eBay is conducting a survey about feedback, and one question has some sellers upset at the idea that eBay might force them to leave positive feedback under certain circumstances. eBay asked survey recipients, "As a buyer, how would you prefer to receive Feedback?"
eBay gave survey takers a choice of three responses: "I want sellers to leave me Feedback rating and comments as they do today"; "When I have quickly paid for my item, sellers can only leave me positive Feedback"; and "When I have quickly paid for my items, eBay will automatically leave me positive Feedback."
You can read the story on the AuctionBytes homepage on Monday in the Newsflash section at the top of the page. We'll post updates here as they become available. Please leave your comments below.
Update 11/19/07: eBay spokesperson Catherine England responded by email to our inquiry about the survey:
As part of our ongoing evaluation of Detailed Seller Ratings we have surveyed members twice before with similar surveys. As part of the surveys, we sometimes ask members about other aspects of the Feedback system and different options.
Last week's survey was designed to gather input from members who had recently left Feedback.
We continually evaluate the efficacy of the current system and will survey our community from time to time about different options. It doesn't mean any changes are imminent.
As we discuss options we want to understand our member's opinions; they are an important data point, not the only data point but an important one.
