In case you missed the new ebay feedback policies...
Technical Alerts and Product News
Feedback changes coming May 19th
As we had announced back in January, we're making some bold changes to how Feedback on eBay works. Based on many conversations with both buyers and sellers since then, we've also addressed some of the top concerns we've heard. Below is a high level recap of the planned changes.
These are scheduled to launch the week of May 19th for eBay.com and eBay Motors, and throughout the month for the rest of the international sites.
* Sellers may only leave positive feedback for buyers (at the seller's option).
* Members will receive credit for repeat Feedback (going back to 1996)
* We will base the Positive Feedback Percentage on the past 12 months of activity (and include neutral Feedback in the calculation)
* We will remove negative and neutral Feedback if a member is suspended, or when a buyer fails to respond to the Unpaid Item process.
* We'll block buyers from leaving negative or neutral Feedback for 7 days for active PowerSellers who have been on eBay for at least 12 months.
* Members can leave Feedback up to 60 days after a transaction (down from 90)
* We are introducing a new Buyer Requirement that will allow sellers to block bids from buyers who have been reported by other sellers for eBay buying policy violations (such as Feedback abuse, or email threats).
* We're also expanding the scope of the existing Buyer Requirement for unpaid items, so that it supports more comprehensive blocking of buyers who have a history of non-payment.
Developer Impact:
For eBay developers, the following APIs will be impacted:
* GetFeedback
* LeaveFeedback
* GetUser
* GetLiveAuctionBidders
Call logic will be updated to conform to the new policies. For example, attempting to leave feedback more than 60 days after a transaction will result in an error. Get more details about the new Feedback system »
Feedback changes coming May 19th
As we had announced back in January, we're making some bold changes to how Feedback on eBay works. Based on many conversations with both buyers and sellers since then, we've also addressed some of the top concerns we've heard. Below is a high level recap of the planned changes.
These are scheduled to launch the week of May 19th for eBay.com and eBay Motors, and throughout the month for the rest of the international sites.
* Sellers may only leave positive feedback for buyers (at the seller's option).
* Members will receive credit for repeat Feedback (going back to 1996)
* We will base the Positive Feedback Percentage on the past 12 months of activity (and include neutral Feedback in the calculation)
* We will remove negative and neutral Feedback if a member is suspended, or when a buyer fails to respond to the Unpaid Item process.
* We'll block buyers from leaving negative or neutral Feedback for 7 days for active PowerSellers who have been on eBay for at least 12 months.
* Members can leave Feedback up to 60 days after a transaction (down from 90)
* We are introducing a new Buyer Requirement that will allow sellers to block bids from buyers who have been reported by other sellers for eBay buying policy violations (such as Feedback abuse, or email threats).
* We're also expanding the scope of the existing Buyer Requirement for unpaid items, so that it supports more comprehensive blocking of buyers who have a history of non-payment.
Developer Impact:
For eBay developers, the following APIs will be impacted:
* GetFeedback
* LeaveFeedback
* GetUser
* GetLiveAuctionBidders
Call logic will be updated to conform to the new policies. For example, attempting to leave feedback more than 60 days after a transaction will result in an error. Get more details about the new Feedback system »
Comments
* We will base the Positive Feedback Percentage on the past 12 months of activity (and include neutral Feedback in the calculation)
Interesting -- there goes my 100% feedback rating! Never got a negative, but I received a neutral a few months ago...
I'm not sure whether or not neutral will count against your percentage. I think that's pretty vague -- anyone know the scoop on that part?
Neutral will now count as a % that is NOT positive.
I love this new rule about sellers only being able to leave positive feedback. This means no more holding feedback hostage, buyers can rate douchebag sellers the way they should be without fear, because the worst a seller can do is obstain from feedback, I LOVE it.
Deadbeats beware!
I'm not sure whether or not neutral will count against your percentage. I think that's pretty vague -- anyone know the scoop on that part?
Neutral will now count as a % that is NOT positive.
I love this new rule about sellers only being able to leave positive feedback. This means no more holding feedback hostage, buyers can rate douchebag sellers the way they should be without fear, because the worst a seller can do is obstain from feedback, I LOVE it.
Deadbeats beware!
The same holds true to buyers though, Now buyers can run around and be douschebags with no visible consequences. I think its kind of horse shit, a hot steamy pile non the less.
Buyers are assholes about feedback as it is... I got a 4.5 in shiping because assholes think $3 is too much to ship a NES game... wtf.. envelopes and diesel fuel aren't free. And as I looked through my sales from the last 45 days.. only like 10 people out of 40-50 even left feedback, while i left all of them feedback a long time ago.
I think whatever e-bay does, the seller is still going to get the long hard shaft
Thats my opinion on the matter.....
I bought a sealed Pink Advance SP a week ago, and seller was charging $5 S&H to USA. As a canadian bidder I had to pay $26 S&H because seller didn't expected to send internationally. I received the packakge yesterday : sent for $4 via First Class Mail in a bubble mailer.
I know this is a case for opening a dispute, but since I don't want to break my 100% feedback I don't know if it's worth the shot.
Problem is, for every honest buyer, there are tons of douchebag buyers.
I think they just need to think of a better feedback system, or maybe always allow negative feedback, but don't add positive feedback till both parties have submitted feedback.
That way, a buyer or seller could leave necessary negative feedback, and both would only gain positive if they participate in feedback. That would force sellers to leave feedback first again, because buyers could withhold any positive comment till the seller posted. If the seller wanted to hold out, fine, all they'd get would be negatives. I'm more concerned about how many bad transactions people have than 1000's of "got my item quickly" feedbacks. I think almost every seller has gone the way of holding feedback because they can(although not the way ebay intended), and they can retaliate against buyers with legitimate negatives.
~~NGD
Between the fees, the non paying bidders and now these new rules... I'll still buy, but i'm done selling there.
I'm just about to the same point you guys are, the fees are horrible, the feedback is all buyer friendly, people are scum and should choke on the vile crap they create. Sadly, there are few options to unload stuff from home, i mean the flea market is ok, but nothing spectacular...most people think its a "Free" market and they can kiss my you know what as well.
Someone needs to make an E-bay like site with lower fees and a more friendly seller attitude. My programming is for the birds otherwise i would have started a long time ago.
I lost my 100% to douch seller who left me a negative because I left him one..He took like 2 months for me to get the item.He said I was impatient sellers beware!Hate him so much
I recently lost my %100 to some assbag buyer because, after winning my auction and not paying or sending me any kind of head up for 5 or 6 days, I very nicely asked, "when do you plan on paying for this item?" They said I was impaient. ALso I shipped the game to Europe somewhere, I charged them like 2 dollars over actual shipping, and they wanted a refund of the $2.00. They didn't agree that the envelope, tape, gasoline, and most importantly, my time added up to $2.00.
The feedback system is RIDICULOUS!!! At least now, I do feel al ittle more free. Now I'm not afraid to leave someone a legitimate negative that they deserve, fearing they will leave me a retalitiory negative for no other reason than to be an ashole.
I don't understand why ebay doesn't do this. Both parties leave feedback, but it isn't viewable until after both buyer and seller have posted. Then you couldn't leave a retalitory neg, becuase you wouldn't know what feedback you were getting yourself. It just seems so obvious, why doesn't Ebay do that?
It just seems that with all the unhappiness amongst ebay users, somebody would come along and create a better system. I would love to never use ebay again. It's like ebay knows that we really don't have any other options, so they can just do as they please to us.
there are some game specific auction sites made by individuals, but the selection for buyers, and the selling price for sellers aren't very attactive yet. It's hard to compete with the ebay exposure without big time advertising.
www.gamegavel.com
www.chasethechuckwagon.com
I made enough money to pay for my rent off-campus, school books, etc. Playing magic and selling what I opened and traded for. Easy money.
Those days ended though when they began to charge. There's no denying that eBay just got more eyeballs and more money for items. I made the switch almost immediately...if I was going to have to pay, I'll pay for the most exposure, why settle for less. Later on after Yahoo auctions was in the shitter because nobody would pay to sell there, they went back to free listings - but the damage was done and they shut down within six months.
Part of their downfall was Google's rise, they completely eclipsed Yahoo and of course, eBay listings pop to the top of Google
I still make a lot of money on eBay, and I know there are others here who feel the same. While I admit their changes aren't optimal, I've been putting up with negative changes for a while, selling online. It's getting to the point where I'm considering jumping off again, to another site. I don't think I'll make the transition over this silly feedback thing and I've already made my opinions known in my article a few issues back - and though nobody agrees, I stand by them as logical and thoroughly reasoned-out. But depending on the next fee-raise, Amazon is looking attractive enough to get my money.
At this point they're pretty well even-steven as far as charges go, so since I'm established on the Bay I'll stay there, silly feedback crap or not. But once eBay ceases to be a good deal, I'm more than willing to go elsewhere. Who knows, perhaps the lower population there will earn me more in the long run - less competition means higher prices.