DECONSTRUCTING FEEDBACK – GET TO THE BOTTOM LINE ON SELLER RATINGS

As you probably already know, “Seller Ratings” are the numbers that appear inside a set of parentheses next to the seller’s eBay ID.  The number shown there is derived from a formula and expressed as a percentage of positive feedback out of the total transactions that seller has on record. 

Unfortunately, sometimes good sellers (98-100% positive) can be occasionally stuck with negatives from inexperienced eBayers who believe feedback is to critique the item or to simply complain without having first contacted the seller about any issues they may have.  However, generally, when you see a less than stellar rating, it is, most often, well earned and the seller to be avoided. 

This guide is designed to help you to get to the bottom line on feedback, making the best choice on whether or not to deal with any seller.  The more money you plan to spend with a given seller, the more important the information contained herein becomes. 

1.  It is critical to make at least a cursory check of your seller before buying from them for the first time (scan the most recent feedback for clues).  As stated above, the more money you plan to spend, the more important those few minutes become.  Even a great rating may not be what it seems after careful review. 

2.  The first thing to check out is how long the seller has been an eBay member.  This information is in the “Meet the Seller” on the right side of the ad, next to the auction listing.  Even new sellers deserve the chance to grow their business.  However longevity and proven capability is important.  So it is prudent to trade with those who have proven themselves to be reliable both from a customer and eBay corporate view.  When buying from new sellers, I would recommend buying from only those who accept PayPal or credit cards so there is a strong complaint and recovery system in place, should you need it.   If the seller is new and does not accept PayPal or credit cards, balance the risk with how much you plan to spend.  I like the Las Vegas adage of “never gamble more than you can afford to loose.”  New sellers deserve a chance but high end purchases should be made only where you are the most secure in making them, i.e. with purchase coverage afforded by PayPal or a credit card.   

3.  Another area to look through is the “Read Feedback Comments" under the "Buy Safely" section.  Here you find all the seller’s neutral and negative ratings from all transactions.  As Lincoln once said, "..you can't please all of the people all of the time..."  So outstanding sellers do get an occassional negative or neutral.  It is important to analyze the comments and to understand whether the issues raised are persisten and a problem for you.  For instance, if you see a litany of complaints about slow shipping – ask yourself if you are willing to be patient.  If not, move on.  If there are more than a few complaints about misleading ads – you might want to determine whether or not you like surprises and reconsider doing business there.  When a new eBayer complains in the Feedback and it is not supported by more of the same, you can generally discount it as a generally unhaqppy person and the complaint as irrelevant.  The truth of most situations is made obvious by the reply from the seller or the fact that the complaint type is an isolated case.  This is why it is so important that new eBayers understand the sellers terms and conditions and the purpose of feedback when they begin to buy and sell on eBay.  It is OK to muddle through most of the other things in buying and selling, but feedback is a critical area to understand at the outset. 

Obviously, when researching a seller, you find more negatives than you are comfortable with in a sellers profile, or buyers complain consistently about things you cannot abide – move on.  Chances are excellent that there are other sellers selling what you want elsewhere on eBay right now – or will be eventually.  In fact, never miss an opportunity to buy this item -- set up an automatic search -- eBay will email when the item you are looking for goes up for auction.

4. While analyzing the ratings, don't be deceived by what appears to be a super positive rating.  There is a formula applied to the number of sales as compared to positive ratings.  If you find a seller with a rating of 98.5% -- that is a great rating.  You must also compare total transactions, against the actual numbers of negatives.  The formula used allows the sellers with higher transaction numbers to be able to tolerate more negatives before the rating is significantly lowered.  For instance, if the seller has 14,000 transactions with 98.5% positive, you are impressed until you click on the "just negatives" tab.  Here you see that he has only 197 negative or neutrals.  Over a period of 6 years, that is about average, over a period of 6 months it becomes a warning sign.  Many negatives in a short time on an otherwise good rating can indicate a hijacked account or some other problem which should give you pause to strongly consider the idea of transacting there.

5.  How many ID’s has this seller had during their membership on eBay?  A single ID change in five years is usual.  Many times as a seller learns more about Search Engine Optimization, they will change the original eBay ID to something more relevant to what they sell.  For instance a vintage baseball card dealer with an initial eBay ID of JAKE14126 might change his ID to JAKESBBCARDS.  Another reason for an ID change may be the need to do so because an account has been hijacked.  Upon recovery from that process establishing a new ID is key.  However, if you see a 5 or more new IDs (as compared to the time as a member), you should be very careful.  Changing IDs is the way many sellers hide large numbers of negative feedback. 

6.  There are times when a new member will "Pad ratings."  Considering the importance of high ratings numbers to a seller, one can hardly be blamed for doing so.  However, if you plan to spend a lot of money with a single seller -- this may be an issue.  One of the cheapest, easiest (and legal) ways of padding ratings is to buy (or sell) electronic books.  At any given time you can find How To's Tips and Tricks, Recipes and Cookbooks, usually for a penny each.  Buying 100 of them for a $1.00 costs just that for 100 rating. There is no shipping fee (the product is delivered electronically).  Once the seller leaves feedback, the new eBayer has 100 feedback with a 100% positive rating.  Too often, the seller will not vary the comment and a potential buyer will see it right away.  When the comments are varied, you can see that most (if not all) feedback comes from the same seller and the item cost was a penny.  Sellers can also set up and use alternate ID's to buy and sell from themselves too.  This sort of feedback padding is much harder to detect but much more expensive, considering listing and PayPal fees involved. 

I do hope this Guide helps you to make educated choices as to who you deal with to achieve the best outcome each time you buy on eBay. 

Please check out my store "The Write Place Ladies Clothing" where you name the price you pay every day anf my nightly auctions for great deals on quality clothing, shoes, accessories and collectibles.

Happy Ebaying!  Pepper120851