Feedback on ebay is a necessary evil. It is a double-edged sword. It helps buyers determine just who the bad sellers are, but it can also be used as a weapon, of sorts.
I mention in my primary post that buyers will sometimes leave negative feedback for no good reason. It happens. It shouldn't, but it does. A buyer will get mad because he thinks you overcharged for the item, for shipping, or both, and leave you a negative. An item arrives damaged or late, and you get a negative. The post office loses an item and you get a negative.
See what I mean? Buyers can leave a negative for ANY REASON UNDER THE SUN. You sell a shirt and it doesn't fit the buyer and he leaves you a negative. The buyer orders two books from two different sellers, gets the two mixed up, and leaves you a negative when he meant to leave the other seller a negative.
In most cases, there is absolutely nothing you can do about the feedback. Ebay won't remove it without a good reason (such as, the negative feedback includes profanity, obscenities, threats, or other unacceptables). About 95% of the time, negative feedback you receive will stick to you like glue. Your only real option is to beg and plead with the buyer to retract his - feedback. Sometimes he will, but he usually won't. It's just a part of ebay-land
It used to be that buyers and sellers could each leave the other + or - feedback. That changed in about 2009. Now, a buyer can leave a seller + or - feedback, but a seller can ONLY LEAVE +. It kind of is a one-way street, and on the surface, it sounds unfair.
So, the point I am trying to make is to make every effort to eliminate - feedback from the onset. If you list a vase and it has a chip in it at the base, mention this defect in the listing. Be accurate in your listing descriptions. Don't over-charge for shipping. Ship things on time, when you say you will. Buyers will get an email when you ship their item through paypal, so they are going to know when you ship it. Be honest with buyers. If you make a mistake, admit it. I know I have.
There have been a couple cases where I have actually shipped the wrong item to a buyer. It happens. On one occasion I caught it in time. I had two different packages going to two different buyers in two different states. The only problem was that the packages were mis-labeled and the wrong one was going to the wrong recipient. Fortunately, I was able to call UPS, gave them the tracking number, and they were actually able to track the packages, flag the tracking number and re-route each package to the proper recipient, all before the wrong boxes were delivered. This resulted in a minor delay, so I contacted each of the two buyers, explained the mix-up, explained that I corrected the problem, but to expect another day in transit. Each buyer understood in this case and was understanding. I got + feedback from each buyer simply because I took the tie to inform each of the minor delay in delivery time, despite my error.
Sometimes people will try to get things out of you in return for - feedback removal. If a buyer gives you a negative, and you ask for him to reconsider, and he replies with, "Well, send me $10 through paypal and I will consider it," contact ebay. This is feedback extortion, and ebay strictly forbids it. Buyers are not permitted to ask for anything above and beyond what was specifically mentioned in the listing, and a $10 reversal to the buyer in this case likely wasn't in the original listing.
Protect your feedback like gold. It's extremely important.
Equally important are your DSRs- your Detailed Seller Ratings. Again, here, you have to bend over backwards to please customers, but if that's your nature anyways, you won't have any issues. Buyers will rate you in four key areas, and these four key elements will be visible to anyone who reviews your feedback page. Buyers will be rating you on how well your listing description matches the item you sold them, your communication, how fast you shipped the item, and how well you manage your shipping and handling charges.
Again, most buyers will be impressed if you simply charge as little for shipping as possible (that means not inflating the weight of the item to make a little more in shipping, which will come to you as a tiny side bonu$), ship things ASAP, keep in contact with your buyers and write up accurate item descriptions. If you are selling used items on ebay, people are not going to expect them to be perfect. Few things in life are perfect. At least be up front with your buyers about defects in the items you ship. Failure to do so will cost you in the end in terms of - feedback or lower DSRs.
A note about feeback and DSRs: ebay rewards its top sellers with things such as reduced fees and increased visibility of your items when buyers run searches IF YOU ARE ABLE TO CONSISTENTLY MAINTAIN GOOD + FEEDBACK AND GOOD DSR's. This is why it's critical to maintain your good standing, and bend over backwards for your buyers.
I am a powerseller as well as a top-rated seller, and I like to think that it's these elements that play at least some part in a buyer deciding whether to buy an item from me, or a nearly-identical item from a competitor on ebay who lacks these two credentials.
A few more comments about feedback and DSR's. It's my belief now that feedback is little more than a formality. Sure, all those nice pretty + feedback comments look nice on your feedback page, but other than that, they really only tell half the story. Your DSR's tell the other half. But back to feedback.
If a buyer can leave you negative feedback for any reason under the sun, which will stay on your feedback page until forever, but you can't do the same to the buyer, is it really a fair system? Some would argue that leaving negatives for a buyer does little, because often a buyer will buy something immediately, leaving no time for a seller to check out a buyer's feedback. This would be true. It's my belief, however, that feedback needs to be a two-way street. What if a seller did everything right, and a buyer was mouthy, intolerant, demanding, complained about everything under the sun, demanded a full refund without returning the item to you, then left you a negative, wouldn't you want to leave him a negative to let other seller to know to beware?
I know I sound upset, because it's happened to me. Buyers know they can pretty much get away with murder, tarnish a good sellers' 100% + feedback by leaving just one unjustified - feedback, then go on to the next seller and repeat the process.
A sellers' feedback, as I've stated previously, only tells half the story. Sure, a buyer can leave a seller a - feedback, but that negative doesn't necessarily mean that the seller is a bad seller. Maybe the seller made an innocent mistake. I've made tons of mistakes.
I guess I can sum it up by saying that while no one wants to receive a - feedback (sometimes abbreviated as -FB), getting one isn't the end of the world. Sure, it hurts one's prestige, particularly when it isn't deserved, but of the few -FBs I have received, I am sure I have deserved just as many more, if not more so, for other failures on my part, but didn't receive them, for any number of reasons: either the buyer didn't notice my mistake, or didn't care, or didn't bother to log in to ebay to record a -FB, or, if he did, he mistakenly left -FB for someone else.
While ebay generally won't remove -FB- they say it might go against our first amendment rights toward free speech- that right means more to me than any old piddly -FB any day.
Besides, after a year, that -FB drops out of the equation ebay uses to factor my +FB score. So, although I've personally gotten -FB in the past, they've been received over a year ago, so I now- knock on wood- have 100% +FB!
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