Hello eBayers! I have been buying on eBay for a few years now & have been becoming discouraged with the way feedback is being handled. I thought I should write a guide to remind the eBay community how it should be done.
A Seller should leave feedback as soon as he/she has received  the funds to their  account.  It is fine to wait  'til  a check clears, but a paypal  deposit should be  in the account  within 24 hours of transfer.  Once you have received the funds from that buyer, he has honored his end of the agreement & should get his feedback left. You should not hold them hostage waiting for them to leave you positive feedback before you rate how they handled their transaction. Any reputable seller would leave the feedback & know that they are going to earn a positive themselves.
A Buyer should leave appropriate feedback as soon as the item arrives & is inspected to be what it was represented to be & that it is in the condition advertised. It should also arrive in a timely manner. 
Neutral feedback is ok. People get upset, but sometimes, a positive jut can't be left, but the transaction was handled. Neutral should be left. Don't feel bad.
I pride myself on being fair & keeping a good feedback score. I have been told by one seller that it is low, so I must not know how things work. I disagree. It's where it is because I buy what I want when I want. I have been held hostage for positive feedback by a seller who refused to sell me an item I won, & then he turned me in as a non payer. When I sent copies of our correspondence to ebay, he backed down. I'd say keep your emails for 2 months, in a separate folder. You never know. Recently, I purchased some cheap books for my daughter & paid with paypal immediately, as is my habit. The seller sent the books, & I left + feedback. I believe I will no longer leave feedback for a seller before I get it, thanks to collegehillantiques . After several weeks, I emailed asking them to reciprocate with positive feedback. A week went by with no reply & I asked again. I got a response this time that she had the flu & would do it later. 2 weeks later I email again, figuring she should be over the flu, & could she take the time to leave the feedback? Now I get a nastygram from her daughter saying I am harrassing her & that they should leave me negative feedback. (OH AND SHE SAYS FEEDBACK IS VOLUNTARY ANYWAY) I wish I had known how they felt & voluntarilly not left it for them. So another week goes by & I follow up my feedback to collegehillantiques. Now they leave me feedback. Negative. I won the auction & paid immediately. I would think a customer who pays his bills in a timely fashion would demand at least a neutral feedback score. This has been the single most unpleasant experience I have had on eBay. SO BUYERS PLEASE WAIT UNTIL YOU RECEIVE FEEDBACK FROM SELLERS, ESPECIALLY COLLEGEHILLANTIQUES, BEFORE YOU LEAVE IT FOR THEM.