17
eBay changes its feedback rules
eBay logo on eBay homepage
To view this content, Javascript must be enabled and Adobe Flash Player must be installed.
TEXT OF STORY
Scott Jagow: Starting today, eBay is making some changes to the way the site works. Specifically, the whole feedback thing between buyers and sellers. Jill Barshay has more.
Jill Barshay: eBay's feedback forum is supposed to help steer buyers to trustworthy sellers, but it's broken down. Recently, when buyers have complained, sellers have bitten back.
Jonathan Garriss is the CEO of Gotham City Online, a big eBay shoe seller. He says buyers are reacting by giving rosy feedback or none at all.
Jonathan Garriss: The last thing you really want is for the merchant to all of a sudden say something bad about you in a public forum.
eBay now bars sellers from posting negative or neutral comments about buyers.
Garriss says he's nervous about letting cranky tirades go unanswered, but he hopes the new policy will boost business.
Garriss: eBay's buyer base is leaving eBay and shopping in other channels. They absolutely need buyers that are confident in the marketplace.
eBay's not leaving sellers entirely in the lurch. Customers have to confirm they've tried resolving their disputes privately before grousing in public.
I'm Jill Barshay for Marketplace.
Pages
I used Ebay off and on for over 10 years, it used to be an easy cheap way to buy and sell cool stuff. If you had a bad transaction you could leave negative feedback and if was really bad Ebay would get involved and even offer arbitration services, usaully whatever your descrepency was about would be resolved. And, this is a big one! You used to be able to use other forms of payment such as cash, money order, personnel check whatever you and the buyer or seller agreed upon, now it's Paypal exclusive, if you don't have a credit card or bank card you can't buy anything and Ebay and Paypal BOTH CHARGE THEIR OWN FEES ON TOP OF THE AUCITON PRICE! Which is absolutely a RIP OFF! Just like all of the other Billion dollar businesses, Ebay has become to big for it's own good! I can't wait till they disappear and a new Auction company surfaces. Ebay is on its way out and Ebay SUCKS!
I believe some sellers are not buyer friendly. Just this week I put a bid on product(cue d.stick)over the existing bid. Then the seller posted my original bid price right under the product. It did not even get to the proxy bidding. Within a few minutes somebody outbidded my proxy bid. I think this buyer does not care after I had contacted him, yet he gave a negative feedback about it. This is the type of sellers that gives Ebay a bad name. There should be watch dog over the sellers behavior over good paying buyers. I have been ripped a couple times and paypal still has not settle my account. Also Ebay does not even get on the case of bad sellers. Yeah, create a new Ebay...someone
If you're not getting any help or response from these guys, you should post them on this site, this is for anyone who has been screwed, ripped off or felt that they had been done wrong. The name of the site is www.uradeadbeat.com, it gives you a voice to the people who will not listen. Not only does the person who you are complaining about receive an email letting them know that they have been put on the deadbeat list (as long as you provide email address) but, they will also receive a post card (as long as you provide a mailing address) notifying them too.
I see many comments to the effect that sellers are now looking for alternatives to ebay. The key word here is looking. I suspect you haven't found a good alternative yet because there isn't one. Craigslist is a fixed price format and do any of the other auction sites generate 1% of the traffic ebay does? What ebay has is something close to a monopoly and so why shouldn't they push the limits of how much they can extract from both its buyers and sellers. Note the recent requirement of using Paypal, a company owned by ebay.
Like any community, when it reaches a certain critical size, it will suffer an extinction event. Perhaps this is the beginning of the end.
The environment seems ripe for a new kid on the block. With a mass exodus of both buyers and sellers could there be a new auction site that will be to ebay what facebook has been to be to myspace?
I can't say I've participated in this "buyer's revenge" or "seller's revenge", but I can see the merit in the concern.
I have to say though that I agree with a number of posters that this is a bad thing for eBay to do. Merchants should have a way to warn other merchants of cheats and con-artists just like consumers have the right to warn other consumers about rip-offs.
With that said, it could become a moot point as Craigslist becomes more and more popular everyday. My prediction is that eBay will relent.
Fact #1. I never give feedback to a seller until they give it to me first, mainly because my end of the transaction is done on payment. Positive feedback on my part has been earned. PERIOD! Fact #2. I have never given negative feedback to sellers to gave me positive feedback first. Even when they don't meet my expectations. I will work with them until a mutual agreement is reached. Fact #3. All but one negative feedback I have given, after numerous emails and opportunities to make the situation right, has resulted in retaliation feedback. I have seen tons of public forums with sellers whining incessantly about buyers not reciprocating feedback. I always reciprocate, but, basically, suck it up on those buyers that do not. The burden of carrying a positive transaction experience lies more on the shoulders of the seller than the buyer. Ebay is simply conforming to long established rules of etiquette by empowering buyers to comment freely about poor sellers with lack of fear of retaliation. Sellers - you are now on notice - DO A BETTER JOB !!!!
To: nag nob, All FYI�I have sold and bought on ebay! One thing is agreed upon is that sellers and buyers don�t care about each others problems� they just want it their way. You have take that for what its worth and hope that most people are honest. As far as the negative feedback thing goes there should not be any of that for either side. If you have negative feedback for one side you should have it for the other as well, lets be fair. The busines 101 thing sounds stupid, sounds like you need to read a book as well, especially when ebay looked stupid with the �IT� commercials. They are not the brightest people either. The comment with buyers make payday possible is true to a point. Remember sellers and buyers are at each others throats right now because of what ebay did not because of what they did to each other. eBay holds all the strings and says whats in whats out, how sellers sell, buyers buy. Remember eBay is a business as well looking out for themselves just like the sellers. Without ebay there would be no sellers and with out no sellers there would be no buyers. I do think eBay should make allot of there decisions based on both sellers and buyers and not on there own. I agree they should always have a vote because most sellers are buyers...visa versa. I will bet that everyone making a listing here has been on both sides and with some of your experiences not being so well and you still go back. Good luck to all.
To: jrs208 and K. Brewer
What sellers don't understand is that your problems are your problems... buyers are not interested in your inventory, what you did to get it, your book keeping, your management, your fees or a personal favorite... a death in your family... buyers never want to meet you and don't care about you in any way... buyers strictly want what was advertised for the price agreed in a timely manner... not the bait and switch that pervades the auction site now... Ebay sellers hold themselves up to be like brick and mortar businesses and you specifically want to be paid like one so... act like one... Ebay is no different Walmart... your not special...
Oh yeah and btw... sellers leave retaliatory negative feedback... lots of it... that's is why you can't leave any negative feedback anymore... you can't be trusted to do the right thing so Ebay stepped in and did it for you...
Since your looking for someplace else to sell then goodbye to you and don't let the door hit you on your way out... btw: as nature hates a vacuum someone will readily take your place and eat your lunch too but when buyers leave sellers are no longer employed... Ebay has finally realized the No. 1 rule of business... its the buyers that make payday possible... either lead or get out of the way... Business 101...
Ebay management did not think this through! I am a seller and now have to wait two weeks or more for deadbeat payers and because of that I now have to wait 2-3 weeks to list more items. Also ebay knows this and is trying to force sellers to use paypal/immediate payment so we dont have to wait for payment! Guess what? eBay owns Paypal and when buyers use it the seller has to give up more % of our hard earned money! eBay thinks they are smart. We the sellers are smarter and with out sellers there is no buyers and with out that eBay gets $0 dollars! Next time ask all for a vote!
Pages
