No More Buyer Feedbacks

EBay finally start to some of its feedback changes, which were declared back in January.

Effective May 19, sellers cannot leave negative or neutral feedback for buyers. And of course sellers are outraged, leading to calls for a boycott.

As merchants have planned different protests, Brian Burke, eBay’s director of global feedback policy argues that the changes will improve customer satisfaction, which could ultimately drive business for sellers.

“We’ve heard some complaints [from sellers], and we’ll probably hear some even louder complaints [after the changes go live], but we believe that the overall marketplace will be better and healthier for it,” Brian Burke says.

Among the changes made, eBay says it will remove any negative feedback for sellers if the feedback was left by a suspended buyer or left by a buyer who hasn’t responded to the unpaid item process.

Meanwhile, a handful of third-party businesses are trying to fill the hole that eBay left open. Fair Outcomes, a Boston-based business founded by a computer scientist, a game theorist and a few commercial lawyers, aims to streamline the settlement process for eBay seller-buyer disputes.

The service lets sellers invite purchasers to resolve their differences on a proprietary, confidential system. Sellers are charged a flat fee of $10 to invite a buyer to settle the case. If the buyer and seller cannot resolve their differences on their own, the case will be handled by an authority (a commercial attorney).

“There are real inefficiencies in bargaining attributed to things like, fear of being weak and posturing,” says Jim Ring, CEO of Fair Outcomes.

Ebuyer-feedback.com, another website, is trying to set up itself as an alternative feedback platform for eBay buyers and sellers.

“This website gives sellers the ability to leave their eBay buyers positive, negative, or neutral feedback,” the Ebuyer-feedback says.