!!
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greysts
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Reg'd: Thu
Posts: 17426
Loc: Colchester
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I hope you offered to send the goods anyway, simply as your way of saying how sorry you felt for her and if there was anything you could do that would make her feel better.......
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Do you know that we're all in line for succession to the throne? Really?
Well, if forty-eight million, two hundred thousand, seven hundred and one people died I'd be Queen.
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Braindead
regular
Reg'd: Fri
Posts: 446
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Perhaps unsurprisingly, the seller I mentioned in my earlier post, has now left negative feedback, blatantly lying about the length of time I took to pay, but what can I do?
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FilthyRaider
regular
Reg'd: Thu
Posts: 472
Loc: It's dark very dark.......
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Your best bet is to simmer down a bit and then hit the Mutual Feedback Withdrawal form. I KNOW you want the devil to have a neg, but as I think I may have posted further back, negs are the eBay equivalent to two fingers on the road. Satisfying initially, but then the other driver follows you home..............
Was it worth it? If not then do the MFWF. Otherwise you can switch to the 'animated fist shaking' which is where you REPLY TO FEEDBACK RECEIVED and put your side of the story - but in 80 words so THINK about it without being too angry or you will look like a nut!
Oh, the Valentine's Heart Broken Love Story. I just cancelled the sale, and let it go. She's actually left feedback for me saying what a 'Great seller I am'. Think she spelt that type of seller wrong - isn't it M.U.G.?
Me, I have left nothing and won't. Cannot see the point.
Chill out. Look at the sun, the blue sky and think 'Is it really worth it?'
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I loved my grandmother very much.......and she fetched a good price on eBay.
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FilthyRaider
regular
Reg'd: Thu
Posts: 472
Loc: It's dark very dark.......
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Quote:
and if there was anything you could do that would make her feel better.......
Sorry, I just reread that! Do you think they would charge a Final Value Fee for that?
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I loved my grandmother very much.......and she fetched a good price on eBay.
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FilthyRaider
regular
Reg'd: Thu
Posts: 472
Loc: It's dark very dark.......
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Just a quick update on this topic, which I know we all find fascinating. Have a friend who's partner sells VERY high volume on eBay. He recently had five negs that he replied to in kind (none of whom actually bothered to email him first about problems) and ALL five contacted him straight away with threats to report him to eBay - as they understood sellers were not allowed to leave negative........
Er, not yet guys.
My recent experience is detailed above - the buyer that was not in to receive a First Class Recorded item. A week on and she has not responded to a PayPal invoice for redelivery postage. Now she either goes on the PC once a week (and I suppose it took her a week to get down the sorting office!) or she is waiting until I cannot answer back.
Sad, but there you go.
Another non-payer is at their Unpaid Item 'limit' today so I can claim, block and neg, if I want to, with no reprisals. Probably the last time.
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I loved my grandmother very much.......and she fetched a good price on eBay.
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Baz94
regular
Reg'd: Tue
Posts: 739
Loc: Kent
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I got ticked of with non payers and people sodding about so I now advertise everything as buy it now and immediate payment only.
I don't even accept cheques!
I CAN do this though because I buy and sell as and when I feel like it. Unfortunately, it isn't so easy to do it like that when you are selling a high number of things.
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