posted on December 1, 2001 07:05:05 AM new
Well I finally got my first NEG. I'm glad it's finally over with. After 795 possitives and 3 neutrals for bidders misreading an auction, I finally got it. Of course it was well deserved. I made the mistake of sending an item using USPS Parcel Post and apparently it hasn't arrived yet. It was of course my mistake for not hand carrying it two states over to make sure it would arrive within a couple of days. Even after sending proof of shipment I'm still called a thief. The funny thing is it doesn't even bother me much. After reading all of the NEG stories here, I was well prepared for it.
posted on December 1, 2001 07:38:28 AM new
Welcome to the club, cabledogii. It took me almost three years and 1000+ feedback to get my first neg. The last month have brought me 3 more. Life goes on.
It's been raining cats and dogs here for almost the past week and today has dawned nice and sunny. I'm off to enjoy it and hope you have the same type of day.
posted on December 1, 2001 09:39:20 AM new
Welcome to the Club... Some bidders are so bent on retaliatory feedback. I just had a bidder who left me two negative feedbacks when she claimed she never received an e-mail from us with shipping costs to Canada. This even after we had proof she did get the e-mail.. Anyway, it's all part of the business... Smile and move on...
posted on December 1, 2001 09:45:29 AM new
cablepooch,
My commiserations, but I think 98% of bidders are still gonna look at the +794 rating.
But just out of curiosity, I personally wonder if I can get past that small, but existent, "a**hole group" by selling stuff to a more mature audience.
I sell books and my rating is not so august, but still a virgin at 320. When I sell Forgotten Realms or some bubblegum'er stuff, it's a LOT harder to deal with the twerps than it is with what I would guess were stable adults whose desire to flame and rage is diminished.
That may not always be a choice especially in some areas of auctions, but I personally am trying to be really, really careful around those $2.50 sales to people I perceive as immature.
Their tracks are: very brief replies, no use of punctuation or capitalization, slangy, snide emails, the product they're buying is not Kierkegarde's _Stages On Life's Way_ but something with swords and buxom lasses on the cover.
posted on December 1, 2001 09:57:07 AM new
Hi cabledogii, I received my first negative when I was just short of 500 positives, of course it was over something simple, the buyer admitted he was way to quick with the neg response, felt bad, and we did go through square trade and it was removed. It was an overpayment which I caught and emailed him about and told him I was sending him the difference back, this email message was never relayed to him by a family member. However, he did tell me it did not bother him at all and it felt rather good giving someone their first negative after all the glowing positives. I woud think someone would figure that this is not a practice of this seller, and at least make one email attempt before blemishing someone's feedback history. As they say different strokes. I am sorry this happened to you, however, you should be so pleased with your track record. I was reading on one of these threads and I can not remember who the poster was, but responding to someone who felt they received an unjustified negative said "you have to look at it as your first scratch on a new car." That has stuck in my mind.
Reenie
posted on December 1, 2001 01:25:26 PM new
I have gotten my share of negative feedbacks because I'm not afraid to post negatives on non paying bidders......makes me mad when other sellers won't post these to at least serve as a warning that there is a possiblitiy that the buyer will not follow thru. The first negative that I got was when I started selling over 2 years ago and a buyer refused the item AFTER the sale because she discovered she already had one.......A Precious Moments picture frame........and when she posted, she posted negative on me saying that I refused to ship the item.....That about killed me, and then it made it worse when I posted her negative for not following thru and in my haste didn't click on the "negative", but clicked "positive" out of habit.....so my negative comment came out as PRAISE....then I was really upset.....but I have since learned that negatives for sellers on ebay can sometimes be the same as what my husband used to tell our daughter when she played ball and she would be upset after the game because she batted some strikes........he told her that it's better to know you got the strikes against you when you were at least ACTIVELY playing the game rather than not having any strikes and being a passive player.....So I guess I remember that when I recieve retalitory negatives.......I have earned them because I'm not afraid of posting negatives to warn other sellers.....I feel it is my obligation to other sellers to warn them and I'll take the retalitory negatives....I think buyers can use their own heads and see past the retalitories......won't stop me from posting for deadbeats...
posted on December 1, 2001 05:49:26 PM new
Thanks for warning me, but it is pretty pointless in my opinion. I won't be returning the favor, and I don't care what argument people give me about "It's the right thing to do" and "I'm doing it to help other sellers" - It won't help my bottom line, which is my main concern. Besides, I'm not going to go through all my auctions, and look at the feedback of buyers. Even if I did (which is way too time consuming) and there is some bad feedback, it is unlikely I will cancel their bids.
What you need to do it file the non paying bidder stuff (if you already do, great) and help get the bidder removed from Ebay. That is helpful to other sellers, and good for you too as you get a refund from ebay. (I have 1500+ unique positives, 2000+ total positives, 1 neutral and ZERO negatives) - I feel if I get a negative now, it won't be that big of a deal (Of course there have been times where I thought one was coming) but why go out of your way to rack up your negatives?
posted on December 2, 2001 07:41:21 AM new
I know my first one hurt like HELL. and it was after I bent over backwards to get her refund quickly after UPS damaged the item. they sent the check in less than 2 weeks for gosh sakes.
I do not give retaliatory feedback and hope I never will.
I have negged when I have a deadbeat and have not gotten retaliatory back, but it will happen eventually.
The feedback I have received since that neg actually seems nicer than what I received before.
posted on December 2, 2001 07:50:07 AM new
cabledogii- I bet you also forgot to put your own insurance on it. Buyers want the moon but they only want it the cheapeast they can get it. I will tell you I have 304 feedbacks, no negs yet, but I doubt if it will bother me. When I have a person bidding on my auctions I never go into their feedback to see what kind of a buyer they are. I take my chances and hope that they are okay. I had an iffy one a couple of weeks ago bid and win an auction. From the start I knew they were trouble, but now I see they are NARU. Thank god because I wouldn't want any other seller to go through that.
posted on December 2, 2001 07:56:40 AM new
I don't go into a buyers feedback while an auction is running to see what their feedback is, but when the auction closes I do check their feedback as it is connected to my policy on accepting personal checks in payment. When I see negatives within their history for non payment, it just gives me a "heads up" for what might be coming.......and for that, I appreciate other sellers taking the time to alert me by posting the negatives for non paying bidders.
posted on December 2, 2001 11:15:33 AM new
Dang it, how I HATE those Netscape ads. They pop up everywhere and anytime they feel like. It's like having billboards on your screen. Sorry Off topic. Just had to vent.
NanasTurtles. Well, I guess I have been lucky. I don't read feedbacks until I leave a feedback for my buyers. But I might lose sometime because I take Personal Checks and I do not hold them. I don't sell large ticket items so I am not so prone to lose much. My bank doesn't charge much for return checks, but I don't really know the charge because it has never happened.
posted on December 2, 2001 11:23:30 AM new
Libra63.......you have been fortunate then as far as personal checks go. I have had 3 personal checks issured for non suffient funds.....and my bank was gracious enough not to charge me for, but I when I cashed their insuffient funds checks, then I had to pay the amount of the checks ......NO FUN.......so then I came up with my "no personal checks unless you have 30+ positive feedbacks with no negatives" and have not had any problems since......
posted on December 2, 2001 11:49:28 AM new
"I think 98% of bidders are still gonna look at the +794 rating."
I personally don't think most people even look at feedback before bidding. There's a seller I know of with almost 4000 negs/neutrals (2088 negs (about 5 per day on average)) that's still selling almost everything.
What good is feedback if nobody looks at it?
[ edited by outoftheblue on Dec 2, 2001 11:55 AM ]
posted on December 2, 2001 05:48:36 PM new
maybe I'm different......I mainly sell on ebay and have for the past 2 years but I do look at feedback.......when I buy as well as when I sell....I have never and don't think I would ever cancel a bid because of negative feedback but I think it can be helpful in what to predict of a buyer if you don't recieve payment within a specified amount of time.....and when I do bid on ebay, I not only comparison shop for the best buy, but I also view the sellers feedback before I bid....If a seller has extensive feedback for slow shipping or neg. feedback for items not being recieved.....his feedback will tell a story that says I don't want to shop there.....I think ebayers can look at negatives that are posted and know if they are factual (repeated negatives for the same complaint) or are retalitory. So I think that the system definitely needs an overhaul but in itself, it can be helpful.
posted on December 2, 2001 09:39:04 PM new
I was just thinkg the same thing tonite after recieving my 4th of 834 responses. 3 of mine are retatatory and the forth is from a guy who was mad that he did not recieve his item 5 days after I shipped it (payment took 3 weeks!). I annoyed but I will get over it and so shall you Good luck!!
posted on December 4, 2001 06:50:47 AM new
My first and so far only negative feedback came last year on Thanksgiving (nothing to be thankful about). I made a mistake on a $5.00 (shipping included) book and instead of e-mailing me about this to which I would have gladly refunded her money, the buyer slapped me with a negative (and she wasn't a newbie either). I figured she wanted to either:
1) Tarnish my excellent feedback
or
2) Teach me a lesson
or
3) Make herself feel better because she had one neg herself and seeing my record made her jealous
or
4) She was having a bad day and took it out on me
In any event I got over it. I always brace myself for another negative. Not because I think I am a bad seller (my 500 positive feedbacks tell me I'm not) but it seems people are very negative happy lately.
It does feel good though to get that first one over with. It does get less painful
Buyers want the moon but they only want it the cheapeast they can get it. I will tell you I have 304 feedbacks, no negs yet, but I doubt if it will bother me. When I have a person bidding on my auctions I never go into their feedback to see what kind of a buyer they are. I take my chances and hope that they are okay. I had an iffy one a couple of weeks ago bid and win an auction. From the start I knew they were trouble, but now I see they are NARU. Thank god because I wouldn't want any other seller to go through that.