Bartertown.com

I'm currently having my second experience with a seller that won't post feedback till after I the buyer does. This really irritates me as I see sellers comments on left feedback. Was wondering if anyone out there has nickname for these types of sellers. I'm leaning toward feedback snipers.
Now if I can just get the deadbeat to actually ship the whole item to me...

I like the ones who have "You must pay within X hours of auction end" then they don't ship it out for another 10 days.

bhouze wrote:I'm currently having my second experience with a seller that won't post feedback till after I the buyer does.

Now if I can just get the deadbeat to actually ship the whole item to me...

Simply don't leave feedback.

If he hasn't shipped within a couple days, start the dispute process and demand that he fulfill his side of the contract. If anything is fishy, escalate to a full claim as soon as possible.

He has 7 days to ship, per ebay rules. You have 4 days to pay.

No where is there a time limit on leaving feedback, neither do you.
As a buyer, fedback rating there doesn't matter.
As a seller, it's a big determining factor for some buyers.

I always hated that about sellers. I would fulfill my end of the contract/obligation and they wouldn't leave me feedback until I left it for them. I used to buy & sell, so I wanted the feedback.

Doesn't matter now though I've all but completely left FEEBAY. I joined Q3 of 1998 and joined PayPal as soon as it was an option. I still use PayPal only because I am not aware of a 'fee-less' version of something like PayPal.

I might look at eBay as a last result, but Bartertown is the place to be = no fees, great people, less morons, fair & honest moderators that aren't schlongs - honestly, the only improvement I can think of is for Bartertown to offer a "CAKB" check (Connivingsumo Annual Kick Back) ...I imagine that I'd be swingin by hell for a slushee before that happens

If it ticks you off bad enough, leave him a negative. References are about the whole experience, not just if the item was as described and how fast they shipped.
"Nice item. As promised, but seller is holding my ref for ransom until I leave feedback first. Bad form."
(Negative)


Eric

I was going to say a neutral instead of a negative, but pretty much along the lines of what MM said.

The real Eric

The torrid tale....
I purchased myself a Sgt. Centrius for X-mas this year. Left for my week away in Jamaica and upon the day of my return the sarge was at my door. Unfortunately the LOD backpack that was listed and the base that was shown was not. Not like the base is a big deal, and the original model came with the old character backpack that I have a few of. The seller replied that the backpack was shipped monday. Low and behold this monday the seller again replies that my bitz are now being sent this monday a full week after his prior e-mail. I'm really looking forward to sending this off to one of the advertisers and these delays are a pain.
The guy has a 100% postive so even my neutral will do some damage to his rep. The last time I had a feedback sniper I left neutral feedback with the comments, lots of rules listed, no feedback left.

These guys have offered me a little bonus so I may just wait it out and be nice and not bother leaving any feedback.

The last time I had a feedback sniper I left neutral feedback with the comments, lots of rules listed, no feedback left.

NICE!! I like it. If the seller was smart *cough* and/or even gave a crap *cough cough* he would have turned right around and left you positive feedback. That way other people reading the feedback would say, "Oh, well I see he left feedback - I think I can deal w/the rules."

Oh well, you did your part and if it prevents ONE person from having to deal w/BS then it was worth it IMHO.

Cheers,
Rik

It's a good thing that this idea doesn't take hold here on Bartertown. I think it is common form here for the higher rated traders to wait until the "transaction" is complete before anybody leaves references...

I know that when I do a trade or purchase where my trade partner sends first (which happens more often then not), I WAIT until I get a positive response from my trade partner before we leave references for each other. I don't see why eBay should be so different.

There is absolutely nothing left for sellers on eBay to protect themselves. A seller CAN'T leave neutral or negative feedback. You CAN'T stop somebody from getting upset and leaving a negative reference just because you want to make sure that they are HAPPY with their purchase before you leave them feedback. There is a whole laundry list of things that a seller can NO longer do to protect themselves.

I usually leave feedback on eBay for my buyers right away UNLESS it is a BIG item. Then I wait until they have received their item and that they are happy with their purchase. Otherwise a seller can look pretty silly for leaving a glowing feedback for a buyer who turned around and stuck a knife in their back (and it can happen).

Now, don't get me wrong. If your SGT. arrived without what it was supposed to have and the seller fibbed about when he sent out the replacements THEN you should consider a non-positive feedback. BUT, to leave a non-positive feedback because the seller is waiting to see if YOU are happy with your purchase seems a bit overboard to me. Just my opinion. I have been on both sides of this and it is MUCH worse to be a seller who left positive feedback for somebody who ended up stealing your item then it is for a buyer to have to wait for a feedback when the purchase is complete.

Karl

Karl,

It's a good thing that this idea doesn't take hold here on Bartertown.

I think you're looking at it a different way.

You're right that ref's shouldn't be withheld... ever... but the problem is that the seller (on feebay) who received his money first is saying that he won't leave the BUYER a reference unless the buyer leaves one first.

This is ref hijacking and is absolutle uncool.

I totally agree with the way you stated that you operate. I think it's 100% the right way to do it.

Hmm... Now that I reread it:

It's a good thing that this idea doesn't take hold here on Bartertown.

Does "this idea" refer to the ref hijacking that the seller is doing? In that case, I agree completely.

Eric
P.S. "Polska," huh? Nice.

No. Not really. I was refering to the fact that somebody would leave a negative for another trader because they don't want to leave them a reference until the trade is completed.

That could be construed as ref hijacking. Right?

I don't like ref hijacking either, but you are walking a tight line here. If the original poster bought an item from somebody who had that stipulation in their auction, then he knew it going in and has to live with it. That is like buying a new car and then going back and griping about the interest rate.

Now, if the seller didn't have it listed and wouldn't leave a feedback until after the buyer left his, then the buyer has a right to be a little peeved. Although, I can't imagine being that peeved over that. I would be upset about the seller telling you he had sent the replacements and then saying the same thing a week later. All the other stuff is no big deal to me.

You're right that ref's shouldn't be withheld... ever

But isn't this what almost every seasoned trader here does. For instance: I agree with another lower rated trader in a trade. He sends his end. I get it. I like it. I ship his end and tell him that when it arrives to let me know and we can leave references for each other. That's ref-hijcaking isn't it? To a degree. I have received my end but don't want to leave a reference because I have no idea what outside forces will do to the trade. To be honest, I used to always leave my reference the moment I received my end and was happy with it. I was cautioned away from this in a couple of old threads by folks who were more cautious than I.

As a seller on eBay, it really is the only safeguard left to keep you protected from deadbeat buyers. And by it I mean holding the feedback until the transaction is completed. A seller that has been burned (and I would think that there are a whole lot more of them on eBay lately) would want to make sure that his good feedback isn't ruined without any kind of reprisal. I personally don't do it, but I certainly see why some would.

Is any of this coherent? It's been a long day after a long night...

Karl

It is, but it isn't.
I've left feedback when I got what I wanted and mailed the other guys stuff.
When he got his stuff, he said it wasn't what he wanted. He said I owed him $ since I listed full value on the customs forms and he had to pay the fees to get the items.
I offered to return the stuff I got, if he returned the stuff he got. He said he's still be out the $ for shippping, like I was, but also out the customs fees.
He ended up keeping them. [I was trading with someone else in the same city, who happened to know the guy and siad he worked at a flgs and had a deal with another customer.]

He didn't leave any ref. He got a ref, but I didn't.

So now, I don't leave refs till both sides says they're happy. If they're not, then it's up to both of us to work out the deal, either return, or send more.
I don't feel a deal is completed until both sides are happy. [theres a bad joke there, but i'll let it slide.]

My point entirely. Now, say a seller sells a higher end item and when the buyer pays he leaves the buyer a positive feedback. When the buyer recieves the item, he claims that it was broken or wasn't shipped at all. The buyer takes the money, the item, the positive reference and walks and now the seller can do nothing PLUS he has already left the thief a positive reference.

I think that is why sellers are keeping their references until they get one (which is pretty much the same as saying that you won't leave a reference until both sides are happy with the transaction).

Just my take on it. Like I said, I have been on both ends of this kind of thing and I can tell you which one hurts more.

Karl

You were coherent, but I think you misunderstood:

Adunaphel wrote:No. Not really. I was refering to the fact that somebody would leave a negative for another trader because they don't want to leave them a reference until the trade is completed.

I was referring to the feebay seller refusing to leave a reference FIRST. If I buy something from "Joe Seller" on Feebay, I deserve my positive. Furthermore, since I "sent" my portion of the deal first, I deserve my "reward" first.
Leaving a neg because the other guy (in what I presume is a trade... but a feebay sale would work) won't leave ref's until the entire trade is complete... That IS just stupid.

Adunaphel wrote:If the original poster bought an item from somebody who had that stipulation in their auction, then he knew it going in and has to live with it. That is like buying a new car and then going back and griping about the interest rate.

Agreed. If it's stated in the auction, then b*tching is not warranted. I was referring to the guys who don't let you know that is their policy until after the auction ends.


Eric