Have you ever purchased anything from a seller, paid fast, received your item and left feedback only to wait and wait for yours and never get your positive feedback?  Makes you wish you could go back and take yours away, right?

Well, we won’t get into being ugly with our buyers, but we will be preemptive in the future in obtaining our positive feedback.  I hope that the following steps will help you in obtaining more, earned feedback in the future.

Step 1. Be sure to leave your positive feedback quickly. 

If the buyer has done everything they say and all expectations have been met, you will want to leave the feedback within a 2 or 3 day period. 

Many sellers will move on after a few days and “remove” their closed items from their “My eBay” section.  Being speedy with your praise shows sincerity on your part.  Don’t be stand-off-ish about your feedback either.  If all went well, PRAISE the seller’s good-business practices and go all out.

After you leave your positive comment, drop the seller a note that says simply:

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Dear Seller,

GREAT JOB.  The item arrived today and in the condition you described it in.  Thanks so much for fulfilling your promises.  I am very happy.  Positive feedback was left for you this day!

Sincerely,

Buyer
________________________________

Step 2.  You have left your positive feedback and a week has gone by and there is still none in return from the seller.

It is A-OK to email the seller and ask for it.  Tact is you best bet here.  If you write and say, “HEY!  I left you positive feedback; where’s mine??” You may find the seller’s “pride” button and NEVER get feedback or get a sly comment in your permanent feedback that say’s simply, “OK,” or “Thanks.”  After your rave review you left, that may be a worst “kick-in-the-teeth” than no feedback at all.

Realize that there are always 2 sides to every story.  Review the seller’s feedback that they have left for others.  You may see that he or she has a system of leaving feedback all at one time after many transactions have accumulated.  If this it the case, you will see that since your transaction, no feedback has been left from the seller to anyone else.

If this turns out to be the case, give it another week and you will most likely see your positive number rise.

Step 3.  So, a week has gone by and you checked to see if the seller has left feedback for others but you seem to have been forgotten. 

It is time to offer a simple email message that will both praise the seller and request that he or she take a moment and drop you a positive comment as well.

Try a message similar to:
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Dear Seller,

A couple of weeks ago I purchased {item} from you.  I have been very happy and have enjoyed it very much.  In addition, I felt the transaction went very smooth and hope you feel the same way.  I left positive feedback for you to reflect to others how nicely things went on my side of the transaction.

I have been a bit concerned that you may not be as happy as I have been and wanted to make sure all is well.  If you could let me know what your feelings on the transaction are, it will help me so much in being a better eBay-er.

Sincerely,

Buyer
________________________________
 
The message is pretty clear that you left your positive comment and you would like yours in return.  There is nothing wrong with asking for it.  There have been times where the buyer simply forgot and moved on thinking otherwise.  This will help them correct a mistake on their part and many times be very thankful.

Step 4.  What if three or four weeks have gone by and you still have not gotten your feedback as a buyer? 

Again, don’t make assumptions.  Check the seller’s feedback that he or she leaves for other buyers to see if there is any activity and that the seller has not forgotten about you.  If the seller is not leaving feedback, something could be personally wrong and their priorities have taken them away from the fun stuff like the Internet.

Keeping it very friendly and professional, send the same exact message you did before.  There is nothing wrong with that at all.

Step 5.  The seller still has not left feedback and over a month has gone by.  You may feel ripped-off after leaving you positive feedback and not receiving any in return.  I know I have felt that way before.  At this point, you will have to concede and move on.

By this time it may be pretty obvious that you will not get your feedback.  But be cautions here.  DO NOT write back with a complaint or criticism.  There has been times were the seller has left feedback for me 2 months later.  A complaining email may put the breaks on that ever happening.

You do have a couple of options here however.

A. You don’t have to do business with that seller again.  That is the great thing about eBay.  There are thousands of other sellers.  Many will sell the SAME exact thing and take the time to leave appropriate feedback.

B. At the bottom of the feedback page is a link called “Feedback Forum.”  When you follow this link, you will be able to “Follow up to Feedback Left.”  You could leave a comment here that reflects the seller’s lack of leaving timely feedback.  USE THIS WITH CAUTION!!  Remember, the seller has fulfilled his or her promises in regard to the transaction.  After all, you have already left positive feedback.  This follow up should not reflect the transaction details or you will end up being hypocritical.  Keep it short and sweet.

I have never used option B, but have used option A plenty of times.

This guide is not guaranteed to get your feedback every time.  However, it may help retrieve a few that you would have otherwise lost forever and not been fairly represented as the terrific eBay-buyer we all know you to be.

If you are wondering in what order feedback should be left, consider reading my guide, “Dude, Where’s My Feedback?”

If this guide was helpful, let me know by clicking “yes” below.  If it was not, send me a message or ideas of your own I could consider.

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