eBay's New Feedback system

tfm · Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 5:04 pm Post subject: eBay's New Feedback system

For those of you who sell on ebay, you can no longer leave negative or neutral feedback on buyers. I have no idea what recourse you will have if you get a buyer who bids your auction up and doesn't pay for it. They could neg you and there doesn't seem to be anything you can do about it. You could file a non-paying bidder but I don't think that removes the feedback.

Can anyone explain this to me?
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scribe · Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 11:26 am Post subject:

I am a little confused as to why they would install this. Because sellers are withholding feedback and using it somehow against the buyer?
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tfm · Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 12:59 pm Post subject:

That's their rationale. I grilled one of their staff the other night and they said that the Non-Paying Bidder protocol will remove negative feedback left by unscrupulous bidders. NPB has to be filed within seven days of auction close.
That's not much time.

I'd guess they're trying to get more people to use Paypal. People who pay by money order who mail their payment late could get NPB filed against them. Buyers who use Paypal echeck could also face a NPB if isn't done with seven days.

The changes seem short-sighted to me.
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scribe · Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 1:16 pm Post subject:

They could be looking for ways to minimize disputes that require a human on their end to sort it out. Like, lowering overhead so that their cash cow gets even fatter. Of course, this could prove very frustrating for sellers who get tangled up with impulse bidders who don't follow through on payment.

I think the real loser here are those who do pay, whose winning bids are being run up by impulse bidders. Which is an even bigger win for eBay.
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Ralf Toth · Posted: Sun May 25, 2008 9:26 am Post subject:

Since eBay is practically monopolist, they can install whatever feedback system they want.

But they had to something. It started a few years ago when sellers wouldn't leave feedback when the buyer had paid, but only after the buyer had left positive feedback. Sellers withheld their feedback so they had a weapon in case buyer would leave negative feedback ("revenge feedback"). Nearly every seller did this. Many pro sellers had automatic feedback systems, which fired a positive seconds after the buyer left a positive. And look how many retracted feedback there was. Of course, sellers blackmailed buyers who left a negative (for good reason or not).

So now all the power is with the buyer. Time will tell if the decision was wise. Personally, I don't care because I rarely sell and had two different accounts for selling and buying.
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