It’s going in the binder I am keeping to someday explain to my 2-year old son what happened here, and why Daddy had to leave.

You mean have it transaction related same as giving feedback? A seller can only see a buyer’s feedback if the buyer bids on the seller’s item? That would be SUPER – but ebay would never bother themselves to do that…doesn’t put any revenue in their pocket….now they might consider doing that for an extra fee…… ;-)

I suggested/requested that sellers be able to leave honest BUYER FEEDBACK that ONLY SELLERS COULD SEE!

This allows sellers to review this non-public feedback about a buyer and decide whether to accept a transaction from this buyer or not.

The buyer is not publicly reminded or humiliated. The seller community has some level of protection against abusive or fraudulent buyers.

eBay achieves their objectives. All the honest buyers are happy. Sellers have some protection.

Win-Win-Win.

The following is a link to an active thread in the AC. It is withiin the feedback subcatagory.

1st post
http://answercenter.ebay.com/thread.jspa?threadID=900132915&mod=1209943532335

I think that the thread may be up to part 3 by now.

There needs to be better advice given to members. There needs to be more structure. The die hard contributors are also boycotters. Is this really the best approach for helping members?

How does the shifts in feedback procedures pan out legally?
Does the shift in policy disallowing sellers the ability to leave neutrals or negatives constitute censorship? If so, does Ebay incur any liability with the new feedback procedures? If the new policy is not a form of censorship, would someone explain this to me from a legal perspective.

What are the gains? What are the losses?

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1. When satisfied buyers attempt to leave DSR ratings of all 5′s they are prompted with the following message:

“Are you sure? Remember, the ratings left by you are anonymous and can’t be seen by the seller.”

>>QUESTION: Why does eBay feel they need to doubt the satisfied buyer’s desire to leave 5-star DSR ratings?

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2. Since eBay has made such a point that DSRs are anonymous, what faith do we as sellers have that eBay is accurately reporting to us (and to the public who is viewing our reputation) the ratings that our buyers are actually leaving? Putting aside the fact that the DSRs are poorly worded and that only one DSR rating (the shipping cost) is actually used to determine discounts and Best Match placement… eBay’s reporting of sellers’ DSRs is only one aggregate number. Even if I have trust in eBay to accurately report the “truth” in aggregate, what real VALUE is it to me as a seller?

>>>QUESTION: While still protecting individual buyers’ anonymity, why not provide to me some DSR information of value?

For example, what is my DSR rating from international customers versus domestic buyers for each DSR?

For example, what is my DSR rating for a certain category of products versus another category of products I sell? Already, I can see which of my categories are rated the highest in terms of dollar sales. Why not let me know which customers of which products I sell are rating me particularly well regarding shipping and which ones are rating me poorly. That way if there is a particular item or category of items where customers perceive that I am overcharging on shipping then I can address that.

For example, if my DSR rating for shipping cost is 4.6 in aggregate, how many customers gave me a 5 and how many gave me a 1?

Use the seller dashboard to give me some detail so that I can see exactly how I can improve my buyers’ level of satisfaction.

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3. Why is my blocked bidder list no longer alphabetized and why are some seller’s blocked bidder lists disappearing altogether?

And how does eBay plan to ensure that blocked bidders cannot simply create a new bidder ID to get around the block? Please do not attempt to describe to me any “current” systems in place because there are none that work. I have blocked bidders who have been able to create IDs multiple times in an attempt to continue to buy from me. Reporting an “unwelcome bidder”, even if I could keep track of all unwelcome bidders, is not acted upon by eBay. Call me silly but I do not want to do business with someone again who has chargedback and kept the product, who has attempted to extort money from me in terms of a partial refund, or who has threatened negative feedback unless I meet some outrageous demand after the fact.

>>>How can I truly block an eBay bidder given that anyone can create a new disposable eBay ID at any time to circumvent my blocked bidder list?

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So your reason to take their leverage to defend themselves away from them doesn’t stand up.
Sellers absolutely need a fair and balanced feedback system. The unfair feedback system only throws it out of balance, therefore it isn’t a fair system at all.

I think if there were an actual fact check or survey, statistics would show a minor number of sellers abused the feedback system.

Most sellers were serious about there business and took feedback very seriously. They worked hard for years to build up excellent track records.
Feedback records have now been messed with as well.

With all problems combined, I ask you, Mr. Donohoe, why go through such a farce that you knew would create a huge and unpleasant reaction? It is obvious that every change is not justified and the explanations given only serve to provoke a seller response and not one question is being truthfully answered.

It angers me to see the abuse. Donohoe, you ought to just come out and operate in the open. Why all the aggression and then the defense as if we are the enemy, as if WE did something to you?

The only enemy around here is someone that is very secretive and acts like he has something to hide. This is ridiculous and must be stopped. Just tell them Donohoe, you have no intention of having them around! Everything you unilaterally decided to change is working for you to get the whole community in an uproar.

Stop making these people ask questions you have no intention of answering. Stop using their time. They are trying to understand all these things you dumped on them all, all at once. Come out and tell them you intend to be relentless in your quest to change eBay and they are in for a lot more provoking pressure as each new change is rolled out. Tell them, they’re not part of the plan, they are like old furniture to you, just collecting dust and taking space.
What do you call “sacred cows”? Sounds like you think it’s really hard to get rid of them before your plans fail. I think you under estimate people’s intelligence. You terrorized these sellers. They are traumatized by your actions. Surely you didn’t think they’d just all go away just like that. You needed this vocal “noise”. Wow, just use them for every last detail. And let them know if one change doesn’t work then the next one will, and on and on for 3 years until they are all gone.

Really, do the decent thing and give it up. Only 25% of businesses can change and you picked one that has a very large resistance. If you needed to use your skills to change a company, wouldn’t it have been more logical/reasonable to find a more normal company to change?

Someone has to say it.

Well Richard, I was thinking exactly what your joke was meant to imply, and how that word appears to be how management is treating the sellers. Large and small. No offense to you, but I’m sure everyone who regularly posts here would agree with me.

I hope you don’t feel you have to pull this reply. You did ask.

Ah, we are talking apples and oranges, I do know that in May, the feedback score/percentage will be based on the previous 12 months – although all feedback will be part of the history – I think that’s probably what you read. They will also be removing any negatives given by no longer registered members.

But the feedback score is meaningless – it no longer serves any purpose. Even power seller status is moving to DSR ratings, not feedback score. 4.5 across the board is the magically number I think.

go to August 13th on the link below – that’s the first time ebay management stated neutrals were now the new ebay negative:

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/archive.shtml

Justin defines neutral’s as considered part of the seller rating as far as non-performance. At that time it was a 90 day window (I was wrong, I thought it was a 45 day window).

ebay finally kind of defined what all the restrictions were about – 4 months AFTER they started restricting sellers (see trust & safety discussion boards may-july to see how many sellers got hit and the replies given by ebay staff)

I have never once read anywhere from ebay management a 12 month as it relates to the various punishments.