Changes to Feedback in the Selling Experience

[uk-news@ebay]

Introducing two new changes to feedback 

Over the past few months, we’ve been working to improve the feedback experience. We are making these changes in order to give potential buyers better insight into your products. 

We’ve started to introduce images on feedback for listings with more than one unit

Starting this month, some sellers will be able to preview feedback images on their own sold items for listings with multiple quantities. At this time, other eBay buyers and sellers will not be able to view images in your feedback. Once this rollout is complete, we will update you as we expand image feedback visibility to other eBay members.

To date, we’ve received just shy of a million feedback images from buyers on multi-quantity listings - and the vast majority showcase the great products and positive experiences buyers have had with sellers.

We appreciate that there may be some concerns that not all of the images posted will be positive. But rest assured, we take the protection of your reputation very seriously and have built moderation systems that review photos for inappropriate material. 

You’ll be able to report any inappropriate feedback images in the same way that you’d typically report inappropriate text feedback. We’ll review the reported feedback and take action to remove it if it violates policy.

For more information, visit our images, video and text policy.

We’ve updated the default sort to highlight the most relevant feedback

A large share of feedback is made up of generic feedback like “A+++ eBayer” or one word answers like “good”. However, in an age where buyers are increasingly looking at reviews before making a purchase, this isn’t always helpful. 

By updating the default sort on listings to highlight the most relevant feedback and deprioritise more generic feedback, this will enable buyers to receive a better understanding of what’s great about your products.

Please note that this is simply the default sort. Buyers will still be able to see feedback for all previous transactions, and on your feedback profile page, buyers can easily sort feedback by timeframe should they want to.

[cbennissupplies]

Dont you just know this is NOT going to end well at all, its going to be a happy 2024 welcome to feedback hell. next year will have 20 years on ebay so seen a lot experienced a lot as for feedback it so heavily biased it is no longer a fair system and when there is an issue do ebay help to remove any feedback that infringed seller protection policy ? well NO

now pictures? why what use it that at all ? really? the only thing that will happen there is more confusion when people upload things totally irrelevant to what they purchased , negs stating received broken with pic, what about the replacement you received? majority of buyers these days on selling sites like ebay lean towards always looking for the negative aspect of a purchase and seldom think before doing something. " keyboard heroes " is the modern term.

yes the old proverbial is well and truly going to hit the fan. big time

[darth_baggins]

On my buying account I leave 'good thanks', or 'great thanks' unless there's a problem. And pretty much the only reason I leave feedback at all is so I know whether I've received it or not.

I think once a seller gets into the 10s of 1000s, feedback is pretty meaningless.

[ducatimondo]

Is this newly updated feedback supposed to be dynamic?

It still shows the exact same feedbacks since it was rolled out as being "the most relevant", even though we have had hundreds of feedback across 2 different accounts since then.

One of our accounts still shows a negative feedback that is eBay's fault, for not making the vehicle compatibility tool work properly, then the buyer blaming us for it not fitting a bike, that we never said it would fit...
So much for showing the most relevant...

FWIW, this is the definition of dynamic:

dynamic

/dʌɪˈnamɪk/

adjective

1. 1.

   (of a process or system) characterized by constant change, activity, or progress.

   "a dynamic economy"

[theelench]

Well at least ebay's consistent, unchanging "dynamic" FB to go with unchanging "dynamic" FDDs.

Despite, from time to time, changing four out of five of the variables mentioned in that dynamic calculation, it (almost) always gets the same answer   --  the buyer should get their parcel one or two days after my dispatch window closes.

Perhaps ebay uses a dictionary where "Dynamic" is defined as:

(of a process or system) characterized by subterfuge, allowing the designer to always get the result that supports its agenda.  

[horde-prime]

The new feedback system is an absolute joke - in the past I've had legitimate  negative  feedback I've left for others removed simply because the seller asked for it to be removed. The new system should probably resolve that except I now have a situation where I was selling items and struck up a deal with another seller that I would offer him four items at a reduced rate and him the same - except after I'd accepted his very low offers he rescinded on his part of the deal.

That's OK I'll cancel the sale and refund him in full, nothing lost- low and behold he leaves me four negative feedback, on my otherwise perfect 20year old feedback score, so I appeal it and get told nope I have to accept it as him being legitimately disappointed- can't appeal it so I'm left with this when its clear tous feedback when it's very clear to see its malicious and no sale has actually been completed 

[the_book_seekers]

Despite withdrawing his side of the bargain he seems to have expected you to keep up yor side of things - 'Annulla senza motivo' means cancelled for no reason. 

[discre]

As a buyer ALL I want to see from feedback is how reliable the seller is. I have absolutely zero interest in what products he/she/it has sold in the past. 

I want to know that when I pay my money I'm going to get exactly what I've paid for,  well packaged, in a reasonable timeframe, and NOT from China when the listing says it's being shipped from the UK.  As a seller that's what I want my prospective buyers to see - WITH ONE CLICK!

This new system is just garbage from both the buyer's and seller's perspective!

[down-in2u]

RE: Images on feedback

These should only be allowed to be posted with product reviews and displayed on the product listing page where it is most relevant!

EBay needs to separate seller feedback and product reviews as they are 2 separate things 

Random images should not be appearing in seller feedback

Seller feedback is there for the buyer to rate their buying experience with seller

Product review is there for the buyer to share with others their own opinion and experience of a product they purchased

As per other market place platforms you will only ever see buyers images under product reviews on the actual listing page - they are not mashed in with seller feedback.

This needs a serious amendment

[bennotbill]

---

uk-news@ebay wrote:

We’ve updated the default sort to highlight the most relevant feedback

---

Well that's gone. It's good to see that someone at eBay has finally realised what every man and his dog knew from the get go, that the most relevant is the most recent.

Now if the pictures go as well we'll have a full house on the sensible bingo card.

[douglaspuglas]

---

@bennotbill wrote:

---

uk-news@ebay wrote:

We’ve updated the default sort to highlight the most relevant feedback

---

Well that's gone. It's good to see that someone at eBay has finally realised what every man and his dog knew from the get go, that the most relevant is the most recent.

Now if the pictures go as well we'll have a full house on the sensible bingo card.

---

It might have changed back on browsers but the default feedback setting on my eBay app is still most relevent not most recent.

It's a jumbled mess.

And the photos it tells me are there aren't visible.

[bennotbill]

I've seen a few app user posts where they are saying they can't see any feedback.

I expect changes are being changed and there is a mountain of catch up going on.

[latespider]

This change to the default setting of feedback is allowing sellers to 'hide' recent bad feedback. I've found that recent negetive feedback with detailed comments, is appearing several pages down the feedback. As a buyer, the MOST RELEVANT feedback is how they are performing NOW, not at various times in the past. Allow viewers to change the sort order IF they wish, but this shouldn't be the default. Most people only look at the first few feedbacks that show up and don't notice that they are all new. Sellers can 'go bad' but this new default is allowing them to 'hide' for a while and so other buyers can get caught out.

Newest Feedback First should be the default order - it is the most relevant!!!

[robmar0se]

I have just become aware of this change, in my opinion I almost believe it is fraudulent.

Most relevant, how is this determined? 

On what grounds does Ebay believe hiding the last feedback, which in this case was a neg, is not most relevant?

I have never understood why, and on what grounds, websites belive that most relevant is the default?  Relevant to who?

If we ran a poll as to what people want to seen is in fact the most recent feedback/comments - then if necessary they could opt to see the "most relevant".

Caveat emptor!

In my opinion the driver for this is to try and drive up sales, as I suspect that bay is hurting over competiotn and economic downturn.

[robmar0se]

Why wasn't this posted on the buyer boards?

Surely we want to know about these things too?

[theelench]

Although I agree with you "...that ebay is hurting over competition and economic downturn."  I think it's also hurting because it's shot itself in the foot once / several times too often.

All the pointless changes (including this one) that have made doing anything here more long-winded and complicated, especially when the 'improvement' replaced something that worked perfectly, or if not perfectly, still worked better / easier than the replacement.

Withholding funds from sellers.  Skewing the search / hiding listings benefiting neither buyers nor sellers.  The now total unreliability of any Fantasy Delivery Date that ebay thinks might please buyers, until the ridiculously over optimistic delivery fails to materialise, to name but a few of so many since the introduction of MP and the loss of PP.  Which was probably the biggest mistake of all.

Yes, it is facing other woes but also, IMO, it's suffering from a hefty dose of self-inflicted pain that it thoroughly deserves.

[discre]

Couldn't have put it better.

It's as if eBay has a death wish and just keeps making the site worse and worse and worse until it finally dies.

At the end of the day it's just appallingly bad management.  If it didn't have a virtual monopoly on online auctions (which bizarrely it has tried to kill more than once) it would have come to a sorry end years ago.

You have to ask, just how much worse can it get?

[theelench]

I have no doubt whatsoever that ebay will continue its relentless drive to make itself the most horrible site to use. 

[n.uk2014]

This is the worst feedback change eBay have introduced - my most recent transactions (ie the most relevant ones) are half way down the page. It's a mess that makes no sense putting feedback from over a year ago higher than one received in the past month???

I don't support the change it makes reading a sellers feedback very difficult and gives poor results. 

[theelench]

I agree, I buy vintage glass on ebay for my collection.  

I looked at one item recently, priced at £150+, the sellers FB, which I would always check carefully before buying or bidding, had at the top of the list, a neutral -  "item damaged in transit but seller refunded".  I'd forgotten to change to the chronological option.

When I did the seller has been given 100% positive FB more recently, almost all mentioned things like "well packaged", or "arrived safely".  To me they learnt from the neutral, improved their packaging and are exactly the sort of seller that I'd buy from.

How is that not relevant even though most recent FBs could be called "generic".  Just that they are now getting repetitive "All good", "Great transaction, thank you", says a lot.  That they are now consistently proving to be sellers that have satisfied, happy buyers.  So what's the point of dredging up a month's old neutral that just muddies the water??

Ebay happily lets mega-sellers continue selling with pages of negative FB and according to legend regularly removes batches of it, so they don't look as atrocious as they really are and don't ever get to the point when ebay should chuck them off the site.

But at the same time high-lights the most negative transaction of a small seller that they can find, even when it's the exception to an otherwise spotless record.

More sabotage of private selers by ebay??