topic Re: Sellers extorting feedback by intimation? in Buying

Sellers extorting feedback by intimation?

robert_053 — Tue, 15 May 2012 06:34:14 GMT

When selling I have ALWAYS given feedback when the customer pays for the item. The quicker they pay the better the feedback. AS IT SHOULD BE.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

When buying how ever I have found a lot of sellers do not leave feedback until you leave them feedback. Is this GOOD practice? I don't think so, in fact it causes me to give poorer feedback than I may have originally as I class this activity as bad customer relations in the 'seller's communication' area. As a rule I start asking why I had not received any feedback after four to five days, then if I do not receive a reasonable answer and immeadiate feedback the seller loses points. As a majority of postal times from sellers average at least 7 days I usually wait that long before "reducing" the stars on communication. Then every four days they lose another.

Today I contacted a seller asking "why?" on an item 320731808127 purchased on the 9th of May and received this reply:

"Dear robert_053,

Hi
thank you for your information.
our system work that when customer leave me positive feedback.
the system leave him positive also.
please leave me first.
miranda"

to which I have replied:

Hello Miranda,
That is very rude.
I order and pay for items straight away and so I expect positive feedback STRAIGHT AWAY!
What YOU are doing is extorting good feedback from customers so they will get good feedback too.
IF you had checked my members profile page you would have discovered that this is a particular "HATE" of mine.
It also causes those sellers who do it to LOSE 'points' when it comes to me making my assessment.
To me that is a "failure for proper seller's communication"
**excerpt from my page
**quote**
Business Information

NOTICE TO SELLERS!When I purchase your product and Pay immediately, I EXPECT feedback immediately!! Should you delay feedback, until I receive the item and give YOU feedback, you WILL receive LESS STARS in communication the longer you delay!
**endquote**
Sincerely,
Robb

Do YOU think I am right in doing this?

Re: Sellers extorting feedback by intimation?

lyndal1838 — Tue, 15 May 2012 06:44:42 GMT

Thank you for posting this thread....it gives every seller who reads it the chance to put you on their Blocked Bidder List.

I have never read such nonsense and it is a very good illustration of how some ebayers do not understand the feedback system.

Re: Sellers extorting feedback by intimation?

patchoo78 — Tue, 15 May 2012 06:51:26 GMT

If you ask me, I think you're the rude one.. Feedback does nothing for the buyer but tell everyone what you have bought and that you pay for your items. Also, sellers can only leave positive..

A lot of sellers have it set so that feedback is left for the buyer after the buyer has left it for the seller...

Sellers feedback however DOES mean something to the sellers as it can affect their ratings and how their items place in searches..

Frankly, what you have posted is just plain rude.. Regardless of how you like to leave feedback, it doesn't mean that all sellers have to do the same..

Should you delay feedback, until I receive the item and give YOU feedback, you WILL receive LESS STARS in communication the longer you delay!

This part in particular could actually be called feedback extortion, and does nothing but make you look bad.

Also, most sellers wouldn't bother to read your profile page when you buy from them so it's pointless putting that speech in there in the first place...

Re: Sellers extorting feedback by intimation?

davewil1964 — Tue, 15 May 2012 07:15:35 GMT

The seller in your OP has it set that way BECAUSE eBay allow it. From memory, I think it's an opt-out, too.

I would get good stars from you, presumably, because I DO leave feedback when the buyer pays; we'll never know though. But that is a choice I made and I have no problems with other sellers who, legitimately, feel that the transaction isn't complete until they know the buyer has the item and there are no problems. Which buyer feedback generally indicates.

Re: Sellers extorting feedback by intimation?

ufo_investigations — Tue, 15 May 2012 07:19:28 GMT

OP, I think all sellers will put you on the blocked bidder list after seeing this. Under ebay rules, feedback is voluntary neither buyer nor seller has any obligation to leave any feedback if they don't want to. Ebay have not made it compulsory yet.

A few years ago ebay decided that only buyers can give neutrals and negatives. Sellers can either give positive or give nothing. They are the only 2 options for sellers. This is the main cause as to why sellers give feedback after receiving a positive.

Re: Sellers extorting feedback by intimation?

twyngwyn — Tue, 15 May 2012 07:24:47 GMT

Is this a wind-up? If so, I think it's worked 😐

Re: Sellers extorting feedback by intimation?

*sparklz* — Tue, 15 May 2012 07:52:32 GMT

So what are you buying and selling?

Feedback or items?

Re: Sellers extorting feedback by intimation?

rumplebear1951 — Tue, 15 May 2012 07:52:39 GMT

When selling I have ALWAYS given feedback when the customer pays for the item. The quicker they pay the better the feedback. AS IT SHOULD BE.

Read this thread robert and then you might understand why sellers do not leave feedback until after a buyer has left theirs.

http://community.ebay.com.au/topic/Selling/Buyer-Making-Personal/600149815

I am sure the seller in question wishes they has never left this particular buyer feedback upon payment.

Are you buying items on ebay or are you buying red dots?

Your diatribe is ridiculous...particularly when feedback is and always has been VOLUNTARY.

Re: Sellers extorting feedback by intimation?

rumplebear1951 — Tue, 15 May 2012 08:08:42 GMT

Ooops...that should be GREEN dots...which of course are the only colour a buyer can receive.

Re: Sellers extorting feedback by intimation?

digital*ghost — Tue, 15 May 2012 08:44:40 GMT

Oh, really. 😐

I would like to ask you a few questions.

First off, the premise. I've spent a good couple of years reading and participating in th eBay buying/selling forums. I'm a frequent buyer, as the FB on this ID shows, and a frequent seller on another ID. Sometimes I read threads and I'm grateful for seeing alternative perspectives on issues.

I've read countless threads about feedback, from all manner of perspectives. As a seller, I take an interest in the buyer's point of view on this. It interests me that some buyers demand that feedback be left for them as soon as they pay. It also interests me when other buyers say they don't like it when sellers leave feedback for them as soon as they pay (according to the buyers that feel that way, it's often because they feel it shows the seller doesn't have confidence in their product, and that by leaving a positive for the buyer immediately, the buyer then feels obligated to "return the favour" and leave positive feedback regardless of how they felt about the transaction).

The point I'm trying to make is that there are all sorts of different buyers, each with their own preferences and expectations. It's great to get some insight on them, but as a seller, how do I know which kind of buyer I'm dealing with? Furthermore, leaving feedback is a part of my business, so one of my questions is what makes you think you have the right to dictate to a seller how they operate their business?

In other words, when an item of mine sells and I receive the payment notification, feedback becomes one of the things I may or may not choose to do. So, do I

A: Use my mind-reading skills to immediately ascertain what the buyer wants, because it's all about them

B: Figure out a system that works for me, because leaving feedback is my option

In addition, I would like to point out something. Using the logic of "I have paid, I deserve my feedback now", it then stands to reason that I, as a seller, can turn around and say "I have posted your item, I deserve my feedback now". But I don't, mostly because I don't care about whether I get one more dot, but also because I'm a reasonable person and I recognise that's an unreasonable demand.

Buyers don't leave feedback as soon as an item has been posted because there's all sorts of things that can happen between the posting of an item, and receiving it - it might not be as described, it might get lost etc etc etc. And there's all sorts of different ways a seller can handle those types of situations - some would warrant a positive, others may warrant a negative.

Buyers can't get negatives, but guess what? There's all sorts of ways a buyer can handle those said same situations, and a few more that they can create on their own (eg credit card chargebacks after payment/postage) - some buyers are rude, aggressive and demanding if the parcel takes more than two days to arrive, others have the patience of a saint and are very understanding when parcels are delayed. In some of those circumstances, a seller may not feel particularly positive about the buyer's behavior.

The buyer is not the only party to a transaction, and we all have choices about how we act and when. I wish feedback obsessive buyers would stop acting like a green dot and a comment about how fast they went through checkout is critical to the success of a positive transaction. X-(

Re: Sellers extorting feedback by intimation?

the3coopers — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:08:32 GMT

Bit of a pity there was a typo in the thread title - obviously it was meant to say:

Buyer extorting feedback by intimation

Yeah, probably just a simple mistake - nobody's perfect 🙂

Re: Sellers extorting feedback by intimation?

*queen.kong* — Wed, 16 May 2012 05:16:06 GMT

wow.

OP you are now a new member of my blocked bidders list, you are in good company.

Re: Sellers extorting feedback by intimation?

*kazumi* — Wed, 16 May 2012 05:23:10 GMT

wow.

OP you are now a new member of my blocked bidders list, you are in good company.

ditto

241 views, wonder how many BBLs the OP is now member 🙂

Re: Sellers extorting feedback by intimation?

patchoo78 — Wed, 16 May 2012 05:35:02 GMT

If I were a seller, he would go on my list for sure.. In fact, I may just take a memo of his name just in case I do decide to sell anything. :^O

Re: Sellers extorting feedback by intimation?

annies_fancy_dress — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:20:16 GMT

I always leave feedback ASAP after I receive payment.

It's nice to see FB numbers get bigger but otherwise I'm not worried.

My only gripe is that if E-Bay want to punish sellers for receiving bad feedback (as in my experience it is usually unwarranted) then they should have some way of verifying it, or at least protecting sellers from malicious FB.

Although, i'm not sure how they could do that.

By the way, is there a way to send a complaint about a buyer to ebay, do they have a way to list complaints about buyers who are serial neg leavers etc?

Re: Sellers extorting feedback by intimation?

izabsmiling — Wed, 16 May 2012 09:01:29 GMT

OP as others have said feedback is voluntary.

When given It is meant to be an honest appraisal of the transaction (the 'honesty' of the Feedback should not be affected of IF or when a seller leave you feedback) 😐

The transaction is not complete as a Seller until the buyer has received the item and is happy with it.For that reason some sellers may wait .Again they aren't obligated to leave it.Quite honestly a buyers FB ,which can only be positive means very little to most people.

Re: Sellers extorting feedback by intimation?

izabsmiling — Wed, 16 May 2012 09:04:32 GMT

and sometimes some sellers won't leave any feedback for the very reason they can only leave positive feedback.Perhaps the buyer should be grateful in those cases.:-)

Re: Sellers extorting feedback by intimation?

izabsmiling — Wed, 16 May 2012 09:06:15 GMT

I recently saw Neutral feedback left for a Seller stating

Seller doesn't even bother to leave Feedback

Re: Sellers extorting feedback by intimation?

grapes_collector — Thu, 17 May 2012 08:18:04 GMT

Thank you for posting this thread....it gives every seller who reads it the chance to put you on their Blocked Bidder List.

I have never read such nonsense and it is a very good illustration of how some ebayers do not understand the feedback system.

Couldn't agree more!

Re: Sellers extorting feedback by intimation?

cuddles_01au — Thu, 17 May 2012 10:19:12 GMT

im wondering what you do with the feedback when you get it B-)

im only a buyer i do remember way back I was pleased to get my first few but only cause it reflected that i had been a good payer after the first few it didnt matter

i still sit here wondering what you do with it 😮 maybe you could share]:)