A message to buyers on how to best leave Feedback: WAIT!

I've had a lot of discussions with Community members of late about how the new Feedback changes affect problem resolution on eBay. Many folks are used to working transaction problems out by mutual agreement, where the buyer and seller work together to solve issues. In this vision, the transaction partners are like the guys in the missile silo where they have to turn two keys at the same time on different sides of the room. Neither one can do anything unless the other side agrees.

As everyone is well aware, Feedback works differently now. It's no longer a mutual system. Buyers can't receive negs from sellers, and buyers can't have Feedback they left for a seller removed, so the notion of resolving problems by mutual agreement makes less sense. For example, if a buyer leaves a neg for a seller because the item didn't arrive, and it subsequently arrives, the buyer doesn't have the ability to remove that neg. In the past we used the mutual feedback withdrawal process to de-score those errant Feedbacks, but again, in a one-way Feedback world, mutual withdrawal doesn't make much sense, because there's nothing mutual about it.

So my new message to buyers on how to use Feedback is: Wait!  Do not rush to judgment in leaving a Feedback for your seller. It's always been a good idea to wait to leave Feedback, but now it's more important than ever. Feedback is now a set of one way doors, and once you pick one and walk through it, you can't retrace your steps. You don't want to make your seller frustrated and angry that they got a neg while they're still in the midst of working with you. Best to wait until they've met all their obligations before you weigh in with your final verdict on how it went. You don't want to have to apologize for jumping the gun and leaving a neg if it turns out that the seller did live up to their obligations and do the right thing. That undeserved neg will be a burr in the saddle for that seller for a long time to come, and there's nothing you can do about it.

Another key point is that once you leave a neg for your seller, you lose all your leverage in urging them to do the right thing. In fact, you may actually generate a fair amount of ill will, especially if you put them below the DSR threshold that gets them discounts on their fees. So it's vitally important to wait until the transaction is absolutely complete, meaning totally closed and done, before you pick which metaphoric door (positive or negative) you want to walk through.

Fortunately the language in the leave-a-negative Feedback flow is extremely clear. It asks the buyer to confirm that they've reached out to the seller, waited an appropriate amount of time post-purchase, and it makes crystal clear that once Feedback is left it cannot be pulled back.  So no buyer can claim that they don't understand how the Feedback process works.

So how do we get this message out to buyers? Well, if only we made every eBay buyer read this blog entry we'd be just fine, but that's probably not in the cards. So I suggest that sellers push this message out to your buyers. Combine it with whatever messaging you currently have in your automated invoicing systems that explains how the rating system works and how the buyer can contact you if they have any issues. Put it in your shipping notification emails. There's no way a buyer can look askance at a seller who is merely suggesting that the buyer wait until the transaction is completely finished before they leave Feedback. Proactive communication and reassurance is already the best strategy for protecting yourself from negs, but putting in this "wait before you neg" messaging is just an additional layer of insurance.