@jacobaile-6,
I realise that some buyers absolutely love being given feedback. You have the right to decide not to give feedback to sellers unless they give you feedback first. I fully acknowledge that.
Some sellers find that it works well for their business to leave feedback upon receiving payment. Some sellers find that the opposite is true. And still others will be somewhere in between.
I don't think that whether or not sellers leave feedback is the deciding factor as to whether or not that seller is a good seller. Just as you have the right to decide whether or not to give feedback, and to make that feedback positive, neutral or negative, sellers also have (more limited) rights about feedback.
Just a few things to think about, however...
"the right to hold you to ransom".
Emotive and dramatic language - which would be fitting if your computer had been locked by a remote hacker demanding that you pay $1000 or he will not release your computer and destroy your data.
It would be fitting if your child had been kidnapped and the kidnappers were demanding $80,000 for the safe release of your child.
There are many other scenarios in which the outrage you have expressed (and the terms in which you have expressed it) would be fit and appropriate... but a seller on eBay not giving you feedback is not one of them.
"You as a buyer should get feedback as soon as you pay."
No. eBay's Feedback policy states: ❝leaving Feedback is completely voluntary.❞
In fact, eBay's Feedback manipulation policy states:
❝
Not allowed
Exchanging Feedback for the sole purpose of increasing your Feedback score,
getting website privileges, or enhancing your reputation
Also, as laid out in eBay's Feedback extortion policy, buyers are not permitted to leave or threaten to leave negative feedback for sellers on the basis of the seller's feedback behaviour. That comes under services not included in the original item's description or purchase price.
❝Buyers can't use the threat of negative (or promise of positive) Feedback
to get a seller to provide goods or services that weren't included in the
original item's description or purchase price.
Perhaps you aren't aware that buyers can only be given positive feedback. That means that demonstrably a buyer's feedback comments and score have little meaning. Whether or not a seller gives you feedback does not affect your standing on eBay, and is not a measure of that seller's excellence or lack of it.
I understand that people in general love the feeling of approval or validation; it's a very human trait. That makes the receipt of positive feedback deliver a "feel-good" factor, as endorphins are released (as well as other neurochemicals), triggering a smile. But in my view it's an essentially pointless and largely worthless trigger for that outcome, because it is based on buyer behaviour that is nothing out of the ordinary being rewarded in a way that suggests that the act of buying (including paying for the item) deserves an accolade.
"they take my money and i pay fast."
This suggests that a seller somehow needs to compensate you for "tak[ing your] money", and even has an undertone that the seller's being paid by you is a gracious act of martyrdom on your part. Ordinary commerce - which has been taking place for thousands of years (and certainly for money rather than barter since 600 BC). As long as the seller sends you the item which you've purchased, with postage being timely, postage cost being reasonable, packaging being appropriate, and the item being what you ordered, the seller has done what is required.
You also imply that you've done your part by paying. It's a common argument and I acknowledge that to some extent it has merit. Were it not for the fact that a proportion of buyers claim that items never arrive (when the seller knows that it has arrived), that the item is faulty or fake (in cases where the seller knows that that is not the case), that the item doesn't fit or isn't the shade of colour expected (and opens a SNAD case on that basis), or initiates a chargeback claiming that their card was used without authorisation.. well, the argument would be a stronger one. But because of the current online retail environment, and the current laws regulating that, and the current eBay and PayPal policies giving further terms and conditions, the buyer's part is most assuredly not complete merely by the act of paying for a purchased eBay item within four days of the purchase.
DISCLOSURE: I don't sell on eBay. I'm a buyer. I'm not really interested in receiving feedback (although it's pleasant - I have a well-functioning endocrine system), and I purchase for the purpose of receiving good-quality items that I want, rather than for the purpose of being sure of getting feedback.
@brerrabbit585 wrote:
The normal practice in an offline sale is for the buyer to say thank you when they receive their goods and the seller says thank you when they receive their money, so why would an online sale be any different?
Because it is different.
Online trading takes elements of in-person retail, but it doesn't transpose all of them, so expecting exactly the same thing from online retail that you get from in person retail, or trying to find an equivalent for every scenario in B&M stores, is deeply problematic.
Before I get into that, though, I also want to mention that when you say it's a way for the seller to say thanks to the buyer (and vice versa), you're still assigning a particular meaning and significance to this little ritual called feedback and then assuming everyone else is applying the same meaning to it, and then concluding if they don't say "thanks" by that (or any other) way, they're somehow being less of a seller or disrespectful - and again, only because you think it's to say "thanks" without knowing if your trading partner(s) view it the same way. Out of curiosity, how often do you check the automated purchase notification / item sent emails, to look for seller-personalisation, and possibly a "thanks" in there somewhere. (Note, I have a checkout message that says "thanks" - is this enough of one to "get me out" of having to leave feedback to say it?)
Why is it that only on sites where buyers can get feedback, is feedback seen as the way to thank a buyer? Does anyone think that they (or their business) are/ is unappreciated when they buy from some other website and just get an automated email with a template that says "thanks"? Why, or why not? What is it about there being the opportunity to get feedback that suddenly makes it mean all these deeper things, and causes resentment sellers if they don't perform the ritual as expected?
Back to the "it's the same in B&M retail" argument...
I'm not standing there holding my hand out when a buyer purchases one of my items, so I can't thank each buyer individually for buying something from me. When I leave feedback, it's (on average) a couple of times a day, and I just tick all paid orders, select leave feedback, then select to randomly apply one of several saved FB comments. It has about as much meaning as a Justin Bieber lyric. Occasionally I absolutely will leave a personalised comment, but it's not to say "thanks".
But, if it was, and this way of saying "thanks" was transposable to B&M retail, everyone would have to pay, wait by the checkout for up to 24 hours, then eventually I'll just throw a bunch of generic, pre-written notelets at them. I'm sure that would be worth the wait.
Also, not every checkout operator ever says "thanks" during a transaction - I think the self-checkout machines emit a thanks in one way or another when I use one of those, just like the automated system emails have a "thanks" in them (if not personalised, pretty sure it just says "thanks for shopping on eBay"), so that's about as close as B&M retail gets to online retail, and honestly, I wouldn't notice or care if the machines said thanks or not (though, since I'm doing the work of a checkout operator and not gettin' paid for it, I guess a thanks is the least they could do 
).
I prefer them, I've worked in B&M retail and there's a reason I don't anymore (i.e. I mostly choose not to interact with humans, face to face anyway, wherever possible 
).
@countessalmirena wrote:
And... oh yes, the ubiquitous, soulless, meaningless, glib and roboticised "thanks!" or "thank you" or "have a good day" or "thank you for shopping at WhereverMart"... As has been said by many on the subject of technology rendering manners or gratitude, it is a response without substance. It grates on me; I could become quite steamed up about how offensive I find it when a machine thanks me. I think that it grates on me because I consider words - and the way in which they express landscape of the self and the meaning of that self - tremendously important. To programme a machine to say thank you (that is, to do this so that machines thank users in ways that we're discussing - checkout, EFTPOS machines, etc.) is to degrade the concept of thankfulness.
Anya: [to a customer who just finished her purchase] Please go.
Xander: Anya, the Shopkeepers Union of America called. They wanted me to tell you that "Please go" just got replaced with "Have a nice day."
Anya: But I have their money. Who cares what kind of day they have?
Xander: No one. It's just a long cultural tradition of raging insincerity. Embrace it.
(Unfortunately, I couldn't link to this scene without linking to the full episode - Buffy, season 5, No Place Like Home).
Many cashiers say it because it's expected, not because they're sincerely thankful - it's a programmed, robotic response, either way.
Spoiler
I'm only half-joking... There's no half-smile smiley, but this might do
@digital*ghost wrote:
@countessalmirena wrote:
And... oh yes, the ubiquitous, soulless, meaningless, glib and roboticised "thanks!" or "thank you" or "have a good day" or "thank you for shopping at WhereverMart"... As has been said by many on the subject of technology rendering manners or gratitude, it is a response without substance. It grates on me; I could become quite steamed up about how offensive I find it when a machine thanks me. I think that it grates on me because I consider words - and the way in which they express landscape of the self and the meaning of that self - tremendously important. To programme a machine to say thank you (that is, to do this so that machines thank users in ways that we're discussing - checkout, EFTPOS machines, etc.) is to degrade the concept of thankfulness.
Anya: [to a customer who just finished her purchase] Please go.
Xander: Anya, the Shopkeepers Union of America called. They wanted me to tell you that "Please go" just got replaced with "Have a nice day."
Anya: But I have their money. Who cares what kind of day they have?
Xander: No one. It's just a long cultural tradition of raging insincerity. Embrace it.
(Unfortunately, I couldn't link to this scene without linking to the full episode - Buffy, season 5, No Place Like Home).
Many cashiers say it because it's expected, not because they're sincerely thankful - it's a programmed, robotic response, either way.
SpoilerI'm only half-joking... There's no half-smile smiley, but this might do
There's a way of saying "You have a good day, now" which clearly means "Now take your chips and your smokes and go and jump off a cliff, you obnoxious ...."
I got quite good at it, working graveyard shift on Friday and Saturday nights at the 24-hour servo near the Housing Commission estate.
But only after they installed the bullet-proof glass service window for us.
