posted on July 19, 2001 10:59:20 PM
I have been selling on eBay through AuctionWatch about 6 months. I am brand new to these message boards, so if this topic is redundant, please accept my apologies. I have had a very bad month dealing with deadbeat liars, I mean buyers and need to vent and also need a little advice.
What I don't understand is why eBay would allow someone that simply bid on your item but has never contacted you or sent you a dime to be allowed to give you negative feedback. My dilemma is this:
If I legitimately post feedback for a non-paying bidder that has no legitimate excuse or reason for not paying, and has not contacted me, this is to warn the eBay community. However, I have to wait in fear of retaliatory negative or neutral feedback. If I have followed eBay's policies and filed the NPB alert and also the follow up and they have not responded, why should they be allowed to post negative or neutral feedback against me when I have done nothing wrong and nothing against any of eBay's policies?
If I don't post negative feedback, these people are allowed to keep bidding and not paying on more auctions. I know that at 3 NPB alerts they finally get kicked off, but if I am the first, why should they have to go through 2 more innocent sellers just because no one is willing to mar their own reputation and post negative feedback?
I have a situation right now where the person won TWO of my items on June 25, 2001. They did respond to my WBN and filled out the form. However, I got an email the next day saying that she was trying to pay via paypal but they were having system problem and she would keep trying. I wrote back that same day and said o.k. just pay when their system is fixed. I have not received payment and have not heard from her since. I have sent two more emails asking her to please pay and complete the auction. She has not responded. I am getting ready to file my NPB alert tonight, and I want to leave negative feedback to warn others. However, the only time I have ever left negative feedback, I received neutral retaliatory feedback. I have had a huge rash of non-paying bidders this last month and am just soooooo tired of this. Should I post the neg? I've never really talked to anyone else about this before, I've just been going on my own judgment. Any advice would be appreciated.
posted on July 20, 2001 01:14:17 AM
I have posted negative feedback for NPB. I did it but was very hesitant. I know that there are some sellers on this board that won't post negative feedback in cases like yours. The seller's reputation is more in jeapordy than the buyers who can just sign up with another name and keep buying. It doesn't seem fair that a buyer can leave you negative feedback when you have tried countless times to complete the auction with no response from the buyer.
Now that my feedback number is getting higher (in the 200's) I am feeling more reluctant to leave a negative for a NPB. I can certainly understand the reluctance of a power seller with feedback in the thousands.
posted on July 20, 2001 03:57:09 AMamwell68, "If I don't post negative feedback, these people are allowed to keep bidding and not paying on more auctions. I know that at 3 NPB alerts they finally get kicked off, but if I am the first, why should they have to go through 2 more innocent sellers just because no one is willing to mar their own reputation and post negative feedback?"
I understand your angst. If you don't feel comfortable leaving negs, then that is your right. But.... You MUST file the NPB in order to get the slackers off of eBay! Truth be told, if most sellers see a bidder with a neg for non payment, the bid will more than likely be allowed to stand anyway.
Negs do little or nothing to a buyer. It is sellers who are hurt by negs!
posted on July 20, 2001 10:02:23 AM
I filed 7 FVF requests the other night. Just out of curiosity, I went and checked their feedback - 5 of them were NARU. Three of the 5 had NO negs, 1 had 1 and 1 had 2. Obviously, negging deadbeats is falling out of favor as sellers simply go for their refunds and let the NPB notices do their work. I didn't neg any of them, dont want the retaliatories. Most deadbeats are habitual and if you file your NPBs , they'll be gone soon enough.
BTW, these were ALL Collectible Toy Buyers, er, bidders.
posted on July 20, 2001 10:06:03 AM
Thanks to all for your advice. My gut was saying don't leave the neg but I wanted to do it. I will just file the NPB alert.
posted on July 20, 2001 10:26:58 AM
I agree that fb can be a joke, esp when you have made 2000+ successful transactions and only have 1700 pos fb, but check mine out on ebay, its like 99.4% pos, and I'm happy with that. I give NPB alerts and get FVF creds and give negs all the time and none of the negs/neuts I have are retaliatory, cuz you just cant please everyone. I just wanted to point my experiences out, even though I'd guess 1/2 - 2/3 of the sellers here will scream to never leave a neg. I guess I just dont get it. I even have people pay after all that bad stuff too.
posted on July 20, 2001 02:19:19 PM
leave feed back. I check out peoples feedback all the time. The number is not as important as the details. Leave the feed back, but be business like. Give all the facts but leave your emotions out. More often than not the reatalitory neg is a rant that makes them look like idiots & you look good. The vast majority of people can see through lies.
posted on July 20, 2001 05:23:56 PM
Negging deadbeats is a no-win game for the seller, yet only a minor irritant for the buyer. I have no desire to play a game that I have no chance of winning.
