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Kim-Bee BearsI leave feedback AFTER the buyer leaves me feedback --- I use to do it the other way around
Jare Hares & BearsAs a buyer on ebay I think the only correct thing to do is leave feedback when the item is paid for. I think the same as a seller, when you pay then you should get your feedback. Though, sometimes I forget to leave feedback as a seller, usually because I am busy and have forgot to check it all out.
It is right that seller not leave feedback, until they get their feedback from the buyer. That is called retaliatory feedback and is against ebay policy.
Just because I leave my feedback for the buyer doesn't mean that I am done with the transaction.
Beacuse I create my label fro both USPS and UPS online I am able to track the packages online. Creating labels online usually means that you can get services for free or at reduced prices, this is something that all of us need to consider. I pay for the online delivery confirmation on my 1st class packages, it only costs me $0.14 and is well worth the money. That way I know that they did indeed recieve the package. If my buyers e-mail me and say that they haven't gotten their package, then I do my research online to see where and when the package was delivered. Most of the time it has been that the buyer forgot to check their PO box, or that the post office left them a notice that they need to sign for the package.
Little Bear GuyAs a buyer on ebay I think the only correct thing to do is leave feedback when the item is paid for. I think the same as a seller, when you pay then you should get your feedback. Though, sometimes I forget to leave feedback as a seller, usually because I am busy and have forgot to check it all out.
It is right that seller not leave feedback, until they get their feedback from the buyer. That is called retaliatory feedback and is against ebay policy.
Just because I leave my feedback for the buyer doesn't mean that I am done with the transaction.
Well said Jared I agree 100%, I think you said what myself and other's were trying to say. Just because you leave feedback right away does not mean your obligation as a seller is over.
Unlike the scenerio that Shelli brought up about Bloomingdales, just because money has exchanged hands doesn't mean the transaction is complete and I don't think anyone was trying to elude to the fact that this was the case. The transaction is complete when you pay for the item but Bloomingdales will always put your purchase in a box and or a bag for you because that is part of the transacation, and it's not just the sweater you are paying for it's the service that you expect from the department store and part of the service is to package up your purchase.
Although I did receive my money and left feedback I am still going to package up the product and ship it out (pretty hard to just take your bear to the post office without any packaging and get them to post it for you 
)
big hugs
Shane
Posts: 1,836I guess it just all boils down to how each person runs their own personal business 
Personally I leave feedback after the buyer has paid, the payment has cleared, and after I've let them know in a friendly email/ebay contact that their item is on it's way with tracking. I always send follow up thank you's to my buyers. I've always felt that's my responsibility to do, to make that initial contact.
I'm sure in ANY of the methods given in this thread that issues can arise on either end. I'm sure that neutral or negative feedbacks "could" happen, but if unwarranted there are ways to address and/or remove.
I like giving feedback once the buyer has done, in good faith, "their part" in the transaction. In a good faith agreement they've trusted my description, purchased my item, sent their funds and now wait for me to ship and uphold my terms and descriptions. Once I've met my end they can leave my feedback.
That's my way anyway...not that it's right, wrong, or better than anyone else's. It's just what makes sense to me and my way of doing biz. 
Here's a funny example.....person comes up to your show table. Do you wait for them to make the first move? Not say a positive thing about them, the day, the bears, or a sale as it's happening? Do you wait until they have the bear in the bag and are walking away to suddenly say out loud "Excellent day, thanks so much..glad you came...whhooo hooo...sell to that one, she's an A+++++" (??) Then, as she's walking to her car a rabid dog rips the arm of the bear and she comes back for you to help her fix it.....do you say.."wow I wish I had known about this before I said anything nice about our transaction..this could change everything." 
No. Most buyers are smart enough to know that you have no control over that dog..just like you have no control over that shipping if something should go wrong in transit. BUT it's how you, as a seller, handle that shipping issue that feeds into the feedback you will then receive.
I had one shipping incident during those big storms in December. I had already left feedback for the buyer before the incident. I made it my job to send daily updates on tracking to my buyer...even though my buyer had, herself, all of that tracking info. Her appreciation was reflected in her emails and in the feedback she in turn left me. The feedback I left her had nothing to do with the shipping incident, why should it?? We're not leaving feedback on crisis management...it's left on the definitions of buying and selling.
:hug:
~Chrissi
Posts: 8,574Inadvertently many of you experienced sellers have given those of us who still feel new and insecure alot to think about. I value that.
I think its part of what TeddyTalk is all about. Thank you!!
dilu
Newcastle, OntarioSarah Jane, thanks for bringing up this discussion, and as you can see by the responses, there is no right answer to your question - only what feels right for each seller, and that's what you'll have to decide - what's right for you. We all have such different views and that's what makes it interesting. Hope you have a better idea of how other sellers handle sales, even if there is no definitive answer.
hugs,
Brenda
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)If you ever get a chance to attend an all-day session of eBay University (check their Community links to see when a session is scheduled near you) - Attend!! They've got all the answers you want/need and more!
This is one of the very questions that I stepped up to the mike to ask:
Reply -
As soon as the Buyer has Paid, they have fulfilled their part of the transaction. The Seller *should* then post Feedback. Otherwise, it's known as Holding the Feedback at Hostage or For Ransom, for all of the reasons pointed out above.
I leave immediate Feedback: I don't think it's Playing Nice either to say I'll leave you (implied as *Good*) Feedback when you leave it for me.
BrisbaneThanks everyone for your input....you all have some very valid points and have given me a lot to think about....Bobbie I didn't know there was any such thing as an ebay university!!!! It is very interesting to hear there view of the situation!!!
Newcastle, OntarioBobbie,
I don't wait for my feedback to be left, before I post feedback for the buyer - I just wait until I know the parcel has arrived and I feel the transaction is complete. I carefully track my parcels and the minute I know it's been delivered, I post feedback, without ever checking to see if mine has been left and I don't ever feel as I'm holding anyone "hostage". I think this is a topic that can be beaten to death, and you will never to get everyone to agree. I think it was Kim that stated we have 90 days to leave feedback, and I think if Ebay felt it was that crucial, they would change the rules. I don't mean to upset anyone, it's just the way I see things.
hugs,
Brenda
Kim-Bee BearsAs soon as the Buyer has Paid, they have fulfilled their part of the transaction. The Seller *should* then post Feedback. Otherwise, it's known as Holding the Feedback at Hostage or For Ransom, for all of the reasons pointed out above.
I don't leave feedback until I get feedback because when feedback is left, then I know that the item was received. Also, I sell things OTHER than bears and I don't feel I should have to leave feedback when people don't return the favor... I have sold things and NEVER gotten feedback when I have left it and that isn't fair to me then....
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)A slight detour here, from Kim:
I am a feedback slacker
Do any of you use Amazon regularly?
I purchase all of the books I want on Amazon Used books.For years! And I've even sold some there. Many Sellers put in a nice little note saying that they're proud of their history of satisfied, repeat customers and would I consider taking a moment to rate them?
I admit that I'm a TOTAL slacker; maybe it's just that I'm into eBay's site every day anyhow, and am familiar with the system so it's a moment to complete there. but... I've never left an Amazon seller a Feedback of any sort.
Whew! To have finally come clean on this, I feel as if I've just been to Confession and received Absolution!
Posts: 1,836Just another bit-o-info for the thread 
From the "Official Ebay Bible" Written by the Dean of ebay Education.........yes I bought this book a year ago :crackup:
Feedback Protocol - Who goes first?
.....there is no set protocol regarding who should leave feedback first. Normally, the seller leaves it for the buyer once the seller has received the buyer's payment. The buyer never leaves feedback until she has received the item. Over the past few years, I have noticed that many sellers will not leave feedback for a buyer until the buyer has done so for them. It really doesn't matter who leaves feedback first as long as someone does so.
Again, it boils down to a preference thing.
:hug:
~Chrissi
pretty hard to just take your bear to the post office without any packaging and get them to post it for you
So true, dangit! But don't you wish they WOULD???!!!???
Hey, I didn't mean to step on anyone's toes in presenting the way I choose to think about the eBay sales/bid/feedback process. The last thing on earth I want to do is hold my wonderful bidders hostage. They not only help pay my bills but also make me feel really, really good inside about the work I do! I'm just trying to be a smart business person and it feels safer to me to make sure that everything is wrapped up and completely done before either I, or my buyer, leave feedback, so that any problems can be addressed to everyone's satisfaction. I do as Brenda wrote below, which is possible because I can both track parcels and use email to check in with my bidders.
I don't (necessarily) wait for my feedback to be left before I post feedback for the buyer - I just wait until I know the parcel has arrived and I feel the transaction is complete.
I don't judge others on their business practices and hope no one judges me for mine.
BrisbaneShelli I don't think you stepped on anyones toes....or at least not mine and that's what's important.. :crackup: :crackup:
I have been really interested in everyone's opinions here and am even more sitting on the fence now than I was before!!! :doh: :doh:
Little Bear Guythebearguys wrote:pretty hard to just take your bear to the post office without any packaging and get them to post it for you
[/quote=Shelli]So true, dangit!
OH boy do I wish they would do that , It struck me funny Shelli when I read your scenerio cause that was the first thing that popped into my mind hmmmmm how would the post office feel if I tried to do that. You didn't step on my toes Shelli I just found it funny that's all :hug: .
big hugs
Shane
Bears by EdieNow I'm just as uncertain as you, Sarah-Jane on this feedback issue! 
I really thought I was following ebays rules by leaving feedback at the end of the "completed" transaction - not just after half of it had been completed but after reading Bobbie's post if sounds like my interpretation of what they meant was wrong! I just hate to think that any of my buyers would have thought that I was "holding them hostage" for feedback 
as nothing could have been further from my mind!!!! I have always tried to leave feedback as soon as I know the parcel has been delivered and happily leave it first if I have the chance.
Now I guess I should think about leaving it on payment, but that leads to the next question - what can you say for feedback (assuming it is someone that you don't know) if they have just paid by PayPal and you have had no communication with them? Normally by the time I leave feedback at the end of a transaction I have had an email or two back and forth with the buyer so have something more to say than just "thanks for the prompt payment" (or "thanks for the payment"??? - if it hasn't been prompt????? )! Any suggestions, anyone????
ToadBriarA slight detour here, from Kim:
I am a feedback slacker
Do any of you use Amazon regularly?
I purchase all of the books I want on Amazon Used books.For years! And I've even sold some there. Many Sellers put in a nice little note saying that they're proud of their history of satisfied, repeat customers and would I consider taking a moment to rate them?I admit that I'm a TOTAL slacker; maybe it's just that I'm into eBay's site every day anyhow, and am familiar with the system so it's a moment to complete there. but... I've never left an Amazon seller a Feedback of any sort.
Whew! To have finally come clean on this, I feel as if I've just been to Confession and received Absolution!
I know you'll be SHOCKED to discover I've never left amazon feedback either....! It doesn't
seem that they make finding it very easy.
[rant mode]
But then I always feel gouged by their shipping. I KNOW how much media mail costs!
It'd leave a better taste in my mouth for them to just say "this book is $2, shipping is $1.59"
than to dance around with that silly $3.50 flat ship for a paperback that is priced at one cent.
I don't mind it much - lots of the sellers are just the sort of used books store that I love - but it
makes me a bit cross. I admit I have been like $5 off for shipping estimates myself sometimes,
but I do PayPal it back.
[/rant mode]
I have something you might fancy....
http://www.paperbackswap.com
(I've even gotten a few bear books on there! But mostly it's for when I want some
Dean Koontz sort of stuff to read. Doesn't get much cheaper than free, and I've offloaded
a mess of mysteries clogging up my shelves too)
Wow, I hijacked that pretty far. I might be in Canada or something by now.
I guess that on the topic of feedback, it's best to not ascribe 'hostage-taking behavior' when
it can just as likely be non-malicious intent!
(I wonder if the NSA is monitoring this thread yet, with all the mentions of hijacks
and hostages...)
