eBay: "Buyers, you can no longer receive negative or neutral Feedback from sellers."

[DanRock101]

This is the NEW message posted from eBay:

Buyers, you can no longer receive negative or neutral Feedback from sellers.

Yes, that's it! I was leaving a feedback for a guy I bought from (I'm the buyer). Now since I sell as much as I buy, I have no prejudice in the matter. I'm 50% Seller / 50% Buyer. As a buyer I've been screwed twice in my 800+ transactions. As a SELLER I've been harassed several times and have LOST all of my "meditation" attempts.....

Yes, we have a preditory world and such, I get it. My seller rep is very good to just shy of excellent. One instance was when I sold a Focusrite RED EQ. I sent it out USPS Priority and insured it to $2,000.

I ALWAYS disclose that when insurance claims (at least with the USPS) need to be handled by the RECEIVER (the Buyer) of item, they CAN'T be sent back because this puts a gap in the integrity of the shipping damage (obviously....it could've been damaged coming BACK to the seller). Insurance policies are bought (for a good deal of money) to protect the buyer's item, in this case a $2,000 item. Well the buyer wanted ME to handle the claim....I COULDN'T, it was now HIS claim....these are words of the USPS. The buyer needed to go to the Post Office with the original packaging/box & item (the box that has the "Insurance" info on it).

Well my buyer THREW AWAY the box and packaging (ok, suspicious) and wanted to send the item back to me and wanted me to refund.....anways, I told him what HE had to do......well he blasts me with bad feedback and there ya go. I WAS THE BAD GUY!

NOW, sellers CAN'T LEAVE FEEDBACK!!!!!!!! Ok, there are shitty sellers, granted.....and there are shitty buyers.... eBay has now decided that BUYERS should get the protection! How is that? Why would you want to sell?

Now if you buy something, and it's broken, you've been screwed and should be compensated.... if you buy something and BREAK IT YOURSELF and you now want to claim it WASN'T your fault, then you're being dishonest..... great, eBay is claiming that a buyer CAN'T be dishonest!

So what is the answer? No more eBay? Will it just be for buyers how (now) have a mental seed planted in their head that lead to MORE preditory buying?!?!? Is that what eBay wants?

Maybe they just want corporations selling on there. They'll be more consistant AND if there is a broken item returned (done by HONEST means or DISHONEST means), that corporation can just send it back to their vendor and get a credit and have a right off........

GOOD BYE EBAY! and GOOD BYE ONLINE SALES AS WE KNOW THEM!

Finally , going back to my feedback (that I'm actually in the middle of leaving).... hmmmmm, wow, I can TOTALLY f*** with this seller! Hmmm, maybe get another DVD out of him! Shipping costs for free! SH*T! I'm gana KEEP the DVD AND get my money back! WELCOME BACK EBAY! I missed you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jim Williams]

As long as one accepts the fact that everything sold on Ebay is broken and all the sellers are crooks, one should have no problems with the trouble they recieve. If you have very low expectations, the transaction that goes well is a pleasant suprise. Once you make a transaction out of your state, you forfit all legal rights for settlement.

The Romans had their own warning for Ebay; "Let the buyer be aware".

Nothing much has changed in 2000 years except you can't go over and cut the bad guys' head off anymore. Unless you are in Iraq or Mexico.

Jim Williams
Audio Upgrades

[MrT]

So why keep feedback at all? Seems kinda pointless.

[doorknocker]

Remember that you can still leave a positive feedback as a seller and put 'So-and-so is a crook' in the comments. If you read the fine print then you get the message.

[sonnycheebs]

you can still leave feedback it just does not count against the feedback rating. i tell sellers now to read what the feedback says because i still leave neg feedback in the space they give us for positive feedback. if they deserve it of course

[alexp]

This is why I will never be a member on that place. Ever.

[emrr]

I've been a seller there for ten years. 750+ positives, no negatives, no requests for returns. Almost all high end audio gear, lots of vintage gear I restored, some custom built stuff. The new policies scare the hell out of me; I resent the assertion that all sellers are crooks, and the idea that ebay now appears to think so as well. Most of my buyers are foreign. There is no way in hell that I will sell via Paypal, and accept complete lack of seller protection on $1000+ items. It's insane. I would do better to burn money in the yard. Ebay/Paypal has made well more than two grand a year off of me for ten years running, and frankly they're losing me; I haven't sold a thing in 6 months or more, due to the policy changes. They have thrown all sellers to the dogs, and castrated the feedback system to the point of meaninglessness. Now, negatives disappear after a year. So no one can tell I've never received one anymore! There used to be a separate viewable number that showed multiple transactions between the same parties; this was another indication of happy repeat buyers. That's gone too. Far too much hand-holding, far too little personal responsibility and common sense. I've certainly bought as much as I've sold, and had only minor problems a few times. Again; common sense. These days, even if you have won an auction, you are no longer provided with the sellers contact information at auctions end!

[Chaellus]

this is why i mainly buy now i will not have feedback tarnished...its ridiclous

[DanRock101]

I hear ya guys!

Here's where I stand..... as far as ANY business, I live by the triangle.

1) GOOD 2) CHEAP 3) FAST

The triangle is CHOOSE TWO of the above!
Now if you want something for GOOD and CHEAP, it's NOT gana be fast, you'll have to be patient.
If you want something FAST & CHEAP....you guessed it, it ain't gana be GOOD (ie, it'll suck)......
If you want something GOOD & FAST, it's NOT gana be cheap!

Ya follow? Now, eBay falls in WHAT category? It USED to be GOOD & FAST, but was NEVER cheap! I mean, eBay, you pay 30% (yes, after GOOD packaging materials, insurance, GOOD shipping, & good selling tool$) of what you make. You WERE always nearly guaranteed a FAST sale at something (if priced right) and if you were a good seller (as I was, I NEVER settled for the cheaper service/packaging etc), you had a good rep....

NOW eBay is only FAST! NOT good anymore, NOT cheap. Fees & services have NOT gone down and the OTHER price you pay to sell is, as a seller you have NO RIGHTS!

So eBay is OUT now!!!!!!!

What are the other options? Amazon? BLA! Sellers could NEVER rate their buyers there! OUT!

SPAMSLIST? Woops, I mean CRAIGLIST?!?!? Craigslist falls under CHEAP and...........good? I'm not sure about GOOD! I mean, c'mon, Craigslists are for illiterate people who don't wanna put ANY time into providing information on the item...sellers who have NO computer or technical skills (you know, the wonderful CAMERA PHONE PICS!)....basically Craigslist caters to the slackers of the world........

WHERE DO WE GO!?!?!?!?

[Wavebourn]

I had cases when I got false negative feedbacks from sellers who obviously fooled me. Very few sellers honestly left a feedback upon payment; the rest were waiting till I leave feedback them to see if I was satisfied or not...

[DanRock101]

I agree. I've had the SAME happen to me as a buyer.... AND I've had retaliatory feedback as a seller..... EQUAL instances... so why would eBay put the burden on ONLY the seller?

I mean, NOW, it's OPEN SEASON on sellers..... that's how a lot of buyers are gana see it .......... what then? eBay doesn't care, they're still collecting fees..... it costs NOTHING To be a buyer on eBay.... it DOES cost to sell ......... so now eBay is making the seller pay DOUBLE .......pay your fees to eBay AND to PayPal (whom they own) AND pay having your payment HELD during a "dispute" .......... YES, GUILTY TIL PROVEN INNOCENT ........ bottom line!