Forum Moderators: buckworks
We've already been screwed once since this change and there's no way to warn other merchants about a bad buyer. This is NOT good.
Today we got an email from another merchant about a buyer that was really bad news. Unfortunately we had already shipped the item. then we find out he put a stop funds through paypal on the shipment. 200.00 down the drain until we get reimbursed through seller protection and who knows how long that will be.
We dont ebay much.. really just a few scratch and dent or overstocked items. We're seriously considering not accepting paypal payments for ebay auctions.
So when is someone going to come up with a merchant serivce to report bad ebay or auction buyers? There's a million dollar idea .. run with it.
i would have thought that would be a privacy and legal minefield!
although on the ebay issue, to be honest as a buyer you can get a new name so easily, and as feedbacks don't really count for much as a buyer anyway i don't see the big deal about it, a buyer just gets a new name if he had a bunch of negatives - fresh start.
I wonder what is their motivation behind this? I guess NEW BUYER = BAD BUYER since both would have zero feedback level?
we had a 'none paying bidder'give us a neg today - ebay cs's confirmed the issue (in our favour) but still wouldn't remove the neg - how do you work that one out?
This includes this stupid no-negatives, no-neutrals from sellers but also trying to force PayPal and forcing EU people to publish their personal addresses to the public.
Other auction sites better be on their toes, because now is the time to pounce. One of them could be like the next 'Google' if they do it right and eBay might be fondly remembered like 'AltaVista'!
I know someone will jump in and say people are still making a killing on eBay but i'm one of those that eBay was KILLING.
ebay is trying to promote 'a better buyer experience' - lol
What a snake pit. I feel bad for the honest merchants over there, because I won't buy anything from anybody there anymore. Maybe even most sellers are straight and legit, but I've always felt that buying is like rolling dice and heard too many similar stories.
Another solution might be to require the seller to leave feedback before the buyer is able to do so. This would mean that non-payers could be flagged, but prevent disatisfied customers from being blackmailed into giving positive feedback for fear of retaliation.
This new eBay policy is to prevent sellers giving retaliatory negative feedback to buyers who have complained or left negative feedback regarding their purchase.
I can't agree with this line of thinking. Sellers want to keep selling (for the most part, there are what I consider a minority of unprofessional sellers who use this tactic, but for the sake of argument, let's consider sellers expecting to make future sales.) A merchant has no real motivation to "tarnish" some buyer because obviously, if they are unhappy they won't be back anyway.
As someone who's used it heavily in the past, it's more likely the BUYER wold play the retaliatory feedback game.
I'll mention the most appropriate example I've encountered of why merchant feedback is critical. I was considering buying from someone and looking at their feedback. A buyer posted something like this:
"Bad seller! Horrible packaging, sent me defective item, and refuses to refund!"
Merchant's reply:
"He bought a sleeping bag and opened it with a box knife and ruined it."
If they're going to kill feedback, they should kill the whole deal, not make it even more risky for merchants.
If they're going to kill feedback, they should kill the whole deal, not make it even more risky for merchants.
I say this just about nails it on the head....Ebay are you HEARING THIS.
I will not buy form ebay again until this issue is delt with and I am sure as time goes on other buyers off ebay will quit doing business as well. It is just getting to risky, and for me I don't want to be a part of it until this one way reporting is corrected.
"He bought a sleeping bag and opened it with a box knife and ruined it."
As a merchant I know darn well that customers will cut open a box without giving a thought to the soundness of being so cavalier. It is prudent when shipping any such item to 'top off' with a protective layer (cardboard, double folded newspaper section...) This eliminates situations that ARE going to happen.
This situation is similar to most traffic accidents. They typically require that both parties to have made a mistake. If either party is watching out properly the accident does not occur. I have many times avoided an accident because I was paying attention and saw what was happening before it happened. I have been saved in the same way - someone saw my mistake coming and saved us both.
When both parties mess up, bad things happen.
I understand wanting to improve the "product" - but at the risk of losing sellers that were making ebay money... I don't get the logic behind many of the changes.
I've stopped auctioning for the time-being. Ebay costs too much for too little return. Overstock is full of non-paying bidders and not much recourse for the sellers.
It seems like all the rights are being given to the buyers - whether or not they're actually buyers!
Sincerely,
Meg Meyer
It is prudent when shipping any such item to 'top off' with a protective layer (cardboard, double folded newspaper section...
Caught me, I left that part out to avoid my usual verbose rambling. :-)
I agree with you 100%, but in this "case," there are two things to consider. I raise the point because it's not about what a buyer or seller should do, or who's right or wrong, it's about the effectiveness of two way feedback and the absolute worthlessness of it in a one-way system. There are always two sides to the story. Second, while we can agree on what "proper packaging" is and should entail, this is EBAY - and there are probably 100 ways to have resolved the situation amiably for both parties.
it is in the ebay rules you must only charge the actual cost of shipping, plus cost of packaging materials, plus a reasonable admin charge.
if a seller is charging in excess of that for shipping i think the buyer surely has a right to complain.
[i'm not for one minute suggesting this was the case in jay5r's situation]
I had estimated based on the actual cost of parcel post, and first class turned out to be cheaper for the particular item, so I upgraded the shipping. There was only a couple dollars difference which was definitely reasonable for packing materials and an admin charge.
What I found in that experience was that there's really nothing a merchant can do about negative feedback unless they want to pay to try to get rid of it. I had mistakenly given positive feedback on the buyer before they gave me feedback. The fact that sellers can't leave negative feedback just makes the situation so much worse.
It was a horrible experience and I haven't used eBay since - not 'cause I'm on some tirade against them - it was a lot more subtle than that - it just left a bad taste in my mouth and I haven't felt any need to use them.
It's funny, I used to enjoy eBay...
