If you have used eBay with any sort of regularity, you are well aware that the feedback page is a great way to get a heads up about your trading partner before you bid or buy. But what a lot of you may not know, feedback doesn't even come close to telling the whole story.

There are a couple reasons for this.

#1 A lot of buyers who have had a bad experience are afraid to leave negative feedback because they fear retalitory feedback. Want to know the zinger? This tends to happen more if the seller has 100% feedback! A lot of buyers are especially afraid they will receive negative if they break a seller's 100% feedback cherry! I've seen lots of sellers that once someone leaves them a neg, all of a sudden the negatives come out of the woodwork! That tells me that those people just didn't want to be the first.

What does this mean to you? You can't always trust the feedback score, even if it is 100%.

Ebay is in the process of making a long overdue change to help with this problem though. April '07 they are introducing "detailed seller ratings." This will allow buyers to rate each aspect of their experience anonymously and is a fantastic supplement to the current feedback structure.

#2 Ebay allows buyers and sellers to do Mutual Feedback Withdraws. Mutual withdraws remove the feedback score for both parties, but leave the comments. Because of this, they are not reflected in a user's score. MFW can be a great tool for trading partners who have resolved issues after the feedback was left, and can even be good for having undeserved feedback removed. But, can also be misused and destort a true feedback score.

So what's a savy shopper to do? Don't look at just one aspect, look at the whole picture.

• What is the seller's feedback score? ~ although this should not be used exclusively, it is part of the whole picture
• How many mutual withdraws do they have? ~ a few are normal. And if the seller sells thousands of items a month they may even have quite a few. But if the seller is getting 300 or 400 positives a month, I wouldn't expect them to have any more than 3-5 withdraws a year. Look at how long they have been a member, multiple the # of years by 5 and that should be about the maximum amount you should see. And even that is a gracious number.
• What issues are their negatives and their mutual withdraws for? Look at their negs and their withdraws (withdraws will lack a plus or minus sign, and will have a note saying it was removed.) Was the item not received? If so did they seller respond with a tracking number as proof? Was the item not as described? Some types of negatives will impact your buying decision, others will not. If the feedback is complaining about the transit time don't count that into your decision. Transit time is not a seller's responsibility, handling time is. If UPS stepped on their package, also not the seller's fault. Use your best judgement to decide if the negative could impact your own purchase.
• Here's a secret!!! Check the tab marked feedback left for others! You can actually see what kind of feedback your seller is leaving for other people, and it is one of the easiest ways available to judge their character! Everyone will have problems from time to time, but how does this seller handle them? When they have a non paying bidder do they write ~Non paying bidder, no response no payment~ or do they write ~BEWARE BUYER NEVER PAID GAVE PLENTY OF TIME. NO CONTACT NO PAYMENT YOU STINK~? Do they use terms like ~not very smart~Newbie~female dog~dirty~trash. You can tell a lot about a person by seeing how they respond when there is a problem.

Information from the left for others tab I tend to weigh more heavily than other feedback info. I am also looking forward to the detailed seller feedback because I think that will prove to be invaluable as well.

Use these features yourself. They can save you headache down the line!

Please vote YES below if this guide was helpful. Thanks!!