New eBay Feedback Policy

Just wondering what everyone thought of the new eBay policy that states that sellers can leave only positive feedback, no negatives, to buyers.

[t-maxxracer32]

woe. thats strange. what the hell...

does it say why?

Apparently, too much revenge feedback was scaring buyers away. This is on top on the final selling fees going up over 60%. Also, all feedback is good for only 12 months, then good and/or bad, it is removed. The final straw for me is that in a dispute, your Paypal funds can be frozen for up to 21 days until the buyer leaves positive feedback.

[johnrobholmes]

When buyer pays, he has fulfilled his part of the contract. Therefore they should only get positive feedback. I think it is a great idea, and I have had so many sellers wait to give me feedback until after I left them feedback.

I agree John. All buyers will now have 100% perfect feedback. Now, when I buy I don't have to worry. Of course, I feel sorry for the sellers that have worked for years building a rep only to have it shattered by the few idiots out there. I understand that there are quite a few people who will take advantage of this. Any big time sellers here?

[jhautz]

I have had unreasonable claims made on something I sold once. Not only was the item better than it was represented in the auction it was an absolute killer deal the guy got. The buyer left negative feedback for me after one email that said he wanted his money back and he would ship the item back to me IF I paid him extra to ship it. He was basically extorting money from me.

The only way I was able to get the negative removed through mutual agreement was to leave negative for him calling him out for what he was. A SCAM artist. Had I not been able to leave negative feedback I would have had no recourse and had a perfect feedback rating ruined by a very dishonest person.

SO my opinion of the policy!!!! IT SUCKS! I guarantee there will be allot more extortion claims on ebay now from buyers since there is no risk at all for them. NONE! Negative feedback was the only way to call out the bad ones.

But, jhautz, think of the fun you can have now. Demand a "partial refund" with a threat of a negative. Tell them that you want a free shipping upgrade or there will be a negative left. Just make sure you send any demands through their regular e-mail, not through eBays message center. That way the threat doesn't exist and is not recognized by eBay. Shoot, with some smaller sellers even 2 or 3 negatives will shut them down (another part of the new policy. fall below a certain feedback % and your account is suspended). Man, think of the RC bonanza we can reap with no repercussions at all! If worse comes to worse, just open a new account and buy a few small, cheap items. Your feedback will be 100% from the get-go and start the demands all over again. Let the good times roll!

[jhautz]

Originally Posted by knotted

But, jhautz, think of the fun you can have now. Demand a "partial refund" with a threat of a negative. Tell them that you want a free shipping upgrade or there will be a negative left. Just make sure you send any demands through their regular e-mail, not through eBays message center. That way the threat doesn't exist and is not recognized by eBay. Shoot, with some smaller sellers even 2 or 3 negatives will shut them down (another part of the new policy. fall below a certain feedback % and your account is suspended). Man, think of the RC bonanza we can reap with no repercussions at all! If worse comes to worse, just open a new account and buy a few small, cheap items. Your feedback will be 100% from the get-go and start the demands all over again. Let the good times roll!

Exactly my point. They just took away the only tool we had to know who we were dealing with. So basically set up a buying account that has perfect feedback and then set up a selling account and every time it gets scared start a new selling account. Stupid freakin policy IMO.

[sikeston34m]

I DON'T like the feedback changes. 95% of all buyer's are on the level. Most of my dealings on Ebay have been great.

Now let's talk about that other 5%.

I once sold an item to a person, he was the winning bidder but did not/would not pay for his item. He left me negative feedback saying "I will Never buy here again, buyer's beware" or something like that. He didn't "buy" from me to begin with, because he didn't pay for his purchase. This kind of thing shouldn't be allowed.

Another time, I sold a Mamba Max Motor, the guy paid for it. I quickly shipped it. The item was confirmed delivered to his address. He comes back saying his package was delivered empty! He files a dispute with Paypal. In the meantime, I'm ringing the Post Office's bells trying to get them to check all the waypoints between me and him. The end result was, after getting turned away from the Post Office many times, the Postmaster sits me down and says "It's gone". Paypal first locked the funds in my account, then later pulled the funds from my account, and handed this guy his money back. This is wrong! If the package was torn open and empty, the Post Office's policy should be to return it to sender! Even if postage is due!

I sell Lipo's on Ebay. (Very Good ones I might add. LOL) Anyways, one guy was claiming he had a DOA pack. I told him the only way that could have happened was if the package got wet or mutilated, But send it back to me and upon inspection, if it was a factory defect, I would either refund or replace it. I check voltages on everything before I ship. I started looking through this guys feedback. He's an E maxx guy, purchasing all kinds of upgrades for the E, which is cool, I do this too. The ONLY motor system that I see is a Novak HV4400. This gets me suspicious. I'm thinking "uh - huh" No LVC will quickly ruin Lipo's, but that's ok. I will be able to tell. All Lipo cell voltage are shipped at 3.87 volts per cell. When he see that's I'm not just gonna send me his money back, no questions asked. He gives me this story about how his Post Office won't allow him to ship it back. That's funny? Hmmmm............so who knows on this one? Could have been a legitmate claim, but might not have been.

Another Lipo Customer repeatedly ran a pair that he purchased from me on a Novak 4400 with NO LVC. Then a few weeks later, wrote me claiming defective batteries because they no longer had the punch that they used to have.

On the Lipo subject, For all you new guys just starting out. Educate yourselves on them and take care of them. Follow the rules concerning Lipo useage and they will perform like no other. In the worst case scenario, a careless person is going to suffer property loss.

With the Economy being what it is as of late, I think the dishonest people will be trying more and more underhanded things. Ebay's policy change does not bode well for the honest seller's that sell things there. During the slow times, it's all I can do to afford the fees to keep those auctions up there for sale. They continue to charge fees weither things sell or not.

I believe it's almost time for me to build my own website. I think this would be a good answer for honest business people who are sincere.

[rschoi_75]

As a buyer, I like the new policy better, since it gives you more power. But as a seller, this sucks. I sell on ebay from time to time, and am proud to say that I've kept my 100% after over 430 transactions.

This makes it a lot tougher for the "little" guy trying to sell something. Even if he/she is the most honest and caring seller in the world. Now he/she has got to kiss the a** of the buyer no matter how ridiculous his/her claim is or suffer a neg feedback. If my perfect rating gets ruined by someone trying to take advantage of the system, I'm going to be irate. Its taken me years to get this rating, and I already make sure that all my buyers are happy.

I understand what ebay is trying to do here, but I don't think this is the best option.

[rschoi_75]

Originally Posted by sikeston34m

I once sold an item to a person, he was the winning bidder but did not/would not pay for his item. He left me negative feedback.......

Another time, I sold a Mamba Max Motor, the guy paid for it. I quickly shipped it. The item was confirmed delivered to his address. He comes back saying his package was delivered empty! ...............

I sell Lipo's on Ebay. (Very Good ones I might add. LOL) Anyways, one guy was claiming he had a DOA pack. ........

Another Lipo Customer repeatedly ran a pair that he purchased from me on a Novak 4400 with NO LVC. Then a few weeks later, wrote me claiming defective batteries because they no longer had the punch that they used to have. ....

Yo sike,
someone can leave you a neg, even if they don't pay???? That's messed up. They NEED to change that.

About your other issues, I always require insurance and delivery confirmation on all items above $10 to cover my butt. It is legally out of our hands once the item is given to the post office. From there it is supposed to be the buyer's responsibility to buy insurance and what not. Unfortunately most buyers don't realize this or just ignore it. I make sure that I put this in writing on my auction, so people understand that I do not work for the post office, and don't control delivery times, or deal with lost packages.

As far as returns go, I give people 7-days to decide.... even on my used r/c parts, which is unheard of... (like I said, I stand behind what I sell). Having a defined return window is good, since if a buyer comes back after two months, you can just say your 7 days are up. This way its the buyer's responsibility to review the item within a reasonable amount of time. If a buyer starts complaining after a month, then you know its just b.s. I also put in writing, that return shipping costs are on the buyer, and if the item is found to be "as described" or "damaged by user", it will be shipped right back to them.

I mostly buy on ebay and its been hit and miss with sellers leaving feedback. It ticks me off cause I always paypal within minutes of winning an auction that I sometimes don't get feedback even after leaving it for the seller, which is something I view as their responsibility and part of the deal.

I can see this fixes only some of the probs though and opens up avenues for more scammers. For a small seller, this seems to have no advantages at all.

I don't think this new policy will go long without changes, too ripe for potential abuse. Most of the people I've encountered have been great, but there have been a few of the other kind.

[johnrobholmes]

I guess I don't care about it because I refuse to sell on ebay. New hobby market goods are not commodities for bidding on, and the fees with listing on ebay are ridiculous.

Originally Posted by Duster_360

I mostly buy on ebay and its been hit and miss with sellers leaving feedback. It ticks me off cause I always paypal within minutes of winning an auction that I sometimes don't get feedback even after leaving it for the seller, which is something I view as their responsibility and part of the deal.

No problem anymore. Just let them know in your Paypal comments section that feedback must be delivered within 5 minutes of payment or you leave a big fat negative! Get a few friends together and have them buy some cheap items and leave negatives. After getting stung like that 4 or 5 times the seller will learn their lesson. I am actually thinking of building up a pool of buyers and offering a "revenge" service. For a small fee, we will crush any seller you want. The fee will vary on whether the seller is a small time 85 feedback seller or a 1000+ powerseller. The same could be done with your fellow competitor sellers. Have competition for your products? Neg them into a black hole. We could also get together and force a seller to give members of our group a ten per-cent discount on everything we order or else, the whole group negs the seller into suspension. The possibilities are endless!

[skellyo]

The problem I see with this is that you cannot leave negative feedback for a non-paying buyer now. In those rare cases, the buyer certainly deserves for others to see that they're a deadbeat and may not pay.

Although, it looks like the cost of selling on eBay has grown to that of a retail store, where at times, you just may have to eat the $ if you don't want someone leaving you negative feedback.