Stupid new(ish) eBay rules

[jumpman17]

As of last month, you can no longer give a buyer negative or neutral feedback. You can only give them positive feedback, or none at all. If they decide to be a douche, all you can do is go through the month long process with eBay who then gives them a black mark (which I don't even think is viewable to the general public) and if they get enough marks, eBay will ban them. How is this helpful in the slightest? We sell a lot of things through eBay and when someone decides that they changed their mind and don't want it and aren't going to pay for it, then the world will never know about it.

 

[science]

I don't see the logic in this. It is definitely a step backwards for them. Why would they do this? Is it to make it look like only good people use eBay?

 

[NeSchn]

Wow that is very odd. Why in hell would they do that?

 

[fischju]

I've had asshole sellers give me bad feedback for no reason, too bad this rule isn't retroactive

 

[WeaponXxX]

LOL if you can leave comments then I guess it is gonna be give em a star for positive feedback then in the comment box explain the buyer/seller is actually an asshole

 

[jumpman17]

No negative or neutral Feedback for buyers
The previous system prevented buyers from leaving honest Feedback since they feared retaliation from the sellers if they left a negative. This made it harder for buyers to distinguish between sellers while making bidding or buying decisions. In addition, when buyers received negative Feedback, they reduced their activity in the marketplace, which in-turn harmed sellers.

What a load of bull. What about the other way around? What if I sold something and they never paid. What if I was afraid to leave negative feedback because they might give me negative feedback? I guess that's not a problem anymore

 

[Xeijin]

It is a good thing in some ways, it's annoying how most Sellers refuse to leave you feedback until you've left it for them, which means said feedback is nearly always positive in fear of receiving a negative.

Therein lies the problem, it would be good to just NOT leave feedback, but most buyers will need the feedback whereas the sellers have likely already built up their reputation and thus it is of less importance to them.

As a buyer I am all for it. Far too many times I have received a poor service and have been unable to leave a neutral or neg because of fear of my 100% feedback being ruined.

 

[deathfisaro]

No negative or neutral Feedback for buyers
The previous system prevented buyers from leaving honest Feedback since they feared retaliation from the sellers if they left a negative. This made it harder for buyers to distinguish between sellers while making bidding or buying decisions. In addition, when buyers received negative Feedback, they reduced their activity in the marketplace, which in-turn harmed sellers.

I didn't fear retaliation, but I got retaliated with negative feedback when I left a neutral.
The seller was pretty much "Yes I acknowledge that I screwed up, but I'm gonna screw you for letting other potential buyers know that I'm a bad seller"

Probably post hoc, but I haven't used eBay for like 6 month since that incident.


I'd rather leave honest feedback than being a douche and getting banned. (Well I always have been honest, so this new rule doesn't make any difference to my ebay experience)
I don't think many people would risk banning just so they can leave stupid negative comments like "I've sent payment yesterday and my item hasn't arrived today. Bad seller"

 

[Joujoudoll]

I am not using ebay anymore... Heh.

I rarely ever use it as it is, but I am not using it anymore. I will never know if a seller is really good or bad. And who wants to weed through comments to see if the person is an asshole?

 

[Dack]

LOL if you can leave comments then I guess it is gonna be give em a star for positive feedback then in the comment box explain the buyer/seller is actually an asshole

Because Ebay are actively policing for those comments - they then get deleted but the plus remains.

Result is that they get a positive and no-one gets to read the comment.

Stopped selling on Ebay a few months ago when these changes were first mentioned.

Other effects of the new rules include:
1. Buyers now doing feedback ransoming (discount the postage or I'll neg you)
2. Sellers get discounts depending on their DSRs. The level set is 4.6 for the discount, while most people will give 4 or 5 for rating this then averages out at 4.5
3. People get suspended if their 12 Month feedback rating drops below 95% but they applied it retroactively and neutrals count as negatives under the new system. This really penalises small sellers as just 2 negatives/neutrals over 40 sales would get you suspended for 30 days. Of course since it's a rolling 12 months after the suspension you will have lost some positives from the beginning of the period (say 4 items) meaning your rating will then be 2 Non-positive out of 36 sales, meaning you get suspended again.
4. The 'paypal on all items' caveat means that if you want to rip someone off you pay via paypal then collect the item. 2 Weeks later put in a claim for item not received and you will get your money back as the seller can not prove delivery - as the only proof they accept is recorded delivery.
5. Ebay intoduced the subtle change in that you can not discriminate between payment methods - this means you now have to accept cheques from foreign buyers or paypal from home country buyers. See #4 for why this may be a problem and foreign cheques have a premium charge associated when paid into a UK bank.

 

[PizzaPasta]

On one hand, I don't think it's that bad of an idea.

I've had a lot of experiences on Ebay where the seller is more than a little deceptive about the condition of the item, they'll post a picture but it won't show the side with all the damage or they'll tell you that something is mint and post a picture of another copy of the game or something. So, I'll leave negative feedback (as I should, it's only fair to do so when I am lied to) and the seller will get angry and do the same but only out of spite (which is always the case since people are babies and can't take any criticism).

I think the majority of Ebay sellers are scummy (there are some really good ones but they are rare to come across) and a lot of them are out to rip people off, I mean really, a lot of the times their Ebay sales are their only source of income so it only makes sense that they act like used car salesmen. I don't feel sorry for them at all.

Also, while I'm on my Ebay diatribe, they really should make a rule where you can't put the word "RARE" in the product description. Some of these asshole sellers really think that they can trick someone into believing that every video game is rare.

Sorry, I think I just wrote a book. If anyone read the whole thing then "bravo to you!"

EDIT: I just realized that I might be offending fellow tempers with this comment. Just so you know, none of what I wrote applies to you guys. You know I love all of you!

 

[deathfisaro]

It's inevitable some sellers are douchebags, and some buyers are the same.
Ebay's like "You wanna play douche? Then I'm gonna be a dick, new rule in your face"
It's not ideal, but Ebay came up with that strategy. Let's see how it works out long-term.

Oh, and there are retards. Mostly buyers, who think a parcel would be teleported to his doorsteps overnight.

 

[gizmo_gal]

I never liked Ebay much, but...thats an odd rule. Some people may think its cute to lie and give negative feedback to folks who did nothing wrong but I think its more helpful to have all three categories than just one...

 

[thieves like us]

the other thing that has always pissed me off is the order of leaving feedback.

in my mind the seller should be leaving feedback first based on how quickly the buyer paid. plain and simple. after receiving the item, the buyer should leave feedback for the seller based on how the item was received (packaged well), the condition of the item vs. the description in the auction and how well the seller communicated.

in a perfect world, this would work out. but it doesn't and really what should happen if the buy leaves negative or neutral feedback, then the seller should have the opportunity to defend their actions.

personally, as both a buyer and a seller, I think that the new rules give too much of an advantage to the buyer and can leave the seller held hostage for fear of negative feedback.

the other thing that has always irked me is the ability to remove a strike from your record (even if it wasn't your fault) for a price. that's right. ebay will cancel negative feedback if you want to pay them something to the tune of $60 per transaction (which is just another way for them to extort money in addition to the listing/ending price/paypal fees that they are already monopolizing on.

 

[SavageWaffle]

eBay's turning into crap now,

 

[PizzaPasta]

Oh, and there are retards. Mostly buyers, who think a parcel would be teleported to his doorsteps overnight.

Ummm, isn't that how it's supposed to go?

 

[pokemongalaxy]

Well getting your parcel overnight is very improbable. But I guess it could happen if you and the seller live in same cities, and hes using good mailing...

 

[PizzaPasta]

Well getting your parcel overnight is very improbable. But I guess it could happen if you and the seller live in same cities, and hes using good mailing...

I was really just shooting for the whole teleportation thing.