We are the 99%. That is, the 99% Positive Feedback on Ebay.
Good Point Recycling / American Retroworks Inc. was a pioneer on ebay. I sold a lot of sewing machines "as is for repair" back in 2001, and got our first "delighted!" feedback from a sewing machine conaiseuse who was looking for several of these and found them good homes and loved that we had scavenged them from the scrap metal bin for reuse. Later I learned that certain very long monitor cords and cables were hard-to-find, and selling the longest ones out of the scrap copper proved appreciated by ebay buyers worldwide.
But you can't please all the people all the time. From time to time we are with 100% positive feedback, but eventually someone doesn't like something in the used, as-is, for-repair market. Even full refund policies are no guarantee to please the most picky ebay bidders.
This year, my favorite bad feedback was for a sale of scrap gold to an international bidder in Eastern Europe. The negative feedback arrived in Spanish (?). Evidently, the delay from shipping time caused the scrap value to decline on world gold markets. Since the value of the gold scrap was worth less on the day they got it in Eastern Europe than it was on the day they bid, they wanted a full refund. Without returning the gold.
Hmmmmmm. Refund? Or live without 100% feedback?
Sometimes the bad feedback is just from a "newbie", someone who doesn't realize just how much bad FB can hurt a seller. Ebay has new policies that buyers must actually contact you and try to resolve the problem before leaving bad feedback But there are millions of transactions every hour, and it's difficult to police.
You are selling something advertised as "broken, for repair"... The bidder has 10 days to ask questions, and bids aggressively, winning the item from another buyer who needed the parts. But then the bidder says "it doesn't work" on the negative feedback. You can offer a refund (despite your warnings of the condition and despite warnings of a "no refund" policy - made just to make people sure before they buy). But sometimes the newbie has a first-recourse of tainting you as a seller.
During the past ten years, we've deserved some of the negative FB. We had to replace staff who listed over aggressively, or we were late with a refund. No one's perfect, and leaving a little bit of negative FB is probably healthy for an ebay store. The best situation is to have some really hilarious negative feedback for other bidders to enjoy. Like "CEFAD" (Crap Email From A Dude) on Jezebel, the one-liners from some unhappy ebay bidders are like tweets from "First World Problems" (a hilarious website collecting complaints from people in rich countries who have nothing else to complain about).
What is YOUR worst or funniest "bad feedback" experience on Ebay? Who was the bidder who beat everyone to your product, obtained it, and then had a criticism for getting what they paid for? There have to be some other funny Eastern European Spanish-speaking feedback bunnies out there.
They are the One Percent. Those of us who have 99% positive feedback, we are doing better than Amazon and Wal-Mart and Best Buy, but we can't win them all.
Good Point Recycling / American Retroworks Inc. was a pioneer on ebay. I sold a lot of sewing machines "as is for repair" back in 2001, and got our first "delighted!" feedback from a sewing machine conaiseuse who was looking for several of these and found them good homes and loved that we had scavenged them from the scrap metal bin for reuse. Later I learned that certain very long monitor cords and cables were hard-to-find, and selling the longest ones out of the scrap copper proved appreciated by ebay buyers worldwide.
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| Ebay Buyer's Remorse Quotes Wanted |
This year, my favorite bad feedback was for a sale of scrap gold to an international bidder in Eastern Europe. The negative feedback arrived in Spanish (?). Evidently, the delay from shipping time caused the scrap value to decline on world gold markets. Since the value of the gold scrap was worth less on the day they got it in Eastern Europe than it was on the day they bid, they wanted a full refund. Without returning the gold.
Hmmmmmm. Refund? Or live without 100% feedback?
Sometimes the bad feedback is just from a "newbie", someone who doesn't realize just how much bad FB can hurt a seller. Ebay has new policies that buyers must actually contact you and try to resolve the problem before leaving bad feedback But there are millions of transactions every hour, and it's difficult to police.
You are selling something advertised as "broken, for repair"... The bidder has 10 days to ask questions, and bids aggressively, winning the item from another buyer who needed the parts. But then the bidder says "it doesn't work" on the negative feedback. You can offer a refund (despite your warnings of the condition and despite warnings of a "no refund" policy - made just to make people sure before they buy). But sometimes the newbie has a first-recourse of tainting you as a seller.
During the past ten years, we've deserved some of the negative FB. We had to replace staff who listed over aggressively, or we were late with a refund. No one's perfect, and leaving a little bit of negative FB is probably healthy for an ebay store. The best situation is to have some really hilarious negative feedback for other bidders to enjoy. Like "CEFAD" (Crap Email From A Dude) on Jezebel, the one-liners from some unhappy ebay bidders are like tweets from "First World Problems" (a hilarious website collecting complaints from people in rich countries who have nothing else to complain about).
What is YOUR worst or funniest "bad feedback" experience on Ebay? Who was the bidder who beat everyone to your product, obtained it, and then had a criticism for getting what they paid for? There have to be some other funny Eastern European Spanish-speaking feedback bunnies out there.
They are the One Percent. Those of us who have 99% positive feedback, we are doing better than Amazon and Wal-Mart and Best Buy, but we can't win them all.
NEGATIVE: "Though you did nothing wrong, I am giving you this negative feedback to teach you that the universe is arbitrary and unfair."
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