ebay wont let sellers rate buyers anymore

I just saw on the news that ebay is going to stop letting sellers rate buyers. They are doing this to cut down on the retaliation some sellers post against buyers who leave negative feedback. They are doing this in an effort to get more buyers to purchase items on the site.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bus...ig.changes.cnn

I know this isn't technically a photography topic, but I know a lot of people here buy and sell things on ebay.

I don't think its a good idea even though the only negative feedback I've ever received was from a seller for whom I left positive but mentioned that they were slow in getting the item to me.
Its an awful hassle for the small sellers to have re-list because someone doesn't pay or causes other headaches.

Saw that last week. It's like they are going from one extreme to another. I do see their point. There are a lot of seller's out there that leave retaliatory feedback. I had a back transaction a couple months ago. The seller had a long history of leaving retaliatory feedback. I didn't end up leaving feedback for them even though they deserved a negative ecause I didn't want to ruin my 100% rating.

I wonder if I had something to do with this in my own small way. I wrote a long letter to eBay about the same tactics. I purchased a skin for my telephone that was listed as OEM. When I got it, it was a cheap knock off. I was going to reveal the sellers tactics with feedback but I decided to investigate a little. I started reading the sellers feedbacks and every time someone left a negative or neutral with the seller, he retaliated with a negative to buyer, even though the buyer fulfilled his part of the bargain perfectly.

I suggested they revamped their feedback system somehow making it more fair to the buyer that fulfilled his part of the bargain. I suggested that a seller be required to leave feedback first if the payment was received in a timely manner. It's a complicated thing based completely on trust.

Seems they could fix it so that feedback doesn't show until both parties have posted it.

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Originally Posted by Frog

Seems they could fix it so that feedback doesn't show until both parties have posted it.

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Now that's an idea :idea: I was wondering how difficult it would be to set it up so you could only give a negative if a dispute was filed.

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Originally Posted by Frog

I don't think its a good idea even though the only negative feedback I've ever received was from a seller for whom I left positive but mentioned that they were slow in getting the item to me.
Its an awful hassle for the small sellers to have re-list because someone doesn't pay or causes other headaches.

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I think it's a bad idea, but Frog's situation is the perfect example of why they are doing it.

Some buyers hold sellers hostage with feedback when they've provided a lousy transaction.

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Originally Posted by Frog

Seems they could fix it so that feedback doesn't show until both parties have posted it.

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I like that idea. Keep the feedback anonymous until both have posted feedback.

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Originally Posted by EOSThree

I suggested they revamped their feedback system somehow making it more fair to the buyer that fulfilled his part of the bargain. I suggested that a seller be required to leave feedback first if the payment was received in a timely manner. It's a complicated thing based completely on trust.

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This is something that has always irked me. Most sellers will not leave feedback until the buyer has left feedback first. This is totally backwards. Once the seller has received payment, he should immediately leave feedback because the buyer has fullfilled his end of the bargain. I presently have a feedback of 248 - 100% positive. I do know that if I was to receive feedback for everytime I had purchased something, my feedback would be closer to 500. What irritates me too, is the sellers that state their system automatically leaves feedback after feedback is received. What a bunch of crap. Hence, I will not leave feedback for the sellers, if they haven't left me feedback first.

Have you also noticed the new Ebay fees? They make it sound like a better deal, but it's actually much worse. Their final valuation fees went up to over 8%. Add the listing fee and PayPal fees to that and it can cost you close to 15%.

Bad idea IMHO.

But then, I don't have mcuh use for ebay anymore...

Looks like some sellers are planning a boycott of ebay. An interesting article.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/07/smbu...ion=2008021009

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Originally Posted by mjs1973

I just saw on the news that ebay is going to stop letting sellers rate buyers...

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Yeah, I don't quite get this either, but I assume they put a lot of thought into it before making such a profound policy change.

The times I've gotten stiffed as a seller I submitted a dispute, so I suppose that will be the only recourse now... :cool:

I'm not really thrilled about this either - as a seller, which is what I am for most of my ebay transactions. I've had buyers "accidentally bid" or a long list of excuses why the buyer can't pay but wait until next week (over and over again until two months goes by), etc. I can't leave feedback on them which likely should be negative if feedback was doing it's job. But feedback isn't doing it's job. Both parties seem to wait for the other one to leave feedback, and the second person is really just leaving feedback on the first person's feedback!

They needed to try something. Me, I'm trying other places to sell stuff. :)

Does anyone know if a seller can respond to a buyer's feedback, the way it is set up now? If they can, it might be a reasonable thing for ebay to try. If not then I think it'll fall apart.

"...or a long list of excuses why the buyer can't pay but wait until next week (over and over again until two months goes by), etc."

Unfortunatley, you aren't the only one. There is a rash of that going on at ebay. My buddy put a car up for sell on ebay. The "winning" bidder never came through. So he had to relist the car and do it all over again.

It's like the guys who write computer viruses and spam emails decided to find other ways to waste their time, and other folks time as well.

And now ebay is giving them a pass...

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Originally Posted by Asylum Steve

I assume they put a lot of thought into it before making such a profound policy change.

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Uh this is EBAY we are talking about. :lol:

They dont put alot of thought into anything they do. They screwed up ebay motors with a rediculously hard to navigate search setup, ban sales of certain firearms parts (ie parts from 'assault rifles' that do not need a FFL to buy like stocks, triggers, slings) but yet allow the sale of SWORDS and really only care about lining their pockets.

Sure they do.

They think about how to raise their profit margin.

They thought about it before banning firearm sales. And firearm parts.

They are the big one when it comes to online auctions, so they think (dare I say know?) that they can do what they want and get away with it.

BTW, I love your avatar. Desert Eagle. Very distinctive.

BTW if anyone notices, thats not a live round in the chamber. Just mounted a bullet in a fired case for a dummy round.

I have one negative feedback out of the 160 feedback I have on the site. It was from a seller after I left them negative feedback (only time I have ever had to do it). It was from a company down in Chicago that sells photo backdrops. I didn't receive my item until 45 days after I won the auction. They had plenty of excuses of why it hadn't shipped and they seemed to change depending on who you talked to on the phone.

Now I don't leave feedback until the person has left me feedback first. I figure I have enough feedback now that most people can trust me as a seller or as a buyer so it doesn't bother me much.