posted on March 8, 2001 12:32:21 PM new
The buyer's obligation does not end when timely payment is made. Quite the contrary. The buyer also has a responsibilty to work with the seller in good faith (and vice versa) to help resolve any issues that may arise over the course of the transaction.
Receipt of payment by the seller is only the beginning of the transaction. The buyer indicating that the item was received and all is well is the end of it.
As a seller, while I'm certainly interested in how quickly a buyer pays, I'm even more interested in how well the buyer works with sellers to resolve problems. To leave feedback based only on timely payment is irrational and unfair to fellow sellers. If a buyer pays within minutes of auction end with PayPal, that gets me excited as a seller. But if that buyer turns around and tries to return a different item than the one I sent him, I feel that it is my obligation to let other sellers know this via feedback. And if I have left feedback upon receipt of payment, I have let myself down as well as my fellow sellers.
I AM NOT suggesting that the buyer should always leave feedback first. Far from it. I routinely leave feedback first upon the completion of the transaction. After all, feedback is transactional, not based on payment. As such, it should reflect the entire transaction, not just timely payment. To do otherwise is irrational.
When is it time to leave feedback for the buyer? When the transaction is completed.
When is the transaction completed? When the buyer lets me know that he has received the item and is happy with it. Or when the buyer receives the item and is unhappy with it, but has given me every reasonable opportunity to make him happy with it.
posted on March 16, 2001 04:57:38 PM new
In a perfect world it would be easy to leave feedback the minute that payment arrieves. I know my item is quality! But the world is not a perfect place, and as many of you state, a reputation is hard won and easily lost. Ignorance of merchandise is often a culprit. Example...I sold a lovely SYROCCO 3pc mirror and sconce set. SYROCCO was a company in upstate NY that made items of a composite of wood fibers and epoxy. The person who bought the item, however, bought it for the look, not as a collectible. Then she was disappointed because it was not what SYROCCO looks like, carved wood! She left feeback that the item was plastic and she was mislead. Even though the auction stated that the material was SYROCCO and "LOOKS LIKE WOOD" she saw what she wanted to see, and left the feedback without contacting or questioning first. SO even though a bidder may pay up fast, who knows what he saw in my listing. Was it what I was selling? Or was it what she wanted to see? So I wait to hear from the buyer because even though this woman apologized, I still had a negative. As long as there are people who can't or don;t read, look, or think, I reserve my comment to a "You're welcome!" and wait for the "thank you" first.
