A lot of eBay users ask themselves, "should I leave a neutral feedback or should I poke my own eye out with a stick?"  Let’s examine the advantages and disadvantages:

POKING AN EYE OUT WITH A STICK ACTUALLY ACCOMPLISHES SOMETHING.  - According to eBay, “The feedback system is easy to understand. You receive... 0 points to your feedback score for each neutral comment and rating left for you.”  So a Neutral feedback will NOT change a feedback score, while poking an eye out will certainly change a face.  ADVANTAGE:  Stick.

PEOPLE PREFER HAVING THEIR EYES POKED OUT TO GETTING A NEUTRAL FEEDBACK.  – This is somewhat counter-intuitive, but consider this eBay message board post left by Person X (not their real name):  I CAN’T BELIEVE some NUMPTY HEADED NEWBIE left me a FREAKIN NEUTRAL FEEDBACK!  May ALL THE TORMENTS OF HADES inflict this NUMPTY HEADED NEWBIE for ALL ETERNITY!!!! Why does eBay EVEN LET these NUMPTY HEADS leave a FAUX NEGATIVE???  I responded by LEAVING THEM A NEGATIVE and suggest that EVERYONE ADD THIS NUMPTY HEAD to your BLOCKED BIDDERS LIST!!!!”

On the other hand, let’s see what Person Y (also an alias) had to say when their eye was recently poked out with a stick:  “It was an accident.  They were running with a stick and my eye got poked out.  I forgive them.  These things happen.”  ADVANTAGE:  Stick.

PEOPLE ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MEANS TO HAVE AN EYE POKED OUT WITH A STICK. -  There is no official eBay definition for “Neutral Feedback”.  Go look it up yourself.  In the eBay Glossary, right between “Nazi Items” and “New User ID Icon”, we find ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.  One person thinks “Oh, this is so helpful – by leaving a neutral, I will let my seller know that I received their item and that I am not unhappy.”  Another person thinks – “I ought to murder that creep who left me a faux negative.”  People’s attitudes toward neutral feedback range from positive to negative to, well, neutral.  This leads to severe miscommunication problems.  On the other hand, it is UNIVERSALLY RECOGNIZED that having one’s eye poked out with a stick is a bad thing.  ADVANTAGE:  Stick.

LEAVING A NEUTRAL FEEDBACK IS PERMANENT – Once left, a neutral feedback CANNOT be removed, except under very extreme circumstances.  On the other hand, look at what happened to the Six Million Dollar Man.  He got his eye poked out and they built him a really cool bionic one that is way better than the one he was born with.  ADVANTAGE:  Stick.

LEAVING A NEUTRAL FEEDBACK IS EXPENSIVE – Under some circumstances, one can pay $ 25 or so to the right people and have a Neutral feedback “Withdrawn”.  However, this does not get rid of the feedback.  It only takes away the little gray dot next to it, and people will assume that it used to be a NEG.  On the other hand, if you get your eye poked out, it will cost at least $ 25 in health care co-pays to get it bandaged.  ADVANTAGE:  It’s a wash.

CONCLUSIONS:  Having an eye poked out with a sharp stick was advantageous to leaving a neutral feedback, 4 counts to 0, with 1 tie.  Always remember:  FEEDBACK IS OPTIONAL.  If you don’t feel strongly enough about a transaction to leave a positive, and if you aren’t mad enough to leave a negative, just put down the stick and walk away.