Topic: Neutral feedback on eBay

[SteveD CB500F]

Advice required from you old eBay stagers out there.

I recently sold a 40 year-old electric train set in 45 lots and was very pleased with the prices achieved.  One buyer gave me neutral feedback and wrote "item as described and very well packed. thanks".

Now I don't know about you, but I feel as if I've done something wrong to ony receive neutral feedback.

He only has +1 feedback and that was from me! (he paid promptly)

Should I email him and politely point out that neutral feedback is not appropriate - of ourse he could be a serial-multiple i/d guy who does this stuff to annoy us... (?)

I once made the mistake of emailing a seller and correcting him on the identity of a petrol tank that he was selling as "CB500/4, may fit 400/750 etc" you know the type.  All I got back was a stream of abuse.

I await your considered replies.

[Paul]

Hey Steve,
I recon if he is new to the business he may consider neutral to be appropriate, and positive if it's more than he expected.
Mail him....it's your reputation.

[csendker]

I figure there's a lot of wacko's out there, so if I'm dealing with someone and there's one or two feedbacks out of a zillion that aren't positive that's OK because it was probably some psycho that can never be pleased.  It wouldn't stop me from doing business. 

However, from a personal perspective on the receiving end, you may want to nudge him if he's new, he just may not know any better.  I bought something from a new seller, and he didn't know to check off the 'paid' box, which drove me nuts because paypal said I paid, but e-bay didn't.  I shot him an e-mail (I was nice) to make sure he got the $$, and received many thanks for a lesson learned.

[6pkrunner]

I've never heard of anyone getting neutral feedback?!?!? All my encounters and the ones that have been pointed out to me are positive or negative.
What exactly does neutral mean? "I bought it, you sold it and it arrived, but I could care less."? Something like that?
If I buy something and it arrives (that's great step one) and is in the condition advertised, or better, then it is a positive experience. When someone balks and gets nasty and the stuff that arrives is less than advertised, then its negative time.
Neutral?

[supersport_CB400F]

Tell the bastard what you think about the feedback that he wrote and he can't change it now unless you dispute……..don’t pussyfoot,  I never do, #$%* it's ebay not M&S with customer service

[Phaedrus]

I have only ever left one neurtral.  The item was as described but they did not ship it to the address I wanted them to.  I have everything shipped to work (I recieve the packages here) and they sent it to my home.  That was my use for a neutral.

[bill440cars]

            I'm not sure about that negative feedback. I've only gotten positive and, fortunately, I've
     only given positive feedback. I would hope that he just didn't know any better.

    Steve,
          I, too, have corrected some sellers on what they actually had or given info to better describe
    what they had and most tell me they didn't realize and thank me, some simply say "thanks" and
    some are bound & determined to believe they are right (for what ever reason). I even had a seller
    start off getting smart with me, then they thought about the way I end my comment to them,
    ("Thank you for your time") and then he apologized to me for acting like that. So, I guess it takes
    all kinds.
                                                              Later on, Bill

[Tim2005]

Yep, I'd email him, he prolly just doesn't understand how it works. Tho don't expect much in return, I did that with one Ebay noobie & they sent me some lovely feedback. In a freakin email. Gaaaaa

[74cb750]

Well, I have over 500 sales on ebay, I have 3 negatives but
 have left only 2 neutrals:
Neutral when package arrived 4 weeks late, other when buyer never paid.

Hope you replied in your feedback your concerns, because that is what buyers sometimes look at.
good luck,
michel

[Raul CB750K1]

I have about 500 votes and only three negatives. The last two just a couple of days ago in response to the positive feedback I left (I was the buyer in two transactions of the same seller. I decided not to complete them because the seller was clearly trying to rip me off with postage)

I don't care much about feedback because a relative 99% is a good sign. There is always some place for retaliatory feedback, and I won't keep from selling to somebody with a few negatives. Actually, the seller has the dealing hand. Voting negative to somebody won't keep him from winning bids, and if he pays, I don't think anybody will care much about some negatives in a profile.

It's true that the first time it hurts, it's like if you lost your "virginity", but once you assume it, that's nothing.

Regarding the two transactions with the negative feedback, the seller told me -verbatim-. "#$%* off U idiot". I'm generally cold blooded, but that made me furious and told him from now on I would spoil his auctions. I opened a new account and bidded in his articles trying to win the auctions and vote him negative. He noticed and cancelled my bids.

The next day i sent him a mail telling that I was not going to tolerate his lack of respect. I could stand two negatives but I couldn't stand insults, so from now on my purpose in life was going to be to spoil his auctions until he had four negatives. I would open as many accounts as needed and would buy as much feedback as needed until the day he least expect it. I would win his auctions at a high price so he would have to pay high fees and would leave him bad feedback.

The answer came from a "surprised and scared woman" -verbatim- who didn't know what was all about??? She told me it should have been his 14 year old son, as she uses to let him take care of his auctions  ?

Anyway, she was the ultimate responsible for her account and I didn't quite believe the history. Finally she opened a case in SquareTrade, but it seems that I have to pay a mediator and I'm not willing to do so.

We are still negotiating how are we going to put things even. She threatened to put the case in knowledge of the police as I was being threatening her. I threatened to inform eBay she was letting her son managing her account. Let's see how far do we get with this. In other circumstances I would have just go on with my life, but this time I was very pissed off and it's a matter of self respect.

Raul

[dusterdude]

damn,remind me not to piss you off .ive left 1 neutral,it was because i bought a set of ebc brake shoes and ebc says the shoes come with new springs.i received the shoes in good condition and shipping was quick,i emailed the seller about the springs and was told they werent in the box when they bought them from the store they bought the stock from.i figured their ignorance didnt rate a negative but it didnt rate a positive either.

[Barrett99]

Since he is a newbie I'd send an email and ask why he gave neutral feedback on a flawless transaction.  He should go back and add a comment stating his error.  Won't get rid of the neutral but at least there would be additional remarks explaining the neutral.

[ElCheapo]

Negatives seem to tell me what I did wrong, like slow ship, whatever. But a neutral makes me want to kick thier ass. Only dead fish leave neutral feedback. This is generally a person would would shake you hand and leave you with the feeling of WTF! Damn slimy fish hands. Soft like a babies BUTT. I chase these people off when building a custom bike.

[Jeff.Saunders]

We use two id's - essentially one for selling and one for buying - the one for buying is separate as I want to be able to leave appropriate feedback and not worry about getting retalitory feedback (although we've yet to receive any negative or neutral feedback on 2000 total transactions between the accounts).

[bryanj]

I got a reasonable account on ebay and recently left a neutral because the seller didn't bother to pull the item when they sold it outside e-bay. Got sent a vitriolic negative back. Don't forget you can add a comment under the feedback received if you don't agree. I got 2 negs and a neutral in with a 392 score the other neg was a no longer registered seller saying i refused to pay when i kept e-mailing for a price and never got one, the neutral was a tit for tat where i said a seller had mis-described an item--he said a camera used batteries heavily, I couldn't get to even turn on!!

[SteveD CB500F]

Well, I emailed him some polite advice about neutral feedback and got an immediate reply (in CAPITALS) saying that the item was not what he expected (WTF?)

So I went away for a couple of hours (to cool down) and then sent him another polite response offering a refund if he really didn't want it and would send it back.

No response.

I'll give him a couple of days and then respond to the neutral f/b

[Raul CB750K1]

He can not remove the feedback he left, and you will win nothing voting neutral or negative. When he gave you feedback he was considering the transaction finished, so no reason to offer a refund. If I were you I will email him telling that next time it is better to contact before leaving feedback, and will give him a positive vote. Maybe that way you will convert a "overzealous" ebayer into a more polite one. Sad to say, it didn't work with me a couple of days ago... -read my previous post in this same thread-.


Raul

[SteveD CB500F]

My 16 year old daughter has an eBay account.

You have to be 18+ but it's easy - you just put in a false date of birth.

I won't let her sell stuff as she has no f/b yet, so I do it on her behalf.

I told her to buy small stuff for a year or so and build up some +ve f/b.

I like Jeff's method: separate buying and selling accounts.

[bill440cars]

                  I haven't sold anything on ebay yet so, I can't really respond to that part. I have bought a few things though and, so far, I haven't had any real problems in that area. Couple of times the seller would seem to drag their feet on giving me any kind of feedback. When I buy, I pay through paypal right after I win the item and usually get feedback pretty promptly. 2 instances though, I finally, after I receive the item(and thanked them for their services) , email them to remind them that I've received the item, left feedback for them and would like for them to do the same since I'm trying to build a good reputation. The sellers go ahead and do it then. I don't know when I'll give a try at selling on ebay. Some of the things I've heard makes me a bit nervous about trying. What ever Honda stuff that I decide to get rid of, I'll post here 1st though. Later on, Bill

[Raul CB750K1]

Getting feedback is easy and cheap. There are many people there making profit by selling "nothing" -verbatim- for .50 euro, of course with feedback exchange included. If you want to rip people off, it just takes 50 euro investment to get 100 votes, enough credibility to ripe three or four people off, and start over with a new account.

I've sold many things, when I had to declutter a spare room I needed for the new baby. When I realized that selling a LP for 4 euro meant making pictures, reducing size, writing listings, paying ebay and Paypal fees, I was just making 2 euro per each, so I just stopped selling that stuff. I was lucky and some things reached a high price, but generally it's not worth the effort if you have a 9-5 job. Otherwise, it can be a secondary job.

[bill440cars]

                 Thanks Raul, I kinda had an idea that it could be a pain and the more I listen to what you
       and some of the others say and have experienced, I think I'll pass on selling ther. It can be pretty
       involved and a pain in the rear just to try to buy there.

                                                             Later on, Bill

[Raul CB750K1]

                 Thanks Raul, I kinda had an idea that it could be a pain and the more I listen to what you
       and some of the others say and have experienced, I think I'll pass on selling ther. It can be pretty
       involved and a pain in the rear just to try to buy there.

                                                             Later on, Bill

Don't take me wrong Bill. I believe eBay is a Godsend when it comes to find unobtainable parts, and many times you meet very nice people and get great prices. When you are going to sell things that will sell for 20 or so bucks, then it's worth the time, but if what you plan to sell things for a low price, I would rather throw them away or sell them in a lot. If you have the time, it can be a cheap way to get feedback and experience, and also to let somebody find something for a low price. But I don't have the time right now, so I can't waste it with the selling activities. If I were you I would try with a couple of things first, and decide afterwards.

Raul

[SteveD CB500F]

I second Raul's comments about small items.

I've just finished selling my old train set from the 60's in 45 lots.  Some of them went for 99p, which gives very little return once you deduct eBay and Paypal fees.  Also I use realistic costs for postage so don't make additional "margin" on that.

All in all, a salutory experience, rescued by the items that went for £10 - £30 and especially the mint "Blue Pullman" that went for £220!

[bill440cars]

                      Well Raul & Steve, I don't really have the time right now with: 1. Things I have to do
                2. Things I need to do  3. Things I want to do and  4. Then there's the "Honey Do" list
                (not necessarily in that order). Maybe later this summer, I might give it a shot, we'll see.
                                                                  Later on,  Bill

[ditchen]

I would reply to the feedback for sure.

would not do this, just found the negative feedback reply humurous.

CAN'T AND DON'T RECOMMEND BEWARE

 Reply by *****: Buyer does crack, lives with his mom, wets the bed.   Jul-08-03 17:59 
 Follow-up by *****: his comment says it all, referred to ebay safeharbor   Jul-10-03 14:04