On May 21st, 2008 eBay initiated a new feedback policy that eliminated equal feedback options for both Buyers and Sellers. Buyers can now leave negative feedback for Sellers, but Sellers can now only leave positive feedback for Buyers. This letter is in response:
Open Letter to eBay and to All It May Concern,
For over decade, I have found eBay to be a happy, enjoyable, and reasonably safe place to do business; first through a friend, then as a Buyer myself and, eventually, as a Seller.
As you will see from my feedback record, I have bought and sold on eBay with equal care and consideration—often encouraging my friends and colleagues to take the plunge themselves and experience firsthand the premiere shopping frontier of the internet.
Actually, I did not become an eBay Seller right away. It took several years of becoming a model Buyer and building an impeccable record of positive purchasing before I finally leapt over to the other side of the eBay fence.
After hundreds of happy purchases and encountering only a few unsatisfactory Sellers in all that time, I decided to sell a few items from my family’s estate. I was surprised at how easy selling on eBay was and regretted that I had waited so long.
As much as I had learned as a Buyer, my real education began as an online Seller. I quickly realized how important it was to provide accurate, detailed descriptions and photographs for every item I offered to the public. As I would later admonish lazy or careless Sellers: “You are the eyes and conscience of each and every bidder who cannot see and hold the item themselves. You must have the integrity to point out the flaws as well as the features. Also, always remember the Buyer holds the disadvantage until they receive the item, so handle any dissatisfaction accordingly. EBay Selling is not supposed to be “Trick or Treat,” it is supposed to be “Happy Birthday.”
Wise words, perhaps, but the truth is; buying or selling any item sight unseen is often a “crap shoot.” As a Buyer, I have purchased more than a few items that didn’t make the translation from digital image to reality as well as I had expected. But then, other items greatly exceeded my expectation and were a bargain beyond belief. Just like any retail store, not every item is going to work out.
Ultimately, however, I learned the quality of any transaction does not rest with the item being bought or sold; it rests with both the Buyer and the Seller. No transaction is a good one if either party feels betrayed or exploited—period. To that end, I have never had a unhappy Buyer myself although I have had to give a refund or two to ensure it.
As my Selling experience progressed and positive Buyer comments were added to my feedback record, I began to reach out to other Sellers, offering advice and tips to help them better sell their own items. I would gently advise this person that a hat size is determined by the inside circumference not width and length or respectfully inform that person that the coat they were selling was vintage 40’s not 50’s. I once notified an art dealer that the lithograph they were offering was not of Laurel & Hardy but of Burgess Meredith & Zero Mostel.
Each time the other Seller would reply in surprise and appreciation that I had taken the time to point out their error, and gratefully acknowledge my kindness and consideration. I would merely remind them that, for me, eBay was a kind of family; one of the last few places where people could act in good faith, where Buyers and Sellers could be held accountable for each and every transaction, and where Buyers and Sellers could easily examine the other’s feedback record and decide to do business accordingly.
Most importantly, eBay was a wonderful magic carpet ride to finding or offering rare and remarkable treasures from all over the world. Items that had been sitting in a dark corner of an attic in Savanna, Georgia or recently plucked from a flea market in Europe. Unique and precious items that could never have been discovered by most of us accept through the wondrous and exciting porthole of eBay.
Certainly eBay has its flaws; every enterprise does. For all of the honest and forthright Buyers and Sellers online, there are indeed a few dishonest or unscrupulous participants. That’s to be expected—and those who violated eBay’s terms of service would soon be conspicuous by their negative feedback record or worse, banished. And should a Buyer or Seller be unfairly extorted with a negative comment, you could read between the lines of the respective feedback comments and easily determine who was at fault. It did not take a rocket scientist to figure out the intrinsic advantages to the eBay feedback system.
That all changed on May 21, when you altered this paramount dynamic for your own purposes; when you silenced the Seller in every future transaction and absolved Buyers of any accountability except paying, when you betrayed the loyal and dedicated trust of the very instruments who were responsible for your initial success; your small Sellers.
After posting my “Feedback = Seller Silence,” statement last week, I received numerous comments from other Sellers who also felt deeply betrayed by eBay. In her email to me, Judy Zewin, who suffered back and neck injuries and relies solely on her eBay sales, said poignantly, “I have never felt so helpless, I use to love selling on Ebay. It is my only income to raise my son. I have emailed eBay over and over and have also called them, but they just don’t care, and it’s so sad…”
My reply to Judy, who is proudly featured on eBay’s Seller Central, echoes the sentiment of millions of Sellers like her and myself; “I want you to know you are not alone in your feelings. I also feel betrayed. I loved buying and selling special treasures on eBay. That joy has abruptly been taken away from me along with my belief that eBay cared about the little people who sold...”
For the record, I have taken the time to read the numerous bulletins written by various eBay executives substantiating your new feedback policy. As a former media specialist, I must respectfully say I have rarely read such nonsensical, convoluted, corporate tripe. Quite honestly, I wonder if any of you have ever personally sold a single item on eBay.
You may disguise your new feedback system as a “huge investment in transforming the way Feedback works” and insist that it will “restore trust and transparency and improve the buying experience,” but nothing could be further from the truth. It does quite the opposite and any experienced eBayer knows this. Please stop insulting our intelligence with this propaganda—it’s truly offensive.
Your new feedback system is a symptom of a vicious and debilitating disease that plagues our great country today: corporate greed. Your new feedback policy is not remotely intended to protect the eBay Seller or enhance the selling experience. Any seasoned eBayer can clearly see that it is intended to increase eBay transactions by eliminating negative feedback to unscrupulous Buyers and to prevent Sellers from being able to identify these same risky and potentially harmful purchasing predators.
Perhaps some of you eBay executives, in your infinite prosperity, have not noticed how America’s economic crisis has affected many citizens who do not have your advantages. While corporate executives recalculate their profit margins, millions of people all over the country are losing their jobs, being forced from their homes, unable to provide for their families properly or even to obtain basic health care.
It should not surprise you to know that some of these unfortunate people are Sellers on eBay. They are not “Power Sellers,” mind you; they are merely small, noncommercial, unprofessional people who are trying to augment their already meager incomes. Those like the distressed lady who wrote me, simply trying to make ends meet.
And so, during what is likely the darkest hour for millions of Americans economically, eBay has cheerfully added insult to injury—and called it a “bold change.” Actually, many of us find this change quite cowardly; your having never openly consulted the eBay membership who would be most adversely affected but, rather, a singular group of PowerSellers who probably could care less.
A mentor of mine, who was both businessman and entrepreneur and employed hundreds of people during his lifetime, once told me: “Capitalism without a conscience is merely despotism for profit.” All of you eBay executives should gravely consider this as you proceed to reap the financial benefits of enlarging your “Power Seller” base on eBay and gradually eliminating the small, private Seller who was once your primary revenue-provider.
Additionally, every Buyer on eBay must consider whether they will be an instrument of this injustice. With each purchase, they will have to consider whether they themselves would want to be a “silent seller,” unable to share equitably in the eBay prerogatives.
Meg Whitman, one of eBay’s original visionaries maintained that, “EBay is a company that's in the business of connecting people, not selling them things.” Apparently, you all have forgotten that—or perhaps decided it was no longer a tenet of your greater purpose for eBay. Because, with a simple swipe of your policy pen, you have disconnected millions of Buyers and Sellers from each other; replacing a once primarily caring and trusting trade atmosphere with one of future angst, indifference, extortion, and distrust.
I am told the very first item ever sold on eBay was not a commercial product. It was not even a rare collectable. It was simply a broken laser pointer. It sold for $14.83—and the buyer knew that it was broken when he bid on it.
I don’t believe that was a random accident. I believe it was intended to remind eBay of its humble roots and that one person’s junk is another’s treasure. Think of it; eBay’s first sold item was a tool that was intended for but now unable to point the way. How ironic.
Of course, the direction doesn’t need pointing for Sellers who cannot prevail against your new feedback system. They will not be able to endure a double standard that deprives them of their rightful voice and accurate standing in any eBay transaction, a system that makes them second class citizens on eBay and renders them defenseless against dishonest or unscrupulous Buyers.
These people will now have to seek another internet selling venue; a place where every transaction is an equal opportunity between Buyer and Seller.
A place that was once eBay.
Yours most earnestly,
PropandWardrobe (760)