From eBay-
Following on from our announcement back in January, we’d now like to confirm that changes to the Feedback system will come into effect on eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie from 15 May.
Before feedback is left
- We’ll remind all buyers about to leave negative or neutral feedback for a seller to get in touch with the seller first, and to allow plenty of time for their item to arrive (we’ll also include a specific reminder for cross-border purchases).
- Sellers will have more control over who they allow to bid on and buy their items thanks to an enhanced Buyer Requirements tool. For the first time, they’ll be able to block bidders who have been reported for policy breaches and non-payment. We’ll launch these enhancements at the end of May.
- Buyers will be able to leave feedback for 60 days after a transaction (down from 90 days).
- If a seller is a PowerSeller and has been on the site for at least a year, buyers will not be able to leave negative or neutral feedback for 7 days after their transaction.
After feedback is left
- We’ll remove negative or neutral ratings if a seller opens an Unpaid Item claim and the buyer either doesn’t respond or doesn’t specifically say the seller is at fault.
- We’ll remove negative or neutral ratings left by a buyer if they’re subsequently permanently suspended from the site.
- We’ll base Feedback percentage scores on the last 12 months’ activity (rather than on lifetime activity) so that negative feedback doesn’t permanently affect a seller’s reputation.
- We’ll be launching a dedicated hub for sellers to report malicious or unfair feedback from buyers.
I think the above represents a life line to sellers who have been bitten by the “very very slightly discerned eBay buyer” that, without having the decency of contacting the seller to discuss their (usually trivial) concerns, throws in a negative feedback that has the potential to damage what is normally a respectable and hard working retailers business! A note to all buyers, please please please contact the seller with any disputes before leaving a negative feedback. Most of the time most matters can be dealt with smoothly and satisfactorily and sometimes the outcome sees the buyer receiving a little extra c:
eBay also mention-
Shopping with peace of mind
As we announced before, all listings on eBay.co.uk will soon need to offer PayPal as a Safe Payment method. This is so that buyers have the choice of purchase protection on every item they buy.
Over 95% of listings on eBay.co.uk now offer PayPal. If you don’t already offer it on yours, we’d strongly recommend you sign up now. We’ll update you soon on the final deadline for the requirement to offer PayPal on your listings.
We hope you’ll support these changes. They’ll create a safer marketplace where buyers are more confident and which rewards sellers giving good service.
Regards,
The eBay team
The above is fine if….
The sellers get something in return! As eBay/PayPal will be generating a huge increase in income upon their demands it is only fair that they reduce the commission charged! Currently at around 3.4%, for the smaller eBay seller, this represents a large chunk extracted from their margins. E2u as a business has seen a lot of potential new sellers turn their backs at sending their inventory to the eBay market place primarily due to the cost of receiving PayPal payments. I think that if PayPal charges were reduced to around 2% – 2.5% (which is still 1% higher than bank charges!), they would see a massive influx of new business sellers!! In turn there would be more sellers on eBay generating more sales for eBay and PayPal more successful entrepreneurs in the UK!
Let me know what you think? MCe2u
