Buyers on eBay are not leaving feedback for purchased items?

[wavesales]

Hi Everyone,

Earlier on I checked my sales and feedback and I cannot understand why buyers are not leaving feedback for my purchased items, I even have repeat buyers not leaving feedback as well, I have not had any buyers contacting me with any issues but still, buyers are not leaving feedback. What a strange phenomenon it is very bizarre indeed I've never seen this in 20 years. Even the products that I have sold for years are top quality items and still no feedback.

Is anyone else on here having the same or similar issues?

[wavesales]

Let's not get off-topic, My original post is about why buyers are not leaving feedback this is nothing to do with the difference between feedback left and feedback received.

OK, Why do you think there is a difference between both buyer's and seller's feedback or in your terms a "contradiction" there is no contradiction there is a Valid Reason for this. You are obviously not clued with eBay systems to even understand. Have you got it yet?.

The reason for the difference is quite simple, some buyers leave feedback very late and I don't see it then when you try to leave feedback maybe the following day it won't let you because it has exceeded the time limit set by eBay but there should be "NO BLOCK OR TIME LIMIT" on sellers leaving feedback because if eBay allowed sellers to LEAVE FEEDBACK indefinitely when a buyer has left it there would be no problem and when this arises it annoys me and I always contact the buyer to explain that I cannot leave feedback.

End Of Message 

[the-nutwood-collection]

I don't think all feedback is being correctly registered by the eBay system.

I leave feedback when I print the packing slip, simply as a way to record that the order is in progress.  If the pen icon is black, I've printed the packing slip.

I get numerous messages from eBay asking me to leave feedback, but it's all for orders I've processed so I must have left feedback - it's part of my order management routine.

It's just yet another eBay 'glitch'.

[studioonline]

I am in the same boat as you. I have buyers who sent me pm telling me that they have received the item and loved it but would not leave feedback, some have bought multiple times and everytime they message me but no feedback. Two people sent me a card by post thanking me for my item. I am puzzled and frustrated as I should have had lots of feedbacks... I had professional power sellers with thousands of feedbacks buying from me several times, no feedback. Sadly, we know how important the feedback is for a customer it shows that we do things right. I find it very disappointing and has taken away the joy of listing. I have been researching quite a bit and I found out, few of the big sellers have private bids and feedbacks, to protect their customers annonymity. I also found out people prefer private bids / buy it now due to gifting to others, or when buying high price items and they want to stay anonymous.

Today, I have been trying aimlesly watching youtube videos and reading articles as how to change the settings to private bids when selling and none of them was relevant. I am listing on a tablet which has limited options but even when I tried to findout on the laptop, I honestly do not know where or how to do the changes. I hope my findings and conclusions regarding the private bidding/buying helps sellers and I would truly appreciate if anyone can help me out as to how to change the settings to private bid/buy it now so I can protect the buyers privacy in which I hope they would a feedback. 

I brought all my listings down in one attempt and suggestion that you can't do private when you have listings. I should relist them later on. Any help would be very much appreciated it. Good luck to all of you, we all need it at such times.

[therma-tec]

Private listings are not the reason if feedback is left or not, lol.

The simple truth is that the majority of people can't be bothered!

I have left 8330 positives (0 negatives) and only received 4393 (only 3917 are shown for some reason) so now I don't bother at all.

At the end of the day feedback is a pointless, outdated excersise especially for buyers.

The 60 day time limit for leaving feedback is excessive and should be much shorter imo.

[ashley*and*ollie]

Personally I think it's due to the change in the way people view online shopping.  When eBay started it was a big deal, and so it was important to say that something was good, went well etc... or badly.

These days - I'm just as likely, if not more so to buy something online rather than pop to a local shop.  They're sort of considered the same - just shopping.... I wouldn't leave a review everytime I pop into Asda or M&S - so I don't think to leave one everytime I buy something online.  I receive an item, it's just fine, that's normal - nothing to report, I carry on with my day.

[thesmokingrunner]

"You are obviously not clued with eBay systems to even understand. Have you got it yet?" Bit rude that, wavesales. Members are only trying to help provide an answer to your question.

Yes it went a little sideways when it was pointed out that you have left less feedback than you have received, and that actually may well be the answer: if you leave feedback buyers will respond in kind.

Feedback is probably more important to a seller than it is to a buyer. You need to treat the buyer as more than just another sale. Try that and you might get something back. Treat others and all that...

And as for eBay allowing sellers to leave feedback indefinitely - are you serious? Really? You get 90 days already. Three months. That's more than enough. I'd be really wary of buying anything from a business that took three months to respond, let alone indefintitely.

I'll not be posting on this thread again. I get the impression that you don't appreciate some of the responses because they don't fit your narative.  Sorry about that but this is a forum for discussion, not affirmation.

[237ben]

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@kempseykate wrote:

I think some of it may be down to 'review fatigue' as well! 

Just recently I seem to get messages for feedback for everything I do - not only stuff I buy or services I use but doctor and dentist as well. I'm waiting for M&S to get in touch to ask if we enjoyed the sandwiches we made with the bread and ham we bought from there this morning!

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I agree. 

Over a 24 hour period I’ve had 27 notifications/emails/messages from various sources all requesting feedback/reviews. Of the three shops I was in yesterday, two assistants asked me do their online 'how did we do", survey (and give them my personal data in return for an insignificant chance of winning their draw). 

In the same idle idle moment I randomly chose an eBay purchase I made for around £5 then traced all the related (and mostly automated) messages I’d received from the seller, eBay, courier, etc. In total, this one purchase generated seventeen messages to me, almost all of which were completely irrelevant. Heaven knows how many more unnecessary notifications were received by the seller. 

[237ben]

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@wavesales wrote:

Let's not get off-topic, My original post is about why buyers are not leaving feedback this is nothing to do with the difference between feedback left and feedback received.

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Do you leave feedback/reviews every time you buy something? 

[frenchcollection]

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@studioonline wrote:

I would truly appreciate if anyone can help me out as to how to change the settings to private bid/buy it now so I can protect the buyers privacy in which I hope they would a feedback. 

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I think you might be conflating two separate things.
Private feedback: You can make your own feedback private - but you cannot sell when you have private feedback, only buy.
Private listings: These are largely pointless nowadays (as is the above) as no one can see buyers' IDs except the buyer and the seller; also, if you look at someone else's 'feedback as buyer' the item titles no longer show. (This changed a while back.)

[watchfan700uk]

It seemed to get worse from about late 2020 when I was getting 700 feedbacks per month off 1200 sales in the boom pandemic year . Now I am getting 150 a month from 600 sales. No idea why this is. I do leave automatic feedback.

[bennotbill]

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@frenchcollection wrote:

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Private listings: These are largely pointless nowadays (as is the above) as no one can see buyers' IDs except the buyer and the seller; also, if you look at someone else's 'feedback as buyer' the item titles no longer show.

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I think for ordinary listings this doesn't attract extra bids but just the opposite. With many probably thinking it's just to cover up the sellers bidding on their own items.

[bennotbill]

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@237ben wrote:

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Over a 24 hour period I’ve had 27 notifications/emails/messages from various sources all requesting feedback/reviews. Of the three shops I was in yesterday, two assistants asked me do their online 'how did we do", survey (and give them my personal data in return for an insignificant chance of winning their draw). 

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This seems pretty widespread now. I used to enter many online competitions with usually not much more than my name and address. Now for the slim chance of winning some inconsequential "prize" they want to know everything, just stopping short of asking for your firstborn child. So I no longer bother.

[wavesales]

Hi thesmokingrunner,

Yes, it was slightly rude but again as you stated he basically was saying it was because I had not left any feedback this is clearly not the case. Maybe he was only trying to help but replying with an answer which is miles from the truth is not good.

I have been on these boards for years and have helped hundreds if not thousands of people with problems with some new sellers and learning from some older sellers.

I do try not to get personal but the reply I received came across to me as "personal" as you clearly picked up hence the slightly rude reply back.  I do not come on these boards to have a go at anybody and I will try to help out with any technical issues.

I agree with 90% of sellers on here that there is more than one reason for this issue but what I do know is it started in early 2020 up to now. I know now that this is not an isolated case and thousands of sellers are affected.

If I was such a bad person I would not of lasted this long and I do apoligise if I have upset anybody.😀.

Many thanks to all the sellers that have contributed to this post, as it is now starting to build a picture of issues that are causing the problems.

Remember this, we are all in this together, we have some very hard times ahead, lets all stick together!!!

Thank You.

[magpiecorner1]

I've just gone through 15 purchases this morning, easiest way to keep track is to use the app.  I am not usually up when the postie comes, so I open the mail with my morning cuppa.  Easy enough to check what I have, downright impossible sometimes to leave feedback - the feedback button is right in front of me, I can fill in the comment, give the stars and the wee beggar won't then allow feedback!  So then its a matter of doing it later in the day on the computer - and I often don't! 

Leaving feedback for buyers is relatively easy, I do a few personal comments, the rest I can do automatically - but as far as I know, there is no automated system for leaving feedback as a buyer - which I would really like.

Thus, I am a guilty as anyone else. 

[magpiecorner1]

To be fair, there are lots of reasons for discrepancies, rather than couldn't be bothered. 

Feedback on multi orders doesn't always show as individual feedback - hence thermo-tec having an anomaly.

I get a lot of auto feedback as soon as I have paid, but I have never left feedback before estimating the item has arrived.  As I always handwrite a personal note it seems to generate a huge amount of messages, folk letting me know that its arrived - some lovely lovely messages but not always feedback as well, so perhaps people are now going for the personal touch.  The new option to leave longer messages has resulted in some mini novels - but I think that it is a great thing to have very personal, and often enthusiastic opinions, so I am very happy with the new direction feedback is heading.

Timescales certainly come into the equation for me - I do feedback in batches and time marches on, it doesn't  happen often but when I leave the auto feedback, the system doesn't allow me to leave feedback on some items, I actually don't always know why - but I reckon at least occasionally I am out of time, though to be fair we do have a few accounts, my husband is meticulous about leaving feedback for all his car related purchases on his private account, and would never occur to him to leave even one for his many many sales on his business accounts - I reckon he thinks automatic feedback is that the fairies do it for him!

[treemas]

I would say just be grateful for the sale and never mind the feedback. It is always nice to get feedback but sometimes it can be negative so just concentrate on sales and be happy with that. That is my opinion.

[hill-walker]

I have no great problem with buyers not leaving me FB; yes, it would be nice; yes, it would give potential buyers a better steer on me; but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter much.

What I do find is annoying, is that when I use the https://www.ebay.co.uk/fdbk/leave_feedback link, top of the page, with no way to delete it, is a non payer, from weeks ago! As eBay automatically cancelled the sale for non payment, and they presumably got a strike, why would eBay now expect me to leave them +ve feedback?

[padanpcparts]

Spot on 237ben. I have the same experience - feedback for this, leave a review, pls go through our automated feedback system, can you give us a review and on and on. These days, if I get asked to fill in a survey I am likely to shop elsewhere. I just have better things to do with my time. 

[essexicingcentre]

Just checked my feedback and most buyers are not leaving feedback 

[hill-walker]

I don't know if it will help, but I have now amended my "thank you" note, that goes out with each item, pointing out that whilst FB is completely voluntary, it is very much appreciated, and that once a buyer leaves FB for me, it gets automatically left for them too.

Might help... might not; time will tell.