This a great forum post from 4 years ago... Many members are just as passionate today and I think this post encapsulates the great thing that ebay and feedback was way back when

 

Feedback. You remember. The brilliant idea Pierre had when starting auction web, (Now eBay) - way back when.

 

It was a system where we could rate our trading partners and they could rate us.

 

 It was simple in the beginning.

 

You could leave feedback for anyone.

 

You didn't even have to buy from them or sell to them.

 

A little later on it became transactional.

 

The comments built a trust between members - (read cu$tomer$.)

 

Feedback was permanent.

 

You couldn't change or remove it.

 

Unless you cussed or mentioned an investigation & a few other things no one I know ever did.

 

This new feedback thing was an amazing concept.

 

 It made the average Joe or Mary selling stuff from their garage, home or trailer look like a respectable large merchant.

 

(Think L.L. Bean.)

 

People would talk to other eBayer's in line at the post office.

 

 What's your feedback? 216! Wow, mines only 84...

 

We would "log on" each day to see if our feedback number changed overnight.

 

It was a source of pride.

 

Feedback - who would've thought?

 

Feedback became the backbone this new web phenomenon was built on.

 

And eBay grew by leaps & bounds.

 

The feedback system was viewed by some as flawed.

 

Well after all, nothing is perfect. But Pierre's feedback system was very, very close.

 

Brilliant in concept , execution & yes, even consequence.

 

Yes, you could leave a negative or a neutral for someone - before trying to work the problem out.

 

They could neg or neuter you back though.

 

And both of you kept that red or gray mark back then.

 

If selling - it could affect your business.

 

When buying, sellers might cancel your bid - if they thought you were a troublemaker.

 

Well, no one much liked those things to happen to them, so people worked their problems out like adults & not too many bad feedback were left.

 

There was peace in the community. And after awhile, even the skeptics viewed feedback as sacred....

 

Then, a couple of years ago, the tinkerers that Pierre hired to run eBay decided they would tinker with the feedback system.

 

They thought they were smarter than Pierre, I guess.

 

No one really knows what brought on this idea to change the feedback system.

 

 It could have been some overcooked Eggs Benedict at an executive brunch, or perhaps something in the air conditioning system.

 

At any rate they decided change was needed.

 

Change is always good - right? Besides, things were different now.

 

Or were they?

 

They let a new company called Square Trade remove feedback in certain cases.

 

Of course there was a fee.

 

They tell me eBay didn't get a commission from Square Trade.

 

 I suppose that is true...

 

About the same time eBay instituted a program called "Mutual feedback withdrawal.

 

" Some say this was initiated at the request of larger sellers to give them a means of getting rid of bad feedback, without paying a fee to Square Trade.

 

I really don't know....

 

What happened next isn't hard to fathom, knowing human nature.

 

 Negative feedback soon started being exchanged in record numbers.

 

Sellers, especially some larger ones - became a little bit more difficult to deal with.

 

Customer service? What's that? Hey, if someone negged you you just negged them back.

 

After all, you could get a mutual withdrawal. Many sellers had hundreds of mutual withdrawals.

 

They played this great new feature like a well oiled trombone....

 

And no one at eBay regulated this process - or limited the numbers.

Soon buyer

s began to complain about this unfair treatment.

 

Some left eBay and never came back.

 

Management seeing all of this, decided the feedback system needed a little more tweaking.

 

And that brought us to where we are today.

 

More tinkering to try and fix what THEY broke.

 

You know what I think? It won't work.

 

Sometimes, you need to get back to basics.

 

Sometimes, the simplest ideas are the best.

 

The Genie however, is out of the bottle, the sacred trust is broken.

 

Can it be put back, before it's too late?

 

I really don't know. A smart person would try .....

 

Posted by: Matchboxcarguy | February 28, 2008 10:04 AM