Is it acceptable to request feedback?

Azari

terra_ferma wrote: »

If someone has less than 99.5% I don't shop from them.

I would expect that from a seller with feedback of several hundred but with lower volume sellers it's always possible that one idiot has taken their feedback down below this.

In that case I check the actual neg. If the reason is daft - e.g. it's bigger than I thought it would be - I ignore it.

If it isn't daft I check to see if there's a response. If the response is polite and sensible - e.g. Item was damaged in the post but buyer left feedback without contacting me - I similarly ignore it.

If the seller hasn't bothered to respond or responds with something smug/cocky/ranting, I look elsewhere.

soolin

The reson why I consider stars to be so important is that as a business seller I get a discount on my fees if I maintain an almost perfect expanded seller dashboard. 2 different people leaving me a 1 or 2* rating in a single category is enough to stop my discounts.

I only need to maintain an overall feedback of 98% and 4.6 stars on my main dashboard, so that is not hard, it is the individual stars that are the killer.

Crowqueen

terra_ferma wrote: »

unfortunately because of the way ebay works fb is very important to sellers. If you write a letter of complaint to T the can well wipe their derrière with if they feel like it. If you take something back because you were not happy, you get your refund and that's it.
On ebay complaints (neg fb, low stars) and refunds (through claims) can take a small(ish) seller out of business very quickly.

If you complain about anything to a major supermarket, you get a £5 voucher, because they want to keep you as a customer despite the issue you had.

klolav

soolin wrote: »

The reson why I consider stars to be so important is that as a business seller I get a discount on my fees if I maintain an almost perfect expanded seller dashboard. 2 different people leaving me a 1 or 2* rating in a single category is enough to stop my discounts.

I only need to maintain an overall feedback of 98% and 4.6 stars on my main dashboard, so that is not hard, it is the individual stars that are the killer.

The exact same thing has just happened to me! I sell a few bits and bobs really until I settle on a theme! I have always been a top rated seller until this month, when it was taken away to above standard. The reason- those pesky stars! my percentage was too high and I had 3 people rate only 2 stars for item description on some jewellery I sold. I don't sell vast amounts, so those low stars have messed up that for me, and I do think it's a tad unfair! Incidentally, the product descriptions were taken direct from wholesaler and I sometimes add on my own additionally! I have had no negative or neutral feedback, but they felt they could leave very low star ratingS!!
So for me feedback is very important!

terra_ferma

Maybe I can be more specific. FB is important for sales, stars mainly for TSR discount and potential sanctions.
Have people seen a drop in sales after receiving their first neg?
My major competitors tend all to have 100% and 4.9 stars, so I need to keep up, but I wonder what the effect would be if I slipped... (it only takes one sale going badly).

Lottie-B

terra_ferma wrote: »

Sellers cannot disable them, Ebay sends them, as they do with other emails, without any inputs from sellers.

Apparently not.
I assumed they could be disabled as when I got one from a seller, I replied and complained about it as I thought the wording was rude. He said he was going to disable it and assured me he hadn't sent it but ebay had. I'd had another one that was identical from another seller, so it did seem to be a standard template with the usual lack of subtlety by ebay.

I've looked into it further and it seems sellers can select the basic template and send to their buyers - but it has to be instigated by the seller themselves which explains why I don't get them from most sellers. If ebay was sending them automatically, you'd get them for all things you bought.

See here:
http://answercenter.ebay.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1000211605&tstart=8&mod=1267389234954

fiscalfreckles

Crowqueen wrote: »

I'm not sure where you are getting that from as it is very relevant to how you are seen as a seller, by the buyers and by eBay.

Buyer feedback is the virtually irrelevant one, inasmuch as buyers can only get a positive, but still serves a purpose to encouraging people to leave FB for their sellers.

Seller feedback is vital to being able to sell - particularly if you are a low volume seller, if you get few people leaving 5* positives, then one poor score on your DSRs will have a disproportionate effect on your account.

You are right not to worry overly much about chasing it, but it's still not correct to say that it is irrelevant. In fact it matters more and more because buyers are more and more demanding and are definitely likely to leave it if things go wrong. In the past, where eBay was largely the preserve of collectors and internet geeks, eBay could trust sellers with the ability to leave negs. Once it started getting commercialised, though, perhaps around 2003-2004 in my opinion, feedback became very important and retaliatory negs more and more of a problem.

Yes, sorry what I meant was, it doesn't really matter if buyers don't leave me feedback. Of course positive feedback is relevant.

I suppose one of the reasons I don't chase it is in case it annoys someone & they give me a less than flattering comment or rating.

The best way to ensure good feedback is to treat your buyers right. That has never been more important than it is now.

Agree completely. I do try to be accurate & helpful & post out promptly etc. And I generally get excellent feedback.
I always leave it for others who offer good service too, because I think it only polite

chancesare_2

Lottie-B wrote: »

Apparently not.
I assumed they could be disabled as when I got one from a seller, I replied and complained about it as I thought the wording was rude. He said he was going to disable it and assured me he hadn't sent it but ebay had. I'd had another one that was identical from another seller, so it did seem to be a standard template with the usual lack of subtlety by ebay.

I've looked into it further and it seems sellers can select the basic template and send to their buyers - but it has to be instigated by the seller themselves which explains why I don't get them from most sellers. If ebay was sending them automatically, you'd get them for all things you bought.

See here:
http://answercenter.ebay.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1000211605&tstart=8&mod=1267389234954

eBay policy changed in June 2010. You CANNOT opt out of feedback reminders.

Changes to Payment and Feedback reminder emails
From mid-June 2010, the following post-transactional emails on eBay will be streamlined and standardised:

NEW Payment reminder email will be sent if the buyer hasn’t paid after 2 days. If sellers prefer to send their own invoices and payment reminders, they can opt out of the eBay Payment reminder email.

Feedback reminder email: This email will be sent to buyers who haven’t left Feedback, and sellers won’t be able to customise or opt out of it.

I think you are getting confused with the preferences for YOUR automated emails in SM and SMP. Aside of those, which you CAN switch off, you CANNOT switch off or opt out of Ebays own.

Invalidation

If I want to buy something I dont even bother looking at the feedback, with people being the way they are there will always be someone who complains and there will always be idiots selling rubbish.
If you cant handle that then you really shouldnt be using Ebay at all.

terra_ferma

Lottie-B wrote: »

Apparently not.
I assumed they could be disabled as when I got one from a seller, I replied and complained about it as I thought the wording was rude. He said he was going to disable it and assured me he hadn't sent it but ebay had. I'd had another one that was identical from another seller, so it did seem to be a standard template with the usual lack of subtlety by ebay.

I've looked into it further and it seems sellers can select the basic template and send to their buyers - but it has to be instigated by the seller themselves which explains why I don't get them from most sellers. If ebay was sending them automatically, you'd get them for all things you bought.

See here:
http://answercenter.ebay.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1000211605&tstart=8&mod=1267389234954

The information you give is incorrect.
The link you give not only is old, but it's on ebay US and they often have different systems.

Here's a more relevant link:
http://community.ebay.co.uk/topic/Seller-Central/Opt-Ebays-Emails/1900025053?&#msg1900188617