Ebay sellers or buyers not bothering to leave feedback! A recurring issue!

[martin658g]

I have been using Ebay for more than 20 years now  - often buying and sometimes selling on the platform  - usually things like records, CDs, DVDs, books, and very occasionally other household items (but rarely).
However, my main issue of discontent is one which concerns  simple plain courtesy and reciprocation from other users, whenever a transaction or purchase is made.  Whenever I purchase anything or sell anything - and respectively receive the item or dispatch it - I leave feedback to the other party. Just what is so difficult about other buyers or sellers leaving feedback - a simple thank you or comment to let us know item was received or item was satisfactory, ideal, broken, not suitable - whatever - would not go amiss. It's not the hardest thing in the world to do..... Just plain human courtesy and decency.

I have bought more than 600 items since 2004, and sold around 180.  Quite modest by anybody's standards. Yet my feedback rating to date stands at *just* 350 - a pathetic desultory tally, given than it should be at least double that by now.  The past couple of years, purchasing around 90 items, I have only received 24 reciprocal feedbacks.....this despite me even politely requesting the sellers/buyers do the same, these earnest pleas go unheeded and they simply do not bother. Is that rudeness or laziness or indifference? I really do hope that I am not alone in encountering this problem but it really shouldn't have to be like this.

The fact I am missing so much feedback is also of concern because it completely distorts the truth of my Ebay (feedback) profile and as a result, I am all too aware that Ebay will probably be wondering why I have such a large deficit as it could / might reflect badly on me as a seller or buyer - all of which is untrue as I have never had any negative feedbacks anyway. The current total / tally is completely unrepresentative of the true number of purchases or sales I have made in the last 20 years and it should be far higher.

What can be done to alert sellers and buyers to the fact that leaving feedback is as integral and important a part of buying and selling on the platform (or indeed any platform) and that it doesn't take more than a few seconds or a minute to simply post back a few short words describing the transaction, as a simple gesture of courtesy. Unless of course this is merely an indication of the wider world at large where people are more predisposed to eschewing these simple - valuable - gestures that make the customer experience a little better for all of us.

For the record I have now had seven consecutive purchases since November - six of which I have not received feedback in return for, despite me leaving them feedback first.

Apologies if this post is very lengthy but I do ask that  if people are to respond to this, they PLEASE do not resort to flaming or sarcastic replies as that merely confirms my fears about how courtesy among online communities is now an extremely rare commodity. Only constructive discussion and sharing of viewpoints here please. Thanks for reading this far.

[alexis*27]

Feedback is not integral. Nobody cares. You can be a terrible ripoff seller and you'll still have 93 or 94% feedback instead of what it should be. And once you get above about about 200 nobody cares about that either. It was a novelty back in the year 2000 but not anymore.

Leaving feedback is extra work, a lot won't do it and the actual process is terribly laborious. There is no universal feedback option - you have to do it sale by sale zzzzzzz.

Just accept half of people won't do feedback and forget about it.

[m25jet]

In some ways it can be beneficial for people not to receive feedback.  A clear example of this would be if a buyer has purchased an item from a seller but is unhappy with the goods received.  However, if the buyer can't be bothered to leave any feedback in relation to the transaction then the seller would subsequently avoid a damaging selling defect, as well as a reputation-damaging negative comment on his or her feedback history, which, if it doesn't breach any eBay rules relating to feedback, would otherwise have remained on that seller's feedback history forever.  If you are a seller and you pride yourself on always offering the highest level of service to all of your buyers but you then have the misfortune to have the buyer from Hell purchase something from you, imagine how gutting it would feel to receive what feels like unjustified negative feedback, only to be made worse by appealing to eBay to have the comment deleted and having the request for negative feedback removal turned down.  However, if that buyer didn't bother to leave any feedback then the seller's feedback history would not sustain any unjustified damage by means of defects or reputation-harming negative comments.

As you can see from the above example it is not always a good thing to receive feedback, and in some instances it is actually better to receive no feedback whatsoever in relation to a transaction than to receive the kind of feedback you would rather not have received.

[department28]

Yes, it is unfair & upsetting for a seller to get stuck with an undeserved negative. However, I would think most buyers who bother to look at feedback will judge a seller by the all the positive comments, & not be swayed by one, probably obviously undeserved, 'nasty' negative.  

[sml192]

In my opinion, the most important part is not the negative itself but how the seller responds to it, if they choose to do so, plus if there are multiple negatives whether there is any pattern to them. 

[department28]

Yes - I've often decided against buying something after reading the seller's response to a neg or neutral. Although it must be very tempting for a seller to respond angrily to criticism, especially if it is untrue, a rude or aggressive reply to reasonable criticism is very off-putting.

[t.bag54]

It would be so nice if buyers left feedback for their purchase.  Knowing the parcel has arrived safely and they are happy.

[alexis*27]

Perhaps. But have you tried leaving feedback for all the items you've bought in the last couple of months? That's 15 minutes of your life you're never getting back.

[department28]

Yes, it can be a bit time consuming, especially if you buy a lot... but I can think of worse ways of spending 15 minutes... 😄

I tend to prioritise the sellers that 'go the extra mile', by packing carefully, or answering queries politely etc - the sellers that deserve nice feedback, and appreciate it. For items like batteries or sellotape, a quick 'As described, thank you' seems sufficient.

I just saw some negative feedback left for a recipe book - apparently the book was 'perfect', but 'they are not my type of recipes'... it must be very frustrating to receive a negative feedback for a daft, or irrelevant  reason.

[t.bag54]

I always leave feedback for every purchase I make.  Never ever missed one.

[a45heaven]

If Feedback was that wonderful and meaningful , then surely ebay would have its users leaving Feedback for ebays contributions 😉 -

i know its possible to leave  a shared feedback for ebay on the existing format, but one has to be careful not to word it as to implicate the receiving members performance.

[t.bag54]

I always leave feedbacks for my purchases on day of receipt

[edwardian-dreams]

It’s courteous just to thank seller for posting on time, wrapping it well, etc 

little things matter to some of us 

[971397id]

I used to always leave feedback, not any more.

Private sellers will still get some and people who buy off me who are pleasant to deal with.

End of the day it basically has zero effect on anything, Buyers are covered for anything and everything, sellers are hung out to dry. Ebay doesn't care, i don't care any more, it's just more pointless admin.

[insidethe93]

Perhaps more buyers would leave feedback if they knew that some sellers send a discount voucher as a thanks and hopefully to encourage another purchase. For instance, two yesterday: "We appreciate your support. As a thank you for being a customer, here’s a Shop coupon" [12% off] and "As a thank you for your feedback please find a voucher for 20% off".

Of course it doesn't encourage repeat purchases every time. Fortunately for the buyer the eligibility time tends to be long e.g. the above offers expire 20th and 30th June respectively.

Both offers were from business sellers so I don't know if or how it affects the situation for private sellers. I can't remember offhand if I've received such discounts from private sellers, think so but sorry I really can't be sure without looking back in detail through my eBay inbox.

Sorry I'm late to this thread; there's been a lot to read through.

[asleepingdragon]

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@beyourb3st wrote:

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@asleepingdragon wrote:

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@nigel_paul_wright7557 wrote:

Feedback isnt compulsory.

I had a seller ask me 3 times to leave feedback.

On the third time I left a neg for "feedback harassment"

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I think this is petty and spiteful.  You could just have ignored them.  

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While I agree it's more harsh than someone spamming you three times for what is almost certainly pointless feedback, I can see why they did it. 

Zero + feedback is no good for anyone. 
300 + feedback as a buyer is great for sellers.
20 + feedback as a seller is great for buyers.
30,000 + feedback on either is no better. 
1 or more negative feedback showing serious reason to avoid is concerning for sellers and possibly more concerning for buyers. I have walked away from a seller for this. I have never walked away because someone has 471 + to find someone who has 123000+

I am on a relatively new account but been here for over a decade. I've had no end of issues but caused none. My feedback says enough already. 

The closest I will get to even remotely hinting at feedback is after issues where things get resolved adequately and I say I will leave them feedback. As I have done today after postal issues buying a product that can be questionable. Aside from absolutely poor service from "we couldn't careless at evri" it has gone ok. 

You know what would be cool ? If we focused on the bigger issues and challenged certain people cough cough companies, to do better. I only shop on ebay if I can't do similar or better somewhere else. 

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A perfect illustration of TLDR.  

[smarts-gaming]

The issue with that is that even if the seller has received negative feedback, its not really difficult to have a moan at ebay to get it removed. So you might be buying from someone with 100% glowing feedback, but it could in reality be much lower if they hadnt had all the dodgy ones removed. 

The system is broken. I sell many items a day, to leave feedback to every single buyer is redundant and a waste of my valuable time. However, I do always leave feedback as soon as I receive goods in, which I believe is right. 

If feedback hasnt been left in a few days, it should just automatically give good feedback, because you'd assume no complaints = happy/good. 

[jckl1957]

Funnily enough, Ebay have introduced this.

I believe that it's after a week, you will get an automatic good feedback comment and rating.

However, I think this is a bad move on Ebay's part.

First of all, the buyer can change the feedback.  If, as many will, the buyer believes the seller has sneakily left themselves good feedback, they might decide to change it to a neutral and leave a comment.

Secondly, if Ebay leaves me feedback, it is meaningless.  It means nothing to me or potential buyers because it has so obviously been left automatically and not by a satisfied buyer.

Details below:

eBay automated feedback

eBay automated feedback is automatically added to the seller’s account when a transaction is successfully completed. This positive feedback gives other eBay users confidence in this seller and in our marketplace. We only do this if the following criteria are met:

• You didn't leave feedback within 7 days of delivery (as confirmed by tracking)
• We can’t see any indication of an issue with the transaction
• Tracking shows the item was delivered on time

Automated feedback from eBay will remain visible unless there is an indication that there was an issue with the transaction, for example the item was damaged or you opened a return. If this happens, we will remove the automated message.

You can still leave your own feedback within 60 days of delivery, in which case the automated feedback will be replaced with yours.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/buying/leaving-feedback-sellers/leaving-feedback-sellers?id=4007&st=3&po...

[smarts-gaming]

Yes its automatic, but if they havent left negative or neutral feedback after a week, then it must be positive right? I dont see the issue. If the customer had a problem, they would have left negative/neutral feedback. If they havent, you can safely assume they were happy with the order, and therefore good feedback should be left. 

You cant complain about your feedback being low compared to orders, and then also complain about the solution. What do you want? People to be forced to leave feedback? What about people who sell 100s of items a day? Youd have to hire someone just to leave feedback for you. 

[jckl1957]

Just to be clear, I didn't complain about not being left feedback!  My previous post on this thread is copied below.  I don't care if buyers leave feedback or not but would rather have no feedback than automated feedback from Ebay.

'This is my honest viewpoint - no discourtesy, sarcasm etc. intended.

I mainly sell on this account.

I leave all of my buyers feedback - usually on the day I post items out to them.

About half of my buyers leave feedback.

For me, this is not an issue at all.

I am selling items I don't want and making a small amount of money for treats and essential purchase. I am not collecting feedback.'

[a45heaven]

I echo your sentiments on Feedback - ive never asked a buyer for feedback, nor will i ever do,  despite ebay  pushing Sellers to do so in order to get their funds released (which is very degrading, and shows ebays character or lack of).

With the changes,  half of the Feedback sections no longer are owned by the Seller  - Reasonable Postage Cost & Delivery Time - These parts are dictated by ebay and rightly any feedback left should mention that it is ebays part.

Are we to see a revised Feedback Process where the two ownership's can be rewarded separately?

As a Buyer i dont leave feedback, unless ive had major technical issues where by i would leave Feedback mentioning ebay, but make sure the Sellers get positives of course, unless a delinquency of a major type has occurred from the Sellers hand.