Ebay; Are you afraid to leave negatives?

GizmoGC

GizmoGC

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Anyone? Since I'm mainly a seller, Ive had a few people never pay, and some take weeks to pay. Most of the time they don't respond until I send them an 'Unpaid E-mail' to ebay where they have to. Then, even after, I'm a little worried to leave a neautral or negative, just due to the fact they will most likley give me a bogus one in retaliation.

But what if everyone did this? We would think most people were honest, when they really were very crooked.
 
Yes I am afraid to leave negatives. I work very hard to mantain my feedback and I have looked at enough people's feedback to see that when a seller leaves a negative feedback for a legitimate reason, they still get negative feedback in return at least half of the time.

EBay needs to develop a system where if a non paying bidder report is filed, the buyer can not leave feedback at all.
 
I don't leave negatives as a seller for the exact reason you mention.

However I use a seperate account for buying and if a seller screws me there I'll leave the feedback they deserve without worrying about retaliation. Since knowing the FB is more important when you are buying, I do help the system in that way.
 
No, I have so many feedbacks that the 3 times I have got a negative. I hope that a (someone checking in my feedback deciding wether to buy or not) person with half a brain would, see that I had to deal with some stupid people a few times.

But what you are saying is true very true. When I started on ebay, I did have a few people not pay but I did not leave a negtive until later on when I had so many that one would not hurt me.
 
I leave negatives only in severe circumstances where one needs to be left, regardless of retaliation. I have also learned to not leave feedback (as a seller) as soon as the payment is received, but instead when they have confirmed they received the item and are satisfied with the transaction.

My worst feedback experience was when a buyer left me a neutral, saying that I had charged him shipping when it was clear my company paid for it. (He had not e-mailed to ask about this, request a refund, or anything). When I e-mailed back to say that I did ship it through my company's shipping center, but that we are required to reimburse the company with a personal check in such instances, he did not respond. So, I left him a negative feedback, mainly because his false comment was as damaging or more to my reputation than a negative would have been. (I now have to explain that no, shipping is not free to me when I use the center, to every customer) He then proceeded to e-mail me immediately (although in 5 days he had not responded to my previous e-mail with an apology) and called me several things I won't repeat here. Long story short: there is little you can do to avoid idiots and their retaliations, but it is important to mark these people as such with the proper feedback as a warning to other responsible users.
 
[quote name='odb']I have also learned to not leave feedback (as a seller) as soon as the payment is received, but instead when they have confirmed they received the item and are satisfied with the transaction.[/QUOTE]

This is the main problem I have with the feedback system. As a seller, as soon as you recieve payment, the buyer has fulfilled his end of the contract. You should leave feedback then.

I know sellers don't want to get negative feedback (undeserved or not), but I think rational buyers can understand a snafu here and there. I don't look for perfect feedback. Lots of bad feedback is what will keep me away.

And to build further, every time I've been ripped off on eBay, it's always been from someone who has had flawless or near flawless feedback. Don't treat your feedback rating like a newborn infant. It's ok to get a ding every now and then. Yes, you might lose sales to someone who will ONLY buy from a seller with 100% positive feedback, but do you really want to deal with someone that anal in the first place?
 
Feedback can be left for at least 90 days following a transaction. I usually wait until the last day to leave a negative, as I am guessing that most people will not realize it until it's too late. ;)
 
[quote name='Graystone']No, I have so many feedbacks that the 3 times I have got a negative. I hope that a (someone checking in my feedback deciding wether to buy or not) person with half a brain would, see that I had to deal with some stupid people a few times.

But what you are saying is true very true. When I started on ebay, I did have a few people not pay but I did not leave a negtive until later on when I had so many that one would not hurt me.[/QUOTE]

It takes three Ebayers to get half a brain. :lol:
 
The only time I ever do a negative against a buyer of mine is if I have filed an Unpaid Item claim against them. Once it comes time to close the transaction, get your Final Value fee back, and give them an Unpaid Item strike, you can leave the negative right before you do this. Once you close them transaction, they cannot leave you a retalitory negative.
 
yup...im a little afraid to as well....well maybe not "afraid", but im not stupid enough to do so

if im having trouble with an asshole buyer/seller, ill usually try to con them into leaving a positive for me before i leave them a positive.....then of course, comes their negative....its worked every time ive done it (maybe 5 times)

am i wrong for conning them? i guess you could say that...but if someone is that much of an asshole to me, its all fair game in my book
 
I think you should leave a negative if the person deserves it. If they didn't pay 10 people, and everyone is afraid to leave a negative, they have more reason to keep doing what they are doing. With that said, yes, I'm aware of people leaving negatives that are unjustified.

Some of my actual feedback(neutrals/negatives):

"I never ordered this someone in my house use my name and then didn't pay for if"

"Took about 3 weeks to recieve item"

"Extremely slow shipment; paid on 3/5/05 didnt ship til 3/10/05; rec'd 3/18/05"

"You get what you pay for"

"well, it was new/sealed just like it was said. Could've been here faster though!" (Buyer resides in Puerto Rico)


The first one is funny. Most of the others come from people who were impatient, new to ebay or their item got delayed for some reason thanks to the good folks at USPS.
The worst one came from someone who called me unethical, because I didn't want to refund the shipping cost. I was making a grand total of $1 off the sale. They wanted me to refund $6. I decided the negative was not worth $5.

With that said, I wouldn't worry too much about feedback. Perfect or imperfect, you still can't trust or distrust someone completely based off of feedback(though it helps some). I also wouldn't leave a negative for someone as a buyer unless they lied about the condition of item, cussed me out, or stole my money.
 
I'm afraid to be a bitch to the people I buy from on Ebay. If/when a seller truly messes up, and does not resolve it with email, I'll leave a negative. I had one guy give crappy email answers once, then 1 good answer, then nothing. but the item was fine, so he got a neutral for crappy communciation.

As far as buying from people neg feedback... I actually READ the negatives. Becuase normally a seller has a reply underneath, so I can figure out who really is a bad seller, and who just got crappy buyers. And I usually don't get too frantic over feedback until, say, it's down to 89%-ish. That means a lil' over 1 in 10 is having trouble. Not good odds.
 
[quote name='gmzone']I think you should leave a negative if the person deserves it. If they didn't pay 10 people, and everyone is afraid to leave a negative, they have more reason to keep doing what they are doing. With that said, yes, I'm aware of people leaving negatives that are unjustified. [/QUOTE]

Well once they get (I think) 3 NPB strikes they're kicked off. The bigger problem (IMO) is sellers not doing the NPB process or letting a buyer out of it by doing a 'mutually agreed not to complete the transaction' when that's really not the case. I always do the NPB, but don't then leave the neg feedback.

You really should be able to see the NPB strikes a user has, but eBay doesn't allow you to do that (that I know of).
 
[quote name='wubb']You really should be able to see the NPB strikes a user has, but eBay doesn't allow you to do that (that I know of).[/QUOTE]

That's a good idea. I had a buyer last week ask me if I shipped off the item, and they are now suspended. I don't know for what reason, but am guessing they had NPB's. Their feedback was flawless...
 
I am a little wary of leaving a negative because of the possibility of retaliation. I have probably only left 4-5 since I've been on eBay, all in response to non-payers. However, in response to the last one I received a neutral, my first non-positive feedback ever. It had been 33 days since the auction ended and I got tired of waiting for the buyer to pay. He/she hadn't responded to my emails in 3 weeks. They ended up giving the old "my computer crashed and I couldn't access the internet for a month" line of BS. This might have been a little believable had they agreed to pay for the auction but after several emails they still never responded. So I got a neutral, they never communicated after leaving the neutral, didn't pay, and I ended up relisting and losing about $8. I guess I might have been lucky to have dodged a negative, but I didn't deserve it or a neutral. I even said I would be willing to do mutual feedback withdrawl and got no response.
 
[quote name='gizmogc']Anyone? Since I'm mainly a seller, Ive had a few people never pay, and some take weeks to pay. Most of the time they don't respond until I send them an 'Unpaid E-mail' to ebay where they have to. Then, even after, I'm a little worried to leave a neautral or negative, just due to the fact they will most likley give me a bogus one in retaliation.

But what if everyone did this? We would think most people were honest, when they really were very crooked.[/QUOTE]

I have 14 positive feedback, and about the same amount positive here. I never have a problem here because people are down to earth. However...

On ebay, I recently was selling something and due to the other persons poor communication and unbelievably rude behavior (She acted as if I was some store that got paid to take verbal abuse) I decided to leave negative feedback. Zion convinced me that unless I actually start leaving negatives...no one is gonna learn. At the same time, supposedly I'm being reported to ebay. The woman has like...100 feedback with some negatives, so maybe i'll get the boot.
 
My last NPB let me know he had medical problems and therefore wouldn't be able to pay. I respected the NPB that just flat out told me he didn't want it any more a little more :)

odb - That is pretty crappy. If you list the S+H cost in the auction what should it matter even if you do get free shipping somehow. Sheesh. But at least it was just a neutral.
 
[quote name='SkyGheNe']I have 14 positive feedback, and about the same amount positive here. I never have a problem here because people are down to earth. However...

On ebay, I recently was selling something and due to the other persons poor communication and unbelievably rude behavior (She acted as if I was some store that got paid to take verbal abuse) I decided to leave negative feedback. Zion convinced me that unless I actually start leaving negatives...no one is gonna learn. At the same time, supposedly I'm being reported to ebay. The woman has like...100 feedback with some negatives, so maybe i'll get the boot.[/QUOTE]

What are you being reported for? Did you actually do anything?
 
[quote name='SkyGheNe']The woman has like...100 feedback with some negatives, so maybe i'll get the boot.[/QUOTE]

Unless you are costing eBay money, selling something illegal, or flat out taking the money and running, eBay won't boot you.
 
This has always been my problem with ebay, people are so afriad of getting negatives that scammers and NPBs can have a clean record.

I also really wish ebay would speed up the NPB process, sometimes by the point you can safely relist the item it's value has already dropped.
 
i'll leave negs all day long if they screw with me...luckily that hasn't happened. who cares about negatives as long as you are able to write comments to explain.

thats a fucking great racket ebay has...scare traders into leaving negatives, so everyone looks like a good buyer/seller.
 
Its always in the back of my head if I have to leave a negative but I suck it up and leave it anyway. Though those buyers that try to pressure me into leaving feedback first amuse me, obvious they want to be in a position of power.
 
[quote name='wubb']What are you being reported for? Did you actually do anything?[/QUOTE]

Not really. She ignored my emails for 3 days because HER SON was on her account and won the item. I sent her 3 emails, one each day. The first day it was, hey, lets work out how you're going to pay, just give me a heads up whether it's paypal or money order. 2nd day was "hey, just checking up and was wondering if you got my email the other day." 3rd day "Hey, i'm starting to get worried - just letting you know i'm still interested in how you're going to pay and if you are ignoring my emails that if it continues I may need to leave negative feedback and a NPB notice after a certain alotted time.

When people don't communicate well, it freaks me out - because that's how I've been scammed before. So when she didn't respond for three days, I get an email back about how rude i am, and the nasty email I sent her, and how i've been reported to ebay because she has a long window of time before I can file a NPB (already knew this!). So then she tells me it was her son bidding and that she will have money in her account in 13 days or something (why not pay with a cc...i take it...).

So now I'm debating whether or not I should just tell her the item is out of stock - because I don't get paid enough to put up with this crap. She reminds me of one of those over-zealous soccer moms on a power trip who just want to push someone into a corner - and i'm not going to do business with someone like that.
 
I've had more then a few people pay me a month late, and I've heard all the excuses, from:

"I'm in the hospital", "My PC Crashed", "My relative just died", "My cousin ordered this", "I thought I was bidding on something else"

and my favorite of the past 2 weeks:

"My 5 year old kid ordered this. I stepped out of the room for 5 secs., and they did a buy-it-now on the auction."
 
[quote name='gmzone']I've had more then a few people pay me a month late, and I've heard all the excuses, from:

"I'm in the hospital", "My PC Crashed", "My relative just died", "My cousin ordered this", "I thought I was bidding on something else"

and my favorite of the past 2 weeks:

"My 5 year old kid ordered this. I stepped out of the room for 5 secs., and they did a buy-it-now on the auction."[/QUOTE]

Seriously, what are people doing letting other people use their account. It drives me insane. And you would THINK that when an auction is about to end, they are by their computer ready to pay or contact you regarding their winning bid.
 
[quote name='SkyGheNe']Seriously, what are people doing letting other people use their account. It drives me insane. And you would THINK that when an auction is about to end, they are by their computer ready to pay or contact you regarding their winning bid.[/QUOTE]

Not always. I have bid on several auctions that close late at the night. I'll wake up and find out if I won.
 
[quote name='SkyGheNe']

When people don't communicate well, it freaks me out - because that's how I've been scammed before. So when she didn't respond for three days, I get an email back about how rude i am, and the nasty email I sent her, and how i've been reported to ebay because she has a long window of time before I can file a NPB (already knew this!). So then she tells me it was her son bidding and that she will have money in her account in 13 days or something (why not pay with a cc...i take it...).

So now I'm debating whether or not I should just tell her the item is out of stock - because I don't get paid enough to put up with this crap. She reminds me of one of those over-zealous soccer moms on a power trip who just want to push someone into a corner - and i'm not going to do business with someone like that.[/QUOTE]

You're right. You don't get paid ENOUGH to put up with it. Unless you can find super rare games/items at your local pawn shop, it can be considered a hassle for some. Then again, go ahead and take Midnight Club 3 to your local Gamestop/EB and see how much they give you for it... Then chop 20% off it.

I wouldn't worry about her getting you kicked off.

I also generally like to pay for items I have won the same day or next day, but that's just me. Generally, so long as you make some type of contact or payment within 14 days, I'm fine.
 
[quote name='PsyClerk']Not always. I have had been bidding on several auctions that close late at the night. I'll wake up and find out if I won.[/QUOTE]

I can understand that, but I expect contact within 24 hours mostly...
 
I think you may have to become more patient however, as 3 days isn't a very long time. 7 days is a little better. 14 or 15 days with no contact whatsoever is crazy.
 
[quote name='gmzone']

I also generally like to pay for items I have won the same day or next day, but that's just me. Generally, so long as you make some type of contact or payment within 14 days, I'm fine.[/QUOTE]

Same, I usually like to pay asap. And I don't mind waiting as long as I am told what's up and the circumstances.
 
[quote name='gmzone']I think you may have to become more patient however, as 3 days isn't a very long time. 7 days is a little better. 14 or 15 days with no contact whatsoever is crazy.[/QUOTE]

yeah, i even apologized about it, and she still came back at me...lol she reported me before she even spoke to me or responded. Her first email to me was "who are you and what business do you have with me?" and then all hell broke loose after that. But whatever - I told her the item is out of stock and is currently unavailable, sorry for the inconvenience. But yeah, I'll work on my patience as that seems to be a necessary characteristic on ebay.
 
[quote name='SkyGheNe']I can understand that, but I expect contact within 24 hours mostly...[/QUOTE]

To deal with this I've put in the payment discription that I ask for payment within 48 hours, so far it has worked wonderfully.
 
She maybe reported you for feedback extortion. Depending on how you worded that 3rd e-mail she may be claiming you are threatening her with negative feedback unless she meets your demands. Although your demand is merely that she pay for the item she won. I truly doubt eBay is going to have a problem with that.

Although now telling her you don't have the item gives her a legit beef (non-performing seller) and reason to leave you neg. It also looks pretty bad on you to hound her to pay and then all of a sudden come back that you don't have the item after all, IMO. I would have just let her pay.

And I pretty much agree with gmzone on the time frames. I'll e-mail a friendly reminder a few days after the auction and then again 5 or 6 days after to let them know I'll be starting the process to recoup my fees (but still in a friendly way).

And then as soon as it's allowed I start the NPB process (7 days after auction close). At that point I don't contact them again. Unless they respond to the NPB notice.
 
[quote name='bfg9k']Feedback can be left for at least 90 days following a transaction. I usually wait until the last day to leave a negative, as I am guessing that most people will not realize it until it's too late. ;)[/QUOTE]

If you wait until the last day to leave feedback, the time limit gets extended an additional couple of days so the other bidder has a chance to review and respond. It would be nice to leave the negs last minute though--kind of like "snipe feedback."

*Dang! I got sniped by ANOTHER neg!?* LOL
 
you get 90 days to leave feedback.

Just wait until 89 days, 23 hours, and 59 minutes to leave that negative.

That is my plan when I get a non paying bidder or bad seller.
 
[quote name='wubb']
Although now telling her you don't have the item gives her a legit beef (non-performing seller) and reason to leave you neg. It also looks pretty bad on you to hound her to pay and then all of a sudden come back that you don't have the item after all, IMO. I would have just let her pay.

[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I realize that. Either way, I know I'm going to get a neg. out of this and after the way she treated me (as lame as that sounds), I don't want to do business with someone like that. If ebay wants to contact me regarding it and mediate a conversation where she apologizes (and i've already done the same), then I'll sell it to her.

I'm leaving a disclaimer like zion recommended from now on.
 
Seriously, is it just me or is every other excuse that the account owner's child was bidding on their account? These people are either bad at making excuses, bad at choosing passwords, bad at parenting, or all of the above.
 
Yes, I am afraid to leave negatives, simply because I rarely use eBay. Having only 12 feedback right now, a negative will bring down my rating and percentage a lot more than any of you power sellers. After around the 100 mark, if I ever get there, I'll be a little less cautious and give them out to more deserving people.
 
I put this:
If contact has not been made by buyer within seven days after auction close, or if contact has been made but payment has not been received by fourteen days after auction close, the auction will be forefeit and the item will be relisted.
Click to expand...
in all of my auctions now. Worked like a charm on a guy a few weeks ago when I told him that, "as it states in the auction, if contact has been made but payment has not been received by fourteen days after auction close, the auction will be forefeit and the item will be relisted." I got my money the next day. (It was day 10, if you're wondering)
 
As mainly a seller, I do NOT leave feedback until feedback is left for me. Most say 'Why, I paid you first!'. No, unfortunatley, that's not the end of the buyer process. The buyer still needs to 'inspect' there merchandise and make sure it arrives ok. Would you go in a store and pay for something you've never seen? Of course not.

Once a buyer left FB for me, I do for them. I like to have the advantage if they feel like leaving me a negative because 'Shipping was less then what I paid or'. Yeah, that envelope sure was free, so was my gas, and my time.
 
[quote name='gizmogc']As mainly a seller, I do NOT leave feedback until feedback is left for me. Most say 'Why, I paid you first!'. No, unfortunatley, that's not the end of the buyer process. The buyer still needs to 'inspect' there merchandise and make sure it arrives ok. Would you go in a store and pay for something you've never seen? Of course not.[/quote]

Actually, the burden of getting it to the buyer is on the seller. The only exception would be if you offer insurance optionally and the buyer doesn't take it. Then it's anything goes. Yes, my view favors the buyer, but that's the cost of doing business. The seller is the one making the profit, after all.

[quote name='gizmogc']Once a buyer left FB for me, I do for them. I like to have the advantage if they feel like leaving me a negative because 'Shipping was less then what I paid or'. Yeah, that envelope sure was free, so was my gas, and my time.[/QUOTE]

The shipping thing really depends on specifics. If you charged $6 shipping and it shows up with a $3 label at my door, I won't give a damn how much gas and time you took. That's bullshit. Once again, cost of doing business.
 
I sell infrequently; when I do, however, it doesn't matter to me if I leave feedback first or not. What I make sure I do is send a followup e-mail, asking if everything is to their liking. Once I have a confirmation reply from them, I'll gladly leave feedback. In circumstances where they leave positive feedback first, however, I don't bother with the follow-up.

It's polite to make sure everything with them is cool, and it's also a way to cover your ass if they leave a negative (you have direct e-mail correspondence to the contrary).

myke.
...the only negatives I have are from flaking on paying for auctions year ago. Damned kids!
 
PsyClerk, you must not sell at all on ebay.
First, I offer insurance. I state in my auction if insurance is not purchased, Im not held responsiable for lost packages. I do provide DC for free.

You would be pissed if you paid $6 for shipping and it showed up with a $3 label? Ever order from ANY website (Amazon, EB, etc). ANYTIME you are paying $4 to ship a book, its cost them only $2 or less. They make profit. Myself, It costs $1 to buy an envelope, and DC itself is .50 cents. So Im 'making' $1.50, which goes to gas.
 
I usually leave neutrals when someone charges me like $15-20 on shipping and I see that it cost them $5 and they didn't even package it properly. I don't care what my feedback is, even though I buy and sell.
 
[quote name='gizmogc']PsyClerk, you must not sell at all on ebay.[/quote]

Whether I sell or not has no bearing on matter.


[quote name='gizmogc']You would be pissed if you paid $6 for shipping and it showed up with a $3 label? Ever order from ANY website (Amazon, EB, etc). ANYTIME you are paying $4 to ship a book, its cost them only $2 or less.[/quote]

Couple of things here. First, if I ever pay EB $4 to ship something, it's here in 2-3 days max. Ebay stuff usually takes a week or more. Second, retailers like that have warehouses and trucks, so it's just a little easier to swallow the 'handling' in 'shipping and handling.'

[quote name='gizmogc']They make profit. Myself, It costs $1 to buy an envelope, and DC itself is .50 cents. So Im 'making' $1.50, which goes to gas.[/QUOTE]

You need to find a new place to buy envelopes. A large padded envelope should cost about $.40. And do you spend all $1.50 on gas?

As I said previously, it's all about specifics. If you charge $6 to ship a PS2 game, you would never see any business from me unless you were offering an incredible deal to begin with. I see those types of shipping charges as a way to skirt eBay/PayPal fees. You can justify however you want, but if you bought something from EB and got an invoice that detailed shipping charge, service fee (for their time), fuel charge (for the gas they used transporting your purchase), etc, you'd hit the damn roof. Once again, it's the cost of doing business. Those sorts of costs need to factor into the price of the item, not the shipping.

And we have gotten way off topic now.:bouncy:
 
I wait til the 90th day, probably last minute to leave a negative feedback. (just a reminder in my calender.)

They won't have a chance.
 
[quote name='khc']I wait til the 90th day, probably last minute to leave a negative feedback. (just a reminder in my calender.)

They won't have a chance.[/QUOTE]

I think it's already been stated that if you do that, the other party automatically gets a couple of extra days to leave feedback for you.

Granted, after 90 days they've probably forgotten, but if they happen to log in and see a negative...
 
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