I am sorry this opening post is so long, but if you sell on eBay you may want to read it.

Feedback 2.0 is coming to the US and Canada soon. If you don’t know what it is, you should, as it will have a big impact on sellers.

Feedback 2.0 has been in force in the UK for a few weeks now and is still stirring up a lot of opinions and controversy. I went onto the eBay UK boards this week and posted a question asking for opinions. Boy did I get an earful.

The problem is that eBay North America is going to make a decision on this based on the experience of the UK and Australia, and we here in the US and Canada are going to be presented with a fait accompli. Once it is introduced that will be it. Sellers can complain all they want but we will be stuck with it and will not have had any chance to give input. Now is the time to learn about this thing and let eBay know your feelings.

Before I show you the comments here is a simple description of Feedback 2.0

Besides leaving a feedback comment, buyers can rate sellers in four categories with a 5-star system. The categories used in the UK include:
-item as described
-communication
-dispatch time (shipping)
-Postage and Packaging charges

The other big change with Feedback 2.0 is that the feedback comment shows the item title that was sold and the price the seller paid. If you want to see this in action, go to eBay.co.uk, open some auctions and click on the feedback score after the member’s ID.

So what do the UK sellers think of 2.0?

Here are some actual comments from the message boards. I have my own feelings but I have tried to be representative to be fair. If it seems like there are more negatives than positives, that’s just the way it is. Remember I am primarily looking at this from the seller’s standpoint –not the buyers. Here are a sampling of the comments:

Danger is that people who are satisfied will leave feedback but not use star ratings while those with a gripe will. If this happens then the ratings will not be a true reflection through a lack of fives. If there is a star system then it should be compulsory.
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Im finding people are ignoring the star ratings, maybe because they think that giving a good feedback is enough which it is really.

When we mail out items here first class buyers expect to receive it the next day which in theory they should. People in US are used to waiting 3-5 days for an item to arrive. It's a big country.

There was a lot of concern here about people loosing half a star for one thing or another, but it's settled down now and I don't think that anyone's sales have suffered because they have lost a star. It's the other issues going on that are loosing people sales.

It's a good feedback % score that will sway buyers not that a seller hasn't got 5 star ratings across the board

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OP - The main problems are that it's a biased system - buyers get to rate sellers in great detail, but sellers don't get to rate buyers in the same way. Secondly, as has been evidenced by the numerous threads on Ebay.UK already, people's opinions differ wildly over what constitutes good, bad or average. We've had people saying they will start with 5 stars and only knock some off for very bad service - and we've had others saying they will start out by awarding 3 stars and only add any extra if the service is out of this world - ie the ratings are going to be fairly meaningless.

Won't matter too much if you have a high sales volume. It could be a serious problem if you have a low sales volume and are unlucky enough to get people a few sandwiches short of a picnic rating you.

The biggest concern seems to be P+P ratings. Example - I bought a vacuum cleaner from a guy yesterday which came via DHL next day service approx 130 miles for just £9 - great value IMHO. But the guy is still dropping marks on P+P from some buyers. What more do people want?!

Oh, and when the first threads rolled out it looked as though there was circa 95% opposition to the new FB system - so it's not just a few 'moaners' as some would have you believe.

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I sold a Hampster cage to a chap who left me a glowing feedback comment but then hit me with low stars on all four levels. I think the wheel was turning but the hamster was dead.

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If buyers can rate sellers, why can't sellers rate buyers ?
I get buyers who pay within seconds of the auction ending
I get buyers who pay within a few days
I get buyers who seem to need a 7 day reminder to pay
I get buyers who need a non payment dispute to pay up
I get buyers who ask not to pay
I get buyers who ask stupid questions after they have bid and won.... and so it goes on

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Why do I have to rate them all the same way ? Or could it all have just been left the way it was ?

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This one appears to be from a buyer but has a message for sellers:
"Can't believe that ebay is doing this??
Who came up with this idiocy ???

This is surely an invasion of PRIVACY.

What I purchase on ebay should be my own personal business. Why does it have to be listed for the world to see? I'm not ashamed of my purchases, but whether I buy a pack of pencils, or a bed sheet, it's MY business!!

This means, I can look at a Shopseller's profile, who sells simular items to what I sell, and see where they purchase their stock or packaging, if they've purchased them on ebay.

This means I can get really curious about a gift that hubby's purchased for my birthday, and just click on his ebay id and see what he's got me!!

This means I wont be doing much shopping on ebay anymore.

Ebay has lost a chunk of my business, I'll rather go to my local stores now, at least there I'll get more privacy than what I'm getting on ebay!!

LOSING BUSINESS... (the only way you guys listen). "

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I used to buy the ocassional naughty item on eBay --but NO MORE. I don't want everyone to see what I bought and what I paid for it.

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I've been mailed by a buyer who said "couldn't give you a 5 on postage cost because it took 2 days to arrive"
He paid on Wednesday night, it arrived Friday, you can't beat that yet I still get a 4 star.

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I've had nearly 150 feedback left for me since the new system started, only 45 have bothered with the star ratings

One lady emailed to say she'd paid at 2pm and her item arrived at 8.30am the next morning - we had a little chat and I mentioned that perhaps she'd get other items a bit faster now the new ratings had come in - she knew nothing about them

Another lady emailed to thank me for refunding her extra postage - I trotted out the same line as above - she knew nothing about it either

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Danger is that people who are satisfied will leave feedback but not use star ratings while those with a gripe will. If this happens then the ratings will not be a true reflection through a lack of fives. If there is a star system then it should be compulsory.

As a seller I hate the new feedback forum layout. I don't need an image of the item, the item description is in large type with the buyers ID underneath in much smaller font and there are only 10 items. It's the buyers ID I need first not the item description.

I much prefer the old layout with buyer ID on top line and 25 items per page which much quicker to use.

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So I hope you found this interesting as I did. I would love to hear your comments and concerns. eBay reads these boards, so maybe someone there might be interested as well. Besides posting here, you may want to do new topics as well so this issue get some visability before its a done deal.