topic Re: First negative feedback in Selling

First negative feedback

helenschmelon — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 08:08:38 GMT

Hi everyone,

I am new to selling on eBay and I've received my first negative feedback and wanted some guidance.

Most of my items I'm currently selling are new or pre-owned and I make sure to leave as much details as possible and take accurate photos.

A buyer purchased a pre-owned pair of Lipstik heels last month. They were in good condition and everything I listed on the description and photos were accurate.

The buyer has left me negative feedback saying the heels were in poor condition and had to be thrown away. I'm not sure what to do or if there's anything I can do? Everything was listed as is and I believe the feedback is a little unfair. The heels are pre-owned but not in a condition that needed to be thrown away. The buyer did not message me to share this feedback (I know they're not obligated to) but I am more than happy to discuss feedback and work out a good solution for both parties.

I wanted to message the buyer to get further info but I'm unsure that would actually change anything or if they'll reply. Can someone please give me some assistance with this? Thank you I appreciate the help in advance.

Re: First negative feedback

twyngwyn — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 08:27:35 GMT

Has the buyer left similar feedback? Is the buyer also a seller? The buyer has left you no option to have the item returned....go to Help (top of page) and have a 'live chat' with ebay....good luck!

Re: First negative feedback

katistrophik — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 08:31:31 GMT

You have been hit with a newbie buyer, who expected designer shoes for $10.00.

If you are sure the correct info was given in the original listing, close up photo's etc, I would ask eBay Live Chat to remove it, on the grounds that:

1. 'new' buyer made no contact what so ever just used feedback as a complaint tool.

2. No resolution was was entered into, whereby the buyer would have to prove damage

Lay it on think -

don't contact buyer this could be seen as FB extortion, just bare in mind you have a right to respond to the FB she left, but leave that as a last resort and only use polite factual information if you do reply

Have you checked the buyers feedback to see if this is a issue with them? That can also be cited as another reason to Live Chat

Re: First negative feedback

katistrophik — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 08:33:22 GMT

Sorry - also add this buyer to your BBL

Re: First negative feedback

helenschmelon — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 08:47:28 GMT

Hi there,

Thank you so much for your reply and help!

I've checked and the buyer has only left 3 reviews and only 1 (the one I received) was negative. They aren't a seller from what I can see.

You're correct! I don't have the option to work out any refunds either 😞

Thank you so much for your help! Fingers crossed with eBay live chat.

Re: First negative feedback

helenschmelon — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 08:51:09 GMT

Hi there,

Thank you so much as well for your reply and help!

I really appreciate your guidance on what to raise with eBay live chat - it's so helpful thank you so much.

I have checked the buyers history and the feedback I received was her first negative from a total of 3 reviews given (the other 2 were positive). I'll reach out to eBay live chat now 🙂

I'll add them to my BBL as well and won't contact her unless it's my last resort. Thank you so so much for your guidance. I really appreciate your help!!

Re: First negative feedback

davewil1964 — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 09:16:33 GMT

@helenschmelon wrote:
Hi there,

Thank you so much as well for your reply and help!

I really appreciate your guidance on what to raise with eBay live chat - it's so helpful thank you so much.

I have checked the buyers history and the feedback I received was her first negative from a total of 3 reviews given (the other 2 were positive). I'll reach out to eBay live chat now 🙂

I'll add them to my BBL as well and won't contact her unless it's my last resort. Thank you so so much for your guidance. I really appreciate your help!!

I would much rather a neg than to have to refund, as I would probably get a neg anyway.

My one and only neg from many thousands of transactions was on this account a couple of monthss ago. They chose to vent, I kept the money, and they won't be able to buy from me on any of my accounts in future.

I sell for money. I don't really care what colour dots I get.

Re: First negative feedback

helenschmelon — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 09:44:24 GMT

Hi there!

Thank you so much for your reply and your insight 🙂

It's great to also see it from that angle too and I do agree. I am selling for similar reasons, money and selling items I no longer need.

I've only recently started selling so although all transactions have been positive, this first negative has reflected on my profile and the percentage of positive feedback has been skewed. I wouldn't want this turning down prospective buyers on my other items.

Thank you again for your reply!

Re: First negative feedback

danieh_6 — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 10:02:56 GMT

@davewil1964 wrote:
@helenschmelon wrote:
Hi there,

Thank you so much as well for your reply and help!

I really appreciate your guidance on what to raise with eBay live chat - it's so helpful thank you so much.

I have checked the buyers history and the feedback I received was her first negative from a total of 3 reviews given (the other 2 were positive). I'll reach out to eBay live chat now 🙂

I'll add them to my BBL as well and won't contact her unless it's my last resort. Thank you so so much for your guidance. I really appreciate your help!!
I would much rather a neg than to have to refund, as I would probably get a neg anyway.

My one and only neg from many thousands of transactions was on this account a couple of monthss ago. They chose to vent, I kept the money, and they won't be able to buy from me on any of my accounts in future.

I sell for money. I don't really care what colour dots I get.

I second this, about 2 years ago we stopped caring about negs. on our selling account have never dipped below 99% and the fact is negs doesnt matter for sales. On any given time we would have between 15-20 negs. We help people if the message us and are unhappy but if they file a SNAD dispute or just straight up neg. We are reluctant to help because at the end of the day we do sell for money too and as always eBay says "its their experience just respect that" If you do 2000 transactions a month you cannot please everyone.

Re: First negative feedback

katistrophik — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 13:14:57 GMT

But a new seller needs to try to please most people to start with danieh.

I know sellers don't sell for green dot's, but for a new seller a red dot on the first page is upsetting.

Re: First negative feedback

springyzone — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 21:47:11 GMT

First off, I think we need to clarify something.

This buyer-they left negative feedback, but did they open an official item not as described claim with ebay and apply for money back?

I get the impression they did not do this. They seem to be newbies, with a feedback of only 11, so maybe they don't even know that can do that.

If so, then you have dodged a bullet. Be happy.

Negative feedback is not good at any time really but especially not in the case of a seller who has only sold a handful of things, I know that. It isn't an ideal look. The feedback they have given is very explicit too, it would make me pause (as a buyer) and look at descriptions and photos a second or third time before committing to buy any of your other things as I would be afraid you might be prone to over glowing descriptions.

However, I take it this is not the case and you gave an accurate description. You have to be prepared for the fact that some people on ebay are not reasonable.

I used to sell many moons ago and I have always also been a buyer and my advice would be to only sell second hand clothing or shoes that are in fantastic condition. Advertise them as very good. That way, you won't have buyers disappointed. In fact they will be rapt as items will be just as or even better than expected.

Anything that is fairly worn, or marked or has fraying or loose threads, or in the case of shoes, maybe worn heels or soles, even if it still has some life in it, is no longer ebay material. That is my opinion, anyway. It lays you open to risk. Maybe try Facebook marketplace for those items. The reason I suggest this is that if a buyer decides randomly that the item is worse than they expected (and they can expect an awful lot for very little money sometimes), then if they are experienced with ebay, they just might make a claim and they would be likely to win as ebay usually (not always, but quite often) tends to err on the side of the buyer. In that case, the seller not only refunds every cent but they also pay for return postage of the item.

At the present moment, if your buyer has done nothing else except give you neg feedback, I would leave it. Just ignore it for now. Don't communicate with the buyer by message or anything else. Don't offer any refund, partial or otherwise.

You could do as someone else suggested and contact ebay in an effort to get the feedback removed. If that doesn't work, you could give a factual reply to the feedback but be aware the buyer also has the right of reply if you do that. Whether they realise that though, I don't know.

Re: First negative feedback

paper-jack — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 22:42:02 GMT

I'd just like to add another view on buyers and negative feedback - there are a number of buyers who wouldn't bother (or even know to) check a seller's feedback if they have found an item they really want or need.
Maybe one negative will put off a buyer or 2, but eventually that red dot will move down the list.
In the case of the negative that started off this thread, the photo of the heels in the original listing does make the buyer's claim look over the top - with soles that clean, seems unlikely the heels would be worn out.
I second Springyzone's advice.

Re: First negative feedback

everard6920 — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 00:39:58 GMT

Sorry that this happened, OP. Ultimately, you can only control what you do, and not what anyone else does, so if you think that all of your business practices are sound, then this is really the buyer's problem and you should just move on. What is that quote from the Queen? "Recollections of ~~events~~ items may vary"

Personally, I would like to see eBay overhaul their feedback system, it's still very similar to what they had in the 90s and so much has changed since then.

I like the system on that other site where the buyer leaves a star rating and a longer comment. It just seems silly of eBay to have the buyer leave a dot AND a comment AND four different star ratings - especially when the star rating can contradict the dot if they feel like it. That site also allows people to upload a picture of what they received for their feedback, which I think is a good idea, because people are very visual nowadays and it allows other buyers to verify that your items actually are what you say they are.

Re: First negative feedback

katistrophik — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 02:25:57 GMT

Let us know how you get on OP, because looking at your listing - for $10.00 those were well and truly worth the money.

You can also provide those images to live chat. Don't be afraid to ask to speak to a supervisor if you feel they are fobbing you off (they tend to do that if things get too hard for them)

Re: First negative feedback

helenschmelon — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 03:50:01 GMT

Hi everyone,

Thank you so much for everyone's guidance with this topic. I really appreciate the support and insight into the different views of receiving feedback and getting to understand how eBay works on the back end as well in terms of claims.

I've just contacted eBay Live Chat and they were so lovely and have confirmed that they will remove this negative feedback from my profile (yay!).

I really want to thank everyone that's replied 🙂 as a new seller with no experience, I'm truly grateful for all the help and guidance I've received. You all have been so wonderful so thank you again!

Re: First negative feedback

katistrophik — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 05:31:51 GMT

Well done, now don't forget to block that buyer right away, she will be a headache for many sellers I think.

Your FB page looks so much better now

https://www.ebay.com.au/help/selling/resolving-buyer-issues/blocking-buyer-ebay?id=4082&st=12&pos=1&query=Blocking%20a%20buyer%20on%20eBay&intent=block%20a

Re: First negative feedback

bikeden — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 06:20:58 GMT

The first negative always hurts, but don't get too tied up in it. Feedback was originally conceived back in the 'good old days' when everyone ran auctions. Today it is becoming less relevant.

On both our accounts we are lucky to receive feedback from 1 in 20 sales. Buyers don't care any more, they just want their stuff.

We have now stopped giving out feedback all together as it's a waste of time. The only benefit of the feature is for buyers when they want to vent their spleen when something goes wrong.

Customers will still buy from you if you have over 95% I reckon. eBay is a discount store and people just want the cheapest price.

Re: First negative feedback

springyzone — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 00:42:13 GMT

Well done!

In the early days of being a seller, feedback can be important because one neg can look bad and stand out if you only have a handful of positives. but as time goes on and you sell more, it becomes less relevant if all the rest is positive.

And as someone else said, some buyers never check out feedback anyway.

But you did well to get the neg removed. I did have a look at your photos and I do think your buyer was over the top, saying they needed to be thrown out.

It wasa good idea to post photos of the soles as well as it helps back up your claim. I think it is a good idea to post photos of items from all angles, that way you have some back up for your claims.