“Hi Andrew,
What’s your take on leaving feedback for buyers? Some people recommend doing it after feedback from the buyer has been received, while others do it straight away after payment is received? I’m not sure which method is best and would like to hear your opinion.
Thanks,
Nathan”
Hi Nathan,
Thanks for your question.
It has been several years now since eBay changed the rules so that we (the sellers) can leave nothing but positive feedback for buyers. Since that change I have used just one, single approach – I leave positive feedback for a buyer once payment is received.
Why? There are several reasons:
1) As I said, we can’t leave negative or neutral feedback anyway, so what’s the point in holding off?
2) Once payment is received, the buyer has completed the transaction from his end: he has paid you for the item you sell. Everything else is in your hands.
3) By leaving positive feedback for a buyer you’re giving the impulse to the buyer to do the same in return, thus increasing your chances of getting any feedback at all (it’s no secret that only roughly 50% of buyers leave feedback for sellers).
The last one is the most important in my opinion. When you leave positive feedback you can mention it in the Thank You letter or invoice you send out. This will act as a friendly reminder that the customer should leave you feedback, too.
Opponents of this method will say that when you do this you move all the power to the buyer to play you around if something is wrong with the item etc. But in reality they have the same power if you leave the feedback first, as remember – you can leave nothing but positive feedback for buyers in the first place.
There are idiots on eBay who will leave you negative feedback no matter what – and the fact that you don’t leave feedback first won’t change this. If you receive unfair feedback you can always go through the Feedback Removal process.
So yes – to sum it up, leave positive feedback for buyers once payment has been received and then forget about it.
You don’t have to do this manually: if you’re using Auctiva.com, for example, they have a built-in system that leaves automated feedback for your buyers based on your criteria. The same task can be carried out by Selling Manager Pro and other selling tools.
Thanks,
Andrew
The buyers responsibility does not end at payment. The new rash of buyers damaging items and then returning them for refunds lately is a prime example. Just this week we had two beautiful cuckoo clocks destroyed by buyers curious hands and then had the buyers demand refunds and returns at our expense. I can’t warn other sellers of this just like they couldn’t warn me due to the lopsided feedback system. Yes too many buyers and sellers were using the feedback system in the wrong way but removing sellers options to leave honest feedback was not the correct resolution.
Hi Andrew,
I recently noticed that you can reply to any feedback left for you and I’m wondering if you recommend replying to the positive feedbacks left on the seller account to encourage the buyers to leave more feedbacks if they purchase from you again in the future by simply thanking them for leaving feedback for you.
I know that later on when the sales volume goes up, this will be very time consuming but now that I don’t receive many feedbacks and it doesn’t take much time, would it be ok to reply to positive feedbacks left? And as you know better, is there any eBay policy that doesn’t like this idea because I haven’t seen many sellers reply to positive feedbacks, in fact, I don’t think I have seen any seller that would do this and I’m wondering if they have a reason for it or they just simply don’t have the time!
Regards,
Kasra
Hi Kasra,
No, there are no policies that would prohibit you from doing this and it definitely won’t harm you in any way.
I don’t do it but if you’re just starting out, it could give a more personal touch to your feedback page – people will see that you deal with each customer individually so that might help a bit, yes.
Thanks,
Andrew
I leave negative feedback for sellers who don’t leave feedback for the buyer,first. I’ve left plenty of negative feedbacks. A seller who won’t leave feedback for the buyer first is arrogant. Period.
Mike Hunt…appropriate name, if that is really what you do!
100% agree! 🙂
Are you serious Mike???
You leave negative feedback just because you haven’t received feedback from seller???
I hope eBay bans you soon!
Andrew
I thought of a few thing to reply to his comment but I’m truly speechless, don’t even know if I should laugh or cry…
LOL!
“2) Once payment is received, the buyer has completed the transaction from his end: he has paid you for the item you sell. Everything else is in your hands.”
My thoughts exactly. As a buyer, I always leave feedback for someone who has left it for me.
But unfortunately, too often I instead get asked to leave positive feedback for the seller, with the promise of it being reciprocated. By then I have lost interest in them.
It means my eBay feedback score is much lower than it would otherwise be, but so what.
Thanks Philip & Merry Christmas! 🙂
Hi Andrew,
I am wondering how are you managing invoices after sales on eBay?
Are you sending invoice manually for each seller after purchase?
The reason I am asking this, buyer can print invoice himself throw eBay do we still need to send invoice for them? If yes what is the best way for doing this? (Ltd. company)
Kind Regards,
eBayer
no, you’re not obligated to send printed invoices on eBay, as buyers can always print them out from eBay directly.
Thanks
Andrew
[…] personally leave feedback to buyers right after payment is made. But I don’t do it manually! Selling Manager Pro does this for me […]
Hello Andrew,Could you please let me know about Copyright? If I wanted to put a football teams name on something and sell it would I be breaking the law.Same goes for pop groups,film stars etc.
I await your input,
Brian.
Hi Brian,
Yes, that would be against the law and illegal.
To do this, you would need to get a written permission (almost impossible) from the brand owner, film star, groups etc.
Thanks,
Andrew