Ebay feedback – getting to be so touchy now??

[kingsrings]

I just bought an item from Ebay two weeks ago. It was the first Ebay purchase I had made in over two years. My transaction went absolutely fine, and I had no problems that were the seller’s fault. However, when I viewed the invoice that came with my item, there was a disclaimer about leaving feedback for the seller. It was polite, but kind of intimidated me. It basically said how vitally important leaving feedback was to the seller’s business, and how anything less than five stars would severely negatively impact her overall score, and thus her business. It said to PLEASE discuss with her any problems if one doesn’t want to give her anything less than five stars. It honestly kind of came across like a thinly veiled threat toward anyone who would dare mark her less than five stars.

When I’ve made Ebay purchases in the past, I certainly don’t remember anyone being so touchy about feedback, or receiving any of these disclaimers or “rules” from the sellers. I’ve fortunately never had a problem with any of my Ebay purchases or any sellers, but I feel like I have the right to make any rating that I feel justified to without being intimidated or threatened by any sellers! (Note: I am not accusing this particular seller of doing that, I am just wondering how much more touchier other sellers on Ebay are nowadays). I have even heard of some sellers suing buyers who give them bad feedback! I understand this is their money-making business and why they’re obviously so passionate about it, but I think they’re taking their attitude it too far nowadays. I am kind of afraid to purchase anything else from Ebay now lest I be anything but five-star satisfied!!

Has anyone else ever experienced this with Ebay lately? And do you think it’s polite for sellers to include these “disclaimers”, or just plain bad business? 

[alkira6]

I kind of take it with a grain of salt. I am an ebay buyer and seller. Less than five stars can hurt your rating, especially if you are a new seller. *But* unfair feedback can be taken care of relatively easily. Be truthful, give the seller time to respond (don't send and e-mail and then rate them badly for not responding in half an hour), and please do make sure to send feedback. I personally don't buy from anyone with less than a 99% and I make sure to read feedback from the previous 6 months.

[Twik]

I've got to admit, I didn't understand feedback until I read about it on this site (since I hadn't used eBay). Some people may well believe that 3/5 is "average", and a good score if nothing above and beyond the call of a regular seller was required. Now, as a buyer, I understand why a lot of "not fives" can make you very wary about using a seller.

Hopefully, the seller was trying to explain that 5 was for "no problems", not "reserved for when the seller gets out of her sickbed and drives the goods to the purchaser three states away, because the mail service won't get it there in less than 24 hours".

[kingsrings]

I guess I just don't see anything quite wrong with receiving four out of five stars, that's close enough to a perfect five.

[Virg]

I don't perceive that message as a threat, myself.  I see it more as a plea to address problems before leaving feedback so that "less than 5 stars" situations can be resolved to the point that buyers feel comfortable leaving full-positive feedback.  Given that feedback happens after the purchase and there's nothing to indicate that the seller will do anything after feedback is left, why would you see this comment as a threat?

Virg

[Twik]

I guess I just don't see anything quite wrong with receiving four out of five stars, that's close enough to a perfect five.

I think it's like when my father used to bug me about tests where I got 95% - "So, how'd you lose that 5%?"

If it's not a "perfect" 5, there is the implication that something wasn't quite perfect. And that may be enough to make a buyer go, "Nope, I don't want to have to worry about the 20% that wasn't right." Because really, a normal transaction to be "perfect" just has to go "buyer places the order - seller ships it - it gets there on time - payment is made as appropriate - transaction ends satisfactorily for all concerned". A four implies that it didn't go quite that smoothly.

[Bob Ducca]

I guess I just don't see anything quite wrong with receiving four out of five stars, that's close enough to a perfect five.

That attitude is probably why the seller is sending out these explanatory notes.  Less than 5 stars should be justified by a specific problem, and the seller asking for a chance to resolve problems isn't rude, it's good business.  

[TaylorMade]

KR ~

eBay has completely changed it's rules on FeedBack in the last few years, and as you've stated you haven't purchased anything in a few years.

There is no threat from the seller, because buyers cannot receive negative feedback.   The seller wants their customers to know that if there are ANY issues to please contact them before leaving anything less than 5 stars.

You see, sellers receive discounts on their Final Value Fees based on their detailed seller ratings (DSR).   The DSR are the star ratings that buyers leave sellers.

You don't see anything wrong with receiving 4 our of 5 stars because you don't sell on eBay.  For those of us who do there is a HUGE difference between a 4 and a 5.  There is also a new status called "Top Rated Seller".   To become a Top Rated Seller you cannot have more than a certain percentage of 1 or 2 stars from domestic customers.   Usually it is 2 or 3 in a 3 month period.  If you have more than that you lose your Top Rated Seller status.

There is a lot of pressure by eBay on the sellers in regards to the DSR's and let me just say, the sellers are not happy about it.

[auntmeegs]

I don't perceive that message as a threat, myself.  I see it more as a plea to address problems before leaving feedback so that "less than 5 stars" situations can be resolved to the point that buyers feel comfortable leaving full-positive feedback.  Given that feedback happens after the purchase and there's nothing to indicate that the seller will do anything after feedback is left, why would you see this comment as a threat?

Virg

POD.  This, exactly

[kingsrings]

Buyers CAN’T receive negative feedback, is that what I understood you to say? What is the reasoning for that? Doesn’t seem right that there would then be no consequences for a buyer who does something wrong to the seller.

Interesting about Ebay’s new policies. I guess I can kind of see it from their POV even though it’s a pain to sellers. They want to keep up their quality product and have to be the best they can be to do that. It sure does make me not ever want to sell anything on Ebay though with all these rules and regulations, heh. Most likely I would accidentally mess up and not follow one and get busted…

[stargazer]

Buyers CAN’T receive negative feedback, is that what I understood you to say?

That's correct.  It caused quite an outrage when it happened and I still don't understand their reasoning.  Therefore I always leave sellers 5 stars unless there actually was a problem of some sort.  (4 out of 5 stars is equal to 80% and if a seller had an average of 80% - I am not buying from them.  They have to have 95% or above and I prefer 99%.  I know many buyers who feel the same way.  So that extra star makes a huge difference.)

[MariaE]

Buyers CAN’T receive negative feedback, is that what I understood you to say? What is the reasoning for that? Doesn’t seem right that there would then be no consequences for a buyer who does something wrong to the seller.

It's an absolutely idiotic policy and has made me quit using Ebay altogether. Not that I ever sold stuff there, but I don't even want to support the site by buying stuff as long as they have that policy in place. Apparently the policy was set in place in order to make it a "safe place for buyers". Whatever happened to making it a fair place for everybody concerned I don't know.

So yeah, sellers can't leave negative feedback, which unfortunately means that buyers use their negative feedback to blackmail sellers (not everybody of course, but a larger percentage than before). My guess is your seller has been burned by this and therefore goes to great lengths to solve problems before feedback is left. I feel sorry for her, if that's indeed the case.

[Kiara]

The why was mainly to increase eBay's bottom line...rightly or wrongly, eBay thought buyers weren't buying because of getting negs.  So the fix was to eliminate negative feedback.  So now even if a buyer is a serial non-payer...sellers can't warn people with a neg.  You can't even leave a "soft positive" - a positive with a "didn't pay until 4 weeks later - wouldn't sell to again" in the comments.

And as you can imagine, the sellers were (and still are) peeved.  Yes, you need buyers to buy your stuff, but you need to have sellers too!

[elephantschild]

I don't particularly like eBay's change in the policy about no negatives for buyers, either. I paid extremely punctually and communicated well for years to earn a fantastic buyer rating, and now what is it worth? 

And I wouldn't bat much of an eyelash about a note from a seller asking to please contact her before leaving any non-perfect feedback ... I don't think people communicate enough anyway and it would burn me to get a bad score for something that was a misunderstanding or actually the buyer's fault.

However ... I have decided not to buy from a seller or two recently due to notices posted on their listings that buyers shouldn't bother to purchase from them unless they plan to leave perfect feedback! That turned me right off. How can I know how a transaction will go?

I recently left positive, but not perfect, feedback for a seller who delayed shipping my item far longer than I was told to expect. I contacted her ... numerous polite inquiries about when she might ship the item were ignored. Although I did get the item eventually and it was fine, I didn't feel right leaving perfect feedback --- not on shipping time and communication. A note just saying "oh-I'm-sorry-it-was-delayed" would have changed that.

[SheltieMom]

It's not just eBay that's doing this type of "feedback". When I bought a new car earlier this year, the salesman repeatedly asked me if there was anything he could do to make my experience better. Just before I drove off the lot, he told me that I might be getting a survey from the car company. He told me that even one rating less than a 5 on any part of the survey would affect his job performance reviews.
On eBay, I leave my regular feedback. I only do the stars if I can honestly give all 5's, unless I really have a problem with the transaction. Like a PP said, all I expect is an honest description, reasonable shipping prices, and shipping speed that fits what I pay for. If I get that, I'm satisfied. I've been dealing on eBay for years, and I think I've left negative or neutral feedback less than 10 times, and I always give the other party a chance to make things right before I do that.