How Important is Feedback in eBay?

[quentin]

Just a couple of questions to answer about eBay purchases that may help people make decisions about eBay decisions......
1. Have you made eBay purchases?
2. Was the seller's feedback important?
3. Do you sell on eBay?
4. Do you worry about your feedback score?

I have bought and sold on eBay. I do consider feedback scores. And I do worry about feedback left for me.

[TheAnonymousMan]

Sure not a problem, I've had years of experience with eBay. To answer your numbered questions:

1. Yes, about 42 of them all up.
2. Yes, absolutely vital.
3. No.
4. Yes, I do, that's why I make sure I pay quickly for purchased items.

You can use feedback ratings to work out whether you're buying fake merchandise (if it seems really cheap) and fake fragrances. I would never buy aftershave or designer perfumes on eBay as you don't what exactly you're buying. Anything that can easily be replicated as a "fake" should not be purchased on eBay in my opinion.

Let me know if you need to know anything else.

[albert]

I made transactions on ebay and its quite a nice idea to sell or buy on ebay but it don’t let you feel the product otherwise it is a good idea to buy and sell products online, its good to leave or get feedback as it will give others to see your history on the site that how good buyer or seller are you.

[mathew]

True... and it is the only way the others can see how good is it to deal with that person. You'd definitely feel more secured if you are dealing with a person with positive feedbacks than to those which has negative feedbacks or no feedbacks at all.

[TheAnonymousMan]

mathew you are certainly right about that one. I never deal with anyone with less than 98% positive feedback, or I check out their negative feedback given and if it seems like the seller is deficient in a certain area I will weigh up the chances of having my item delivered slowly or having the wrong product delivered or the listing not being accurately described.

There are also pirate sellers who will buy and sell electronic products worth 0.99c each just to rack up an account with 100% positive feedback from 75 transactions. They will then proceed to sell really cheap items that they have no intentions of delivering until eBay closes their account down.

You should always make sure the person who you're buying products off is a genuine seller who appears to be selling genuine items (based on item range, feedback and how long they have been a registered user with eBay).

Also if something seems too good to be true (like more than 50%RRP on a product) it probably is and you should consider whether you are willing to lose your money should the item you purchase be fake or not what you were expecting - like buying a fake football jumper when you thought it would be authentic.

I know eBay has insurance on most items such as mobile phones should you buy from a dodgy seller, but to get your money back can take weeks or even months in some cases.

[Kevin Lee]

Just a couple of questions to answer about eBay purchases that may help people make decisions about eBay decisions......
1. Have you made eBay purchases?
2. Was the seller's feedback important?
3. Do you sell on eBay?
4. Do you worry about your feedback score?

I have bought and sold on eBay. I do consider feedback scores. And I do worry about feedback left for me.

Hi quentin,

Here are my answers to your questions:
1. Yes, but I only buy rare items or ones that aren't available locally. For instance, I'll buy discontinued Nike runners or sold out tickets for events I want to attend. However, I'll never buy on eBay just for their deals since the cost of having to pay customs, taxes, paypay fees, and the exchange rate on my VISA will kill any discount I hoped to obtain.

2. Yes, but I only read the negative reviews (if there are any) because a Yale Study by Robert Jaques says "The impact of a negative review is more powerful in decreasing book sales than a positive review is in increasing sales. The authors attributed this to the credibility consumers place on the reviews. For example, multiple glowing reviews for a book may be perceived as hype generated by an author or publisher." ("Web reviews drive online book sales" http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/21462 ... book-sales ). Too many positive feedback scores looks fishy to me!

3. No, because I don't want to calculate the shipping costs.

4. Yes, but what's to worry about if you always pay on time?

[jackolive]

1. Have you made eBay purchases? Almost once a week.
2. Was the seller's feedback important? VERY! I always looks for seller's with good rep.
3. Do you sell on eBay? No.
4. Do you worry about your feedback score? If I were to sell anything on Ebay, I would. The feedback is very important. A lot of sellers are crooks and Ebay buyers are aware of it.

[Trent Brownrigg]

Feedback is VERY important to me when purchasing on eBay and similar sites. If they don't have several transactions and a 100% feedback (or close to it) then I most likely will not purchase from them.