When To Submit A Ebay 'Feedback'?

Bobby, Thanks for moving my starting post to it's appropriate thread. I wasn't sure where I should have posted.

Thanks so much guys, I don't normally bid on auctions but someone here (don't remember who it was) recommended this seller and I thought I'd give it a shot with a small order, of course.
I have been looking at the 'feedback' and was confused about this feedback thing. What confused me was that the seller left a feedback for our transaction and thought I had to do the same even though I haven't received the items. Which I wasn't too thrilled about before reciept of items.

I also see colored "stars" after the seller and buyers ID name. What does the stars mean?
Is it normal for ebay to send an email to the buyer that the item(s) will be shipped? Or the seller? I have not heard anything from the seller as of yet.

Again Thanks a bunch,
mila_

I'm with Bobby on this one. I used to leave feedback on the items I sold as soon as payment was received. However, experience gained proved to me that the transaction is not over until both parties are satisfied with the outcome.

Here's an example of why I now wait until the end of the entire deal to leave feedback:

Auction 1: Buyer pays in timely manner, I leave feedback and ship the item next day. 4 weeks down the road the buyer informs me that he still hasn't received the coin. Appearst that Canada Post lost the package and I issue a refund and initiate an insurance claim with them. The item get's delivered 2 days into the investigation (after refund was already issued), but buyer claims that it came in a ripped-up envelope, inside a plastic post office bag, with coin missing. Canada Post says they delievered, buyer claims no coin was inside - I'm out $80, which I got back only after 2 more weeks of arguing with Canada Post over the phone.

Buyer in this case never left feedback...

Auction 2: Buyer paid for the coin. I shipped it the next day. It was delievered 2 weeks later. After this - no further communication. I've e-mailed him a few times, asking if he was satisfied with the coin / transaction - no reply.

Again, no feedback.

You be the judge.

Mila_Cent

The colored stars indicate the sellers/buyers feedback level. If you place your cursor on one, it will display the level of activity. For example an aqua star is 100~499 feedbacks. ebay does not send out any information/updates on transactions, it only provides a means for the seller and buyer to do so. If you're a seller, ebay allows you to mark an item as "shipped", but it's not mandatory and I haven't seen too many sellers use it. Personally, I send a message to the buyer via the ebay messaging system that I have received payment, plus when and how the item was shipped. The higher volume sellers don't do this. I've waited months for some items to arrive. Try a friendly ebay message to the seller asking for this information. Good luck.

Mila

If the seller accepts Paypal that's the page that will appear when you click "Pay Now". If other options are available, you can choose them from the list included on this page. This is an ebay prompt (PayPal is EBays payment system). If the seller doesn't accept PayPal, only accepted options will appear on the page after clicking on the "Pay Now" tab. If not using PayPal, it's not necessary to use the "Pay Now" page, but it let's the seller know your intentions. Hope this helps.

My wife sold an item and had the word "watch" left over in the title from a previous item, the item was a jewlery pin. My wife fully described the item as well as having a pic of the front and back of the pin. It was clearly not a watch.

The item sold, was paid for and shipped in a timely manner. My wife left positive feedback for the buyer 2 days after the sale. One month after the sale, the buyer gives us a negative stating "This was a pin, not a watch"

DUH !!!! read the description, look at the pic. He was right it was a pin and not a watch.

So my policy has changed. They get feedback, after I receive feedback.

quote:

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The ebay feedback system needs some sort of escrow type setup. It would help solve a lot of the problems the current system has.

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Bill Cobb at ebay North America must have received a hundred thousand messages stating this. I've sent more than my fair share. I hope I live long enough to finally see ebay make significant changes in its feedback system... even if I'm 104.

I'm not sure I agree, but there's no way to demonstrate one way or the other unless ebay were to try it. Right now, it's either blackmail, extortion, or retaliatory feedback.