05/03: Is eBay's rating system still working?
I've been a long-time user of eBay's auction web site, and I'm a true believer that eBay has largely delivered on creating the ideal "friction-free" marketplace that was one of the big killer apps of the Internet.
Recently, I've noticed a "flaw" in the matrix that has me a little concerned...
Through the years, I've purchased dozens of items on eBay and have saved thousands of dollars on those items. In nearly every case, until recently, I have received exactly what was advertised in perfect working order for much less than I would pay for the same product new.
In the last few auctions, however, I've had a rash of defective items. I've also received a couple of items that were just plain "wrong" - Different items than what was listed. When attempting to rectify the situation, I've gotten slow responses or no response at all in some cases. The only "remedy" really offered by eBay is to leave negative feedback for the seller. Once you do that, though, you're almost guaranteed that the other party will leave negative feedback for you (whether you deserve it or not). Moreover, you get stuck with the results of the auction and the negative feedback stays around for months so there really is little benefit to ever leaving negative feedback in all but the most dire situations.
Additionally, I've noticed a tendency for especially high-volume sellers not to leave good feedback after you leave good feedback for them. The net result is that your rating stays the same while theirs continues to improve. Since feedback is final (i.e. you can't change it after you leave it), the seller has already received everything they need from you and they are on to the next sale. One seller actually told me that their "system" automatically leaves good feedback for you after you leave good feedback for them.
While this seller's claim ended up being true (I did finally get good feedback after leaving it for the seller) I feel that the increasing frequency of these issues should prompt eBay to take a second look at its feedback system. The current system was perfect in the early days when everyone had only sold a few items, but with some eBayers having sold tens of thousands of items, and the new "show me yours then I'll show you mine" approach to seller feedback, we clearly need a finer-grained approach to keep the eBay machine "frictionless" and working for all users.
Recently, I've noticed a "flaw" in the matrix that has me a little concerned...
Through the years, I've purchased dozens of items on eBay and have saved thousands of dollars on those items. In nearly every case, until recently, I have received exactly what was advertised in perfect working order for much less than I would pay for the same product new.
In the last few auctions, however, I've had a rash of defective items. I've also received a couple of items that were just plain "wrong" - Different items than what was listed. When attempting to rectify the situation, I've gotten slow responses or no response at all in some cases. The only "remedy" really offered by eBay is to leave negative feedback for the seller. Once you do that, though, you're almost guaranteed that the other party will leave negative feedback for you (whether you deserve it or not). Moreover, you get stuck with the results of the auction and the negative feedback stays around for months so there really is little benefit to ever leaving negative feedback in all but the most dire situations.
Additionally, I've noticed a tendency for especially high-volume sellers not to leave good feedback after you leave good feedback for them. The net result is that your rating stays the same while theirs continues to improve. Since feedback is final (i.e. you can't change it after you leave it), the seller has already received everything they need from you and they are on to the next sale. One seller actually told me that their "system" automatically leaves good feedback for you after you leave good feedback for them.
While this seller's claim ended up being true (I did finally get good feedback after leaving it for the seller) I feel that the increasing frequency of these issues should prompt eBay to take a second look at its feedback system. The current system was perfect in the early days when everyone had only sold a few items, but with some eBayers having sold tens of thousands of items, and the new "show me yours then I'll show you mine" approach to seller feedback, we clearly need a finer-grained approach to keep the eBay machine "frictionless" and working for all users.
Jack wrote: