How ebay could improve itself

lovinituk

Personally I think they should use a similar feedback system to Amazon where feedback left for the seller should be for the service side of things only and then be able to leave feedback on the product separately. I know this wouldn't work in reality on eBay because of all the one off listings unfortunately.

As a seller I find Amazon a much nicer and easier platform to sell on despite the fees being higher and Amazon siding with buyers even more than they do on eBay. But Amazon is not the best place for occasional sellers.

yeslek

Flyonthewall wrote: »

I don't think they need to loosen the rules/limits as such. I think the problem is the lack of buyers knowledge on these rules/limits and in general just how ebay works, especially as a seller.

sure they do when the volume of sales presents a VERY unfair percentage value by contrast.
There should be a distinction, and either fairer calculations for private sellers, or a bit more leeway for them when vs business seller.

Flyonthewall wrote: »

The problem with the feedback and stars is more with how the stars work than the limitations. 5* is happy, anything less is bad, but so many buyers think 3* is average and don't realise how much it's hurting the sellers.

I saw a conversation online the other day about it and a couple of people always give 3* unless the seller does something extra and they feel they got an above average service. They've not been giving 3* to be mean, they've been giving them because on all other sites 3*is average.

agree with this. I often leave 3/4 stars unless as 5 is for 'beyond expectation' service IMO, but since learning how strict and lop sided ebay are I've had to start upping the stars though I begrudge doing it (which is silly really, whats the point in having them if they consider anything below 5, unacceptable and they basically function as feedback 2.0 with anything below positive being bad)

Flyonthewall wrote: »

They also didn't realise about automatic 5* for comunication and P&P if the seller follows what ebay say. So their something extra may be that they expect a message to say the item has been dispatched and they hope they like it or something but a lot of sellers are never going to do that because of the automatic 5* and so they're getting marked down elsewhere by unknowing buyers.

I've marked people down for excessive comm's so there's a flipside to this.
notification when shipped is fine, but anything else, along with the flurry of ebay/paypal emails is just annoying (we get enough duplicates and unnecessary emails from ebay as it is - your item has a bid, your item sold, your item has been paid, you paid for your item...urgh. One for a sale and one for payment is all I need thank you.)

Flyonthewall wrote: »

You will always get stupid buyers though. Still, they either need to change the feedback system to what people expect or inform the buyers more about how it works.

100% agree
still a fully flawed feedback system, especially now neg's cannot be left for buyers (though I hate to admit that the way we have it now is the lesser of the 2 evils *sigh*)

Flyonthewall wrote: »

Have you contacted ebay about that neg? If the buyer is being unreasonable and kicking off ebay may remove it, especially if he's threatening or whatever in the feedback.

ebay just told me to request a revision which of course the buyer refused. I've replied to it explaining their unrealistic expectations and how the feedback is now untrue as they were refunded as soon as they cancelled the purchase, but its still not enough.
They even lied and opened a case for 'not as described' which considering I'd not posted it as they decided to cancel for a refund instead, was a blatant lie. I reported them to ebay but dont hold my breath
My gut was telling me, at the time, to enforce them completing the sale and should have sent it anyway, but I was trying to be nice and fair and look where it got me.

Flyonthewall wrote: »

Why does there need to be a clear distinction between private and business sellers? I mean, I think generally it's quite obvious which are business sellers usually before even clicking on a listing. However, I don't care who I buy from so long as they have good feedback and I'm happy with the description and price.

I know technically you should have more rights buying from a business seller but as ebay doesn't care about half of them and they protect the buyer regardless of who the seller is I don't see that it matters.

fair enough, from a buyers point of view your kinda right, but how is it fair, on any level, to expect a full time worker, private seller of a small few things here and there, to function and provide a service on par with what's expected from a full time business who doesnt have as many other commitments elsewhere? Its not. They are two completely different beasts and should be treated as such. I mean, fee's differ, and so should other points.

campdave

yeslek wrote: »

fair enough, from a buyers point of view your kinda right, but how is it fair, on any level, to expect a full time worker, private seller of a small few things here and there, to function and provide a service on par with what's expected from a full time business who doesnt have as many other commitments elsewhere? Its not. They are two completely different beasts and should be treated as such. I mean, fee's differ, and so should other points.

Both can co-exist on the same site without any need for a "tiered" system. Provided the casual seller sets realistic dispatch times and sticks to them, no one is asking for same day dispatch. I combine running a business on ebay with a full time job, post the day after payment is received and I do just fine.

Regarding the percentages, that's how life is unfortunately - if you sell 10 items and there is a problem with one, statisically you are more of a risk than a seller who sells 1,000 items and has one problem sale.

yeslek

campdave wrote: »

Both can co-exist on the same site without any need for a "tiered" system. Provided the casual seller sets realistic dispatch times and sticks to them, no one is asking for same day dispatch. I combine running a business on ebay with a full time job, post the day after payment is received and I do just fine.

Regarding the percentages, that's how life is unfortunately - if you sell 10 items and there is a problem with one, statisically you are more of a risk than a seller who sells 1,000 items and has one problem sale.

I do post next day when I can (though I advertise non w/e ending listings as 2 or 3 day dispatch just to cover me, but usually I manage to post next or even same day if I'm off work)

its the stat's and percentages that are highly unfair and just force private sellers out of the market. If I cant keep my positive feedbacks up, I'm out, and after one bad sale that wasnt even my fault? MAJOR flaw in the system if you ask me.

Flyonthewall

yeslek wrote: »

sure they do when the volume of sales presents a VERY unfair percentage value by contrast.
There should be a distinction, and either fairer calculations for private sellers, or a bit more leeway for them when vs business seller.

If they changed the way the stars worked or people realised the effect of them then the percentage wouldn't appear so bad though. I agree with the percentage/calculations being unfair as it is, but making other changes would in turn improve that.

agree with this. I often leave 3/4 stars unless as 5 is for 'beyond expectation' service IMO, but since learning how strict and lop sided ebay are I've had to start upping the stars though I begrudge doing it (which is silly really, whats the point in having them if they consider anything below 5, unacceptable and they basically function as feedback 2.0 with anything below positive being bad)

The feedback system doesn't work like that though. You view 5* as fantastic service but that's not what it means on ebay. It's just the way we've all come to thinking high stars to mean because with most other rating systems 5* means fantastic.

If you think of 5* as everything went fine and every star below that is to what degree it went wrong then there's nothing wrong with giving a seller who just gave a good service and did nothing wrong 5*. The comment allows you to state anything the seller did that went beyond what you expect.

As nice as it is for a seller to do more why should we mark down sellers who do a good job? I mean, if you are happy that's what counts. It's not possible for all sellers to do more. If you received the same service in a shop you'd think nothing of it and continue to go back there yet online we often expect far more off sellers to continue giving our custom.

Not saying I like the feedback system, but just a thought there.

I've marked people down for excessive comm's so there's a flipside to this.
notification when shipped is fine, but anything else, along with the flurry of ebay/paypal emails is just annoying (we get enough duplicates and unnecessary emails from ebay as it is - your item has a bid, your item sold, your item has been paid, you paid for your item...urgh. One for a sale and one for payment is all I need thank you.)

True. However, that's not to say everyone agrees.

100% agree
still a fully flawed feedback system, especially now neg's cannot be left for buyers (though I hate to admit that the way we have it now is the lesser of the 2 evils *sigh*)

Indeed.

ebay just told me to request a revision which of course the buyer refused. I've replied to it explaining their unrealistic expectations and how the feedback is now untrue as they were refunded as soon as they cancelled the purchase, but its still not enough.
They even lied and opened a case for 'not as described' which considering I'd not posted it as they decided to cancel for a refund instead, was a blatant lie. I reported them to ebay but dont hold my breath
My gut was telling me, at the time, to enforce them completing the sale and should have sent it anyway, but I was trying to be nice and fair and look where it got me.

Ah dear. Forcing them can lead to more hassle though. Sometimes you can't win either way

fair enough, from a buyers point of view your kinda right, but how is it fair, on any level, to expect a full time worker, private seller of a small few things here and there, to function and provide a service on par with what's expected from a full time business who doesnt have as many other commitments elsewhere? Its not. They are two completely different beasts and should be treated as such. I mean, fee's differ, and so should other points.

You're right, it is unfair to expect that from a full time worker. Although some could, I'm sure, make an effort to post during a lunch hour or before or after work, but instead they leave it until days later. Obviously not the case for all but they don't help themselves when it comes to offering a good service.

Looking at it from another point of view though, what about the private sellers who don't work full time? I can post an item quicker than any business and I send first class. I can post anytime and the post office is 2 minutes away from me. Why should, if things changed, I be placed in the same group as the private sellers who may take days to post and then, quite possibly, only send send class to keep costs down?

It just gets silly if you then split private sellers into two groups, but it's bound to be unfair if you just place all private sellers together and assume how their service will be.

RFW

lovinituk wrote: »

Personally I think they should use a similar feedback system to Amazon where feedback left for the seller should be for the service side of things only and then be able to leave feedback on the product separately. I know this wouldn't work in reality on eBay because of all the one off listings unfortunately.

It doesn't work that well on Amazon, I reckon half the feedback I get is what they would term a "product review". Most buyers and sellers don't know that's how it works, I know it took me a year!

lovinituk

yeslek wrote: »

I do post next day when I can (though I advertise non w/e ending listings as 2 or 3 day dispatch just to cover me, but usually I manage to post next or even same day if I'm off work)

its the stat's and percentages that are highly unfair and just force private sellers out of the market. If I cant keep my positive feedbacks up, I'm out, and after one bad sale that wasnt even my fault? MAJOR flaw in the system if you ask me.

I have no problems with selling on a private account with irregular sales and low feedback. As do many others. I reckon the majority of private sellers find it perfectly ok selling on eBay.

eBay are not going to make any changes for a small minority that represent a fraction of their income.

lovinituk

RFW wrote: »

It doesn't work that well on Amazon, I reckon half the feedback I get is what they would term a "product review". Most buyers and sellers don't know that's how it works, I know it took me a year!

On the contrary it works perfectly well on Amazon for me. Its easy to get Amazon to remove a neutral or negative feedback if the feedback is a review of the product.