eBay prevents sellers from leaving negative feedback

This should help, but what happens when a buyer new to eBay leaves negative feedback after giving the wrong shipping address, failing to pay, or freaks 24 hours after auction close because it is an online sale? eBay needs to have system to ensure the seller has had an opportunity to resolve before the buyer can leave negative feedback. Most of the time, the seller in unaware there is even a problem.

This eBay change is a good one. However, most negative comments are from those new to eBay who never contact the seller prior to leaving the feedback. The buyer may think they have paid, when they have not, or should receive the package within two days. eBay needs to come up with a system that allows sellers to address any problem before feedback is left. Even the best sellers get negative feedback if they do a substantial sales.

Good move for eBay; the way it works now is horrible for buyers. I bought an item that was supposed to be 5-inches, and the person sent the 3-inch model in the box for the 5-inch. I wrote and told her it was incorrect, and she claimed it was the first one she had sold, so she was confused; not really any offer to make it right, which I could have pushed but didn't. I wanted to make a neutral comment because it seemed like she really did make a mistake but she shouldn't have (it didn't fit in the box, and was obviously not 5-inches). Instead, I made no comment because people overreact to neutral and negative comments (and act as though a neutral is the same as a negative) and I still had more shopping to do.

Maybe we'll get some real ratings now, rather than 5,000+ sales with no negative (really? 5,000 people, and nobody was unhappy? Anyone who has dealt with customers knows this is a lie).

Marshall, I could see how you would think that 5,000 and no negatives are a lie. A lot can be seen from the number of customers served. If the person has hundreds of customers, then it is likely they work hard to get the rating, and move heaven and earth to have negative feedback retracted.

Ebay recently suspended my son's account from some some negative feedback after being in a horrible accident that left him in a coma and unable to respond. After he was able to get the customers orders to them they still didn't let him resume his business. He no longer has a right arm, has some brain damage and has some difficulty walking for a long period of time. There is now some hope he may be able to return to Ebay as a seller, however the process has been impersonable, stressful and has taken a long time. My son's accident was 6 months ago. Sometimes negative feedback has circumstances beyond the control of the seller. This is a good move by Ebay. It would have helped my son.

Ebay must do something to keep the business coming. After all, Ebay has found it to be their civic duty to enforce the anti gun agenda by not allowing sellers to even list some gun parts such as barrels on their site because they "might" be used in a crime. Well Ebay, maybe you should stop selling cars because someone "might" drink and drive it and kill someone. Give me a break people, when will we stop punishing everyone for the actions of a few. Here's a good move for you ebay, stop restricting your sellers so much before you lose even more of the market!

As a buyer that pays quickly, it has always annoyed me how the sellers won't leave feed back until after I do. I feel they should have left feed back as soon as they received payment. As a buyer what is left for me to do? I have fulfilled my part of the deal the second I pay.
When I receive the item, I leave feed back. Fortunately, I have never had a bad experience. I have always received things as described and shown and in a timely manner. But if I hadn't, and I left described my experience, I feel the seller should be able to respond accordingly.

I'm sick, eBay is killing us sellers.

I now list on alternatives like eBid, Find out more at http://www.ukebid.com

Disaster knee jerk change. Perplexing disdain for sellers. Hello ebay 21.00.

I think the new feedback is a bad idea from personal experience.
Example: you sell a buyer an item. Two weeks or 30 days down the road they break item and can come back on the seller saying they want there money back or they will leave a bad feedback.
This is just something else to get sellers to go somewhere else to sell.

As a seller with over 6000 positive feedbacks at 100% .. I can tell you my score is no "lie". I bend over backwards to make things right with even the most unreasonable customers.. at my own expense. I ALWAYS leave feedback upon payment... so there has been no attempt to blackmail anyone with a retalitory neg and then request a mutual feedback removal.

There are a handful of bad sellers. and a handful of bad buyers. Unfortunately.. the handful of bad buyers will not think twice before dropping a neg now, and are less likely to give the seller a chance to work out their concerns. Ebay also wants us to file Non Paying Bidder reports to weed out bad buyers- but most sellers won't because the system is flawed and a buyer can easily neg us just for requesting payment. Ebay then gets to keep all of our final value fees regardless of whether the buyer ever pays.

As a seller with a 6,000+ 100% feedback rating, I assure you my feedback is no "lie". I bend over backwards even for unreasonable customers to make things right with them at my expense. I always leave feedback first- so have never had the need to leave a retalitory neg and then request a mutual feedback withdrawel.

There are a few bad sellers and a few bad buyers. Unfortunately now the few bad buyers have the opportunity to leave a knee jerk neg with no fear of reprisal. Even a handful of bad buyers out of 6,000 will knock my rating down a peg or two.
I won't be the only seller in this boat though.. so eventually 95% will become the "new" 100%. However, this announcement is a kick in the teeth to sellers who have worked hard to maintain their status.

Sellers cannot use ebays suggested Non Paying Bidder report because a buyer will post a neg just for for the sellers audacity to request payment. In fact ebay prefers this.. as if we fail to report they get to keep all the final value fees for the sold but unpaid for item.

I am also a buyer.. but as an intelligent buyer, I know if I have an issue to contact the seller first to arrange an amicable solution. Buyers who have been burned by less than honest sellers may see this an an opportunity to flame any seller they wish... even if undeserved. In fact.. there are already internet blogs and comments on ebays discussion board that confirm this.

Many people are complaining about what amounts to a fee increase for many sellers. I don't like the changes either.. but they have a right to charge what they wish. I have the right to walk away. It's that simple.. and overall.. that sad.

As an eBay seller and buyer since the early days ie over 10 yrs I remember some of what kept me with them even thought ere were other start ups --it was not that they were the only game in town..
But they were one of the better ones.. The early feed back system with no links to a transaction had flaws in that any one could abuse it with impunity ..... The present system that will be replaced in the very near future has some flaws but it is transparent and therefore occasionaly may appear to be harsh, to some of the new users that abuse ( or improperly use )the feedback system by leaving comments before a transaction is completed( payment and item are both received and if there were issues - how they were handled. ) Many long time sellers as well as myself have decided to start voting with our feet......A number of us have already closed our ebay store fronts and a large group have commited to cease sales and purchases begining with Feb 20 2008 - as well as removing all their pay pal balances

The small value item sales that started eBay have been subjected to growing pressures to move elsewhere, with contiuing fee increases ...
I Belive that where the little novelty items move to the larger high value items will follow so ebayand pay pal may be looking at a much bleaker future......I know that before closing my ebay store about 80% of my stock items were no longer profitable to sell through ebay as the combined fees for listing/final value and pay pal transactions usualy consumed any or more than the entire profit margin.. therfore fewer listings and fewer buyers.....................................................
The new fee structure fro the most part is actualy a fee increase if one does the math.

More worrying for me is the linkage being introduced between seller feedback ratings and the discounts needed to qualify for much needed fee discounts.

eBay have hiked the final value fee from 5.25% to 8.75% and, while not many sellers will do the volumes needed to get the largest discount, the lower level is attainable if you keep your detailed ratings above 4.6 out of 5.

But now, effectively, buyers have been given complete control over any discounts a seller achieves. With the removal of buyer feedback it is obvious that buyers will become a little braver and more likely to be objective in their ratings.

So many may think lightning fast delivery and free shipping is the only standard that deserves a 5 star rating. Anything less than that and the feedback they give will increase the risk to that sellers discount.

So I can see most sellers being forced to pay a 60% bigger final value fee quite soon and many will be forced to look at alternatives at long last.

We should all recognise this is no longer the eBay of old. It is basically an internet traffic reselling business. People only sell on eBay because they are told "that's where the buyers are" and believe it. Well, in fact, a lot of the buyers are there because eBay pay Google & Co handsomely for the traffic.

If a 60% increase in the back end fees doesn't cause more sellers to use much cheaper venues and spend a little of the fortunes they save to buy Google traffic direct and cut eBay out of the food chain I will be amazed. I've done the math and I wont be selling at all on eBay in future.

To have 1,000 listings running at any one time on eBay can already cost me over $1,000 a month to eBay in fees. Now, by using Tazbar, I can list 2,000 items for a total cost of $8!! I have every facility and more compared to eBay (e.g. Google Checkout!!) and all I need is the buyer traffic. So with $992 already in the bank to use - and some well thought out Adsense keywords - I am doing what eBay charged me for only a darn site cheaper.

Where's the problem sellers? Stop moaning all the time. Just get your own website or use a site like Tazbar and spend a little of the huge savings to get the traffic the same way eBay does it. It's not rocket science.

As a seller, I don't like the new system. I too am a power seller. Recently a newbie (had feedback of 3, joined less than a month ago), left me negative feedback because she didn't have her package 2 days after payment. I'm not sure how she expected me to get her item to Canada in just over 24 hours (she paid around 10pm Sat night, left feedback early am Monday morn). I left her neutral feedback explaining the situation. I did so because a/she needed to know this is not the way things are supposed to work, and b/ to warm other sellers to watch out. I was not the only seller to leave this type of rating for her. She had 4 positives, 1 neutral, and 1 negative to her record.

There is also no way to block bidders with less than a required number of feedback, only if it's negative. I'd love to block those with feedback less than 10.