Why can't buyers show the common courtesy of leaving reciprocal feedback for their eBay purchases.

[col-ekta]

I have sold a number of items recently. I have contacted buyers to find out if the items arrived safely and if they were happy with their purchase. 'Yes' and 'yes' they reply, but many of them fail to submit any feedback and thus my feedback score suffers. Why can't people display common courtesy and leave reciprocal feedback if they are happy with their purchases??

[davewil1964]

Feedback is VOLUNTARY. Neither participant in a transaction is required to leave it. There are no repercussions either way.

Ergo, it is not and can not be extortion.

And your perception of it as such is your personal opinion and might or might not (I'm going with not) have any basis in reality.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

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@qazpolwertrip wrote:

If I do not receive feedback after paying for my Item I will not leave any feedback at all
or until I receive it first, regardless of the transaction being postive.

At the moment there is almost 70 transactions I have not left any feedback for because of this extortion game.

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I know this is a longish post but if read all the way through the final paragraphs might make more sense.

Primarily, my buying of items on eBay is to receive goods I want and have paid for.

For the purpose of this post the term ‘feedback’ will include Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs) and the delivery question.

Bigger sellers probably have their feedback settings set to ‘auto’ . . . i.e. to only leave feedback once a buyer leaves feedback.  The 70 you have not yet left feedback for might just include sellers with ‘auto’ feedback settings.

Selling on eBay was much simpler for sellers in the early days of eBay.  Throughout the years there have been continual policy changes/updates.  Some of these have been good, some have been bad.

One aspect of feedback that leaves many sellers concerned are the DSRs.

Also, when a buyer is asked “Did the item arrive by XXXX date?” eBay are measuring delivery time against their (often fanciful) estimated delivery date.  Sellers can be penalised for a “No” response.

eBay have sometimes subjected sellers to what amounts to impossible standards.  The information used by eBay in imposing these impossible standards is often provided by buyers . . . through opening return cases and through feedback.

Is it any wonder that sellers might, just might, be far less concerned with receiving feedback nowadays due to the possible ramifications to their selling ability?  Think about it for a minute.  If a seller charges a little too much for postage on an item then why would the seller cave to a threat of “if you don’t leave me feedback I won’t leave you feedback” attitude from buyers?  They’d be mad as it would invite possible dings on their DSRs.

It is your choice of whether to leave feedback first or not, but remember that feedback is based on the whole transaction . . . and the transaction isn’t completed from the buyers end just because they pay.

Spoiler

for a little further reading on this topic then try this thread (BUT DO NOT post on it as it is old and eBay policies have changed since then)

https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Buying/why-don-t-sellers-leave-you-feedback-when-you-pay-for-someth...

[countessalmirena]

k1000, I am very sorry to say this... but that's not a "longish post".

You may only be at the beginning stages of sesquipedalianism. Further training is recommended.

@*photofix,

As Gibran wrote in The Prophet (specifically, in On Giving),

❝There are those who give little of the much which they have—and they give it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome. And there are those who have little and give it all. These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty. There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.❞

If you don't wish to give feedback until/unless it is given to you, that is your choice – and it is as valid a choice on eBay as when a seller decides not to give feedback until/unless it is given to them.

Indeed, any choice concerning feedback on eBay is valid, since all of it is voluntary.

I have asked the Feedback Fairy to bless your path.

Interestingly, there are plenty of references to words of praise and letters of commendation in the ancient world. No doubt you have read (from King Pepi II, in The Old and Middle Kingdoms. Vol. 1 of Ancient Egyptian Literature, translated by Miriam Lichtheim) of the charming thank-you note which the 8-year-old King Pepi II AKA Neferkare (in about  2286 BC) wrote to his expedition leader Harkhuf, in appreciation of the wonderful gift of a dancing pygmy. The thank-you note was so valued by Harkhuf that he had it inscribed in his tomb. The translation says

❝The King's own seal: Year 2, third month of the first season, day 15.

The King's decree to the Sole companion, Lector-priest, Chief of scouts, Harkhuf.

Notice has been taken of this dispatch of yours which you made for the King at the Palace, to let one know that you have come down in safety from Yam with the army that was with you. You have said in this dispatch of yours that you have brought all kinds of great and beautiful gifts, which Hathor, mistress of Imaau, has given to the ka of King Neferkare, who lives forever. You have said in this dispatch of yours that you have brought a pygmy of the god's dances from the land of the horizon-dwellers, like the pygmy whom the god's seal-bearer Bawerded brought from Punt in the time of King Isesi. You have said to my majesty that his like has never been brought by anyone who did Yam previously.

Truly you know how to do what your lord loves and praises. Truly you spend day and night planning to do what your lord loves, praises, and commands. His majesty will provide you many worthy honors for the benefit of your son's son for all time, so that all people will say, when they hear what my majesty did for you, "Does anything equal what was done for the sole companion Harkhuf when he came down from Yam, on account of the vigilance he showed in doing what his lord loved, praised, and commanded?"❞

Try fitting all of THAT into the puny number of characters provided by eBay feedback! It would lose so much of its detail, its tone and essence... I suppose it would end up being something like this:

Royal personage username: kingpepiii

Fantastic dancing pygmy from horizon-dwellers' land,   Scout: Harkhuf(139372)

                                                          More than 4,000 years ago

   never before seen! Best kingly gift ever! Rewards await!   

Because I am sure you will want to see this early example of feedback in its original language, I include here a photograph of the inscription of King Pepi II's letter, as inscribed on Harkhuf's tomb. The original letter from the pharaoah would, of course, long since have perished, but having the hieroglyphs inscribed on the wall of a tomb means that we can see just how long-lasting feedback can be, and what joy it may give to the happy receiver!

We may, I suppose, think of this as a fortunate inversion of a panegyric, when a royal personage is pleased. The praise element does not quite reach the Olympian heights of a true panegyric.

_____________________________________________________

• Foreign word, ✓
• Literary reference, ✓
  
• Historical reference, ✓
• Fancy word. ✓

This has been a Fancy Foreign Historical Literary (FanFoHisLit)® post.

[kitty-kat-kollection]

As a long term buyer, I've always been one to leave feedback, just because I wanted to. It was always good. If I ever had a problem, I would contact the seller to help. Most sellers also left me feedback too, as a buyer.

Now as a seller, I honestly never know when it's "safe" to leave a buyer feedback. I tend to do it once they pay, but this has been a mistake on a few occasions when they later complained, were unreasonable, completely insane, or were scammers who did a chargeback months later.

[springyzone]

Some people bother with feedback, some don't.

.

This is what other buyers look for in feedback:

-Has the seller been around a while, do they look as if they know how things are supposed to work here in ebay?

-Do most other customers seem happy with any recent transactions?

-Does this seller have any negs & neutrals and if so, what were the problems?

So let's look at you.

-score: 165, Yep, that's satisfactorily high and a heap of it is for you as a seller so you should know what you're doing, if I buy from you the odds are good all will go well.

-Yes, most other buyers seemed happy. I'm seeing quick delivery mentioned a lot & items just as described. Better & better.

- No negs or neutrals.

Conclusion: All good, Aussie seller, fast, honest, safe to buy from you.

It can be frustrating maybe to know your score could be triple, but the score isn't everything. You don't want a whole pack of lazy people giving you a green dot with a comment like 'okay'. Once your score gets over 100, you're better off with only the select few who will voluntarily bother, giving you a decent comment.

[chameleon54]

I started a new selling account from scratch around 3 years ago. I had buyer resistance until I got up to around 30-35 pos feedbacks as a seller. After that it didnt seem to make much difference, with buyers willing to buy expensive items and international clients happy to purchase. From that little excercise it would seem 30-40 feedbacks could be the magic number needed to win buyer confidence.

So long as feedback is tidy after that it probably doesnt matter very much if you are selling stuff buyers actually want. If you are selling generic carp that they can get anywhere they may tend to buy from higher feedback sellers.

[clarry100]

As others have said feedback is all voluntarily and I would even suggest that asking the questions you have could set yourself up for trouble,

Having said that tho I did see a post in another group I'm in the other day where the seller sends a little message in the package something along the lines of:

If you leave us POSITIVE feedback your name will be placed on our own good buyers list and the warranty period of the item you have purchased will be extended by a further 3-months.

[zanadoo_56]

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@lyndal1838 wrote:

Not all buyers are remiss about leaving feedback so don't tar us all with the same brush.

I always leave feedback for every single item even when a package contains multiple items.

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Me too!  The trick is varying the feedback for multiple items so it doesn't get boring - it can be a challenge. 🙂

Still, if I was a seller I'd be peeved.  Some time ago a purchase didn't arrive from overseas and eventually it was decided the seller would refund me the amount.  I told her if it did turn up eventually I'd repay her.  Months later it turned up.  I sent the seller the money as promised and a note.  Not a word did I hear from her.  In the end I sent another message to ask if she got the money.  Eventually she sent me a message to say she had.  Phew.

I might add, in a similar vein I have relatives who never acknowledge Christmas or Birthday cards (or even presents).  For one of them I made a New Baby card and sent it to her.  Didn't hear a thing.  I never mentioned it to my mother as she thinks they walk on water.  Then one day while Mum was telling me about the baby she gave me a nasty look and said, "At least you could have sent her a card!"  At which I replied, "I did...and I never got a reply!"  I haven't sent any of them a card since, as they can take me hours to make and (as I said to my mother) there's not much point spending all that time on making them if they were unappreciated.

I kind of think good sellers are like cardmakers - there's the listing, the parcel wrapping, the posting, answering buyer's questions maybe.  So much goes into it to provide good service.....so I always leave feedback.

[countessalmirena]

I love receiving hand-made cards, or at least cards where someone's put a bit of creativity and personal consideration into it! I'm sorry that what you gave was apparently not appreciated, zanadoo.

I received such a gorgeous card from a family member for my most recent birthday - a pencil sketch of me, accompanied by personal good wishes.

For the last eight years, I've scoured sources for beautiful or witty or funny or simply very apt images... art, inscription, manuscripts, etc. If they need speech bubbles or a bit of creative editing, that's easy enough to do. Then I whip up an appropriate poem or piece of good wishes, or quote something that has a personal meaning for the recipient, and print the result on card stock. (While family and friends always say thank you, I wouldn't worry if acknowledgement isn't forthcoming... This is at least partly due to the experience of someone close to me almost dying. Three months in ICU, long recovery afterwards - it affected my perspective of what matters. If I do things for others, the doing and the giving please me; of course I want the recipient to be pleased, but I don't need it. I measure appreciation or lack of appreciation against the yardstick of the people I love being alive, and as well as can be expected.)

I suppose that has also reinforced my views about feedback.

[jane-de-cluttering]

Believe it or not I think there is a level of ignorance amongst Buyers as to the importance of Feedback for the Seller. 

I've had a couple of Buyers in the past message me to tell how happy they were etc, but then didn't leave any Feedback!