eBay announced on Wednesday 5/7/08 that they will no longer
allow feedback withdrawal.
Details and rationale are posted on eBay's announcements board:
May 2008
This is the latest of the many "bold changes" eBay has instituted
recently that, IMHO, have had an adverse effect on both the buying
and selling experience on eBay.
Here's the text of eBay's posting:
Hello everyone...as we announced back in January, we're making
some bold changes to how Feedback on eBay works. As we get
closer to our launch, I wanted to review the changes we've
discussed and provide some additional detail and updates.
As a recap, here's what we announced in January that is scheduled
to launch the week of May 19th in North America (which includes
eBay.com in the US, as well as eBay.ca and eBay.cafr in Canada):
> Sellers may only leave positive feedback for buyers
> We will remove negative and neutral Feedback if a member
becomes suspended
> Members can leave Feedback up to 60 days after a transaction
(down from 90)
> We will remove Feedback when a buyer fails to respond to the
unpaid item process.
> Members will receive credit for weekly repeat Feedback (going
back to 1996)
> We will base the Positive Feedback Percentage on the past 12
months of activity (and include neutral Feedback in the calculation)
> The PowerSeller Program will use the same calculation method
described above to determine eligibility for the PS Program for the
Positive Feedback percentage requirement of 98% positive.
In January we mentioned that we'd block buyers from leaving
negative or neutral Feedback for 3 days for sellers "with a track
record." Since January, we've made the decision to increase the
wait period to 7 days and define "track record" as active
PowerSellers who have been on eBay for at least 12 months.
We studied the factors that increased risk to buyers the most and
found there are three: a) a seller's Positive Feedback percentage
and DSRs, b) the volume of a seller's Feedback – both in total and
on an ongoing basis and c) length of time a seller has been on site.
We selected PowerSellers who have been on eBay at least 12
months in order to minimize risk to buyers, because:
a. PowerSellers have to meet quality thresholds for both
conventional Feedback and, starting in July, for Detailed Seller
Ratings
b. PowerSellers have to meet volume requirements – both in total
and on an ongoing basis
c. One year on-site proved to be an important predictor of lower
risk
All three factors prove important to predicting the risk to buyers –
removing any one of them would increase risk to a level we are not
currently comfortable with at this time.
We will watch all aspects of the new Feedback system very
carefully, studying how the marketplace responds and we will make
changes as we see appropriate.
We mentioned that we'd be aligning the Mutual Feedback
Withdrawal process with the new system. After much
consideration, we've made the decision to remove the Mutual
Feedback Withdrawal process. The reason is that – under the new
rules - it opens sellers up to extortion. As part of this decision,
Mutual Agreement from third-party Feedback mediation services,
such as SquareTrade, will also no longer be accepted.
Over the last several months, we've had many conversations with
our customers – both buyers and sellers – and we've had the
opportunity to consider ways we can address some of the top
concerns we've heard. Based on the input we've received from you,
I want to share some additional modifications we're making:
We are adding language in the leave Feedback flow for buyers who
are in a cross-border transaction that reminds them that
international transactions usually take longer to complete.
We've improved the interstitial page that all buyers see before
leaving negative or neutral Feedback; the updated page offers a
stronger message to buyers about the need to communicate with
the seller, to allow enough time for the transaction to complete,
and to keep Feedback factual.
And later this month...
In addition to expanding the 3-day block to 7 days, we are
introducing a new Buyer Requirement that will allow sellers to block
buyers who have been reported by other sellers for eBay buying
policy violations (such as Feedback abuse, or email threats).
We're expanding the scope of the existing Buyer Requirement for
unpaid items, so that it supports more comprehensive blocking of
buyers who have a history of non-payment.
We've improved the process that sellers use to report buyers for
policy violations.
Detailed Seller Ratings will be coming to Half in the next couple
months. Watch for more information on this via email and on the
Half discussion forum in the next couple of weeks.
These changes represent a huge investment in
transforming the way Feedback works, so that it better serves
today's marketplace. Ultimately, the goal is to restore trust and
transparency and improve the buying experience, while offering
needed checks and balances that ensure our sellers who provide
excellent service benefit.
allow feedback withdrawal.
Details and rationale are posted on eBay's announcements board:
May 2008
This is the latest of the many "bold changes" eBay has instituted
recently that, IMHO, have had an adverse effect on both the buying
and selling experience on eBay.
Here's the text of eBay's posting:
Hello everyone...as we announced back in January, we're making
some bold changes to how Feedback on eBay works. As we get
closer to our launch, I wanted to review the changes we've
discussed and provide some additional detail and updates.
As a recap, here's what we announced in January that is scheduled
to launch the week of May 19th in North America (which includes
eBay.com in the US, as well as eBay.ca and eBay.cafr in Canada):
> Sellers may only leave positive feedback for buyers
> We will remove negative and neutral Feedback if a member
becomes suspended
> Members can leave Feedback up to 60 days after a transaction
(down from 90)
> We will remove Feedback when a buyer fails to respond to the
unpaid item process.
> Members will receive credit for weekly repeat Feedback (going
back to 1996)
> We will base the Positive Feedback Percentage on the past 12
months of activity (and include neutral Feedback in the calculation)
> The PowerSeller Program will use the same calculation method
described above to determine eligibility for the PS Program for the
Positive Feedback percentage requirement of 98% positive.
In January we mentioned that we'd block buyers from leaving
negative or neutral Feedback for 3 days for sellers "with a track
record." Since January, we've made the decision to increase the
wait period to 7 days and define "track record" as active
PowerSellers who have been on eBay for at least 12 months.
We studied the factors that increased risk to buyers the most and
found there are three: a) a seller's Positive Feedback percentage
and DSRs, b) the volume of a seller's Feedback – both in total and
on an ongoing basis and c) length of time a seller has been on site.
We selected PowerSellers who have been on eBay at least 12
months in order to minimize risk to buyers, because:
a. PowerSellers have to meet quality thresholds for both
conventional Feedback and, starting in July, for Detailed Seller
Ratings
b. PowerSellers have to meet volume requirements – both in total
and on an ongoing basis
c. One year on-site proved to be an important predictor of lower
risk
All three factors prove important to predicting the risk to buyers –
removing any one of them would increase risk to a level we are not
currently comfortable with at this time.
We will watch all aspects of the new Feedback system very
carefully, studying how the marketplace responds and we will make
changes as we see appropriate.
We mentioned that we'd be aligning the Mutual Feedback
Withdrawal process with the new system. After much
consideration, we've made the decision to remove the Mutual
Feedback Withdrawal process. The reason is that – under the new
rules - it opens sellers up to extortion. As part of this decision,
Mutual Agreement from third-party Feedback mediation services,
such as SquareTrade, will also no longer be accepted.
Over the last several months, we've had many conversations with
our customers – both buyers and sellers – and we've had the
opportunity to consider ways we can address some of the top
concerns we've heard. Based on the input we've received from you,
I want to share some additional modifications we're making:
We are adding language in the leave Feedback flow for buyers who
are in a cross-border transaction that reminds them that
international transactions usually take longer to complete.
We've improved the interstitial page that all buyers see before
leaving negative or neutral Feedback; the updated page offers a
stronger message to buyers about the need to communicate with
the seller, to allow enough time for the transaction to complete,
and to keep Feedback factual.
And later this month...
In addition to expanding the 3-day block to 7 days, we are
introducing a new Buyer Requirement that will allow sellers to block
buyers who have been reported by other sellers for eBay buying
policy violations (such as Feedback abuse, or email threats).
We're expanding the scope of the existing Buyer Requirement for
unpaid items, so that it supports more comprehensive blocking of
buyers who have a history of non-payment.
We've improved the process that sellers use to report buyers for
policy violations.
Detailed Seller Ratings will be coming to Half in the next couple
months. Watch for more information on this via email and on the
Half discussion forum in the next couple of weeks.
These changes represent a huge investment in
transforming the way Feedback works, so that it better serves
today's marketplace. Ultimately, the goal is to restore trust and
transparency and improve the buying experience, while offering
needed checks and balances that ensure our sellers who provide
excellent service benefit.