ebay: bogus negatives

[eddly]

Hey everyone, some might think this is off topic but anyway... its something a lot of us have had to deal with...

 

I've gotten some pretty bizarre negative feedbacks that I would like to have cleared from my record. Here's an example:

 

"I won an auction of his and got the message this morning but he extended it.. "

 

This is by far the weirdest one I have... this person did place a bid on something I was selling, but he never won the auction. He was just upset that he got outbid. This was back in Jan/97, at that time you didn't have to win an auction to leave feedback... anyone could leave feedback... if I remember correctly you didn't even have to be registered!

 

Anyway, I've tried emailing ebay... but I have never heard back from them. I realize this is an old negative... my other two negatives are old as well... but I have just recently started to use ebay more regularly then I did before... with emphasis on selling as well... I just feel cheated as my imperfect feedback rating is probably scaring some potential bidders away. I should have 100% positive feedback... not 96.8%.

 

Anyone have any success at having negatives removed?

[Jgel]

How many comments do you have? If you have enough, don't worry about it. If have 200+ feedback and a few negatives, don't worry about, most buyers will not be affraid. Getting feedback removed is nearly impossible....

[eddly]

I have 115 for all positive feedback received. Just want to know if its worth persuing or if its a lost cause to try to have my feedback adjusted.

 

If anyone else has some weird negatives, feel free to post them here.

[Apotheosis]

How many comments do you have? If you have enough, don't worry about it. If have 200+ feedback and a few negatives, don't worry about, most buyers will not be affraid.

 

I'm probably one of the few that would be concerned with a few negatives. I've avoided sellers with negatives that number 2 for every 100 (i.e. 4 negs and 200 pos). At the same time I don't discount every seller like this. It's obvious that some sellers are just unlucky and get more than their fair share of bad buyers. What I'm looking for is consistency in the negs. If all four negs are tagged with Poor packaging then I will definitely stay away. My view is that the rest of the people don't mind minor damage in shipping and gave the person a positive anyway. If it's from over grading then I'll take it into consideration depending on what I'm buying (i.e. silver and bronze I won't buy because I only want high grade, but gold is considered since I buy mostly mid-low grade and being slightly off doesn't matter). That's just me though and I'm probably the minority.

 

And I agree... Negs are next to impossible to get removed... unless you sign up for square trade where they make the buyer jump through hoops to get the neg to stick.

[Jgel]

 

I'm probably one of the few that would be concerned with a few negatives. I've avoided sellers with negatives that number 2 for every 100 (i.e. 4 negs and 200 pos). At the same time I don't discount every seller like this. It's obvious that some sellers are just unlucky and get more than their fair share of bad buyers. What I'm looking for is consistency in the negs. If all four negs are tagged with Poor packaging then I will definitely stay away. My view is that the rest of the people don't mind minor damage in shipping and gave the person a positive anyway. If it's from over grading then I'll take it into consideration depending on what I'm buying (i.e. silver and bronze I won't buy because I only want high grade, but gold is considered since I buy mostly mid-low grade and being slightly off doesn't matter). That's just me though and I'm probably the minority.

 

And I agree... Negs are next to impossible to get removed... unless you sign up for square trade where they make the buyer jump through hoops to get the neg to stick.

 

That is fair. I have 1097 positive and 5 negatives. I was putting it in perspective. I don't know how many people would have a problem buying from me because of that? I would not think a lot. Another thing is the neutral comment.....I look at those as well. People give those when they don;t want a neg. but have a problem. I for one think that people are WAY TOO affraid about getting a neg. comment.

[1st-and-keys]

I buy alot on ebay...and I always check the sellers feedback. I pay quickly giving the seller no excuse to not leave me feedback right away. I always check to see which sellers leave quick feedback as I take this as a sign that they are confident in their business. I read all negs to see if there is a pattern I want to avoid, but I won't necessarily avoid a seller because of a few negs. I also try to stick to sellers with whom I've had good experiences with. In the end I personally am not too concerned with feedback because I use my account mainly as a buyer..and money talks.

[robertsons-migration]

Funny that the OP posted this because I was going to start a thread on the same topic. I got the following neg today:

 

Only 4 of the 7 arrived, what a rip

 

This was from a 7 comic auction. I sent the comics 2 per bag, board and for some reason, the buyer just left me a neg without even e-mailing me first. How could he not notice the 2 comics in each bag? I don't know whether to laugh or what but there goes my perfect feedback.

[kryptonitecomics]

Funny that the OP posted this because I was going to start a thread on the same topic. I got the following neg today:

 

Only 4 of the 7 arrived, what a rip

 

This was from a 7 comic auction. I sent the comics 2 per bag, board and for some reason, the buyer just left me a neg without even e-mailing me first. How could he not notice the 2 comics in each bag? I don't know whether to laugh or what but there goes my perfect feedback.

 

 

I agree he should of contacted you first, but one of my pet peaves on Ebay is folks that are too cheap to properly bag and board each comic. 1 comic book per bag and board in the futures should insure you don't have that happen again.

 

You should be able to put a response under his feedback with the details or have him add another note.

[Joanna]

I buy alot on ebay...and I always check the sellers feedback. I pay quickly giving the seller no excuse to not leave me feedback right away. I always check to see which sellers leave quick feedback as I take this as a sign that they are confident in their business.

 

But how can you tell it was "quick feedback"? For example, I just had someone pay me after delaying for almost 3 weeks. If I left feedback the instant she paid, it would appear to be 3 weeks late if comparing the date of auction to the date of feedback, despite it being mere miinutes on my end. Sure, some people pay immediately, but a lot delay by a day or two, and many by much more. So how DO you determine quick feedback from a seller?

 

-- Joanna

[mitol]

This is a worthwhile post. I have 700+ feedback with two retaliatory negatives. The first one, I tried everything I could to have it removed without success as I wanted to keep my record perfect. I suspect everyone feels this way, especially towards their first negative. In all honesty, when I received my second, I didn't care as much anymore. That being said, it is not my intent to start amassing negative feedback. What I do, do now is try to use a different account to buy and sell in case I run into less than honest sellers. At least I can neg them without the fear of retaliation.

[mitol]

pay quickly giving the seller no excuse to not leave me feedback right away. I always check to see which sellers leave quick feedback as I take this as a sign that they are confident in their business.

 

Unfortunately, this doesn't always work as some very experienced sellers purposely wait for your feedback before leaving theirs. Personally, I don't believe waiting for the buyer to leave feedback first makes sense, but this has been debated on these forums many times.

[cuetipp-migration]

The thing I find troubling is people who hold your feedback hostage. The "we leave feedback only after positive feedback is left for us" people. From a buyer's point of view (I rarely sell), they're basically saying 'you leave us a neg, we neg u back, even though you paid instantly.."

 

Doesn't ebay charge $20 to review a case to determine if negative feedback should be removed? Thought I read that somewhere.

[1st-and-keys]

So how DO you determine quick feedback from a seller?

 

 

 

When I buy I always pay quickly...a seller who responds quickly to me by leaving me feedback assures "me" that they are confident in their product, shipping etc. It just puts me at ease while I await the arrival of the book. When I hear nothing from the seller..I wonder.. "okay here we go..hopefully I'm getting what I ordered".

[1st-and-keys]

The thing I find troubling is people who hold your feedback hostage. The "we leave feedback only after positive feedback is left for us" people. From a buyer's point of view (I rarely sell), they're basically saying 'you leave us a neg, we neg u back, even though you paid instantly.."

.

 

 

This is the point I'm making...once payment is received by the seller, unless it is received late...why hold the buyers feedback hostage?? ...I deal with several sellers who always post feedback as soon as I do my part...they are confident in what they sell and I am always pleased......as a result I am a repeat buyer.

[joe_collector]

I pay quickly giving the seller no excuse to not leave me feedback right away. I always check to see which sellers leave quick feedback as I take this as a sign that they are confident in their business.

 

Let's not get into this BS again. Of course, if you've paid by Money Order and it's been cashed, then okay, but increasingly I am treating Paypal transactions as checks with a 30-day clearing period.

 

House has covered this off many times, and there are just too many Paypal loopholes to treat it as "money in the bank", when in reality, it is a transaction that absolutely requires a 30-day clearing period.

 

I am almost exclusively an EBay buyer, and I fully understand why a large seller would not leave feedback immediately after a Paypal transaction, just as no one would post it immediately after opening up a check from the mail.

 

Lots of things can go wrong during the clearing process.

 

If you don't want to buy from sellers who don't leave feedback 10 seconds after you send a Paypal transaction, then fine, more great comics for the rest of us.

[1st-and-keys]

Hey..I'll do what I like and you do what works for you...this a forum remember?!..it's my opinion.

[joe_collector]

Hey..I'll do what I like and you do what works for you...this a forum remember?!..it's my opinion.

 

Sure, but your opinion is incredibly naive and childish given the sheer number of scam artists out there.

 

Keep in mind, I'm not talking about "keeping feedback hostage" as when I pay with a MO (or the check is cleared) I think I deserve feedback posted. After all, they've got my money at that point.

 

But when I pay via Paypal, I fully understand that it does have a 30-day clearing period and realize that it's a question of fiscal responsibility and the reality of how Paypal operates, and not anything personal.

[1st-and-keys]

[joe_collector]

Exactly, and if you want to cry "gimme my feedback, gimme, gimme, gimme" like some spoiled brat, do it somewhere else, as there are sellers doing huge $$$ transactions via Paypal, and it's their choice whether they want to give out feedback before the 30-day clearing is done.

[Mr. Zipper]

I pay quickly giving the seller no excuse to not leave me feedback right away. I always check to see which sellers leave quick feedback as I take this as a sign that they are confident in their business.

 

Let's not get into this BS again. Of course, if you've paid by Money Order and it's been cashed, then okay, but increasingly I am treating Paypal transactions as checks with a 30-day clearing period.

 

House has covered this off many times, and there are just too many Paypal loopholes to treat it as "money in the bank", when in reality, it is a transaction that absolutely requires a 30-day clearing period.

 

I am almost exclusively an EBay buyer, and I fully understand why a large seller would not leave feedback immediately after a Paypal transaction, just as no one would post it immediately after opening up a check from the mail.

 

Lots of things can go wrong during the clearing process.

 

If you don't want to buy from sellers who don't leave feedback 10 seconds after you send a Paypal transaction, then fine, more great comics for the rest of us.

 

JC... while I certainly agree with the dangers of Paypal, let's be honest here...

 

MOST sellers that hold back feedback are NOT doing for the reasons you've just mentioned... they ARE holding back as an implied threat to the buyer or they are just too lazy to leave feedback.

 

I pay with money order more often than not and I still get a lot of sellers that hold back feedback until AFTER I leave mine.

 

Further, most of the sellers that hold back feedback will leave it as soon as the buyer leaves feedback -- even if it is well within the 30 day window. So, this proves that the primary motivation for holding feedback is for intimidation purposes, NOT waiting for a 30 day window to clear.