Ebay-Why Aren't Buyers Leaving Feedback?!

[orangepeachmango]

not only do i forget, but honestly, its just not that important to me (as a buyer). Its not something i think about. When i go buy from the shop downtown, i dont leave a review there either, so it feels really out of my way to have to leave feedback on ebay. I think thats not great, but i just forget and i have too much other stuff in my life to worry about it.
reading this post though, ill try to be more punctual with leaving feedback.

[nhal039]

I get frustrated by this, its so bad I would say only 1 in 10 buyers leave feedback for me, even on the arena most people don't leave feedback anymore. It's a bit of a shame really. I think this is just the way of the world these days get something your happy with, move on without feedback but I dare say get something your not happy with there would be immediate action

[millenium0chi]

I appreciate everyone's comments and again, I'm glad to see it isn't just me.

For those of you who've commented that leaving feedback is not that important to you, I give you some food for thought.  The trend of advice around these forums is to beware of sellers (buyers too) with little feedback or no feedback, so if everybody thought like this, we'd be shooting ourselves in the foot.  Also, I'm sure you'd be quick (and right) to leave negative feedback for someone if your experience is bad.  Why should someone who worked hard to give you a good experience suffer because there's no personal gain for you to recognize that?

Just saying!

[glitterball]

I appreciate everyone's comments and again, I'm glad to see it isn't just me.

For those of you who've commented that leaving feedback is not that important to you, I give you some food for thought.  The trend of advice around these forums is to beware of sellers (buyers too) with little feedback or no feedback, so if everybody thought like this, we'd be shooting ourselves in the foot.  Also, I'm sure you'd be quick (and right) to leave negative feedback for someone if your experience is bad.  Why should someone who worked hard to give you a good experience suffer because there's no personal gain for you to recognize that?

Just saying!

^^ agreed! That's why I always leave fb as in the long-run it helps everyone in the buying/selling community! 

[Kazzellin]

I know I haven't left feedback for a book I ordered because I'm trying to figure out what to say. Granted, the book only cost me $6.97 and shipping was free, but it came with a Half-Price Books $3 clearance sticker still on it. I'm thinking something along the lines of maybe a one-star ding on the price and saying everything else was satisfactory, then messaging them along the lines of, "hey, I don't care about the $4 increase - you gotta make a profit, else why run the business - but someone else might raise holy h-e-double-hockey sticks about it, so make sure you take these stickers off in the future."

Edit to Add: And I understand it's the holiday season, and everyone is busy, but really it takes maybe 5 seconds to leave feedback if everything went smoothly. Less time, actually, if the last comment you left is one that can be used for the next feedback as well. My main issue with that is once I'm done shopping, if I'm away from ebay for awhile, I'll completely forget that feedback is a thing I need to do (especially with being in school), and the next thing I know it's been the 45 days, and I can't do it any more. Always makes me feel guity, because I know sellers need that feedback.

Come to think on it, since most of them are for ponies, I have to wonder if some of the sellers are on the Arena, and maybe I could leave feedback for them here, instead? Not sure whether that's allowed, though...

[Kiwi]

I don't sell on ebay, but on Etsy it's definitely noticeable as well. Sellers in my group estimate 20-25% buyers actually leave feedback. It sucks. Especially for new stores (I just got my 3rd sale, hoping this one finally leaves me feedback).

Come to think on it, since most of them are for ponies, I have to wonder if some of the sellers are on the Arena, and maybe I could leave feedback for them here, instead? Not sure whether that's allowed, though...

The Arena feedback system is for on-site transactions only.

[Galactica]

It drives me crazy too- especially after I've sent a nice note asking whether they are happy with their purchase-

I'd say one in four maybe post feedback.

Reasons for not
1) they don't care
2) maybe they are using a proxy buying service
3) it never occurs to them

Oh and did I mention they just don't care?

[Kazzellin]

The Arena feedback system is for on-site transactions only.

*nods* That’s what I thought, so thank you for the confirmation

If it’s any consolation, I just left feedback for about ten purchases...?

[pinkkittywinks]

This has been happening for quite sometime now, at least a year. I just don't understand why people don't leave feedback

Love pkw xxx

[Taffeta]

I appreciate everyone's comments and again, I'm glad to see it isn't just me.

For those of you who've commented that leaving feedback is not that important to you, I give you some food for thought.  The trend of advice around these forums is to beware of sellers (buyers too) with little feedback or no feedback, so if everybody thought like this, we'd be shooting ourselves in the foot.  Also, I'm sure you'd be quick (and right) to leave negative feedback for someone if your experience is bad.  Why should someone who worked hard to give you a good experience suffer because there's no personal gain for you to recognize that?

Just saying!

I always make a special effort when it's a new member, to make sure that they are off the mark. I think that's important. I find it less easy to sympathise with people on ebay whose feedback is in the thousands.

My own ebay feedback is 900ish. That's since 1998 but Ebay will only now be able to tell you that I have positive feedback at 100% since the last year. So anyone who has 100% feedback on ebay really only has it in their most recent transactions. If they sell a lot, it means serious digging through old feedback now as those negatives no longer show up. The more positives a power seller has, the easier it is to hide those negatives. Not that I think all or even most power sellers are bad in any way. My point is that Ebay's feedback is transient and not very meaningful. Sellers cannot leave honest feedback about bad buyers. Buyers feedback about sellers can be removed or disappears from the statistical overview in 12 months.

When I joined ebay in 1998, every feedback I had mattered because a negative you got in 1998 would still show up as a negative on your account status in 2003. It didn't just get wiped and disappear. I used to be proud of my 100%. Now it's basically irrelevant :/

When the system changed was honestly the time I stopped really taking the whole ebay thing seriously. I am sorry to sellers who are frustrated by that, but I find it hard to find meaning in something that's wiped clean every 12 months and is biased towards quantity of sales, rather than quality of service.

...But I still do leave feedback. I just don't rush to do it the moment I receive my item. I do it en masse when I have a moment to sit and do all of my transactions.

With the Arena, I do leave feedback as it actually matters. Although I admit I don't always remember, and other people don't always remember to leave it for me, and that's fine too. But I will always leave feedback for a newer member who has not much transaction history here.

The thing is, though, even Arena feedback is probably as transitory as the site. In the old days we had the Good Trader List and people reported good transactions to it and people would ask other members for contacts who could give them references that they were trustworthy. I was very lucky that one of my first trading partners was one of the most well trusted traders in the community at the time, and she vouched for me so I could get going. But it got to a point where people would say, "nah, I don't need references from you, I know you're fine." And that worried me a little. It's why I don't believe in a Good Trader List now and why I think feedback is ok but not the really important thing in a transaction. I mean, I am always going to send the ponies I am selling or trading so I know I won't scam another person. But another person shouldn't assume just because other people say so that I am going to be the best seller or whatever in the world.

So feedback is great. But ultimately, you have to remember that a lot of good traders in the past did go bad. And some traders who got off to a bad start reformed. And some were just intermittent and unreliable, and you don't know if they are good or not until you take the risk.

My chief piece of evidence when people talk about feedback is this.

I have only ever been scammed twice in 20 years so far (I have had some idiots on ebay, but in trading in the community). Neither person is here now so I need not name them. One of them has all positives on here, and on ebay. She not only scammed me but her behaviour was extremely threatening. When I tried to report her to the community, nobody believed me, because she had good feedback. I have never forgotten what she was allowed to get away with because she had that reputation and nobody thought she could be crossed. That included her.  I was not the only person she scammed. Just people were far too intimidated to talk out about it because of the way she behaved.

Sellers shouldn't want feedback stats. They should want people to talk to each other about the customer service, the communication, the willingness to fix something if it goes wrong. Feedback is impersonal. Communication is more important, and so is protecting yourself. Feedback is only a part of that process. I feel when I am a seller that my reward is partly the money made on the transaction, and partly the PM telling me that my item arrived safely and the buyer is happy. If the buyer never contacts me, I assume it's all okay. I don't mind if they don't leave feedback specifically. I just hope they will contact me if there is an issue to be resolved.


So yes, feedback is important. But no, it's not the be all and end all.

[northstar3184]

I always leave feedback, with the exception of a few instances where I was left unsure of what sort of feedback to leave (i.e. a seller who didn't ship an item until I opened a case against him more than a week after I paid, a seller who sent an item to a hacker 2 days after I had the transaction flagged as a fraudulent purchase by PayPal, etc...)

[plushroo]

I leave feedback, but like to do it in one go as it's more convenient for me that way. I always try to mark the stars too for performance on ebay to help with seller ratings.

[ChipsteRJ]

It is this way in the world.... I work customer service we send a survey after EVERY call. The average return rate is about 8%. This stinks because my ratings are determined by only 8% of my contacts.

I am guilty of it, I do it in batches (when I think about it) If I had to guesstimate it would be about 70%.

Right now sales may mostly be for Christmas, so when you buy something for someone else you may not even open the package until the recipient see it.

[Tulips]

In my recent experience ebay actually made it impossible for me to leave feedback. By the time my most recent package had arrived the window I was allowed to leave feedback during had already closed. Which was annoying because there was an issue that caused a postage delay that, if it had turned out poorly, I most certainly would have wanted to leave feedback about.

[Galactica]

I appreciate everyone's comments and again, I'm glad to see it isn't just me.

For those of you who've commented that leaving feedback is not that important to you, I give you some food for thought.  The trend of advice around these forums is to beware of sellers (buyers too) with little feedback or no feedback, so if everybody thought like this, we'd be shooting ourselves in the foot.  Also, I'm sure you'd be quick (and right) to leave negative feedback for someone if your experience is bad.  Why should someone who worked hard to give you a good experience suffer because there's no personal gain for you to recognize that?

Just saying!

So yes, feedback is important. But no, it's not the be all and end all.

Well I seem to remember a bit of that trouble-

Here's the thing though- feedback may not be important - but on ebay, it IS important because
1) if you have a certain number of positive feedbacks, they give you a break on the final value fee. 
2) your feedback profile (with the stars for communication etc.) don't even show up until you hit a certain amount of feedbacks per year-

So THAT is why I at least am disappointed when people won't leave feedack.  I know it's useless practically speaking, but I want my fee break from ebay. And I don't want my feedback profile to disappear- because it makes me look like a sketchy new seller.  It's as simple as that for me.