A subversive idea for sellers

great idea...they already have something like that on gumshoo...

Personally if I can leave only a buyer positive, and get an unjustified red or a bad buyer experience I will then leave a positive starting with the word "NEGATIVE ...".

I am sure if all sellers did that we can protect ourselves again

Would be interesting to see if eBay pulled that type of positive feedback ?

Why are you so sure you're going to get all these negatives now, and that every buyer will be a "bad buyer experience"?

Choo Choo Guy I'm with you. I recently had a buyer who bid and stiffed me. Well shame on me as I didn't see she wound up having a -3 feedback rating. Now? She is no longer a registered member and I can't leave feedback at all. I agree with you about leaving the word NEGATIVE first. Good idea!

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every buyer will be a "bad buyer experience"?

Not everyone, but the only thing remotely near to policing the site for fair play was the mutual feedback system, with that gone ...

How many negs and bad dsr's do you need to get the boys from effbay to pull the plug on you, the seller is guilty until they can be bothered to check things out.

They don't need most of us and hopefully soon I won't need them and then we can both be happy

I agree. I have only done a couple thousand transactions so far, and my feedback's in the 230 range. I've had about 3 negative buyer experiences. I can only imagine that for the folks who are doing a few thousand transactions a month, that adds up over time. With no repercussions for buyers behaving badly, I fully imagine that a much higher percentage of them will.

quote:

Originally posted by WingedWolfPsion:
I agree. I have only done a couple thousand transactions so far, and my feedback's in the 230 range. I've had about 3 negative buyer experiences. I can only imagine that for the folks who are doing a few thousand transactions a month, that adds up over time. With no repercussions for buyers behaving badly, I fully imagine that a much higher percentage of them will.

I don't understand people... "Buyers behaving badly"?

I think you're all worrying about nothing when it comes to this feedback change. Now that I've had a week to think about it I can see where it will be a good thing. If you treat your buyers right, nothing's going to change. If you give your buyers reasons to ding you, then you probably deserved it. IF you get an asshole buyer who is playing games or threatening you, REPORT HIM. That's how the new system is going to be set up, so work with it.

The fees...? No, they STILL suck. I surely don't see the same outcry about the fees, and I find that simply amazing

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If you treat your buyers right, nothing's going to change. If you give your buyers reasons to ding you, then you probably deserved it.

I wish I was so experienced and optimistic

quote:

Originally posted by ChooChooGuy:
I wish I was so experienced and optimistic

Let's compare notes in 6 months, shall we? Six months from May that is.

I don't think it is just the FB thing for us, it is how all the policies announced are tied in together.

If you are a lower volume seller, the risk is higher. Such as:
You can always get someone who is scamming a bit or just had a carppy day and takes it out on you, the seller. So say your stars get dinged some, and eBay tells you that you are in the >5 percent now.

They tell you that you either have to take PP or a merchants account (and many small sellers cannot afford the charges, so in with PP), and you get bumped down further in the search and your funds are held by PP for up to 21 days ( and you do not get the interest on that held money either! BT is another thing).

You have to ship all the sold products out of your pocket until the buyers either leave positive or 21 days or 3 days after DC shows it is delivered.

FB is nw tied into everything else in a direct manner and I do not think it is good at all, at least not for us.

quote:

Originally posted by Pigeon Alley Books:
Ijust had a carppy day and takes it out on you, the seller. So say your stars get dinged some, and eBay tells you that you are in the >5 percent now.

Your "stars" have never had any protection from somebody answering them falsely. That was something that existed since last year. Nothing new there.

ONE bad buyer answering falsely is not going to overly affect your star ratings. Unless of course you only have 15 ratings. If you've got over a hundred (and I don't yet, I only have 42) It's nothing to be concerned with.

I'm finding nobody agrees with me, and everyone is predicting feedback gloom and doom. Well, I guess we'll see. So stop worrying until May.

quote:

Let's compare notes in 6 months, shall we? Six months from May that is.

Sure

Greetings all.

I am not embacing neg feedback but I am not running from it either. I saw this some where and thought it was a good idea. To me it is non-intrusive but yet lets the buyers know that I will not tolerate feedback extortion subliminally, so now I put it in all my auctions. Here it is.....

"We appreciate your business and love being a part of the Ebay community. To help maintain Ebay as a positive environment and to be fair to all involved, we do actively participate with Ebay's policies, including the Non-Paying Bidder process and feedback extortion policies."

I am new to Ebay. I have only done about 50 transactions. So maybe I am off on how I see this whole thing but I think its going to actually be GREAT for GOOD Ebay sellers.
because more people will be encouraged to use EBay because they will see it as more trustworthy and its less intimidating to the buyer now. which means more customers for everyone. With the number of buyers down and the number of vendors up, its rough out there. I think it might be good to thin the herd a little.
More over, prices go up, its a fact of life. If a persons business model is so shaky that a few bucks is going to kill their margin than it was never a viable business anyway because if it wasnt Ebay it would have been something else that would have removed them from the commerce food chain.

I think alot of people are whinning and wringing their hands instead of figuring out how to be more competitive. Boring.
And I have no intention of boycotting or "striking" as some people were calling it. Its stupid. Ebay is not an employer, its a free market place. We dont live in a little town and Ebay is the steele mill that employs everyone. Ebay is like an open market bazaar. Some of the people "striking" are my competitors. Good. Most of them suck. I only respect about 10% of the people that do what I do and the rest are clogging up our section with shit no body wants to buy but they have to get through it to get to me. Im glad they are boycotting. I wish more would. They suck at what they do. They should be glad if anyone buys anything at any price from them because they suck so bad. They are tools. They should be thinking about how to get better, make more money or sell different things or moving on. What a bunch of babies.


2. The people that suck will eventually leave and that means more buyers for the people left
3.

Everyone is certainly entitled to their opinion. But I believe you'll have a much different opinion after you sell a couple thousand items.

And that's just MY opinion

katkos
I have to agree w/ 8880 on this one, not that you don't have some valid points. but it is really hard to get a feel for it until you have several thousand transactions under your belt.

For example, I have been selling on eBay since mar 1999 with over 5000 transactions completed. To date I have only received 5 negs for reasons that are absolutely unbelieveable. My very first neg came after 3 years and it wasn't one but no it was 3 from the same guy. His only reason for hitting me was because he was upset at UPS for not putting the pkg on the back porch even tho I tagged it that way. Yeah right like I deserved that, another guy neg me for the Canadain Postal system overcharged him vat tax and duty. The last one came from a clown who neg me me because I wouldn't lower the dollor amount on the custom forms so he would pay less duty. I refused because I am not interested in a 10,000 dollor fine at the bare minmum.

Heck even in the real world you've got bad business'es and good ones. But the point is as a business owner I owe it to my business and my customers to be prepare for any risk that may have a negative effect on the business. I am not saying your wrong because everyone is entitled to their opinion. But, I'll bet that after you get quite a few under your belt you will have a different outlook on it.

Now that is my 2 cents worth.

Burly,
You 5K tansaction vendors are my heros because I have my eye on the prize! I'm going to join your ranks soon and I want my bragging rights like you. But 5000 transactions and only 5 moron votes proves my point Baby. Good vendors will be even better off. There will be more customers, more bidding, & higher closes. I also noticed that Ebay TV ads are WAY UP. Your 5000 good transactions discounts any whimpering feedback idiot. Who is not going to bid on your auctions? Anyone who drives a car knows that at least 1/3 of the people in the world are extra cool, 1/3 are OK and 1/3 are sniveling pieces of crap who dont belong behind the wheel. Same goes for Ebay sellers and buyers too. YOU have a higher satisfaction rating than a store like Target or Bloomies. I am sick of depressing people people looking at the down side of everything while other people are cahsing in! I am going to use the new rules to bring up my game. I have stopped taking money orders and checks and saw NO decrease in bidding activity infact all my auctions are UP. Thank you new CEO dude whoever you are cuz the Megster never did as many cool TV spots about shopping victoriuosly like I see now, everywhere. Overall I see alot to be happy about. Mucho advertistising, more bidders, new rules, more confident buyers EQUALS WE ALL GAIN. I think alot of Ebay Sellers (not all but a disproportionate number ) are losers who couldnt hack real world jobs and never got along with coworkers either. Those are probably the morons whining the loudest about the new rules because they whine about everything anyway and are so happy to have something new to moan and groan about. But if it werent for all the fraudulent jerks out there who scam people (like at least TWO people out of 10 that I personally bought from) then there would be no need to do this. So people have just as much right to be worried about getting scammed. And you know Burly as a seasoned business person, with 5000 transactions that jerk off customers are part of the cost of doing business. Home depot takes returns on dead plants. DEAD PLANTS!
PLANTAS MUERTOS!!That means if a dork cant remember to water a plant and kills it, he can drag it back to Home Depot and they accept it. Its part of the cost of doing business. I had a whinning witch complain that I didnt combine shipping on 4 items for her. I never promised combined shipping on ANY of my auctions and specify payment in 7 days. Which she failed to perform. Even worse, they were all different sizes and the auctions were two weeks apart I didnt want to deal with her. She sent me a harsh insulting "on the rag" email. And I LOVINGLY KISSED HER BUTT!!!!!! I No Burly, I didnt just kiss it, I put rose scented lotion on it, massaged it and then KISSED it. Its called part of the cost of doing business. You might think because I only have 50 transactions completed I am a newbie but I brokered used PC hardware for 5 years before doing this and spent 5 years working for PC display manufacturers calling on retail chains. When I brokered I took apart dot.coms and sold off everthing from Herman Miller workstations to servers. Business principles apply whether its EBAY or Walmart. Trying to make a difficult challenge advantageous to yourself is not my idea. The cream always rises to the top and some people are like corks and there is no way to keep them down. And my WORST day selling on Ebay is better than my best day in outside sales peddling someone crap and someone elses dream. Moreover kissing FRY's and Comp USA butt is far nastier than kissing my Ebay midwestern housewife customer's BIG FAT grain fed heinies.. Much nicer..... I have my chapstick handy and my posting photos and I am ready to kick butt. So I hope more of you boycott and "strike" so I can drink all your milkshakes!!!!!!!!!
I will throw this out there if anyone wants a legitamate reason to crack heads at EBAY. Their policy on worlwide business. If I search for something EVRYTHING comes up from all over the world. If someone in the UK searches, only their stuff comes up not US UNLESS they request world wide vendors. THAT is a microcosm of our countriy's trade imbalance. WE SHOULD BE ABLE tO shuck our stuff at them just like we get theirs. I want to a shot at being CHEAP FOREIGN LABOR TOO!!! Heck with the dollar only 1/2 the Euros value and 1/2 the value of the British pound we should be kicking butt in EUROPE. THAT THAT!!! THAT IS something worth wrestling with Ebay management for! Not this sniveling other other crap. If you little girls ever stop whining about pennies then you'll have time to chase after the PHAT money

Cheers,
Kat

Then I guess you feel most of us are whiners here then. I've been selling for 11 years, 7000 transactions, 3000+ 100% feedback, and I think eBay is the greediest, shittiest, bottom feeding company there is. They prey on the sellers constantly, taking every advantage there is. You haven't been around long enough Kat to take your licks yet, but some day, you will, and you'll know what it feels like to be treated like shit, and thought of as "noise".

Oh sure, there are TON of bad sellers on eBay selling hoards of garbage clogging up the aisles. I completely agree with you there. I'd like to see many of them gone, but I don't sell what they sell. I don't resell wholesale junk, I don't sell antiques, and so on. I sell lots of unique one of a kind finds from attics and garages and basements, and I've done very well for myself over the years. But I'm sick and tired of being taken advantage of by eBay. Nickeled and dimed to death. Stupid rules and policies, and so on. Go someplace else? Can't. Simple fact is there is no place else. So, I'll keep selling here, and hopefully still do good. But I have no reason to be happy with eBay taking a 40% rise in fees when they constantly report record earnings. They have no reason to tax us more, and then treat us like shit.

That's enough. I've said my piece. That's MY opinion, and I feel my tenure gives me the right to this opinion.

[quote]Then I guess you feel most of us are whiners here then.

Yes. As a matter of fact , I do.
Newsflash my friend, they are a FOR PROFIT corporation. their job is to make lots of money and make their fat rich stockholders happy.
They are not a 501c3 (nonprofit org) here to help you get rich. So expect them to behave in a self serving AMORAL fashion like most corporations(think energy, insurance healthcare-they are about profit not people. Watch a Michael Moore movie).

If you owned a retail establishment you would be whinning about the cost of your lease, your triple net and your illegal immigrant overhead. And you still wouldnt be getting the incredible access and visibilty of the entire UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! The 40% increase in fees you are complaining about is still pocket change compared to what your costs in doing business would be if you had a retail location because Ebay is STILL a bargain compared to that. The fact that you have had 7000 transactions and are still worrying about "being nickled and dimed" makes me question the profitability of those 7000 transactions. If they had a sweet PHAT margin you would be invested in EBAY stock and rejoicing in souless business that drives up your stock price just like most stepford stockholders do. So you are essentially doing what I said, whinning instead of figuring out how to make your business and transactions more profitable. Your money should be made on the BUY and not on the sell. For example, my brother haggled a guy down on an 8k car down to 1600$. True story. He will make a PHAT wad of cash when he sells it regardless if he gets 5, 6 or 7K because he is my daddy's son and papa didnt raise a fool. He made his money before he even sells it. Apparently you are NOT doing that. So lets brainstorm (what a think tank this could be)and help you figure out what YOU can do to make YOUR sales better regardless of what a bunch of souless Ebay corporate drones decide. Then we can all buy their stock and profit from THEIR work. Ebay sellers SHOULD be buying Ebay stock so they can control the meat puppets instead of shaking an impotent fist at them. I, for one intend to buy as much Ebay stock as I can with whatever I earn so I can have a real say and tell them at a stockholders meeting what I think. THAT is being positive, THAT is taking control of your situation instead of taking the crumbs they want to give you. THAT is being proactive and THAT is acting from a position of strength and not fear or worry about being nickeled and dimed as you put it. "Striking" from a company that hasnt even employed these people is retarded and powerless and cutting off your nose to spite your face. I got 16 auctions closing today so I gotta start packing up my stuff so all my customers love me like the 7000 that love you.
I love you too Jeff.