Well, on the flip side...I am a buyer and have never been a seller. I had always been good about leaving feedback (buyer's are reminded to leave feedback) until I realized feedback FOR me was only left about 50% of the time. Now, I only leave feedback if I receive it. BTW, I am an excellent buyer because every payment is made within 5 minutes of winning or buying.

I always leave feedback as a buyer and there are some sellers who don't bother too. The whole thing is voluntary anyway and really only important to those starting out selling.

Two out of 21 is an unusually poor ratio, I would think, but I don't know that for sure. I used to get a better percentage of buyers leaving feedback than I have recently... I don't know why except that maybe people are so used to eBay now that they're not motivated to say something about a transaction unless they're unhappy with it.

When I make a sale I always email the buyer to thank them for their prompt payment and say that I've left positive feedback for them and will ship the item ASAP. I never remind them to leave feedback because I dislike it when sellers do that to me. I don't guarantee this will get you more feedback, but it can't hurt.

If it makes you feel any better, in my experience Amazon buyers are even worse about leaving feedback.

I've never sold on EBay. I have bought a couple of things, but
didn't leave feedback. I ordered something, paid for it and
received it. To me, it was like buying anything on line. I would
complain if I didn't get it. Wouldn't you assume that if you
didn't get "feedback", that everything was OK? I bought my item
and moved on. I never went back to EBay unless I wanted to
buy something else.

I got tired of my feedback being "held hostage" by sellers. They had my money long before I had the article but they usually stated they wouldn't leave me feedback until I left theirs. Haven't bought anything in ages now.

Too bad that, as sellers, we are all painted with the same brush! I post something to the following effect when I send the invoice "Once you have received the item, please leave feedback which lets me know that the item was received and all was okay." because I'd rather know sooner than later that there may have been something wrong, broken, lost so the problem can be fixed, and everybody is happy. For those who "BIN" and pay immediatley upon purchase I leave them feedback after I have mailed their item/s.

But even so, more than half the time I don't get any feedback!

Wouldn't you assume that if you
didn't get "feedback", that everything was OK?

Yes, but feedback serves another purpose on eBay. Potential buyers check a seller's feedback to determine reliability and how likely it is that they'll be pleased with the item.

Before starting to sell on eBay, someone should do enough buying to build up a reasonable feedback score.

When a buyer leaves feedback, she's not only telling the seller that she's happy with the transaction, she's informing future buyers that this seller is a good person to deal with. That second purpose is the more important.

I get that both parties want feedback on the transaction. It builds a history.

But this is exactly why I never shop Ebay, and I resent when an Amazon dealer hounds me for feedback.

Jeez - it was a simple transaction! I bought and paid in advance (that's trust), you shipped. That's it. I feel zero need to fawn over your timely shipping, lovely packaging, or anything else. If something were broken or didn't arrive I would contact the seller. I certainly wouldn't make it public.

This mostly irritates me when sellers expect a rousing 100% great rating when they have just fulfilled the basic requirements of the transaction, and then harass me for feedback.

If I leave feedback it will only ever be: "The item arrived safely, and on time". But I do not feel obligated at all. I've already paid for the item.

I'm an active eBay buyer and I always leave feedback. I get frustrated with sellers that don't return the favor. However, I'm really bad about leaving feedback on Amazon. To me, it's a more cumbersome process on Amazon, plus you can't review the product, only the seller which frustrates me.

I review the products on Amazon fairly often. The star ratings next to the listing are for the product, not the seller. I do think you can just leave feedback about the seller, but have only done that a time or two. Most of my purchases are actually sold by Amazon, not one of their "partners." I probably buy something from them every week.

I mostly sell on eBay, but I always leave feedback as soon as they pay and if I am the buyer, I leave it as soon as I receive my purchase. Some people just don't bother or they may wait and leave it in bunches. I never, ever ask a buyer for feedback. You may get one you don't want.

I always leave feedback on buying or selling. People are people, they can forget or just don't care. They got their stuff and its over. It's the way things are.

I agree, forgetfulness is part of life, but if my memory serves me correct, eBay does send out 'reminders' saying that you have feedback to be sent!'

No - I think some people are just lazy or believe the rules are for everybody else and really don't give a rat's behind, and I have noticed that it's usually the people with "stores" or who have 6 gazillion feedbacks who don't think about the poor sucker just starting out and who could use the feedback to establish themselves.

Put my name on mary_c's post! Well said.

mary c, I don't expect someone "to fawn over (my) timely shipping, lovely packaging, or anything else", nor do I "expect a rousing 100% great rating when they have just fulfilled the basic requirements of the transaction".

A positive star rating and simple "thank you" would be enough.

But by not getting ANY feedback, I'm left to wonder for days if everything is OK, or if I'm going to have a problem.

As I said, one's feedback on eBay is the only thing a buyer has to go on with regard to a seller's reputation.

I buy FAR more than I sell, and always leave positive feedback, as all transactions, save one, have been positive.

When buying, don't you look at the seller's rating? Do you buy from someone who has less than 98% or 99% rating.

Given a choice, I don't.

Ellen

Put my name on Nelles' post. Well said. :-)

I'm surprised at some of the attitudes expressed in this thread, although I shouldn't be, I guess, because I know we're all different. But I enjoy selling on eBay, and to me feedback is simple and easy, and part of the fun. I certainly would not want to be fawned over!

Feedback can be somewhat boring when I buy from one of the big commercial eBay sellers. I have a standard feedback that takes literally seconds to input. If I'm buying from an individual and the situation warrants it, I can get a little more creative.

Ellen, I just checked my recent sales. Since August 5 I've sold 11 items on eBay, but only five of the buyers left feedback.

PS: This week I contacted a seller to express my disappointment with an item I received. Her description was inaccurate, and the item was useless to me. EBay got involved when I made contact, and opened up a case. I thought I'd probably end up shipping it back to her at my expense, but I received a full refund with no return necessary.

But Nelles and Alisande - you may have missed my point.

The whole feedback loop is WHY I DO NOT BUY FROM EBAY! I said it in my first post.

I know the customs (although someone else said "rules"). If I were to purchase, I would leave feedback. I've never slighted anyone.

But that custom alone is enough to keep me away from Ebay. I can find everything I need other places and never have to leave "feedback".

I do leave feedback on e-bay. But I think the lack of response is at least partly due to the fact that everyone wants you to leave feedback or take a survey today and it gets old. I get requests for feedback from almost every site I buy from and in a lot of cases, I haven't yet used the item, so have no idea how it performs. These are not sites where I'm leaving feedback on how well an individual fulfilled the order I made but from places like Amazon. It gets to be too much.

Quite a bit of feedback here, today, it looks like.

ole joyful ... who has neither bought not sold on eBay

I always leave feedback, it takes about eight seconds. I just type good seller, that's it and click a button. My son sells on ebay and sends out a stock letter that asks the buyer to please leave feedback so he knows it arrived. Most all do it.