eBay calls Feedback “your permanent reputation as an eBay member” and it is a valuable tool to be used both before and after your transaction on eBay. You can get an Overview of Feedback on the eBay site. Below are my thoughts on how to use Feedback to your benefit.

Before the Transaction

As a Buyer: You should always check a sellers feedback before buying from them for the first time. Even if they have 100% positive you should read the comments and look at what was sold before making your decision to buy or bid on an item. The new Detailed Seller Ratings give more information to consider as well. If a Seller has less than 100%, it is even more important to read the comments and check the DSR. Check the Recent Feedback Comments box and look for the number of Negative and Neutral Feedback and when it happened. If it was over 1 month ago it may no longer be relevant but you can still look for the comment. Sellers with high scores will take longer to go through, but at the bottom of the page you can choose to view up to 200 comments at a time so that can help speed up the process.
Once you find the Negative comment read it and determine whether or not it was justified. As we all know there are some folks out there who will leave Negatives just for spite. (You can go one step further and look at the feedback for the person who left the Negative. Do they leave Negatives frequently or is this an isolated incident.) Did the seller reply to the Negative Feedback? How did they handle it? Sometimes you can learn more about a seller by his reply to a Negative comment than from the Negative itself.

As a Seller: While it it not as important for sellers to check the feedback of buyers before the transcaction there are some instances when it is a good idea. eBay makes it easier by giving us Buyer Requirements to automatically block users who have Negative Feedback or Unpaid Item Strikes but sometimes there may be other reasons to check a bidder’s Feedback. For instance, if you notice a bidder with (0) Feedback who doesn’t have a New User icon , you might want to check that they don’t have an equal number of Positive and Negative comments resulting in zero. If that is the case you will want to research to determine whether or not to block them. Another instance in which I check a bidder’s feedback is when I am contacted about taking Money Orders. My listings state that I accept only PayPal but occasionally someone will ask anyway. In these cases I check the person’s Feedback and make a decision whether or not to accept a money order from them. Usually if they take the time to ask, they have a good rating and I will say yes. You should make your own policies and decisions based on Feedback.

After the Transaction

As a Buyer: You should wait to leave feedback until you are commpletely satisfied with the transcation or have exhausted all resources for resolution. If you receive your item and it is what you wanted, it arrived safely and on time, then leave positive feedback. If any problem arises, first contact the seller and try to work it out. If the seller resolves the situation to your satisfaction, leave Positive Feedback. If not, file a dispute through the Item Not Recieved process before leaving feedback. At the the end of that process you can determine whether neutral or Negative Feedback is justified.

As a Seller: It is my opinion that when a buyer pays for an item, Positive Feedback should be given immediately. There are other sellers that feel differently and that is fine, everone has to decide for themselves. I believe that paying for the item is the buyers only responsibility. Anything that comes after that falls back on the seller, as Customer Service. If your buyer ends up leaving a Negative, you have an opportunity to reply to that comment and tell your story (briefly). As I said before, sometimes that reply will say more about you than the Negative comment.

Have Fun!
Mike