I generally agree, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that the FB system has nothing to do with creating honest transactions. It can be a great tool for buyers, but, like anything else on eBay, you have to do you homework very thoroughly, and look past the window-dressing that eBay puts on things to make everything look more peachy-keen than it really is. EBay is the land of hype x 10. Everyone that has a long history of buying there probably has a system that works for them (as yours likely does), but there are certain generalizations that we can make. One is that buying from someone with less than about (legitimate) 99.5% is a crapshoot, and I don't shoot craps. Bear in mind also that 95% of us on this list probably know way more about vintage bike parts than 95% of the sellers (which can be good and bad...). I would disagree about measuring the leadtime between auction end and FB left, though - some folks are very slow in leaving FB, but do it eventually, even months later. The seller has no control over that process whatsoever. Many sellers have an automated service that waits for the buyer to post a positive, then reciprocates immediately. I've received glowing positives up to three months after selling an item, when the buyer had the item in his possession in 3-4 days. That parameter is just too variable to measure meaningfully IMO. Another caveat is the age-old rule that if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Perhaps the critical one is "good jpegs don't lie," a corollary to which is "jpegs that only show certain sides of the item can be nearly worthless." Another might be "don't asssume that there aren't seventeen more of what you're thinking of bidding on about to be listed soon." Patience and timing are critical on eBay, but most bidders aren't patient, which eBay just loves all the way to the bank. Remember that eBay's only serious concern is making more profits for eBay. The rest can be a bit of a nuisance to them most of the time. A necessary evil, in their minds, if you will..... eBay is one heck of a lesson in buyer/seller trust IMO, and about 99% of the time it goes just fine, if we do our homework carefully and don't get too caught up in the hype. Our task is to avoid the other 1% of encounters! Greg "gotta get back to eBay now" Parker Dexter, Michigan
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 09:45:42 -0700 (PDT) From: Donald Gillies <gillies@cs.ubc.ca> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR]Feedback 98%+ on ebay
You can easily get negative feedbacks on ebay, if _you_ choose to purchase from someone with a low feedback rating. I have two negative feedbacks. In both cases, I got screwed and entered (negative, neutral) feedback. The other side went postal and retaliated both times.
One seller misleadingly described a $10 campy braze-on shifters to make them seem like clamp-ons and wanted $9 to return them, and another domestic seller cashed a $130 check and rested a month before shipping a camera lens.
After these two events I probably had a 70% feedback rating because I made the stupid mistake of giving feedback before the other side had entered their feedback rating, allowing them to retaliate.
The feedback mechanism is actually designed to maximize ebay's profits. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH CREATING HONEST TRANSACTIONS. For example, the NUMBER OF DAYS BEFORE BUYER FEEDBACK WAS LEFT is probably a much higher statistical predicter of seller responsibility and chance of a successful transaction than the actual feedback rating.
If seller feedback is < 100% I try to decide if the guy has successfully executed the last 20 transactions, and check for no bad feedbacks on the most recent page (e.g. no recent death in family or whatnot). If these two checks pass then they are probably o.k. Also, I always pay by check to get an address and keep an email conversation going - every ~5 days - about the transaction (check shipped, etc.) so that I know whats going on with the seller.
- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA