Ebay Sellers: How Important Is Buyer Feedback?

Just want to add one more thing.
The best feedback system is on our forum here. Much nicer and much more informal than anything else.
Buy,sell,exchange and leave Feedback at the SCF.

It's the best.



Londonbus1

As a buyer, I always leave feedback.. as a seller I like to see feedback, if nothing else it tells me the buyer got the item.

Well Today I recived a paypal payment for a item I sold on ebay 12 days ago, Had to send the buyer a reminder note last night saying it was 11 days and if I dont receive payment I will have to open up a claim. He left a note with his paypal payment stating he wanted me to use stamps that total the amount I charged for shipping . He said this way he will leave me good feed back. This guy takes the biscuit. He said if I didn't he will leave negative feedback for shipping costs. FEEDBACK IS SOMETIMES A JOKE

Tell him you'll do that as soon as he tells you where to get shipping supplies for free and people to work for free in your shipping department.

He even mention if possible to use nice picture stamps, what a guy, well I will only use exact postage and hand the lady in the post office a black sharpie and ask for her to go to town with it. As for shipping supplies I will really well package it this guy is going to get a introduction into the uses of super tough duct tape. I bad but if he want to blackmail with feedback, I will keep him busy trying to open his mail.
Its times like this I wonder about canceling the transaction might be easy to just say the item got damaged and refund him his money.

Dealers don't have feedback.
They sell stamps and are happy if they never hear from you again.
Feedback seems like school reports; necessary for the childish.
Yuri-YSC.

I purchase many items per month and always pay with PayPal within 24 hrs of the auctions end. I think as soon as you receive your payment feedback should be left for me. If you do not leave feedback as a seller, you will not get any from me. Call that childish, but I think it's common courtesy.

Au contraire Yuri, I must disagree, for myself anyway. Repeat customers are, I consider, the core of a good business and stamp selling is business when you come right down to it.

Perhaps some dealers seem curt and rushed and seem like they just want to move on to the next sale, but if they care about their customers then they would consider it a very important part of their plan to convey to any customer how they felt about them returning and being happy with the service provided. Or, at least, that is, if they did want any return customers at all.



Indeed, it is common courtesy and being friendly and generally common sense to thank one for their business or custom, and feedback is a basic form of saying thank you, please come again, from the seller. From the buyer it is a basic form of thank you for stocking the product I wished and serving me whilst I shopped here.

Unfortunately making money type of thinking and being friendly type of thinking sometimes run contrary to one another and seem to exclude one another. One must make an effort, some large, some small, to be friendly while you are making money, at times.

I agree with puzzler regarding return customers. I'm disposing of a large Falkland Islands collection. As soon as I list items on ebay, I have multiple watchers on ever item, and often attract bids within minutes of listing. Why? Previous buyers, happy with their purchase, and happy with my performance as a seller, added me to their favourite sellers.

Being added to favourite sellers is the same as having loyal regulars when you have a shopfront.

Feedback is the mutual acknowledgement of a pleasant transaction, the same as a smile and a thank you over the counter.

This has been an interesting discussion, everyone. Thanks for all of YOUR feedback! I sat down and wrote 86 feedbacks today.

Karen

Sadly my wife has had to resort to automatic feedback for the buyer by ebay's system that is on offer.

With around 200 feedbacks every 5 days per week and on top of the rest of the emails it became too easy to miss feedbacks. Some days we see more than 100 emails incoming. Then there is the out going!

Sad to loose that personal touch but what do you do?

This thread has just reminded me to jump on and leave my feedback - been very remiss in not doing it promptly recently. Part of the reason is that I've become very disillusioned with ebay and would prefer to use an alternative if there was a good one.....

The feedback system is just one of the issues I have, for all the reasons in this thread so far plus the fact that it is ultimately self defeating. If you need good feedback to be a good seller, you need every transaction to deliver positive feedback for you. Ultimately as ebay control/police this (and let's not forget control Paypal) you need continuing good feedback to survive in this environment. For smaller sellers this becomes quite an issue and getting your coloured stars can be hard work but ultimately it's meaningless.

What would make much more sense is an external rating system that didn't impact on your ability to sell on ebay, such as trustpilot for example. People should be allowed to leave positive or negative feedback based on their actual experience with the seller/buyer without fear or favour. The current sustem precludes this and as such is ultimately flawed.

JonE,
Spot on.
Dealers follow good customers by sending them catalogues, not filling out silly tables designed to facilitate site owner bullying of those who actually pay their commission and therefore make them their living!
Muriel-YSC.

From my experience as a buyer, I've never been prevented from leaving feedback based on my actual experience with the seller and have left negative feedback when it has been warranted.

I do agree with those who advocate that the seller leave feedback as soon as he/she is in receipt of funds for the items sold.

I avoid those sellers who hold my feedback "hostage" pending their receipt of favorable feedback from me.

Sell something and try to leave a negative for the buyer.