EBay’s new feedback changes have came into effect and if you try and leave feedback for a customer you will now be greeted with this message:
As a result of the changes my feedback score increased by over 1000 points overnight because eBay will now award you feedback points for repeat custom and everything has been backdated.
So what do these new changes mean?
Well as you can’t retaliate to any negative feedback you receive from your customers any more it means customer service will be king. If you run a sloppy business you will suffer. And I actually don’t think this is a bad thing.
I have always taken pride in my customer service and if eBay will reward me for that I think it’s great.
While we will all receive more negs because of these changes remember everyone has a level playing field.
So what can you do to protect your feedback? Well I think it’s quite simple:
Always deliver to your customers in a timely manner and always always always be polite to your customers.
Also make sure you start communicating with your customers as soon as you make a sale and deal with any questions in a timely manner.
It really is a simple as that.
You will once again see message boards full of people moaning about these new changes. My advice is not to get dragged into this and concentrate on your own business. There’s nothing you can ever do about these changes so just adapt and move on.
For me personally I think it will be interesting to see how things develop but if you’re a sloppy seller on eBay your days are numbered…
If you want to learn more about the new changes click here.
So what do you think about this new policy change? Do you think it will help your eBay business? Please share your thoughts below.
24 Comments
Martin Thompson
May 16, 2008Hi John, I noticed this too but hadn’t worked out the reason for it. My feedback just went up by 200+ overnight…cool ! I do pride myself on customer service and I’ve also been offering free shipping on some of my items lately, which is obviously reflected in my 99.8% rating
Thanks for your post which is right on the ball as usual
bg
May 16, 2008Well…but what about sloppy buyers?
So far, people seeing my 100% positive feedback could be sure it was earned. In the future, the seller is probably no longer able to find out the bad tomatoes among the buyers – and there are those in existence.
We’ll see if this system will make sense in the long run…
Jeromy
May 16, 2008Customer service, customer service.
That is as close as one can get to success, brushing off grumpy buyers and turning them into happy buyer. We only recommend the programs that meet our strict standard and remember, if your not happy with your purchase, I have arranged with the supplier, just in case.
Thank you for the article,
Frank Haywood
May 16, 2008Hmm, this seems to be all part of an overall strategy of change that eBay have been slowly implementing. I’m sure if I applied some brainpower to it all for a couple of hours I’d come up with a good guess. 😉
I can feel a couple of blog posts coming on.
But as you say John, it’s not worth anyone getting hot under the collar about it, it just has to be dealt with.
-Frank Haywood
Harry Thomson
May 16, 2008A very well deserved boost in your feedback score John – well done. If only everyone else was as upright, honest and straightforward.
You are a great example to follow. You know what they say . . . don’t try to re-invent the wheel, just imitate someone who is already successful. Maybe I’m mixing my metaphors or something like that but I’m sure you’ll know what I mean.
Harry
T S
May 16, 2008This just opens the door for people to give bad feedback for no reason. I have already recently had my perfect 100% ruined by a member of a forum i also sell on who told me he was going to come after me.
With that instance at least i was able to leave bad feedback in return which a possible future buyer may be able to see and understand what the issue was.
This will end up blowing up in ebays face. people will arrange negative feedback attacksagainst new competitors or even older competitors.
if you suddenly started to get regular negative feedbacks then people would eventually stop buying from you. “CD ROM” sellers will be especially vulnerable as the pricepoint is so low and the market staurated with others wanting a share
John you may not eb affected by this kind of activity as you have tens of thousands of +feedback yet i have oly a couple of hundred. if i was to get 100 negatives over the next two months then my ebay business would be over.
the mutually assured destruction model works for the governments it should have been kept on Ebay too
my 2c
N. W. Higgins
May 16, 2008Hi, John:
I think you’re absolutely right about the time-wasting factor. You can either jump on the band-wagon and waste your valuable time complaining – which is what so many people do, and which will probably not result in any positive changes – or you can remember the reason that you are on eBay in the first place – to sell! Point your ship in a new direction, do your best customer service, and continue sailing for a new world of trading opportunities and business success. Thanks again!
N.W.
“Are Online Treasure Hunters Able to Gain Free Access to Your Digital Goods?” – http://highlyclever.com/sell_secure.html
iearnmoneywhileisleep
May 16, 2008Thanks John… I was wondering what happened to my feedback… now I know !!
It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out… I would have said that feedback should be a 2 way street, but we’ll see.
Cheers
Ian McConnell
I Make Money While I Sleep!
Heidi
May 16, 2008I think this is beyond great. My only two negatives are from sellers. The one most recent one I left her neutral feedback because I felt some important information about the item was not mentioned in the listing and she revenge neg’d me. =(
I bought an old postcard basically and it was stated the item was ‘postally unused’ and to me this meant it had no writing on it. Turns out when I received it there was writing on the back though not for ‘postal’ reasons but seemed more for ‘authentication’ of the dates?
My Ebay id is nettypreat if anyone wants to check my feedback. Her neg is right at the top. I was upset and I could not reply back to her publicly about it but I did send her a message.
The other neg I received was also from a seller who has since been suspended so I am sure in time that neg will vanish also.
I have always left honest feedback for sellers and that won’t change.
I am a bit concerned about the negs I receive from buyers increasing but not overly because anyone viewing my feedback should be able to see I always submit honest feedback. Whether I get a neg or not will not impact any feedback I leave. I do not play that way.
Heidi
carolyn
May 16, 2008This is all fine and dandy for the buyer but I cannot see how an unlevel playing field can help the seller. I had a lady buy something from me in Australia a few years ago. I emailed her (both thru ebay and also from my own email) and sent her item to her. She said she never got the item or any email from me, yet I emailed her more than a few times to try to straighten it out. Email is not a perfect beast, no matter how hard you try. Buyers can simply say they never received anything from you and you will have no defense. That leaves sellers wide open to retaliation with no say so!
John R. Cumbow
May 16, 2008Hi John,
Congrats on your feedback boost…
But now that eBay has effectively rendered positive feedback meaningless, the question becomes…
Why bother to post it?
John R. Cumbow
http://www.MisspelledBargains.com
Find the misspelled eBay auction
bargains that other bidders miss!
Omar Martin
May 16, 2008This one seems a bit complicated. At first glance it appears to benefit buyers much more than it does sellers. I wouldn’t go as far as saying that the feedback system is now “meaning less” However, it is true that eBay has yet again imposed their will on us. Those that endure and excel from these changes will be the ones that identify with the paradigm shift, adapt to the new system and overcome the negative.
I provide excellent customer service so I am not worried one bit. At the end of the day, the ones you hear bitching and moaning about how “terrible” eBay is are the ones that were trying to skirt the system. Like John said, you can’t do anything about these changes so you have to learn to live with it.
To Your Success,
Omar
Jim Young
May 16, 2008I just wonder where eBay is going with this. What are their long term goals? Who is included? Who are they trying to pull in? Are they trying to get large sellers in, such as a corporation that already sells millions? I wonder if the small guy’s day is numbered.
But, my feedback hasn’t changed one iota. I guess that should say what an even keel I have been operating at. I just celebrated 2000 positive at 99.9%.
You can still leave non-payment strikes. eBay is trying weed out the bad buyers as well somehow. You can still leave a comment with your positive. I think people will tend to read the comments more thoroughly now.
Well, I’m off now. I have to list more stuff. Till later; see yah!
Jim
Avril Harper
May 16, 2008Hi John
My main concern with the new feedback system is that neutral feedback is treated exactly the same as negative feedback now. They each count for 1 point in the new calculations. I really can’t see how that can be right. I think there is a gap between neutral and negative that should be recognised by eBay. But not to worry, it will probably pan out in the end.
I personally feel very hurt that eBay no longer recognises there are some ‘iffy’ buyers out there, not many but definitely some, people we sellers would like to point out to other sellers to help our fellows avoid problems such as we might experience. Only last week, for example, I had three people claim a refund for items ‘not received’. In two of those cases the Post office has proof those items were signed for by the very same people making the claim. I always refund in cases like this, even though I have taken out postal insurance, because the threat of negative feedback is ever present. This sort of thing can only get a lot worse now.
I personally no longer enjoy selling on eBay, I just don’t like the subjective nature of feedback.
Avril
Chris
May 16, 2008I think it stinks, since now there’s nothing to do about bad buyers who rip off sellers. One more in ebay’s long line of slaps against its sellers.
chris
May 16, 2008Yet another step down that slippery slope to oblivion for eBay. Amazon here we come!!
Chris.
Sally
May 16, 2008Ebay never do anything unless it benefits them, we are not so dumb as to realize that now.
I have read the various posts, and it is very obvious that I am not alone in discovering eBay are in it for themselves and no one else.
Sally
Kris
May 17, 2008I’m on the fence about the feedback changes. I do think the new policy to count neutrals in the feedback score is ridiculous.
John, how do you feel about your feedback score changing from 100% to 99.8% on May 19 (when this change takes effect)?
http://blog.auctionbytes.com/cgi-bin/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2008/5/1210707187.html
ebook membership site
May 17, 2008I don’t really see a problem here.
If you treat your customers with respect you don’t need to worry about feedback.
The feedback will look after itself.
Also just use buy it now and paypal immediate payment then you don’t need to worry about non paying bidders.
Lance
godfried
May 17, 2008The thing is whether you like it or not, that is the only rule you can have. So live with it !
Helsinggo
http://cellularspareparts.ecrater.com/
David Grace
May 20, 2008I was excited to get feedback changes also, except mine only went up 8 points. Want to share?
All kidding aside, I am glad to see the king up and running again.
Happy hunting and God bless.
David
Matt
May 21, 2008#1-dont sell your garage sale trash on ebay.Your only asking for trouble.Personaly,i wont sell anything myself or my wife wouldnt buy.
#2-as mentioned,use buy it now with ppal only.If your customer cant pay this way you dont want them as a customer.Most people have a bank account and can use ppal.[nowaday,everyone has a ccard].
#3-use pics,at least 2,front and back.I use 3 most of the time[side].If theres a defect,show it.But remember rule 1.
#4-keep in contact with buyer after sale.I always use delivery confirmation when using usps.
These 4 simple rules will let you survive no matter what.if ya dont have items that can use the BIN function very good,maybe its time to think about selling somthing else.
Niche Ebook Galore
May 24, 2008The new feedback rules bring back the quality of eBay. With the fear of a negative feedback point alot of customers who did have problems never left feedback and a true testimonial of the persons business was not portraid. I like many other sellers have been given bad fedback by people who don’t read the listings or just like a bit of power. I’m personally not bothered by feedback as my customers are aware of my customer service and quality products. Sellers don’t fear the feedback. People read any negatives and see the comments. they have a mind like us and still decide to purchase. If you want to succeed in business. Just sell…
Roosevelt Cooper
June 2, 2008Hi John,
My score went up from 138 to 171. However, my feedback percentage went down from 99.3% to 97.8%. I sat out Ebay last month to see how the digital media changes would play out. I’m looking to slowly get back on there again this month. There’s certainly the opportunity for people to screw you with the feedback, but you’re going to have that regardless of how you market info products. If you’re not on Ebay, they can just file a chargeback against your Paypal account. This is just the nature of business. Hey it beats opening up a retail store!
Roosevelt Cooper
http://www.web204mlm.com
Leave A Response To carolyn Cancel reply