AuctionBytes Polls Readers on eBay Feedback 2.0

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AuctionBytes Blog
News and insight focusing on
ecommerce and the online auction industry
by Ina Steiner, Editor of AuctionBytes.com

February 19, 2007

AuctionBytes Polls Readers on eBay Feedback 2.0

By: Ina Steiner

Mon Feb 19 2007 22:21:28

eBay's feedback system allows buyers and sellers to rate their trading partners. eBay recently announced some changes that it will be testing, called Feedback 2.0. The new system will allow buyers to rate transactions on accuracy of item description, communication, shipping time, and postage & packaging charges. In late February, eBay will pilot Feedback 2.0 on eBay.co.uk, eBay.ie and in Australia, Belgium, France, India, Italy and Poland, and, if all goes well, eBay will launch the new system globally in late spring or early summer.

AuctionBytes is polling eBayers about their reaction to the new rating system. The survey can be found online here.

Results will be published in a future issue of the AuctionBytes newsletter. Please feel free to leave your comments about eBay Feedback 2.0 here.

Comments (64) | Permalink

Readers Comments

AuctionBytes Polls Readers on eBay Feedback 2.0

by: DropSpot-be

Tue Feb 20 02:45:57 2007

With F2, professional sellers are even at a bigger disadvantage against non-professionals because they have to charge VAT on P&P, which is not understood by the buyers community who will penalise it.

AuctionBytes Polls Readers on eBay Feedback 2.0

by: Simon Russell

Tue Feb 20 03:26:37 2007

'Real' businesses suffer in particular on eBay. We have to absorb VAT, (tax), on our shipping across the European Union. This adds 17.5% to our costs. Most buyers expect that they should only pay the actual value on the franking strip on the package and leave neutral or negative feedback accordingly. Anyhow this is probably academic as it is clear that businesses are no longer welcome on eBay as it descends into a glorified car boot sale with aggressive and fraudulent buyers in the ascendant. And this from an eBay seller who was once the largest across about twelve categories in the UK.

AuctionBytes Polls Readers on eBay Feedback 2.0

by: DONNELLWELLS

Tue Feb 20 04:13:55 2007

YOU PEOPLE NEED TO LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE - YOU SPEND SO MUCH TIME SCREWING UP AND TWEAKING YOUR PROGRAMS AND MOST OF THEM TURN OUT TO BE JUST A FACADE FOR MORE REVENUE AT THE EXPENSE OF YOUR BASE SELLERS.
STUPID COMES TO MIND, BUT THAT WOULD BE TOO FACILE.
NO WONDER WE ARE ALL LOOKING FOR ANOTHER SITE TO KEEP OUR BUSINESS' TOGETHER - YOU HAVE TURNED INTO "BIG BROTHER" WITHOUT A CONSTITUTION.
SIGN ME " GROSSED OUT IN DALLAS, TEXAS"

DONNELL WELLS
DALLAS, TEXAS

AuctionBytes Polls Readers on eBay Feedback 2.0

by: dranon

Tue Feb 20 04:28:41 2007

Need more sites to sell u stuff without ebay influence or nonsense? Tired of ebay twinking things for NO legit reason?
Try Alibris.com for BOOKS and Films and Yahoo auction for selling all other items ~ they charge NOTHING to list.

AuctionBytes Polls Readers on eBay Feedback 2.0

by: CR

Tue Feb 20 04:49:48 2007

I have bought and sold on eBay since 1999. I have to agree with the others. eBay needs to learn the old adage, ''If it ain't broke, don't fix it.''

Over the past few years, buyer protection has totally left out the side of the seller on PayPal, now, the same is being done with the feedback. Feedback works two ways. If I am selling something and I see that the winning bidder often leaves inflammatory feedback or doesn't pay on time, I can choose to block his or her bids. Under the new system I have no way of knowing if it truly is the seller who was the problem or just a buyer who likes to cause problems.

In America we have the right to know our occusors. We have the right to state our side. On eBay it is beginning to feel like it is a buyers market and sellers beware.

With raising listing, store and final value fees as well, I am beginning to feel like maybe I should not waste the time.

There are many other things that actually need to be fixed. I wish eBay would address those. Also, if eBay would stop spending so many man hours on useless changes, maybe fee increase would not be needed. According to Q3 2006 and Q4 2006 they definitely are making enough profit.

AuctionBytes Polls Readers on eBay Feedback 2.0

by: Peter Leeflang

Tue Feb 20 08:53:38 2007

With the new FB2 Ebay will expand the growing adversarial attitudes betwene sellers and buyers, resiulting in more comflict instead of a joint win/win.

Please let's get back to Ebay's original concept instead:

a laissez-faire capitalist marketplace

with the maximum of choice and the least of regulations.

AuctionBytes Polls Readers on eBay Feedback 2.0

by: Stonefave

Tue Feb 20 09:01:35 2007

The part about rating the shipping is great. A lot of the big so called power seller's sell cheap and way way overcharge on shipping after you buy it now. If you are selling why are you afraid to list what you actually charge and explsin vat or whatever in your discription

AuctionBytes Polls Readers on eBay Feedback 2.0

by: Harleyglasses

Tue Feb 20 09:47:01 2007

Pierre hasn't commented on it or approved it. How do these changes improve upon the original philosiphy? KISS was obviously the secret to feedback and the ultimate sucesses of eBay. Bill and Meg need to be replaced for messing with something as sacred as Pierre's vision for feedback.

Posted: February 26, 1996,
To: eBay Community

I launched eBay's AuctionWeb on Labor Day, 1995. Since then, the site has become more popular than I ever expected, and I began to realize that this was indeed a grand experiment in Internet commerce. By creating an open market that encourages honest dealings, I hope to make it easier to conduct business with strangers over the net.

Most people are honest. And they mean well. Some people go out of their way to make things right. I've heard great stories about the honesty of people here. But some people are dishonest. Or deceptive. This is true here, in the newsgroups, in the classifieds, and right next door. It's a fact of life. But here, those people can't hide. We'll drive them away. Protect others from them. This grand hope depends on your active participation. Become a registered user. Use our feedback forum. Give praise where it is due; make complaints where appropriate. For the past six months, I've been developing this system single-handedly, in my spare time. Along the way, I've dealt with complaints among participants. But those complaints have amounted to only a handful. We've had close to 10,000 auctions since opening. And only a few dozen complaints.

Now, we have an open forum. Use it. Make your complaints in the open. Better yet, give your praise in the open. Let everyone know what a joy it was to deal with someone. Above all, conduct yourself in a professional manner. Deal with others the way you would have them deal with you. Remember that you are usually dealing with individuals, just like yourself. Subject to making mistakes. Well-meaning, but wrong on occasion. That's just human. We can live with that. We can deal with that. We can still make deals with that. Thanks for participating. Good luck, and good business!

Regards,
Pierre Omidyar

AuctionBytes Polls Readers on eBay Feedback 2.0

by: Sweetkatie

Tue Feb 20 09:47:29 2007

From what I am seeing on the above comments, I guess I am the minority. I think an overhaul of the feedback section is long overdue. The way it is being broken down into categories is something that many buyers and sellers have asked for for a long time. I think it is a great idea and welcome it whole heartedly. My one negative comment at this point in time is that sellers should be able to leave similar breakdown comments for buyers. After all, isn't it eBay that always wants to ''level the playing field?'' Of course, they are ''just a venue'', aren't they?

AuctionBytes Polls Readers on eBay Feedback 2.0

by: Tom

Tue Feb 20 09:58:10 2007

If you give the buyer feedback than the seller should also beable to do the same. I've complained about the current feedback because it allows non-paying bidders/buyers to leave "retaliatory feedback" even tho they didn't pay for their purchase. This something that has not been addressed by eBay

AuctionBytes Polls Readers on eBay Feedback 2.0

by: Billoment

Tue Feb 20 10:27:25 2007

A seller is being rated for things they have no control over. It is bad enough that a few buyers do not even know what they are buying. Some buyers do not understand the cost of doing business (ie: handling charges for material and labor). Most buyers look at the over all cost of an item and are good customers but you do get a few that expect everything for nothing and expect the item to be delivered to them yesterday. Out of 2 to 3 hundred feedbacks we get every month there is always a couple that have no clue. They usually do nor leave feedback but every once in a while they do. With this system those few will now have more options and they can leave it anonamously which is very bad for the sellers. Just another thing that eBay is doing to drive sellers away.
You can tell they are apprehensive though since they are testing it in other markets before the US.
Gary brings up a good point on the basis of Feedback with Pierre's 1996 post on the reason for feedback.
Tom also brings up a counter point about retaliatory feedback from non-paying bidders. Feedback probably needs some massaging but this 2.0 is taking it way too far and in the wrong direction. I have been on eBay since the late '90s but in the past year or so I have been pulling items away from here and exploring other channels for selling. They are loosing my money and I am sure that of many other other sellers.

AuctionBytes Polls Readers on eBay Feedback 2.0

by: JoAnn

Tue Feb 20 10:35:13 2007

My concern is the same as voiced by others about being graded on something I can't control. Also, I will be more careful about any buyer where the purchase is going to present difficulties, like shipping to an APO address. The only way I can ship to an APO address is Priority mail (surface mail takes up to 8 weeks). Two problems occur: 1. I have to ask the buyer surface or Priority mail? If they say surface, they might complain about the long wait for their item. 2. If they say Priority, I have to ask for more money for postage. Either can be a negative in the buyer's mind. My only option would be to refuse to sell an item to a buyer using APO address. I have a buyer now who insists that even though she is stationed out of the country, she is considered to be in the US. That's all well and good but facts are facts!

I have excellent feedback now and don't want to do anything to jeopardise that.

If the shipping evaluation could find a way to judge only how long it takes to leave the sellers posession, I'd say OK. The Post Office scan takes care of that but I also find some of my items are delivered without ever being scanned, even though I pay for delivery confirmation.

AuctionBytes Polls Readers on eBay Feedback 2.0

by: Richard

Tue Feb 20 11:04:40 2007

I am sorry but I do not like any part of this new system. The system appears to be set up by people that have a limited understanding of retail
If eBay really did something to educate buyers I would probably feel different about the new feedback. All eBay does is put tutorials some where on the system and expect buyers to self educate. It is a faulty system on its best day.
F2 is flawed, does nothing to bring back ‘the magic’, gives buyers a way to leave unfounded/wrong ratings and offers sellers nothing except a damaged reputation. Damaged reputation means fewer sales, leads to less money for sellers and eBay.
The system appears to be set up by people with very limited understanding of retail but that seems to be par far the course with eBay. Lots of software/tech/marketing people with little or no leadership experience in retail. Truly sad.
Final thoughts about eBay; the sellers are the people that pay money to eBay/Paypal, this makes us (the sellers) the customer in relation to eBay. Stop doing things that make it hard on the customers. Bring in people that understand retail and customer service. Retrain or replace people who believe the sellers are in the way. Retrain or replace people that have an adversarial approach to dealing with customers (this includes many people in live chat and some ’pinks’ on the message boards)

AuctionBytes Polls Readers on eBay Feedback 2.0

by: Ed

Tue Feb 20 11:09:38 2007

I obsolutely disagree i should be rated based on delivery time and shipping costs, I have no control over the delivery time and some buyers complain about shipping being too high on some items when i charge actual costs of shipping, when the postal services increases their rates every year we have a greater chance of our shipping rates getting bad ratings when we don't make any profit off the shipping.

If i found myself getting bad ratings for something i have no control of i would stop leaving feedback for buyers until they change it to a system that rates us on only the items we have control of.

AuctionBytes Polls Readers on eBay Feedback 2.0

by: Suzan Top

Tue Feb 20 11:52:17 2007

Sellers as myself know just how much fees we pay (I pay average from $1,500-$3,500 a month in eBay fees, of course that is our overhead and we need to charge some of that in our shipping and Handling, that's what Handling is. Besides insertion fees, final value fees, paypal/bank fees, packaging fees, business fees & supplies (ebay doesn't give us free reams of paper, labels, dsl access, new computers & printers, etc.) all these things add up and Buyers just don't get it, small time sellers can maybe get away with charging actual shipping, but that is because they are selling their own things that they could be willing to let go cheap instead of garage selling. (I have another eBay account which I only sell our own used stuff, and in that account I don't really need to charge handling costs).

However when you are running a full blown business with over 500 active items at any given time, shipping hundreds of items a month, you start to feel the paypal fees, shipping fees, and eBay fees.

Also for US deliveries, the shipping time is Excellent, however out of country is a gamble. Usually 2 weeks or less, however Customs takes on a huge roll on items being delivered on time. And countries like Italy, Spain & Greece, just to name a few, take their sweet ol' time delivering and the customer may end up giving us a 1 on something we rush to package and deliver but once it leaves our hands, it moves to the rate of a snail. Why should we be punished for that?

Communication? Well I think I do a good job with that, once item ships we have Paypal shipping email the customer, or for international we have a stock form from Sales Manager Pro. I think the overall feedback is best. We are over 7,000 feedback and our rating is still 100%, but I feel like due to slow shipping (which is out of my hands) will lower my rating unnessesarily)

Sincerely,
Suzan
NewAndCool

AuctionBytes Polls Readers on eBay Feedback 2.0

by: Ron

Tue Feb 20 11:53:01 2007

Hello
As a powerseller on eBay since 1999 I think that I have seen it all on the feedback front.
I dont like giving customers the opportunity to complain more or in more ways. It just leaves the door wide open I think. Especially on shipping. Who is to say what is too much shipping and handling charge. You could ask 100 people and get 100 different answers on that. And last I checked once it leaves my hands into UPS or USPS I have zero control over it. Priority Mail advertises 2 to 3 days but nobody ever reads the fineprint and if their package takes a week to get to them they dont complain to the Post Office they leave me a negative feedback. How is that fair?
I would however like to see a dispute process in place before negative feedback is left. Seems all the neutral or negs I get are from issues that could have been resolved with simple contact BEFORE Leaving the neg or neutral.
I am here to please. Lets deal in reality for once. If my customers are not happy, I dont eat. Its that simple. Do you think that I want negative feedacks?
It is getting harder and harder to maintain good feedback with the more business we do. I often wonder whos brainchild this was. I really dont think that this was thought of by a true powerseller with many years experience. These are the people that Pierre needs to call and talk to or better yet leave his air conditioned office and go visit some of us that pay his paycheck and see how it all really works.
Also, please do not throw out the last 2 years worth of feedback. Thats a slap in the face to all who have worked so hard to get where they are today.
Ron

AuctionBytes Polls Readers on eBay Feedback 2.0

by: Suzan Top

Tue Feb 20 12:00:08 2007

Everyone here, Lets email eBay and let them know how we feel about Feedback 2.0, I just also emailed them, if they do not know, they may not change it. We need to speak our mind and let them know not to fix something THAT IS NOT BROKEN! They will be breaking it, I also feel they wasted money & time on eBay Express, I've only generated a handful of sales on it, however I sell lots through Auctions and Store Items. I think we need to get rid of eBay express, good idea, but it's not working out. Fee increases are happening because they keep doing more work on things like that and not producing enough results, an example would be that comparison thing, yes it may be fun, but is it really necessary for our fees to be continually being raised to add all these little unnecessary things? Just My .02 let's tell eBay what we think, so they get a lot of info so they can make a wise decision. They need to hear from us sellers, we're making them money whether we sell items or not.

AuctionBytes Polls Readers on eBay Feedback 2.0

by: stoneface

Tue Feb 20 12:00:46 2007

Seens only negative comments to feedback 2.0 are being listed.
My original post for 2.0 was edited
Big power sellers have jumped on E-Bay
because of no or low startup costs.
they think that they should get everything for free and stomp out the little guys. These same people are always complaing about something. get a life.

AuctionBytes Polls Readers on eBay Feedback 2.0

by: Anon.

Tue Feb 20 12:07:41 2007

This message is to Stonefave, what is the difference for buying something for a .01 + $4.99 s/h, and buying something for $5 with Free shipping and handling?

You need to look at the big picture. All my auctions are always over $9 but when I buy from others, I just calculate the price + S/H and if I'm satisfied with the result, I bid or do buy it now. I Do Not care if the package is $1 S/H, it doesn't matter, because in the end it's the total cost that matters. Right? Of course the seller can't really sell something for a penny? If you were satisfied in the beginning, what does it matter what the actual shipping cost was? (of course there is handling too that you need to account for)

It's the OVERALL COST, End of Story

AuctionBytes Polls Readers on eBay Feedback 2.0

by: patricia

Tue Feb 20 13:55:04 2007

Once again, the seller gets a good screwing! We should all be happy - but instead we hate this company almost with a passion. The hatred is well-founded. This is just another nail in the coffin. Let one decent, viable online auction site pop up and Ebay will be shocked at how many sellers instantly jump ship without ever a look back again! I know it doesn't amount to a hill of donkey dust but they can count me as a seller with almost 3,000 total feedbacks at 100 percent! Selling on Ebay since 1998. I'm totally disgusted.

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