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.

[jckl1957]

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.

[department28]

I think it is probably just basic laziness that accounts for the lack of feedback being left these days, and perhaps thinking 'it doesn't matter...' 

However, if you benefit from reading feedback before making a purchase, you should 'do your bit', & remember to leave feedback yourself. If no-one bothered to leave feedback, we would have very little idea what sort of seller we were dealing with. Most of us will have steered well clear of buying something from a seller with a lot of negative feedback, or felt reassured by overwhelmingly positive feedback - so even though it can seem like a bit of a chore sometimes, I always leave feedback. I just wish eBay would stop tinkering with the layout...

[m25jet]

Although when Pierre Omidyar founded eBay on Wednesday 3rd September 1995 a great deal of value was placed on buyers and sellers leaving feedback for one another, especially as it was supposed to be an indication as to how reliable and trustworthy a buyer or seller was, over the years things have changed dramatically.  One of those changes has been that many people today often don't bother with leaving feedback, whether as a buyer or a seller, and many people also don't bother to check out another person's feedback history when entering into a transaction with them.

Another significant factor is that since eBay did away with the seller's right to leave neutral or negative feedback to reflect how he or she felt about a sale that didn't end positively this has now led to a very one-sided feedback system which is so heavily biased in the buyer's favour that isn't really worth anything, as you can no longer get an accurate indication of a user's trustworthiness, especially as eBay will often remove feedback on request in many instances.  The fact that eBay have also changed the way feedback is displayed in order to bury bad feedback and make it less visible to anybody who cares to look at it also makes a mockery of the feedback system, which may well explain why so many people nowadays don't really view it as being worth much at all.

Although there are still some people on eBay who still make a point of leaving feedback - myself included - to be honest I feel that this is becoming less and less important in the eyes of a greater number of people who use the site.  A lot has changed since eBay was launched, and to be honest I really don't see feedback as being something worth worrying about.  For most buyers they're more than likely looking to get an item that clearly matches the description of the goods in the listing, as well as securing the item for a decent price, whereas from a seller's perspective the main objective is to get rid of their unwanted goods, whilst ensuring that the item sells for as much money as possible.  At the end of the day feedback is nothing but a number with a coloured star next to it, so it's not really worth getting worked up about.

[department28]

Yes, I agree with the point about eBay doing away with being able to leave neg & neutral for buyers - that  was a bad move. And the very annoying change to displaying 'most relevant' instead of 'most recent' feedback. If they'd left well alone, maybe more people would still think it was worth leaving feedback. 

Perhaps I'm in the minority, but I always check out the feedback before buying anything... if it's a choice between the same item, I'll choose the seller with the best feedback, & I like to know if they pack well/dispatch promptly etc. I also like to see what sort of feedback they leave for others. And anyway, I just love reading feedback.

And yes, I should get out more... 😄

[jma2815]

I think the present feedback system is a waste of time. I’m dealing with an absolute nightmare of a seller right now who has 100% glowing positive feedback. I left a short, calm, non rule breaking negative and it was deleted within minutes. I’ll never bother leaving feedback again. 

30 years ago (and I remember 30 years ago very well) when the internet was new we perhaps needed feedback for the reasons you talk about. Now, I think its quaintly redundant - some people just like collecting it.

[nigel_paul_wright7557]

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"

[department28]

I doubt if anyone would want feedback to be compulsory, & I don't appreciate being 'pestered' for feedback, but if I am pleased with a purchase, leaving positive feedback is a nice thing to do. 

Equally, if I'm not happy with the item and/or customer service, leaving neg or neutral will warn other buyers.  So many times I've seen comments like 'if I'd read the feedback first, I wouldn't have purchased from this seller...'

It's not a perfect system, but still an important part of eBay, imo.

[fotherbale]

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@m25jet wrote:

Although when Pierre Omidyar founded eBay on Wednesday 3rd September 1995 a great deal of value was placed on buyers and sellers leaving feedback for one another, especially as it was supposed to be an indication as to how reliable and trustworthy a buyer or seller was, over the years things have changed dramatically. 

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I seem to recall that in the early days, that feedback was not physically restricted to people you had a transaction with, which caused some hilarity with some pranksters leaving random feedback for people who had no dealings with them - fortunately in those days, ebay was a much nicer friendlier place, and this disconnected feedback was principally positive (sometimes excessively so!!).

Nowadays I always leave feedback as a seller once the buyer has confirmed their satisfaction by leaving feedback for me (which is the way it always worked, despite some entitled people these days expecting to recieve positive feedback immediately just because they have paid!), and when buying I check the sellers feedback and leave them feedback unless it is clear from their 'feedback left for others' that they don't bother to leave feedback for their buyers, in which case I don't bother either!

[beyourb3st]

I think it's quite fitting that less people are caring about ebay.

ebay cares less than anyone

[mawels_87]

I don't leave feedback anymore as it's become meaningless. ebay expects everyone to have 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐.  Trustpilot though shows eBay's own feedback as a company business is only one star ⭐. 

[zoomingmouse]

Ebay was the first place that I ever left a feedback comment on a website. 

Today everyone wants feedback & hassle for it too. 

Unless I’ve had a bad experience, I always leave feedback for sellers on Ebay as I feel it helps them & I want them to do well.

I don’t usually bother for other sites as they’re just large faceless companies.
The only exception is if they’re a small business or sole trader.

[jckl1957]

Everyone wants feedback, don't they?

I quite often leave feedback for my local coffee shop.  (A well-known chain.)

The staff are lovely and the coffee is always good and hot.  I have a minor disability and quite often use a stick and they always bring the drinks to my table - they do deserve any good feedback I can give.

Emails from Waitrose asking me for feedback on my groceries are always deleted though!

[zoomingmouse]

Yes, the emails are never-ending!

Even my insurance company plague me with them, yet the only interaction has been giving them money.

[asleepingdragon]

Feedback is pointless when sellers can get truthful feedback removed so easily.

[asleepingdragon]

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@jma2815 wrote:

I think the present feedback system is a waste of time. I’m dealing with an absolute nightmare of a seller right now who has 100% glowing positive feedback. I left a short, calm, non rule breaking negative and it was deleted within minutes. I’ll never bother leaving feedback again. 

30 years ago (and I remember 30 years ago very well) when the internet was new we perhaps needed feedback for the reasons you talk about. Now, I think its quaintly redundant - some people just like collecting it.

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Yep, this happened to me (again) in the last week.  I don't see the point of feedback when sellers have such an upper hand 

[asleepingdragon]

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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.  

[smashi26]

You think it's the customer's job to help you grow your business on Ebay? You sold something, they bought it, that's the end of the transaction. They owe you nothing more and you deserve nothing more.

[beyourb3st]

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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. 

[a45heaven]

I leave feedback as a seller - very rarely as a Buyer , usually to give feedback on ebays part played - or lack of in an issue which has arisen.

In the early days Feedback was more meaningful, when a full range of positive and negatives could be left in both directions.

If it was viewed as a useful tool then ebay would have been only too keen on having feedback left on their actions - but they dont, they just use feedback as a weapon against sellers.