When do you leave feedback?

magic57

Hi again

can I ask you more experienced ebay sellers when do you leave feedback?
I have recently registered as a business seller (just very small scale at present). I've been leaving feedback as soon as the buyer pays.

I notice some listings state that sellers leave feeback for the buyer when they have left it for the seller. Is there a reason for this?
What is the most usual way please? At least half of my buyers don't leave me any at all.

Thank you. :A

shaun_from_Africa

Many sellers (myself included) only leave feedback once the buyer has received the goods and is happy with them.
I don't mind how they advise me of this and it can be through them leaving feedback for me or a simple e-mail.

The reason I do it this way is that feedback is a reflection of how a transaction went, and I don't consider the transaction has been completed until the buyer has received what they paid for and are happy with their goods.

RFW

If you leave first after payment as a seller you end up with a happy customer, albeit for no good reason, customers do like it that way. Happy customers = repeat business, I can't see a good reason for waiting for the buyer to leave it any more, feedback for buyers is relatively pointless anyway, if the transaction does go awry there's always a follow up option.

Crowqueen

There's no point in leaving it until after the item has arrived; there's very little a buyer has to do when buying and I don't think anyone should be judged on how they communicate afterwards - most of the time it's the seller's responsibility should they be upset.

Nowhere else am I judged as a buyer after I've paid - it's only on eBay people have these funny notions, largely stemming from when buyers could be left negatives, and largely because - although we all enter into commercial relationships off-eBay where buyers do not have to carry round references to make purchases in most consumer retailers - they leave their common sense at the door and think it's OK on eBay to start expecting buyers to roll over and do tricks as well as pay for things.

In reality - a buyer is a buyer. They are not a dog to be given a pat on the head for playing dead. Therefore, the time to leave feedback is after they pay - not on some spurious grounds that they have any more responsibilities after that point.

Anything that then goes wrong is the seller's responsibility to sort out.

magic57

Thank you for your insights. :A

hermum

I always leave feedback when I post the item, so that I can tell the buyer that item's been posted at the same time as I'm leaving FB.
As a buyer I don't ever leave FB until after the seller has.
Any sellers that contact me asking for my FB so that they can leave for me once they're sure I've got it, may get a message saying it's arrived but still no FB.
Sellers expecting it first always seems like blackmail to me.

St2398

Hmm, I thought there was a potential problem for sellers leaving feedback early, although I couldn't tell you exactly why, I think it's got something to do with returns, i.e. if you get a bad buyer they can muck you about a bit and it's more difficult to talk to ebay about it if you've already fb'd to say the seller is a-ok.

I sell a few records on ebay and it's very important to get the item condition right, I leave a note on each page saying - any problem with sale get in touch before feedback* - so the buyer knows he or she can talk to me before leaving irate comments, fortunately this hasn't happened yet, and I haven't had any questions on the grading before buyer leaves feedback either.

So, anyway my point is surely the sale is only completed when the buyer actually receives the goods, and if there's a problem surely I'm better off leaving feedback until any problem is resolved, I can imagine the feedback I might receive - thought record was a touch overgraded , resolved, no problem - sort of thing which would be fine with me.

*I never ask for feedback and most sellers buying the stuff I sell seem happy to feedback first, although sometimes I don't feedback the buyer even if their feedback is really, really nice, as an Ebay seller I'm often drunk on power and get a great feeling from imagining the mild irritation of a buyer who's lovely feedback is not going to be reciprocated!

stormbreaker

As a buyer I leave feedback on receipt of goods. As a seller I wait til buyer acknowledges receipt of goods.

magic57

hermum wrote: »

I always leave feedback when I post the item, so that I can tell the buyer that item's been posted at the same time as I'm leaving FB.
As a buyer I don't ever leave FB until after the seller has.
Any sellers that contact me asking for my FB so that they can leave for me once they're sure I've got it, may get a message saying it's arrived but still no FB.
Sellers expecting it first always seems like blackmail to me.

Thanks I like the idea of leaving feedback when posting. Might try that.
We seem to be evenly split on when to leave feedback and its really helpful to hear everones ideas and experiences so thank you to all who replied.:A

RFW

St2398 wrote: »

I sell a few records on ebay and it's very important to get the item condition right, I leave a note on each page saying - any problem with sale get in touch before feedback* - so the buyer knows he or she can talk to me before leaving irate comments, fortunately this hasn't happened yet, and I haven't had any questions on the grading before buyer leaves feedback either.

So, anyway my point is surely the sale is only completed when the buyer actually receives the goods, and if there's a problem surely I'm better off leaving feedback until any problem is resolved, I can imagine the feedback I might receive - thought record was a touch overgraded , resolved, no problem - sort of thing which would be fine with me.

A lot of buyers see it as a trust issue, so if you wait to leave feedback it makes them less happy. Obviously that isn't everyone and generally they aren't bothered, but as a seller it does increase buyer satisfaction to leave it first after payment has been received.

If they are going to leave bad feedback they will whenever you leave it, in my experience there is less chance of bad feedback if you leave feedback first, only in the bad old days of retaliatory feedback could it make any kind of difference.

chemical.galaxy

hermum wrote: »

I always leave feedback when I post the item, so that I can tell the buyer that item's been posted at the same time as I'm leaving FB.

Same here - i always leave feedback along the lines of 'great buyer, your item was posted today'
I have had a few problem buyers who try for partial refunds and the odd item going missing (which I never quite know if it is really the case) but at the end of the day most of my buyers are fab and leave me great feedback - have not had a neg or a neutral to date and my dashboard looks great, and I have had a good success rate with Ebay CS when I have had problem buyers.