What do you think of eBay's new feedback policies?

dewolf · 07-07-2008, 12:04 AM

Not so good for sellers who do the right thing. As a seller these stupid new rules mean you can't give a negative to a dead beat non paying bidder. The same thing goes for postage. Unless it's registered post you run the risk of the buyer claiming they never received it, and leaving feedback to that effect.

tabs · 07-07-2008, 12:23 AM

If U look at MY FEEDBACK RATING on the Bay, U will find that I package my stuff very well. With a recent spoon the buyer was not happy and shipped it back. Unfortunately for him the item was damage due to his semi-poor packaging. I dinged him the cost of repair.

Recently UPS has delivered items to the wrong house on the wrong street, even though a signature was gotten by the UPS man. This is especially bad since the item is a Federally Controled item. Also one spoon that I bought got sent to the wrong person, I received his item instead and it was broken due to poor packaging.. Also the last spoon I received the box had split open and the item was half outa the box. Luckily it was not damaged. Thesd little spoons of mine are not $12 items btw.

If ya got a really expensive item to ship Registered Mail is the only way to go.

BTW I got a 100% rating on the Bay.....yaaaaaay

Dantilla · 07-07-2008, 01:20 AM

I've long thought that feedback should not be posted until both sides submit, so that feedback could not be retaliatory.

bextreme1 · 07-07-2008, 04:02 AM

I really like the new feedback policy. It does allow me to give honest feedback.

Dave L · 07-07-2008, 04:26 AM

Its a two sided coin, as a buyer its great but as a seller it can be an issue. I had a case where I sold an Ipod remote, the remote was perfect but the buyer didnt realize that he needed the dock for the ipod to make it work. He thought I should sent the dock for free and felt that my auction was misleading and not complete.

Do you ever read those ads for shelving units or CD stands and see the little disclaimer that the CD's or books are not included? Clearly it was meant for this special kind of idiot.

In this case I would have received a negative, which is clearly not fair. Luckily this transaction took place about a year ago.

TerryH · TerryH's Garage

I think you were wrong to leave negative feedback without giving the seller a chance to correct a problem. I'm not a frequent seller, so I'm not defending that side, but what you did is exactly what I think is wrong with the system now.

I recently ordered some pads for my orbital buffer and after about 10 days, contacted the seller to inquire if the order had shipped. He apologized for the mixup and practically doubled my order at no additional cost to compensate for lateness. This was still before the new rules.

Buyer abuse instead of seller retaliation isn't much of an improvement.

bobp53916 · bobp53916's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by TerryH

Buyer abuse instead of seller retaliation isn't much of an improvement.

Spot on...And all of the deadbeat bidders will have 100% feedback.

speeder · speeder's Garage

It is a drag that sellers cannot leave accurate feedback for deadbeat bidders, but there are still other ways to handle them. Filing "non-paying bidder" reports will still show up, I think. A couple of those and nobody will accept their bid.

Being that I'm mostly a buyer on eBay, I think that the new system is great. The old one had a fatal flaw; I could never leave accurate FB for bad sellers w/o the guarantee that they would retaliate and then have to leave it up to strangers to decide who's lying. I recently travelled hundreds of miles to pick-up a MC I won on eBay, only to find it materially misrepresented and not acceptable. I was out 100% of my time and travel expenses, I wanted to beat the guy half to death but there was really nothing I could do but turn-around and go home.

Prior to May of this year, I could not have left even this guy negative FB w/o getting some BS negative myself from him that was not removable unless I canceled his FB. He actually left me positive FB, (only kind he could), then wrote that I was a non-paying bidder, etc... Luckily, you can respond under their FB, so I wrote that it was retaliation and to check my other FB against his last transaction. (I have 100% as buyer and seller for 5 years, even under old system). Many times in the past, I could not warn people about horrible sellers w/o ruining my own feedback. That system sucked. This is a lot better, if still not perfect.

kstar · 07-07-2008, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TerryH

I think you were wrong to leave negative feedback without giving the seller a chance to correct a problem. I'm not a frequent seller, so I'm not defending that side, but what you did is exactly what I think is wrong with the system now.

. . . snip . . .

Wayne left neutral feedback, not negative, FWIW.

But I agree that Wayne should have contacted the seller first. As a seller with a perfect feedback record over 9 years now, I have screwed up from time to time, but have always "over fixed" the problem for my buyers.

If a buyer left a neutral or negative feedback with no contact, I would be pissed. Especially since I offer a 100% money back guarantee including shipping! I can't do any better than that . . .

Christien · Christien's Garage

After several attempts to sell my 944 on ebay I'm convinced that there are far too many idiots, deadbeats, weirdos, etc. out there to waste time with. I had 2 auctions close with 2 deadbeat bidders. Why should I not be able to leave feedback for them so other people selling a car could be forewarned that these jerkoffs are just going to waste their time?

And my "944 dispute" thread here on OT is further proof that even when they're not deadbeat bidders, they often have ridiculously unrealistic expectations.

I never thought of it before, but Dantilla's suggestion that feedback be hidden until both parties submit is a great one. One follow-up comment could be allowed, but not a change in rating (i.e. positive to negative).

I think what we'll find is that ebay feedback scores mean less and less. The only time I turn to ebay now is when I'm looking for something really unusual that I can't find on the Pelican classifieds - I ALWAYS look here first. As for non P-car stuff, I just don't bother with ebay anymore, unless it's an ebay store that has a bricks and morter counterpart.

KaptKaos · 07-07-2008, 10:12 AM

The old system sucked. The new one sucks too.

The old one allowed retaliation and quid pro quo (I'll leave you good feedback if you do the same for me). Problem was that there was no text to explain the issues properly, so it made no sense.

The new one sucks because it is so biased against the sellers. Now, if they changed their policies so that the bidder pays the auction fees, then it might be more fair but there is no way that will happen.

I guess its just a matter of opinion on which one sucks less.

grudk · 07-07-2008, 10:22 AM

In theory the system should work OK, but in practice there are too many freaks out there for a one-sided feedback system. The old system, while imperfect, had balance.

Agree with Christien -- I have bought a few hard to find items on E-bay, but otherwise avoid it. Have had better luck buying/selling on Craigslist

Joe Bob · Joe Bob's Garage

Paypal and eBay will accept a USPS "Delivery Confirmation" that doesn't even require a signature as a valid delivery. USPS will provide that for free if you do the postage online.

I got a delivery like that, never saw the package and paypal hosed me....from now on I'll use my AMEX credit card for purchases.

As to the newer policies..great, sellers have to step up and provide better service.