posted on November 1, 2000 07:51:30 AM new
I have been selling and buying on Ebay for approx. 3 months and have enjoyed it thoroughly. Once or twice I have been burnt by either a seller or a buyer (at least that is my perception of the transaction). Every time a transaction seems like it going amuck, we try to come to some kind of agreement with the other party so that everyone is happy. It has always worked out good for all parties involved. This last time an individual purchased a .99 cent item and was unhappy. He immediately emailed us accusing us of a number of things. It is understandable that when an item is received we tend to believe the worst of the seller, however, we emailed him back and explained why the item was sold at .99 cents and our policies, we also offered to refund the auction including the shipping. He never emailed us back and left us neutral feedback. My question is: What effect does neutral feedback have when someone is viewing a potential sellers integrity? We did not leave feedback for him, we simply replied to his negative that we tried everything to make the transaction a satisfactory one but he refused. What does everyone else think?
posted on November 1, 2000 08:03:03 AM new
well, you can have neutrals for any number of reasons, the first of which is that awhile back Ebay used to convert the FB comments left by any user who had been NARU'd to neutral, whether they were positive or negative. So if you read to the end of some LOOOOOOOONNNNNNGGGG FB profiles you'll find neutral comments that say things like
"SPECTACULAR TRANSACTION! Best deal on Ebay! A+A+A+A+A+A+A+"
OR
"LIAR! I SENT CASH SELLER KEPT IT & NEGGED ME! BEWARE! AVOID!"
On the other hand, many people are too chicken to outright neg, so they leave a neutral with a negative comment instead.
As far as your actual feedback count goes, a neutral doesn't affect it either way.
When I'm shopping I tend to read the individual comments to see what the person was actually saying- I think that savvy shoppers are aware that even a positive comment is not always a positive, and that negatives & neutrals, when left by total blithering idiots, are pretty meaningless....
visit www.vrane.com 's easy feedback- it's great for when you're trying to dig through those FB profiles!
edited- typo :P
[ edited by CAgrrl on Nov 1, 2000 08:04 AM ]
posted on November 1, 2000 08:25:38 AM new
Most of the time neutral feedback is of no consequence. Many people don't look past the net total, which doesn't count neutral. Of those that do, most just scan for the red negative comments.
So unless you had just a few feedback, one of which was a "nasty neutral", such that people couldn't help but notice it, I wouldn't worry about a neutral.
posted on November 1, 2000 08:36:47 AM new
CAgrrl: Thank you for sharing that website. It is great! Also, thanks for the comments. Sometimes when someone is new (or fairly new) we tend to panic at any given circumstance.
captainkirk: Thank you also. We always tend to overlook neutral FB, but didn't know if anyone else did, or if we just were not viewing the FB properly.
posted on November 1, 2000 09:41:24 AM new
I have no comments on Nuetral feedbacks. I don't lean on either side of the fence...I am on it. I have no negative feelings about it or positive vibes.
If someone were to leave me a nuetral feedback, it would be worst than a positive feedback which I prefer but then again better than a negative feedback which I dislike.
How can I interpret a nuetral feedback...well its like adding acid to an alkaline solution. Its like a solution with a pH value of 7.00. Its like neither sad nor happy. Its plain...neither sweet nor sour. Its a draw...its like a football game with a score of 20-20 with no OT.
One cannot draw any firm conclusion from nuetral. Its an incomplete puzzle waiting for its final piece. Its a story without an ending. Its a cliffhanger...its NUETRAL.
posted on November 1, 2000 11:45:33 AM new
I gave a seller a neutral and he told never to bid on his auctions again. This was for a total purchase of over $100. He charged me $16.52 S&H and then shipped it for $4.11 book rate.
Some people take feedback way to seriously. He has a feedback rating of over 1000 and ended up chasing away a good customer.
If someone told me they'd buy $100 of merchandise from me and give me a neutral, I'd say, "Go ahead! Make it $200 and you can give me a neg."
posted on November 1, 2000 01:21:51 PM new
classic87021 - It sounds to me like you did everything possible to make the transaction a positive one, so there is nothing else you could do. Some people just will never be satisfied no matter how good you are to them.
I read all negatives and neutrals when I am considering bidding. But if there are no negatives and the seller has high feedback with only a few (1-3) neutrals, and they all are more than six months ago, then I don't bother to read them. I am more concerned about neutrals when the seller has some negatives, or there are a lot (5+) of neutrals.
The responses of the seller to neutrals and negatives also helps me. If the seller has a neg but didn't respond to it I wonder whether they agree that it was deserved? I can usually tell, by the seller's response, which side of the story to believe.
Violetta
(Not known by this nickname anywhere but here.)
