posted on December 27, 2000 06:16:59 PM new
The eBay feedback system stinks - it needs to be revamped.
It's difficult to understand and differentiate between the lies and 1/2 truths. Yada yada yada...
SIMPLE SOLUTION:
[1] Do away with text comments.
[2] Seller/bidder is rated with a numerical value, say 1-5. One being the absolute best service, five the worst.
[3] eBay makes it possible to view feedback averages [a numerical score] over a period of one week, one month, three months, six months, one year, or complete history.
ANY SELLER SERVICE, OR BIDDER TRENDS, DOWNWARD OR UPWARD, COULD EASILY BE IDENTIFIED.
I'd be just a pleased and confident bidding on a seller's item if they had a high ratio of numerical scores, rather than all those canned feedback text responses. Most are extreme anyway, i.e., either love or hate. CONSEQUENTELY, I'd bet most would be more comfortable leaving a numerical rating - probably more truthfull too!
posted on December 27, 2000 06:41:12 PM new
Text comments are important. There's a big difference between bad packing and simply never sending a purchase, for example.
Plus, the text comments give some insight about the person who left them. Half the time, the text comments make it clear that the person complaining is at least partially at fault.
posted on December 27, 2000 06:59:35 PM new
Actually amazon uses a similar system. With a 1 to 5 scale and your averge rating is displayed.
But I don't like it.
I think the current system is OK, except that there should be a cooling off period for negative feedback. i.e. When you leave negative feedback, it doesn't actually get entered for 48 hours at which point you have to come back and confirm.
posted on December 27, 2000 07:13:28 PM new
I have to agree with Amalgamated and the rest that like the comments... they do mean something and most people can tell the difference between and honest neg and a retaliatory neg.
Ain't Life Grand...
posted on December 27, 2000 07:22:06 PM new
Most of the people that leave neg. feedback would do so no matter how they had to do it. Personaly I like to be able to read between the lines (words in this case) and see the tone that it was written in. Words can tell you a lot, like if someone is really ticked off or just a tad bit upset. To me this is espically good if I want to bid on something or not. If the seller has neg. feedback I want to see the why's and wherefore's. This will let me know if this is a seller that I want to deal with. I also like the opportunity to respond to a buyer or seller that has left me any kind of feedback. I say---Keep It Like It IS!!! After the mess in FL. people would'nt remember if 1 or 5 was good or bad!!
posted on December 27, 2000 07:44:07 PM new
Text comments cannot be read with impunity. How many of you have left positive comments on less than satisfactory transactions? Such as "good." Regardless of the feedback left [positive] even "negative positives" no one will ever read them...
Wouldn't it be better to leave a 3 or 4 feedback score rather than a POSITIVE? Most of you - or the users as a whole don't even leave neutrals because they are often viewed as negatives.
Lots and lots of 3-4-5 scores would tell a better story than lots of phoney positive comments.
Morgantown
[ edited by morgantown on Dec 27, 2000 07:45 PM ]
posted on December 27, 2000 07:47:58 PM new
well in my opinion the whole feed back system is useless in the case of auction sales I think the grade system would be better.
basically the transaction was done a in fast friendly manner and shipping was done in reasonable amount of time or it wasnt.
you can grade that on a scale of 1 to 5 every thing else beyond that is worthless.
A buyer Replys to the EOA in quick friendly manner and sends payment in a reasonable amount of time or they dont anything else in feed back is worthless.
When you really look at the feed back of sellers and buyer right now outside of retalitory feed back and flameing back and forth its fast friendly and reasonable or it isnt.
posted on December 28, 2000 05:01:11 AM new
HALF.COM has a 1-5 system, and sellers are complaining about it! With a "2", what part of the transactions sucked? With a "4", what part could be improved?
EBAY cvould help by suggesting that FB, especially the negatives, be imformative and give some suggsted phrases, but it's nice to see the words. It also makes the childish retaliation easier to spot.
posted on December 28, 2000 05:26:28 AM new
The major shortcoming that I see with Ebay's feedback system is the percentage of transactions for which feedback is not left. Are these actually negatives that the buyer or seller doesn't have the nerve to leave ??? Or perhaps nuetrals, due to slow pay or slow shipping or bad packing, etc. If all these people left feedback, I think the picture would change dramatically. The number of negative and nuetral feedbacks in everyone's profile would increase quite a bit. I have over 300 transactions that I never received feedback for. I can't imagine that in over 1000 transactions, not even one person is disappointed for one reason or another. (I still have zero negatives and zero nuetrals) Are our products so good that everyone loves them, is our shipping so fast and reasonably priced that everyone is happy ? I find that hard to believe. There has to be at least one person that is upset because we charged them 35 cents for DC, but none said so.
IMO, to improve the feedback system, Ebay would have to make it mandatory or impossible to avoid, forcing everyone to leave feedback on every transaction. A popup window everytime you sign on, or something annoying like that. This is the only way I see that would give a more accurate reflection of the transactions.
posted on December 28, 2000 06:31:30 AM new
Someone posted this recently, but I have misplaced it. WHAT IS THE URL on eBay to locate all the buyers one hasn't given feedback to as yet?
posted on December 28, 2000 07:16:58 AM new
The grading system sucks. Do you know how many 5's it takes to make up for a 4? Or a 3?? It's not weighted and the goofballs deciding on the numbers generally aren't qualified, especially rookies!!
I think the best way to go is to have all NF's ran by Ebay before they can be listed.
I mean, enough fees are being paid for a minute amount of support. It would screen out some of the more bizarre and unwarranted stuff and maybe even diffuse a few situations that NF really shouldn't be used for?
posted on December 28, 2000 07:24:51 AM new
morgantown---I was not sure what the word impunity had to do with reading so I looked it up in the old Webster and I'm still not sure what the word has to do with reading. All that I know is good is good, fair is fair, excellent is excellent, bad is bad and so forth. All the people that I know that buy or sell on ebay like the word system and are very honest with their feedback. I like to see if neg. feedback has been posted in retilation by the buyer or seller as this tells me a lot about them and helps to determine if I want to do business with them.
posted on December 29, 2000 08:23:13 AM new
Don't you realize that if you convince eBah to try something new and they attempt it they'll be crashing for weeks!!!!
posted on December 29, 2000 12:13:13 PM new
If anyone has noticed half.com, an ebay co. uses this type of feedback system, maybe there is a chance of it being implemented on eBay. I personally like it.
half.com also sends automatic emails to buyers with a link to ask that they leave a rating, something else I like.
