Ebay Feedbacks......more Than Just A Joke ?

I recently wanted to start listing on ebay.com to take advantage of the free listings, something which has been taken away from me at the UK site.
However, as was mentioned by others here, there can be a problem with receiving payments as ebay will withold funds until "feedback has been left". I find that a little scary given that many do not leave feedback putting your transactions in immediate danger !

On any other online auction site I use, and I have been using them for years, the buyer will get feedback as soon has payment has been received. This is normal.....you pay and your side of the deal is done. No problem.

But on ebay, the opposite is true which is why so many feedbacks are not given. But what is ebay's view on this ?
I have tried to find out without luck so far so if there is a place I have missed I would be grateful for a pointer in the right direction.

I still want to list on ebay.com but am very afraid to do so. ebay do not answer my emails [of course], I only get automated crap. I am writing this after reading this just now on a listing:




So where can I find the protocol ? And if I do find it, why is it different than everywhere else ? Or maybe that's a silly question ?

Londonbus1.....

Londonbus this is the first I am hearing of ebay witholding payment until feedback has been left - When did this come about ? I can't believe this is the case.

Drew

ebay has been doing this to new sellers for a couple of years now. If you've been there for a long time and in good standing they don't do it.

It does sometimes feel like and impenetrable jungle...

Why don't you try the sellers discussion boards? I have never used them, but they might be worth a look, access from your ebay page, top menu bar, drop down under, "Community".

Or go through the advice for complete newbies, the same menu, under "Sell". Takes you through the processes as if you had never sold on ebay before - sometimes back to basics makes things simpler!

Good luck!

Michael,

It is slightly more complicated than that. Pls go to here on the issue of a seller getting value for the funds received.
http://pages.ebay.com//sellerinform...lmtdexp.html

The first section reads:

As soon as you meet all of the following criteria, payments from your buyers will generally be available immediately:

It's been more than 90 days since your first successful sale;
You've had more than 25 sales transactions; and
You've had more than $250 in total sales.

Next, in the event you do not "qualify" you could use one of the following:

1. use ebay to print your label (inapplicable to you and most stamp sellers)
2. upload your USPS, UPS or Fedex tracking data (again not really applicable) Funds are good in 3 days.
3. mark the shipment as "shipped" and the funds are "good" in 7 days
4. otherwise you wait 21 days.

Also, pls remember that ebay.com presumes that you are US-based and I don't disagree with your reaction to that especially having lived outside the US three times, I am aware of a world out there.

I'm not debating the rules, but these are the rules that I see.

-Larry

On a main ebay screen, scroll down to the borrom and look at the sideways menu along the bottom. Site Map will give you a page of links to important info and Most Requested Links.
http://pages.ebay.com/sitemap.html

Selling Quick Start Guide:
http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinforma...gbasics.html

All Rules and Policies:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/overview.html

Feedback Rules:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies...back-ov.html



That is not ebay protocol. That is paranoid sellers protocol, period. They may also be trying to get feedback so they can get their money from PayPal. Just holding the buyers for ransom really. Bad business practice I think.

I leave feedback as soon as a buyer has paid me or his payment clears. That is all a person has to do, and then only if they wish to. I think it is a nice way to say thank you.

To hold someone ransom over leaving feedback is to ignore the fact that not everyone will leave feedback, and for varying reasons. So, that is life. Some people just want to buy and move on. Some (especially sellers) get caught up in the 'but you Owe me feedback' victim loop.

If no feedback is left for you then you will get paid after 30 days I think or some delay. They will not hold your money forever.

Really, no one Has to leave feedback at all. Period. It is just there to allow people to compliment a good seller or buyer on his honorable behavior or to slap someone on the wrist for thinking too much of themselves.

From the ebay User Agreement:


http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies...reement.html

PayPal Legal Agreements (User Agreements)
(Scroll down to bottom of main page to access the link.)
https://cms.paypal.com/ca/cgi-bin/m...cale.x=en_US

As a seller it is best to become a Premier Account on PayPal and to Verify your account to the degree that you can. This will allow you to avoid some restrictions of withdrawing money.

I am sorry I could not find where they state exactly how many days they hold funds. It seems to be covered by a coverall agreement that would allow them to change the amount of time depending on different factors they deem important.

Good link lnhaber, I missed that one. Information sometimes seems hard to find on ebay.

This is why they have that rule. This guy doesn't even have these coins, the images are stolen from Heritage. Look quick because it will be gone soon.

Well, here is my view on this and you can take it for what it is worth.

I stopped feedbacks, for the most part anyway, some years ago. My reasoning here was simple because it went like this:

A seller would say to me, "I will leave you positive feedback after you have left me positive feedback - - - - - - - - - WRONG

I figure the seller should leave me the positive feedback as soon as I pay him and then I leave him / her positve feedback only after I receive my lots in good condition.

Some dealers argued over feedback (this was overheard at a stamp show) saying, 'well, if anyone leaves me a negative feedback, I'll just turn around and leave them a negative one too'. To me, that sounded like a bunch of kids squabbling over a few marbles. In any case, it was the reasons stated above that turned me sour of the feedback system.

On another note, on a couple of occasions, I did get ripped off by some sellers and attmepted to leave a negative feedback - - - - which I couldn't do because the system in ebay would not allow me to do so. As fas as I am concerned, that seems a lot one-sided. Personally, I think the feedback sysyem is a farse with the way it is presently run. It could be better though.

Having stated all of the above, there are some real good sellers on ebay that give me positive feedback right after my payment was received and I will in turn give positive feedback to them. Other than that, I don't bother with it.

My opinions of course.

Chimo

Bujutsu

The buyer has more responsibility than just paying. They also need to read and understand what they are buying. 75% of the time buyers do not read the entire listing. The bid box should be at the bottom of the listing not the top. I sell mostly coins and I've gotten several negs from buyers saying the coin was cleaned. Duh, said so in the first sentence. These type buyers do not deserve a positive just because they paid. They screwed up bad. I never used to leave feedback until the item was received because you're rating a transaction, the transaction is not over until the item is received. Of course, none of that matters any more.




It is, favoring the buyer 10,000%.

I cannot agree 100% about it favouring the buyer.

At the times I got cheated, ripped off, whatever you want to call it, I could not post a negative feedback to the seller, and I am referring to personal situations that happened to me.

At any rate, I don't bother with feedbacks.

Chimo

Bujutsu

Really? Let me see you neg a buyer.

Ridiculous. You most certainly could have.

It used to be that the seller and buyer could leave negative feedback, but they changed it some years ago (not sure when). Now only the buyer can leave negative feedback.

A bit ridiculous there.

I've talked about this here before. They started withholding my funds after I'd been selling for a year. Something to the effect of needing to build a selling history first. With that kind of treatment I'm starting to thing my selling on ebay IS history.

Excuse me scubu!

I could not - repeat - COULD NOT!

When I hit the negative feedback button, the page kept refreshing itself for me to give a feedback again. After trying 'several' times, I finally said nuts, I'll give a 'neutral' one and the page worked fine.

I think I ought to know what my PERSONAL' experience was thank you very much!

Bujutsu