IS EBAY GETTING TOO IMPERSONAL

[Guest]

[popple]

Why do sellers not send emails to winning bidders any more, informing them:-
That they have received payment, or,
When they will be posting items won,or,
Take days and days to post out items,or,
Leave feedback when payments have paid straight away through paypal.
I think it is always nice to have one to one contact between buyer and seller or am I just being old fashioned.
Popple

[Goofyjas]

I try to let them know. I sent the invoice and try to tell them when it will ship, when it ships I leave feedback with the date it left and let them know. then sit and wait for them not to leave me feedback

I hate as a buyer that people dont leave feedback when you pay or they ship, they wait until you leave it then they leave it after.. i mean if you dont have faith in yourself they cover there own feedback.

[rns91294]

That bothers me too.  I am a buyer.  Most people I buy from, I pay with a note to please let me know payment was received and when item ships.  I almost always get a response.  However, most people do leave me feedback right after payment, but some do not.  I am waiting for two items right now and both people haven't left me feedback yet.  They are waiting for me to see if I keave a positive or not.  I see so many sellers that leave a negative for a buyer just because the buyer left them negative feedback for a legit reason.  Thing is, if you are a buyer and pay instantly with paypal, let's say, then you did your part and deserve positive feedback for your quick payment, right?  

[blackcat20]

It is getting to be a problem. Ive bought things and waited over a month for feedback, then emailed to say that it had arrived and Id left feedback, so could they do the same...
When I ship items, I also send emails, and ask that they email me in reply when it arrives, plus I leave feedback on payment, but a lot of sellers dont anymore...

[Boggle]

Yup, ebay is going downhill. I don't really expect to be left feedback from most of my transactions now, i still leave it as soon as i get the item though. When i've sold, i've always emailed to keep the buyer updated, and left feedback as soon as possible. The good buyers/sellers seem to be the minority now though.

[rns91294]

I always email my seller to let them know when I get the item.  I have only had 30 transactions, or should I say 31, but I never got feedback from one person from many months ago.  

[gimli]

it can be hard to email the sellers to say payment received, then it has been posted, when you are sending 100's of items a week

[popple]

Perhaps notification can be left via feedback

[rns91294]

I don't expect much response from a seller who is selling loads of items, as it is hard to contact 100 people if needed.  The thing about leaving feedback for a buyer who paid at least lets the buyer know you got the payment okay.  It is almost like an aknowledgement.

[olly]

it can be hard to email the sellers to say payment received, then it has been posted, when you are sending 100's of items a week

We send over 300 items out a week and always email at every stage.
Payment received and also item shipped.

Its only right people should know where their order is at.

I can't stand not hearing from sellers.

[Nienna]

I make a point of contacting the people I buy from to let them know I've received their items and to tell them if there's been any problems with the packaging.
That's my main 'thing' ... items not being packed carefully enough or appropriately for the item being sent.

I have several sellers who haven't bothered leaving me feedback and I've tried gentle reminders with these people with mixed results.
These days, I ask sellers who haven't left my feedback if they would do so for me when I contact them to let them know my items have arrived and most are happy to do it.

I HATE being ignored!

The thing you also have to consider Olly is ... how much time people have in between their main jobs and eBay to send out these emails, as not everyone does eBay full time.
I know some sellers only leave feedback once or twice a month which seems daft to me.

[blackcat20]

That's my main 'thing' ... items not being packed carefully enough or appropriately for the item being sent.

Thats one of my pet peeves too! There is nothing worse than buying something that is in perfect condition, and having it arrive all tatty. Seems to happen with posters a lot, when sellers stick them in the tubes without wrapping them up or protecting the ends, leaving me with posters with small tears down both sides  

[emmafan]

I have noticed the same problem with ebay sellers recently.  I'm a very off-and-on ebay user.  That is, I will be dorment for several months, and then buy a bunch of things all at once and then take a break again.  I first started using ebay back in 2000, so I have been wheeling and dealing for quite some time now.
Early on, it was very typical to recieve an email of confirmation and congradulation from the seller after winning an auction.  I was happy for quite some time building a respectable postive rating count.  Sure enough, after I sent off my payment, the seller would add a postive rating for my account.  I too would respond with a nice thank you email and positive feedback.
Two weeks ago, I got into one of my 'ebay frenzies' and ended up winning 4-5 auctions.  While I have payed for all of them, and left positive feedback as well as an email, I have not received any postive feedback in return.  This bothers me, as it is difficult to built respectability as a buyer, if no one bothers to leave feedback.
Is ebay just becoming another online store?  It seems that the majority of the auctions I have bid on are being sold by 'dealers' or 'shops' that have dozens or thousands of auctions going on at once.  
I really used to enjoy the personality of ebay....almost like an online yardsale.  
Another complaint of mine has been the shipping for some items.  Is it just me, or are dealers just lowering the 'buy it now' or starting price, just to even out the cost by raising the shipping charge.  I can understand bulky items...but should it really cost 12(US) dollars to ship a single dvd (without insurance)  
It seems that ebay has lot of its honor and integrity, but of course we all continue to buy into it.

Take care,
Aaron  

[olly]

The thing you also have to consider Olly is ... how much time people have in between their main jobs and eBay to send out these emails, as not everyone does eBay full time.

Oh I totally agree. But I still think a seller could email.
They have the time to take money off you and should let you know when they will ship the goods.

I bought a ton of Star Wars action figure from one seller and on all the listings it clearly stated that he had a full time job and wouldn't be as quick as a full time seller. I knew this before bidding and thought it was great he would explain before anyone commited to buying from him.

 

[mcgonagall]

I agree that there are some weird sellers out there. I try to leave feedback as soon as the item has arrived but sometimes it moght take me an extra day or 2.
My peeve with ebay is that with there complaints department . It would be nice that whn you are putting in a complaint that they take into account that you are dealing with someone overseas and that by the time that you allow for slow mail and everything else. you can't leave feedback or complain. i think that they should extend the period of time for international transactions to 60 days.

And back to feedback It is not only the sellers but buyers too. Ages ago my daughter burnt her arm ( yes is perfect now ) and i had some auctions to post to buyers i emailed them all explaining the situation and letting them know that i wouldn't be able to get to the post office and that my son would do the posting for me. Well being a typical teenage mail he address the padded envelopes and posted them and I received an abusive email from one buyer and a neutral feedback because he had forgotten to put name and addess on the back of the envelope.
 

[rns91294]

Another thing good about feedback, and I am sure I am not the only one who does this, is that I may look to see what someother people bought (maybe someone who outbid me say).  I do this by clicking on the items in their feedback, which actually introduces me to some new sellers.  I might then go and see what those sellers currently have up for sale.  So in a way, it is a good marketing or advertising for the seller.  

[Tower]

I am more a collector (buyer) than a seller, but i had to sell some items in the past. I really try to have a nice contact, because it's only my hobby, not my job. I always try to inform the buyer that the item has ben shipped for example. If i did not, i just have forgotten to do.

But what's with the feedback? As i started to sell, i began leaving feedback directly after getting the money. But then i noticed that (i think) most of the sellers do not. I never had a problem with this, it's not important for me, when i get the feedback, if i get it.

But then i started also to wait for the feedback of the buyer. Why? It's not, because i would leave a negative feedback if the buyer would leave one for a legit reason. And of course i hope, there will be never a reason for...

But i was told from a member here who had very negative experiences with buyers. Not all buyers are "good". I had good luck until now with my buyers, but there is always a chance for getting a bad one, i'm afraid.

So i wait with my feedback (as a seller) until the deal is perfect at the end. If the buyer is not satisfied with anything, i expect from him to contact me. I made a deal a few days ago (without ebay). It was my only non-perfect card i ever had and so i told the buyer before, that the card isn't perfect and i would take it back, if she doesn't like it. And so it was at the end, she didn't. So i have sent the money back and we divided the little postage. Let me explain, that would not have been a reason for me to leave a neutral or negative feed back.

If i sell something on ebay and the buyer is not satisfied, i would offer him always to take the item back. Fortunately it never happend yet. But maybe, it will happen. And not leaving the feedback before all is at the end, is my little protection from "bad buyers". A buyer, who get's the item, decides not to be satisfied, decides to keep the item though and decides not to contact me, but leaves a negative feedback. I guess, this would be a reason for me, to leave also a negative feedback.

You can be sure, I am only satisfied if the buyer is satisfied. If he is not, i expect that he contacts me. What can i do more than to offer, to take the item back for the same price? We would find a good solution for both of us, i am really sure. And then i would leave a positive feedback after this solution (after taking it back). A buyer who contacts me, is a good buyer. No problem, whatever the reason is for being not satisfied.

I don't think so, that it is "bad" from me to wait for the buyers feedback. What do you think? I know what you mean, there are sellers who revenge for a negative feedback. But this is definately not my reason for waiting. It's more wishing to have a personal contact (and not only feedbacks) if something goes wrong. To find a good solution.

But fortunately i had ever satisfied buyers yet.

[Nienna]

You raise some very good points there Tower!

From my own experiences, what often happens with my international transactions is the seller will leave me feedback telling me when they've posted my item and perhaps not send me a seperate email, which is fine ... I'm told the important informaton which then gives me some idea on when it should arrive.
Other sellers prefer to email me with this information and wait for me to contact them when I've received it (which is what I do for most of them) and for me to leave them their feedback. Again, that's fine.
Hopefully, both of us receive good feedbacks at the end of the transaction.
I do get some transactions where I don't receive any communication from the seller, so these ones don't get an email from me as a rule, just their feedback.
It depends really on what I've bought and how well it's been packed as to whether I email them or not ...

That's okay when everything goes well ..... it's when items go missing or aren't as described or perhaps they get damaged in transit or haven't been packed well enough ... that's when things get tricky.
I always look through the sellers feedback to see how they respond to what's left for them, good and bad. If they don't handle it well or leave abusive feedback or comments then I either don't bid on them in the first instance, or if it's for an item I really want and can't find anywhere else then I proceed with extreme caution. I've had dealings with sellers like this go both ways ... sometimes they've been fine with me and sometimes not, but thankfully the sums of money involved haven't been much as I haven't been prepared to put large amounts at risk like this.
It's basic common sense really.

I've had great transactions with you Tower ... 1st class items which were beautifully packaged. You emailed me to tell me when you were posting them and it was a pleasure to deal with you!
The way you do your transactions is just fine and I hope you don't experience the bad sellers which we've all run cross on eBay.

I do think the best transactions are with sellers who put the 'personal touch' in their listings and who also take the time and effort in emailing their buyers regularly.
I agree that eBay generally is getting too impersonal and I believe it's up to all of who use it regularly to try and bring this personal interaction back into our transactions.
I do understand that not everyone is able to do this if they're selling high volumes of items or if they only have a limited amount of time to do them each day/week because of other commitments and naturally they'll use turbo listing programmes etc to get the job done.
I'm talking more about those who sell as a hobby and as individuals (rather than a business) and it's great to say that those Forum members here who sell on eBay manage to do this easily!

I told you Roz ... you've got a wonderful bunch of people on this Forum!!