Should sellers be able to leave negative feedback for non-payments?

[2011emc2]

As a first-time seller, I had a buyer who didn't pay and didn't bother to contact me or respond to my emails. I opened an ‘Unpaid Item’ case, which again got no response, and closed the case today.

Yet the only feedback option available to me was to leave 'Positive' feedback for this buyer.

Really, eBay???

This 'buyer' still has a '100% positive' feedback rating on eBay. How is this honest or fair? Shouldn't a feedback system allow members of a community to comment on their actual dealings with people in that community?

Little wonder some sellers try to sneak in negative comments using the positive feedback option, to try to warn other unsuspecting sellers. Yet eBay deletes these from buyers' profiles.

I think eBay should change its feedback policy in order to allow equal footing for buyers and sellers. So sellers would be allowed to either: (a) leave negative feedback - if only for non-payment; or (b) automaticallly note non-payments into each buyer's feedback profile, so these are clear for all to see.

It's not a problem to demonstrate that a buyer hasn't paid. Why not give sellers the same rights as buyers to leave honest feedback? Wouldn't everyone benefit?

I didn't ship the item because payment never arrived or cleared.  Still, what a negative experience, especially the shocking attitude toward sellers whose fees sustain and enrich eBay.

What is your opinion on eBay's feedback policy for sellers?

(Newbies: FB = feedback, NP = non-payment)

[viewmont1071]

 Linking generic non payer feeback to the unpaid item process utilizes human nature traits to increase the amount of non paying bidder claims.

Transparency also instils trust.

Some sellers need to have confidence in  the system before they will use it. some plain and simply want revenge. However the outcome is the same and that is more NPB cases being raised by sellers. Instead of monkey see monkey do negative positive feedbacks I can see sellers wanting to know how the put NPB ]:)666 on a NPB feedback and monkey seeing monkey doing NPB disputes...............

Non paying bidders will always be a problem on ebay. If ebay acknowledged that and penalized accordingly then more sellers would trust ebays systems

Hold on   😐 I have a better idea... lets penalize sellers that leave negative positives with the threat of sanction.oooh that should work well ........ and remove the nasty feedback 😐 ....... Crikey... that is sure to get more sellers to correctly report NPB.... not

[kerryscarz]

I use my account to sell motor vehicles. 1 in 3 results in a finalised sale. I have had to list an item up to 6 times until eventually somebody paid for it. At $8 per re-list, it gets kind of expensive and at least 9 days before I can re-list after each failed sale.

The system of buyers strikes could be improved. It should appear on your account ( Be visible to those that wish to look), without comments. if you have received a buyers strike and it should disappear after a year. 2 within a year should exclude you from buying. This would make a HUGE difference and make buyers more interested in bidding only when intending to buy.

I agree with the system otherwise but its hard n sellers like myself. Yes I was around years ago when the buyers could leave feedback and it was messy and unfair at times.

IMPROVEMENTS as simple as I have suggested would work well.

I block and ban indefinatley ALL non paying bidders and send their ebay id to all freinds and family to do the same.

[lyndal1838]

Kerry, if you set your buyers blocks properly you would automatically ban buyers with 2 negatives in a year, without having to look at any feedback.  It is too late once they have placed a bid for a seller to be trawling feedback and then having to cancel bids.

[viewmont1071]

Kerry, if you set your buyers blocks properly you would automatically ban buyers with 2 negatives in a year, without having to look at any feedback.  It is too late once they have placed a bid for a seller to be trawling feedback and then having to cancel bids.

If you are listing and selling 15k plus cars... trust me you have the time to trawl through feedback..... In fact many posters on these forums spend all day trawling through buyers and sellers feedback and they are not even selling them anything.

...... Busybodies, it appears, just cannot help themselves but look.

[xxwkyxx]

Leaving a negative fb for buyers won't work.

They can simply register a new account right away.

The most would be to open an unpaid item case n hopefully they will pay for the item sooner.

[viewmont1071]

I use my account to sell motor vehicles. 1 in 3 results in a finalised sale. I have had to list an item up to 6 times until eventually somebody paid for it. At $8 per re-list, it gets kind of expensive and at least 9 days before I can re-list after each failed sale.

The system of buyers strikes could be improved. It should appear on your account ( Be visible to those that wish to look), without comments. if you have received a buyers strike and it should disappear after a year. 2 within a year should exclude you from buying. This would make a HUGE difference and make buyers more interested in bidding only when intending to buy.

I agree with the system otherwise but its hard n sellers like myself. Yes I was around years ago when the buyers could leave feedback and it was messy and unfair at times.

IMPROVEMENTS as simple as I have suggested would work well.

I block and ban indefinatley ALL non paying bidders and send their ebay id to all freinds and family to do the same.

If you want to vet bidders you can use the advanced search tool and run a bids lodged search>>>>>>>>> lots of bids in the vehicle category with different sellers at the same time as they are bidding on your car or asking questions = tyrekicker /timewaster/npb.

If you compare the current bid categories to the completed bid categories search often serial NPBs stand out like the dog's proverbial....

There are also other buyer idiosyncrasies that can be researched using the tool.

Those that have not got the time to trawl feedback....disregard this advice  because you will not have time nor the inclination 😛

[viewmont1071]

hardly a statistically valid poll!

Disaffected sellers are more likely to vote which would skew the results.  Also, many posters have multiple IDs which they could vote with which would skew the results either way.  Too small a sample size which would not make results reliable.

Affected members are more likely to vote as they seem fit.... I like to think the best of people especially ebay members... how about you???

Multiple ids could vote either way to skew the results..

Whack your poll up... the proof is in the pudding. too smaller sample size????

Morgan Gallup Poll of 893 voters compared to the australian population of 21.4 million... who's sample size is proportionately smaller, this threads, or Morgan Gallups sample on the link??

L-NP (58%) RETAINS BIG LEAD OVER ALP (42%) BEFORE CRAIG THOMSON
MAKES STATEMENT TO PARLIAMENT ABOUT A...

[leader-of-the-band]

Morgan Gallup Poll of 893 voters compared to the australian population of 21.4 million... who's sample size is proportionately smaller, this threads, or Morgan Gallups sample on the link??

that would have been a random sampling, which would make it statistically valid.

eBay forum polls are not random sampling polls . . . . the two can not be compared.

[davewil1964]

Self-selecting polls, like all the ones on TV and newspaper sites, are never relevant. Unless a majority of the member group self-selects.

Those that have not got the time to trawl feedback....disregard this advice  because you will not have time nor the inclination.

Or sell BIN and don't have the ability to pre-vet buyers, or sell low cost items and can't see the point in expending that much effort. Remembering, of course, that the proportion of auctions on the site is dropping all the time.

[viewmont1071]

Or sell BIN and don't have the ability to pre-vet buyers, or sell low cost items and can't see the point in expending that much effort. Remembering, of course, that the proportion of auctions on the site is dropping all the time.

....Are you trying to talk yourself out of using the advanced search tool?? ........  I bet you have already wasted time using it 😐

BTW... the tool is also great to vet " BUY IT NOW BIDDERS" (Note I did not use the buyer word)... because buy it now bidders do not PAY and when the tool is used after the promise to buy is ascerted by the bidder

.....................  it is easy to see that they have done the same to other sellers.......

and .much easier than wading through the excuses and waiting for payment for weeks.

However I am generally happy to wait because 99.9% of the time they do actually pay me especially if the items are unique or scarce....... 

 I REALLY feel for the "new blue gizmo sellers" where the NPB can just move onto the next "new blue gizmo seller" as it is those sellers that appear to experience the brunt of NPB troubles on ebay and can understand them raising NPB disputes after 4 days.