When you first venture into eBay, it may strike you as overwhelming and scary. User agreements, rules, warnings, links, urban legends, rumors, tales of bad experiences, etc. You know, like when you get cable, dish, telephone service, buy car insurance...

You just have to be careful. Don't just search for what you want and buy it from the first seller. Check their feedback score. That is the number in (parentheses) beside their ID. It doesn't necessarily mean that a high number will guarantee that the transaction will be perfect though. At the writing of this guide, my ID and number looked like this:



How do you find your number?

Log into your eBay account and click on the "My eBay" link at the top of the page.

eBay has Help pages for just about any question you may have. This is a link to some of their feedback help:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/feedback/index.html

There is even a tutorial:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/tutorial/feedbacktutorial/intro.html

So where do those numbers come from?

When you buy or sell on eBay, you leave feedback for the person you bought from or sold to. So you have bought something and are ready to leave feedback, what do you do? Personally, I don't leave feedback until I have received the item I have purchased. I make sure it is what I ordered and is in proper condition. When I am satisfied that it is what I was told that I was getting I leave positive feedback as quickly as I can.

Also, if I am bidding on an item, I make sure that I know when it is ending so that I can pay as quickly as possible. The more promptly I pay, the sooner I may get my item, and will encourage the seller to give me positive feedback. When I sell an item, my goal is to ship the item the same day I receive payment. In my item listings I tell potential buyers "the sooner you pay, the sooner I ship". I also remind them to leave feedback for me when they receive their item and are satisfied with it.

Currently, I don't leave feedback for a seller until they have left feedback for me. I don't know if this is right or wrong. My thinking is that I don't expect feedback from a buyer until they have gotten what they bought. If I have handled my end of the transaction as quickly, accurately, and honestly as I can, I expect the same from the buyer. I like to get the transactions completed and out of the way so that I can move on to other things.

How do you leave feedback?

eBay keeps up with your transactions and prompts you as to what you need to do next. When you first login to your account, you will see "My eBay at a Glance" on the right side of the screen. This is what mine looks like:



You can see what you have going on in your account at the current time. Notice that in the picture that I need to leave feedback for items both bought and sold. You can also see just about any information you need in your "My eBay" page. I have a broadband connection and keep this page displayed in my browser any time I am buying, selling, or watching.

The My eBay page is customizable and you can show or hide just about anything you want. If you are a buyer, you definitely want to keep up with your purchases. You can also move sections up or down on the page. In my page I have "Buying Reminders" shown:



and "Items I've Won":



Notice that in both of the preceeding pictures that there are links to feedback. You can click on either of these. They take you to the same place. You can get there from eBay home page when you log in as well. The "My eBay at a Glance" section that I mentioned earlier. Just for further information, there are several things you can do concerning an item if you pull down the menu at the right of the item listing (under the "Action" column).



If you are wondering what some of the symbols or icons ($, stars, little hammers, etc.) are that are displayed on the page, take a look at the Legend beneath each category. The legend will tell you what they mean.

What do you write?

It doesn't have to be a thesis or doctoral dissertation. It is nice if your spelling is correct. Feedback can be positive, neutral, or negative. Hopefully you had a good experience and the feedback will be "positive". Here are some feedback examples:



In Conclusion

Hopefully this guide has been helpful. I hope it isn't too elementary. I just wrote based on what I have experienced as a buyer and seller. I know it is redundant since all of this information can be found within the eBay Help system. I know for me, I sometimes need to hear or read something just a little bit differently to "get it" and understand.