Ebay tweaks system - drops buyer ratings

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http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695248746,00.html
EBay tweaks system by dropping buyer ratings Stagnant numbers force move that worries sellers
[FONT=Verdana,Helvetica,Arial]By Amanda Fehd[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Helvetica,Arial]Associated Press[/FONT]
Published: January 31, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO — EBay Inc. says it's changing its user-feedback system to keep buyers from leaving, but the plan has sellers worried they'll no longer be able to weed out untrustworthy shoppers.
Buyers and sellers have been able to rate each other at the online auctioneer since its birth in 1995, when eBay founder Pierre Omidyar envisioned a virtual marketplace built on trust among buyers and sellers. Come Feb. 20, a full spectrum of feedback is welcome from buyers about sellers, while sellers can no longer give buyers negative star ratings. (more at link)
 
That's silly. So what happens then when you get a buyer who doesn't pay and you have to relist the item? It's a pain in the arse.
 
That's very crappy of them, i sell stuff on Ebay in my spare time and had no idea about this. It's not fair to sellers if they aren't going to be able to leave negative feedback. This seems so unnecessary to make changes as such. Of over 700+ transactions, i've had 3 bad buyers and one bad seller.
I have to wonder about the rationale behind this, i don't see how Ebay says they want to keep buyers from leaving, as there is always going to be a supply and demand of random items that people cannot find near them and will turn to Ebay to get at a cheaper price.
If the seller can't leave a negative, then they will just leave a neutral explaining why the buyer can't be trusted, and i don't see how that's going to make a difference in terms of buyers. Sellers will find a way to make it known that the buyer is bad either way. It's not a fair system though if the seller can't rate a negative. You'll end up having more seller's with negative feedback than buyers thus driving away people from Ebay. Many sellers are buyers as well.
 
From a buyer's perspective, the two negatives that I received were in retaliation for the valid negatives that I gave to substandard sellers. It took a lot for me to leave those negatives. I really tried to get the seller to work things out, to no avail. I only wish that I had pursued at least one seller who sent me the product, which was not in the condition that she described.

I have noticed that sellers wait until the buyer leaves feedback before they give theirs. Why is that?
 
nanandjim said:
From a buyer's perspective, the two negatives that I received were in retaliation for the valid negatives that I gave to substandard sellers. It took a lot for me to leave those negatives. I really tried to get the seller to work things out, to no avail. I only wish that I had pursued at least one seller who sent me the product, which was not in the condition that she described.

I have noticed that sellers wait until the buyer leaves feedback before they give theirs. Why is that?
Click to expand...

I used to leave feedback first before buyers, then i was having problems with buyers leaving neutral feedback for invalid reasons. (one stated that shipping was slow when it was free and within a couple days; another had said the item received wasn't compatible with something when it was). So due to this, i now have buyers leave feedback first before i do. There are buyers out there that won't go to the seller with a question or problem and are quick to leave negative or neutral feedback.
 
nanandjim said:
From a buyer's perspective, the two negatives that I received were in retaliation for the valid negatives that I gave to substandard sellers. It took a lot for me to leave those negatives. I really tried to get the seller to work things out, to no avail. I only wish that I had pursued at least one seller who sent me the product, which was not in the condition that she described.

I have noticed that sellers wait until the buyer leaves feedback before they give theirs. Why is that?
Click to expand...

I am a seller. I always wait until either I hear from the buyer that the item has been received or they have left me + feedback. If I give the buyer a positive feedback as soon as I receive the item - what happens if the buyer doesn't receive the item, or receives it and doesn't like it and starts complaining ..... Not much I can do if I already left them positive feedback.
 
speaking as a buyer who has one negative rating, i can say that this is a welcome thing for me. I tried to buy a 10 dollar comic book from this A&*#$Y## in southern california, and when the account that my pay pal went to was closed (due to splitting the bank accounts with my ex wife) I called the store and offered his wife to use my new credit card number and they refused, then they left me a negative feedback which i still have, even though i have bought some stuff that was 450.00 plus shipping, i still have this neg feedback. We went through the crappy ebay dispute process, and my negative feedback was erased from his ratings (ch ching ebay wants money) and his was not erased from mine.

since that day, i have not bought anything off ebay.
hopefully now i can buy without paranoia.



~lwr~
 
Keep both parties feedback hidden, until both have left feedback. Zero chance for retaliation. Problem solved.
 
I have had buyers leave no feedback, as is their choice. smooth transaction, no complaints. It looks funny, though. Other buyers look at this and wonder if there are unresolved disputes and do they want to take a chance? I didn't like Ebay's last rating revision and they are targeting sellers, yet again.
I only had one goofball seller that I bought from but we resolved it quickly. I have moved more of my sales to Craig's List because of what Ebay has been doing.
 
The ned to lower their listing fees to keep the sellers, which would keep the buyers.
 
poco said:
I am a seller. I always wait until either I hear from the buyer that the item has been received or they have left me + feedback. If I give the buyer a positive feedback as soon as I receive the item - what happens if the buyer doesn't receive the item, or receives it and doesn't like it and starts complaining ..... Not much I can do if I already left them positive feedback.
Click to expand...
Well, I figure that the seller has gotten my money. In exchange, I want the item delivered to me in the terms that it was described. I do contact the seller to see when the item has been shipped and when I can expect it. I also contact the seller if there is a problem. As I said, I would not leave a negative unless it was truly warranted. In some cases, I have been known to leave no feedback when I really should have left a negative. That's just me, though. :)
 
Paladin said:
Keep both parties feedback hidden, until both have left feedback. Zero chance for retaliation. Problem solved.
Click to expand...
In theory that sounds good; however, there are substandard sellers out there who may never leave feedback. It would work to their advantage to just keep the feedback hidden!!
 
wildTrose said:
The ned to lower their listing fees to keep the sellers, which would keep the buyers.
Click to expand...

Well, they did lower the insertion fee to 3% I think. BUT, they upped the final value fee, which you pay when it sells, to over 8% of the final value.

It's like they are giving a big F U to all the sellers, which by the way is the reason it's ebay and not some little rinky dink auction site.

I'm taking my wares to Etsy.
 
I have bought and sold many times on E-bay and always left the feedback on the buyer after I recieved payment.

Lately after buying I've noticed the seller doesn't leave feedback until I do. Now the buyer has to wait until product is recieved before they can leave feedback, but the seller should give feedback as soon as buyer pays! JMO
 
I went along with a friend to an Ebay class at a local college thinking that I could pick up some new ideas after being on Ebay for years. This instructor strongly suggested the seller not leave feedback until after the buyer did, indicating that the sale was completed and final. I don't know if this is the direction all instructors are moving in, but could be.
 
nanandjim said:
In theory that sounds good; however, there are substandard sellers out there who may never leave feedback. It would work to their advantage to just keep the feedback hidden!!
Click to expand...

Easy workaround: they could also keep track of incomplete feedbacks as a way of indicating who is bad at leaving feedback. A certain number of incompletes should lower your rating.

They just need to list a seller/buyer's amount of incomplete feedbacks (aka which party is responsible for it being completed, one or the other or both), and then make it available to the pubilc. Then they can make up their own mind as whether or not to trust someone who has a laundry list of incomplete feedbacks.
 
I have been gipped on alot of stuff on ebay but I do think that they shouldnt do this, it isnt fair for sellers
 
I've only bought a few things on Ebay...a bass guitar, computer game, old board game. I've had pretty much no trouble. I might have had some misunderstandings on shipping to which point, I talk it out with the seller. There have been plenty of sellers that do way better customer service than large corporations...
 
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