Why have so many Ebay Sellers got such high feedback?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Crowqueen wrote: »

Well, to be honest, it might be if the seller sold me an item that went faulty. I once bought a bag of "postally used" stamps that turned out to be "cancelled to order" - which made a difference to their value as collectables - and so I scored the seller badly on Item Description (as a big stamp seller they should have known the difference and provided a much clearer photograph) but highly on communications, etc. because they responded well to my query.

Feedback is about the transaction, but that transaction includes the item. No point buying something and it's not fit for purpose or as described, even if the seller is polite and charming about it in other ways.

Yes you was right in your actions but you was rating the seller, based on them not being accurate with the description.

When the other poster says rate the seller not the product, they mean if you buy an item that is as described but randomly faulty then it isn't the seller's fault.

There are two perspectives on this, the first is the buyer is disappointed so should leave less than positive feedback.

The other is by doing so they are rating on a random event that could happen to any one at any time (same with missing parcels in the post) and with eBay's strict guidelines this can have a large effect on a business.

When shopping I have seen feedback from buyers say 'it broke', 'quality isn't good' etc, all on dirt cheap items.

I purchased a foot pump from eBay and it broke within a few months, the next one purchased has lasted nearly 5 years, probably something do with it costing 4 times the price of the one that broke.

I don't see why a seller's feedback should suffer due to a random fault (all newly manufactured products may have a fault, it can't be prevented even if dealing the the manufacture directly) or because the buyer decided to buy some cheap rubbish with the expectations of receiving a better product than can realistically be expected rather than dig deep and actually buy the quality product they needed.

The issue of this thread shouldn't be the right to leave poor feedback because of a random fault, it should be about the right to enforce your consumer rights with eBay sellers and receive what is due should a fault occur.

pitkin2020

This is why the feedback system doesn't work because some people don't understand it and don't use it correctly. You are not rating the product what so ever you are rating the seller. If an item breaks after 6 months its not the sellers fault, it could be the manufacturers fault though. Do people stop buying TVs from argos when they break after 6 months, no but they might not buy another Sony TV if it keeps breaking. Ebay is exactly the same.

When it comes to used products you may decide to avoid a particular ebayer because they are lenient with the truth on their description, which again is why you would mark them down on description.

The OP's idea of having a longer period to leave feedback is mad, even if you left it after 6 months that would mean no one would have feed back for 6 months. How many people would even bother going back to leave feedback after 6 months..... If the item arrives as described within the time frame as described the seller should get 5 stars across the board. If their is problem with the item when it arrives the seller should be given an opportunity to rectify the problem before feedback is left. If the seller sorts the problem than again it should be a positive with 5 stars across the board.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

pitkin2020 wrote: »

This is why the feedback system doesn't work because some people don't understand it and don't use it correctly. You are not rating the product what so ever you are rating the seller. If an item breaks after 6 months its not the sellers fault, it could be the manufacturers fault though. Do people stop buying TVs from argos when they break after 6 months, no but they might not buy another Sony TV if it keeps breaking. Ebay is exactly the same.

When it comes to used products you may decide to avoid a particular ebayer because they are lenient with the truth on their description, which again is why you would mark them down on description.

The OP's idea of having a longer period to leave feedback is mad, even if you left it after 6 months that would mean no one would have feed back for 6 months. How many people would even bother going back to leave feedback after 6 months..... If the item arrives as described within the time frame as described the seller should get 5 stars across the board. If their is problem with the item when it arrives the seller should be given an opportunity to rectify the problem before feedback is left. If the seller sorts the problem than again it should be a positive with 5 stars across the board.

If only more people thought like this eBay would be a far better place to buy and sell.

Just to take another point from the OP:

Should buyers providing feedback be encouraged to be more rigourous and critical. No doubt it is in Ebays interest to discourage this!

That's exactly what eBay have done, by introducing the DSR ratings and by forcing feedback reminders.

As much as sellers may not like these reminders they are there to encourage buyers to leave honest feedback if they were unhappy rather than just not bother.

eBay sellers now have to work far harder than ever to maintain a feedback profile. There are those who will wash their hands of an issue once feedback is left but if the item is faulty item and the seller doesn't want to resolve, report them to Trading Standards.

Although as the poster above pointed out earlier, it's important to ensure the goods are actually faulty and you aren't purchasing cheap items with a shorter life span or causing the issue via misuse.