Query for eBay purchasers

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

This is an observation on my part and NOT a complaint:

Has anyone who purchases regularly off eBay noticed that less sellers leave feedback than they used to?

I’ve purchased three items in the last 1-1/2 months and none of the sellers have left feedback. Over the past 18 months to 2 years, I would guess 1/2 the sellers I’ve purchased from have left me feedback. [^o)] And I have purchased probably 30 items in that time period.

I leave feedback as soon as the item arrives and I have chance to give it a good once over. I rarely let it go 24 hours. And I have yet to leave either neutral or negative feedback for a seller - although I was tempted once.

I was just curious if anyone else has seen this trend.

Thanks,

Tom

2

Not just the past few months. Years ago some sellers didn’t give FB. Usually the large volume sellers. The smaller sellers still give FB. But they always want yours. I got something for my grandsons birthday that was delivered while I was at work. The seller sent a message inquiring why I haven’t left FB and the item was delivered. I messaged back that I was working and not gone home yet.

Pete.

3

Not being an eBay buyer, is there some reason why I should care if I do or do not get feedback? (I’m pretty sure that not getting feedback is a good thing if hearing aids are involved.)

4

I certainly agree with the OP. I’ve been an Ebay seller/buyer for over 20 years and have given feedback with every transaction. But my opposites tend to return the effort less than 50 percent. Actually, two years ago I did over 100 auctions when I sold off most of my HO stuff, my feedback received was 28 percent. And yes, it was all favorable.

To me, a seller’s feedback is very important for it can be a warning to “stay away”. But of course many folks just don’t do feedback, unless they have a complaint. I guess they are lazy, or just don’t care, or possibly ignorant of the importance.

Just another sign of the times…

5

A few years back ebay changed a few things (people these days are always trying to fix what aint broke). Now they don’t promote it and even discurage it by requireing you to log back in at times to do that or other hoops. They have made it easier to get returns done which is great when dealing with china.

6

I am a regular buyer and seller on eBay, and I view the source of feedback in four ways. A seller of new items, a seller of used items, a buyer of new items and a buyer of used items.

In my experience, a seller of new items always leaves positive feedback as soon as payment is received from the buyer. Interestingly, though, is that seller feedback to a buyer is no longer useful since a seller can only leave positive feedback to a buyer under eBay rules.

A seller of used items, of which I am one, is highly dependent upon positive feedback if he hopes to continue to sell used items. I am proud of my record in that I have never received negative feedback from a buyer and that is because I sell only “like new” used items with honest descriptions of any flaws or damage.

As a buyer on new items, I always leave feedback for the seller, mainly as a signal to future buyers. Fortunately, I have never left negative feedback to a seller although on two occasions I have negotiated returns to sellers who say that they do not accept returns. The reason for my returns in these instances was damage to the item which was not caused in shipping. Those items should have never been sold as new.

I have never been a buyer of used items because, fairly or not, I do not trust sellers of used items. That may seem a bit unfair since I am a seller of used items, but most sellers of used items do not do a good job of describing the item or its history of use by the seller.

Rich

7

As an eBay buyer, you would not care about feedback since it could only be positive under eBay rules. If you were an eBay seller, feedback would be important to you to indicate the level of buyer satisfaction.

Rich

8

Negative feedback, which can only be given to a seller under eBay rules, is an interesting phenomenon. A seller who receives negative feedback has an opportunity to respond. The responses run the gamut from simple explanations of failure of the buyer to first contact the seller, to shipping issues, to downright hostile responses including name calling.

Rich

9

Who cares? This whole instant feedback and rating expectation was born of the Internet and needs to die. In fact, the whole concept is less than 30 years old, and quite frankly I’ve stopped looking at ratings and reviews online.

How many physical stores has anyone gone into where there’s a list of positive ratings and feedback for all of the store’s customers? Exactly none. If there is feedback, it’s always negative because that customer is usually banned from the store. I expect a sellar to do their job properly and sell me the product as advertised. On the rare occasions I’ve sold things, my expectation is that the buying pays the agreed upon price without hassle. Nothing more.

I’m decades younger than the typical model railroad forum poster, and even I remember mail order. Choosing products from small pictures and descriptions in magazines and catalogs often resulted in less-than-stellar products. I have no doubt that the model railroad magazines received hundreds or thousands of letters about products not being as advertised (which translates to the customer didn’t know what they were buying) but didn’t print them because of the reality of the situation. And the reality was, go to a hobby store, go to a trains show, go to a club, or wait for (maybe) a product review in the magazine.

To summarize, the world functioned just fine without feedback and ratings systems, and too much focus is placed on them today.

10

I look at ratings online so I have an idea of whether I’m dealing with a legitimate seller or a Mr. X located in the Cayman Islands.

The catalog analogy doesn’t work with the internet. With catalogs you were likely dealing with retailers with physical stores located in the US that purchased ads and where subject to US laws. Now anyone in the world can post on the internet for free and they are beyond the reach of law enforcement. Scams have always existed, catalog or internet, but they’re much easier now. The ratings systems and reviews were developed to try to deal with that.

11

I think some folks don’t leave feedback unless they have a formal complaint. Providing negative feedback might seem theraputic for some who want to vent. Perhaps this is similar to people leaving reviews online for other businesses. I would venture to guess more people complain then compliment a restaurant or other business.

12

Yeah ratings and reveiws have less meaning these days and can only give you an indication if things are right or wrong someplace. Too many product reveiws complain about stuff that dosn’t mater. Simple example is at an eating place, someone will give a very bad reveiw because they had a bad server even though they said the food was the greatest.

13

As a seller I generally leave feedback. However, it is only done about once every two weeks. I always leave positive feedback as well… since that is all I can leave. Kind of a mute point to do so but if it makes someone feel good, so be it.

Positive feedback as a buyer is useless since sellers generally can’t use it for anything. If someone is buying from me and they had Bad feedback, what am I supposed to do, block them?

Several years ago, when they were doing these changes. many of us wrote to ebay and asked them to set it up as follows.

A buyer can leave feedback for a seller but, it could not be seen untill the seller left his/her feedback. This would have eliminated the retaliation feedbacks that sellers left for neg feedbacks. This would also prompt sellers to leave the feedback if they wanted theirs to grow as well.

I appreciate when my customers leave feedback as it lets other buyers know they can buy with confidence from me.

14

Depends on the site. Some places allow sellers to refuse to do business with you if you don’t have a certain reputation level.

That’s why I try to leave positive feedback whenever I have a satisfactory transaction. I know I use it to help decide if I am will to take a chance on a vendor.

15

I use eBay quite a bit as I don’t have an LHS. I always leave feedback when I buy items. I also use feedback, especially if I am thinking about buying from someone with low feedback numbers to see the reason behind that. If they’re a new seller that’s one thing. If it’s due to issues, that’s a big problem.

I have some sellers that I like to go to as they are fast and quite reliable. Other times I will use a seller as they are the only one that has an item or combination of items that I need.

16
17

I’ve also noticed that trend lately. I think I know why:

As a buyer, my feedback is less important, as the only acceptable feedback is a positive one for a buyer. Pay right away, communicate, and only complain if something is wrong. No reason to leave a bad feedback for that. But, sellers have no choice but to either leave positive ffedback, or none at all, even on horrible buyers. (Yes, they exist too.)

Now for sellers, feedback is a bit more important. Bad feedback will take away some “top” seller perks. (But only for so long…)

I have only left a negative feedback one time, after the “new in package” railcar kit (stock picture) arrived in a zip-lock bag, no box, with incorrect parts. When I contacted the seller, their response was “Yep, we know it’s the wrong parts. Most modelers can make it work anyways.” [:|] [8o|]

They got a full neagitve feedback, and their disrespectful retort via email was forwarded with a full complaint to eBay. I will never buy anything from RiverCityRail again… not eBay, not vendor show, never. (That was seriously their initial response, they knew full well the description was wrong, and did not care… The retort I received via email over the deserved negative feedback was even worse…)

So seller feedback I payed attention too, but now, after so long, the negative feedback left for sellers drops off, so it’s now even not as important for sellers, and way less helpful for buyers. If a seller sells 100 times, and 1 is wrong, okay, honest mistake. That can drop off over time. If a seller sells 5 things a year, with 3 wrong, that should stay the rating, not drop off over time dispite having zero more sales. It’s now more wild west style, and more “eBay, PayPal, CreditCard company” get notified if something is off.

So, as sellers are forced to leave only positive feedback, or none at all, and the seller received feedback, positive or negative, drops off over time

18

I’ve never been concerned with getting feedback from a buyer. The seller wants my money and I doubt he’s going to look at my rating when I make an offer. I assume he’s not going to ship until he gets paid so once I pay for the item, what does he care if I have a good rating or not.

19

John, you are talking about two different sides of the transaction here.

If you are a seller, especially of used items, you should be concerned with getting feedback from a buyer. Speaking from my own experience as a seller of used items, positive feedback from a buyer is critical to my continued success as a seller.

If you are a buyer, even of new items, the seller wants your positive feedback no matter how many new items he has previously sold to maintain his image as a reliable seller.

Rich

20

I have been an eBay buyer/seller since the summer of 1998. I sell pre-owned items usually to thin my collection. Some are new in original box and never been used. I post positive feedback for my buyers upon receipt of their payment. Lately I have noticed most buyers fail to post feedback. I recently added the following to my listings:

I post positive feed****back for my buyers upon receipt of their payment.

If you are happy with your win, I would appreciate your positive feedback.