[Sonsey]

I just received this message when I went to leave some feedback, all I can say is... It's about time!

Important changes to Feedback

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

You should leave honest and accurate Feedback without the fear of receiving negative or neutral ratings.

[Charlotte]

That's all very nice for buyers but seems grossly unfair for sellers who want to hilight those buyers who pay/collect late, bid but don't pay etc.

I'm alright, as I've only been a buyer up to now, but still, in all fairness ...

[Sonsey]

Originally Posted by Charlotte

but still, in all fairness ...

I see your point but it's been unfair to buyers who've had to deal with dodgy sellers all the way up until now, hopefully it'll go some way to weeding out the poor sellers without fear of retaliation.

[Steve]

But the whole point of feedback is that its a 2 way thing and without both sides having an opportunity to respond it makes the system unfair and open to abuse.

It's a very bad move by Ebay in my opinion and one which many people are up in arms about. It has also led to a few other websites being created where people can leave feedback on Ebay transactions without Ebay themselves being able to censor it. Time will tell how well these new sites get used but something needs to be done to allow a fair system IMO.

[Larne]

I have to agree that it's a nice idea but in practice it is totally unreasonable.

I have sold stuff on eBay and on several occasions I have had people bidding and not paying and generally wasting my time. Now I can't submit negative feedback to warn others.

Along with the move to make Paypal mandatory it is clear that eBay is shifting the balance of favour away from the sellers and towards the buyers.

[AQ]

The problem as I see it is not with negative feedback as such but with negative feedback that is left in reply to neutral or negative feedback. Where I have come across this it always seems to be a direct retailation for the original feedback usually from a seller trying to defend something he did wrong.

However I do not have a ready solution to the problem but how big a problem is it and does it really need fixing

I buy a considerable amount from the US and Canada and Paypal is really great for this. However with the changed fee structure I have heard about and the forcing of Paypal as the payment system I can only see this as a way to drive up profits with benefiting the sell or buyer.

[Charlotte]

Paypal is the safest, quickest method of payment + I'm all for it I avoid other methods + if a Seller does not accept Paypal, I go and find one who does - there's too much competition on Ebay for Sellers to be restrictive in their T&C's (including methods of payment) and all they're doing is losing business by trying to put unreasonable restrictions on buyers, just so that they can make a statement against Paypal, but they are cutting off their noses to spite their faces

[jockwav]

I sell on ebay regularly and the last idiot would not pay and i had to go through the dispute consule,so now they can get away with it even more and you cant tell others about these time wasters,its all wrong.

[Sonsey]

Originally Posted by Steve

But the whole point of feedback is that its a 2 way thing and without both sides having an opportunity to respond it makes the system unfair and open to abuse.

I get what your saying but my view on it is that it has always been open to abuse, mainly by unscrupulous sellers.

Is there a problem with unreliable buyers, yes of course and ebay needs to find a way to sort this out for the good of the sellers. The rep system obviously wasn't doing much to prevent this issue so I'm just glad they're changing it... now if ebay don't come up with a better option to help the buyers with their issues then we really will start to see problems.

[Larne]

Originally Posted by Charlotte

Paypal is the safest, quickest method of payment + I'm all for it I avoid other methods + if a Seller does not accept Paypal, I go and find one who does - there's too much competition on Ebay for Sellers to be restrictive in their T&C's (including methods of payment) and all they're doing is losing business by trying to put unreasonable restrictions on buyers, just so that they can make a statement against Paypal, but they are cutting off their noses to spite their faces

Charlotte - do you have any idea how much of a cut eBay takes from the seller when they go via paypal? It can be as high as 2.5% of the total sale value.

How would you feel if eBay decided to split their charges and you as a buyer had to pay a 1.25% charge for buying? That would be more fair but I imagine you would suddenly have a problem with it.

On top of that, eBay also charge the seller to list the item so they are doubling their income. So maybe it would be more fair if the buyer just paid all the Paypal commission. How would you feel about an additional 2.5% on top of each purchase price?

I'm just waiting for someone else to setup in competition with eBay and then I will be joining the migration of sellers over there

[AQ]

Originally Posted by Larne

How would you feel about an additional 2.5% on top of each purchase price?

It could be a lot worse many "normal" auction houses charge from 10 - 20% comission from BOTH sell and buyer. I know Ebay sellers are often private people so itis not quite the same.

If these costs are stated up front I do not have that much of a problem with them as I adjust my bid price to take account any fees. I apply the same principle on Ebay where many sellers try to make some extra profit on the postage they charge buyers.

[Charlotte]

Originally Posted by Larne

How would you feel about an additional 2.5% on top of each purchase price?

I would like to be given the option i.e. Sellers could explain that they prefer not to use Paypal because of the commission, but those wishing to pay by Paypal are welcome to do so if they are willing to pay the commission. Some sellers already do that, why can't others? Rather than just plain not accepting Paypal. Paying by cheque is a pain in the bum! Have to wait 1-2 weeks to get your goods Bank transfer - forget that! What else is there! Paypal only for me

By the same token, Sellers must not cheat buyers by adding extra onto the P&P over + above what the P&P actually cost !!! I have lately started checking the actual postage + assessing the quality of packaging as against what the seller charged for P&P ... and some of them really tear the ring

Originally Posted by Larne

I'm just waiting for someone else to setup in competition with eBay and then I will be joining the migration of sellers over there

I believe there is another one, there's a fairly recent thread about it somewhere ...

EDIT:

All in all, sellers are not that hard done by. Think of the Ebay/Paypal commission as "rent". If you sold your goods from a shop, you'd have to pay rent for the shop Ebay saves sellers the hassle of opening a physical shop + all the headaches, exta time, expense, effort, hard work, staffing etc. that goes with it! Ebay has got to be cheaper than leasing a shop ... but would 90% of Ebay sellers even bother selling off the high street? No, 'course not! 'cos it's easier, quicker + cheaper to sell online. You want Ebay + Paypal to provide these services for FREE?! Hell no, why should they, they're a business too. People complain about Ebay/Paypal, but we all still go back + use them

[jockwav]

There is another site called ebuyer which might be interesting for some.