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An undeserved demerit

dashiell

One of the Regulars
Messages
132
Location
Los Angeles, CA
In my opinion, the important thing to ask yourself is whether a similar feedback from a previous buyer could have prevented your worst eBay experience ever. If so, I'd leave that negative feedback. I know if I were looking at someone with 700 positive ratings and one negative rating, I'd look at the negative as an anomaly, as it would be.

Don't take me seriously on eBay matters, though ... I have a grand total of nine eBay transactions, though I had quite positive feedback on all of them.
 

The Wolf

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,153
Location
Santa Rosa, Calif
I have only been a buyer on e-bay. I gave someone neutral feedback on something I bought that wasn't in the shape he said and took a long time to send it and only answered one e-mail. The my perfect score was lowered by his retaliatory feedback where he was talking through his hat. Some time late I got an e-mail from e-bay saying that he would rethink his feedback if I rethink mine. I ignored it because I felt I left appropriate feedback.
Go with what you think is right. if you have good enough feedback from everyone else it'll say more about the other person than you.

Sincerely,
the Wolf
 

dostacos

Practically Family
Messages
770
Location
Los Angeles, CA
I almost always leave positive feedback. I usually pay before I am notified by Ebay [I watch closely and pay when it closes] not always but I always pay pal the same day and money order [if they don't paypal] the next day. STILL I have had sellers not leave any feedback at all and these are BIG sellers:(

there have been 2 that I just never left feedback because it would have been negative. with the new one I may leave positive and give lower marks for shipping on time, that type of thing as it will be hard for the seller to know you hammered them there, unless they are new.

I will also cut slack when the shipping is delayed AND they email me about it.

the funny thing is, as a buyer my 100% is not as critical but I do plan on selling stuff.

anytime I feel the item is not as advertised I make darn sure I revisit the listing to make sure I did not miss something [which I usually did] my only non delivery was finally refunded and he is no longer a vendor.

having said that if it was as bad as it sounds, wait till the end time then go ahead and hit em
 

carter

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,921
Location
Corsicana, TX
Here's a 1st for me. I just had a seller in Canada try to charge $36.98 to ship a $0.99 item.
I asked them to send me an invoice for $0.99.
They can keep the item.

:kick:
 

Vintage Betty

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,300
Location
California, USA
I've been on ebay for 10 years, and have lots of feedback. I also was a Powerseller for a long period, so I've been on both sides of this issue.

Some sellers have different selling and buying accounts to protect them from retalitory feedback. I only have one account, as I do not have a professional ebay business, and this was a side hobby for me, mostly selling my own stuff.

Having said that, I've been threatened, cheated, hit with fraud, quibbled with and outright scammed by both sellers and buyers. They are in the small minority and completely waste huge amounts of my time, in addition to my money.

Do I not leave negative feedback? Yes. Why? Because as a seller with a single account, the amount of effort it will take me to recover from the negative retaliatory hit is absolutely magnified and will take months to attempt to obtain that rating again.

I also had a perfect 100% score and thought long and hard about posting my first negative because the seller had the same pattern - retaliatory negatives. Within 24 hours, I had a negative in my account. However, I stood by my decision as the woman committed fraud and sold a very shabby product.

I just left somone two negative feedbacks and they were deserved for non-receipt of goods (I gave her leeway at first because she wrote me about a death in the family. And than she shipped other people their goods, not mine and didn't respond to me). And if she leaves me negatives, I will appeal them (a practice not yet mentioned) to ebay for removal.

And oh yes, I'm watching her account carefully, because I think she might be scamming people.

As a reminder, if a seller receives too many negatives, they can get their selling priviledges revoked or account closed.

And for an extra special touch, remember you can report them to the USPS for mail fraud for non-receipt of goods, the BBB if they are a business, and oh yes, their ISP for using their hosting services for committing fraud - I've gotten many people's email accounts closed down. (If you don't know how to look this up, you can PM me). And that's just for starters. I'm lots of fun when a seller takes my money away and doesn't ship me stuff. Got lots more tricks up my sleeve too.

Vintage Betty
 

PrettySquareGal

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,003
Location
New England
Oh gosh, I could go either way with this. Not regarding whether it's deserved, but whether or not I should do it. Well, I have 90 days less 2 weeks to think about it! Great info! Thanks!
 

F16WarBird

New in Town
Messages
18
Location
Philadelphia
I left a negative to a seller who raped me on "undisclosed" shipping charges(customs).

After numerous emails back and forth, I said screw it and left a clear, concise, and very honest negative feedback.

Charged additional shipping that was not stated in auction. Item was acceptable
I then followed up with this additional feedback;
I have written documentation to substantiate this claim.

He in turn left ME negative feedback saying, and I quote;
YOU ARE A THIEF A LIAR AND A BAD PERSON A DISGRACE TO EBAY WARNING.

I replied;
I paid the stated amount immediately. I tried to resolve this but you refused.

That seller was removed, but from a number of complaints unrelated to mine.

My point is, it hasn't negatively affected me as a seller or buyer.

It's not courageous to "snipe" a negative feedback and then runaway hoping that the other person won't have time to respond.

That's like calling someone up to yell at them and then immediately hanging up so they can't respond.

Your heart is open. Have the courage to follow it and do what you feel is right.

But what would I know. I'm a "Bad Person". lol

Cheers!
 

Caledonia

Practically Family
Messages
954
Location
Scotland
I've got 100% both buying and selling. I've had two buyers that didn't pay so I took it to ebay through their dispute system. On both accounts the buyer agreed to mutually terminate and I got my selling fees back (not the listing ones though). I left no feedback on those two at all because of the mutual option I'd given them. Both incidentally were less than 10 feedback scores, and I accept it's easier to use mutual if you're a seller because you don't have to try and get your money back.

I've currently got one Power Seller with a no show on the goods and no response to my queries, and another with a no query response but I could still give them time on an international delivery (my guess is a postal scam which I've had once before - bill you for airmail then send it surface, and avoid your queries). I've got a limited amount to sell so I'm going with not leaving -ve as I want to move the stuff I have easily, but the Power Seller is about to get taken to ebay for breach of contract, as will the other if the goods don't turn up. If they do arrive and it has gone surface, I'll chalk the fiver up to experience and leave no feedback.

I agree with several others though - a couple of negatives with a long history of positives isn't likely to do you much harm, and when they are just spiteful retaliations you just need to decide how much you're going to be hurt by it - sticks and stones and all that. Personally, if someone gave me undeserved and spiteful feedback I'd just shrug and forget it - they'll come a cropper somewhere in their lives with that kind of nastiness, and I'm sure I'll feel it through the connective vibe, and then I shall think on them no more! :D
 

Feraud

Bartender
Messages
17,190
Location
Hardlucksville, NY
Marc Chevalier said:
When a buyer pays me in a timely way, I leave him/her positive feedback. I've never deliberately waited for a buyer to leave feedback first. Until recently :( , I've had no problems with this practice.


Negative feedback hurts (low volume) sellers more than it does buyers.

.

You are the only person I have encountered that does this Marc. I always pay immediately and never see feedback until after I have left it.
 

carter

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,921
Location
Corsicana, TX
Here's a 1st for me. I just had a seller in Canada try to charge $36.98 to ship a $0.99 item.
I asked them to send me an invoice for $0.99.
They can keep the item.

I had a message from the seller this morning. It was very cordial and completely understanding. He agreed to cancel the transaction.

Sometimes contacting the seller does have a positive result. :)
 

carter

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,921
Location
Corsicana, TX
Originally posted by Feraud
You are the only person I have encountered that does this Marc. I always pay immediately and never see feedback until after I have left it.

I have received positive feedback immediately after making payment. This doesn't occur often but it does happen.
 

PrettySquareGal

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,003
Location
New England
A funny thing happened. The seller had a change of mind and heart and we reached a compromise. In this case I will leave no feedback since I still felt I was entitled to a full refund (again, not getting into it, but what they sent me was not what was pictured in the auction) but was happy at least they offered something.
 

Maj.Nick Danger

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,469
Location
Behind the 8 ball,..
PrettySquareGal said:
A funny thing happened. The seller had a change of mind and heart and we reached a compromise. In this case I will leave no feedback since I still felt I was entitled to a full refund (again, not getting into it, but what they sent me was not what was pictured in the auction) but was happy at least they offered something.
Good for you, I knew you'd find an amicable solution for your dilemma. :)
 

ShortClara

One Too Many
Messages
1,117
Location
.
F16WarBird said:
I left a negative to a seller who raped me on "undisclosed" shipping charges(customs).

I'm just curious - did you import something from out of the country? Is is up to the buyer to pay their own customs / VAT charges. The buyer chooses to purchase out-of-country. I've never had an international buyer ask me to pay them - although I put it into my TOS that it's up to the buyer to pay the fees.
 

mikepara

Practically Family
Messages
565
Location
Scottish Borders
Is OFAS worth the hassle?

Understandably everyone's after a bargain. However that means it's nearly impossible to sell something for the actual 'going' price. I collect books, however If I try selling the surplus on OFAS you've got to virtually give them away.

The whole feedback thing is a joke. You get some real nutjobs, ripping you off, Being abusive , seriously overcharging on Shipping (and not just a bit to cover packaging or Paypal fees either!), just ignoring you or sending nothing or the wrong item, even people from non same language countries misunderstanding everything about the auction! I've had them all. It would be impossible to maintain a 100% feedback unless you ignored everyone and even then...

I used to hate it when people just didn't bother giving feedback regardless of feedback left. Now I've got better things to worry about than feedback.

OFAS is the joke! We've probably all used it, and will probably continue to, but they rip sellers off so much. Charging to put the item in auction. Charging to put more than one crummy photo on. Charging if you sell it. Virtually making it impossible not to use P- me offPal if you actually wish to sell it, thus charging you when the buyer pays you for it! Any real life actual Auctions getting away with charging you 3 times minimum?

Last bit: The Customs Charges are not the sellers fault! Customs alone decides if you pay it. I've been lucky most times but I've been collard a couple of times from the USA, Oh and Royal mail also adds £14.00 for the privilage of collecting the fees. Grrrr.
 

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