Transaction count --- a good idea?

[kreativebargains]

I think you will find that if you are buying and selling on here that you will not remain on zero feedback. The majority of sellers leave feedback so you should get it from your purchases at least. I never ask for feedback from buyers but will when I make a purchase as I feel that the seller should leave feedback. On that not I had better get mine up to date!

[deanosaur1972]

The dangerous thing about a transaction count as well as a feedback score is how a buyer judges the differential between the two. It could well be judged as a distraction which acts as a negative.

My eBid sales transaction count would be about 5,750 whereas my 'eBid only' feedback is 3,922 (I imported +308 from the other site). As a transaction count would be something buyers don't see on the other site then their attention is focused on this and the gap between the two could then become the focus of their attention. They may well see it in a negative light, even if they don't it will certainly provide a distraction from the item - and distractions cost sales. As 99% of sellers would have the differential it would likely result in less site sales not more.

I don't see low or no feedback as a reason why buyers wouldn't buy - throughout the auction sites the best bargains are sometimes to be had from those people. Buyers are used to sellers with low or no feedback on any site, if they saw someone with 0 feedback and a transaction count of 3, then I don't really see how that would help, in fact it may do the opposite.

[astral276]

The dangerous thing about a transaction count as well as a feedback score is how a buyer judges the differential between the two. It could well be judged as a distraction which acts as a negative.

My eBid sales transaction count would be about 5,750 whereas my 'eBid only' feedback is 3,922 (I imported +308 from the other site). As a transaction count would be something buyers don't see on the other site then their attention is focused on this and the gap between the two could then become the focus of their attention. They may well see it in a negative light, even if they don't it will certainly provide a distraction from the item - and distractions cost sales. As 99% of sellers would have the differential it would likely result in less site sales not more.

Sorry, what was that? I got distracted.

[johnwash1]

I agree with others who dislike the idea of automatic feedback if none is left. On the rare occasions when I'm not terribly happy as a buyer (on feebay) I don't leave feedback if I'm between positive and neutral.

I've always had more trouble getting feedback here than on feebay. Perhaps this means there is something in the user interface which is less well designed, less obvious for buyers.

[madelaine]

I think feedback is less important than it used to be here and everywhere else. I seldom leave or get it on the river. It is almost unheard of on Etsy.

As a buyer I make a judgement about the seller (including asking a question if I'm in any doubt).

As a seller I count money not feedback.

[cambrensis]

Well, just to be different, as a buyer I recently had a reminder from eBid to leave feedback! (Normally I do, but read on....)

Briefly, as I've told part of this before, I entered an auction for a smartphone and won the auction. This was very unlikely as my bill was under £5!! The seller appeared to do a runner (she was not paid...there wasn't time!) and her account cancelled. I then black-balled her, for all the good that would do!

Yes! You guess right! Last week I received an email from eBid pointing out that I had not left feedback for the seller! Muttering about things that "go aft aglay" I left some rambling piece about a pointless exercise.

So it looks as though reminders are being sent - unless it be only when dealing with defaulting sellers!

[EmpHolisticGifts]

Feedback is a complicated thing ...
I always leave feedback when a buyer has bought something - TOS you may as well as you can only leave positive
Many buyers don't leave anything - ever
Many buyers never leave positive - only negative
Many buyers leave something illogical or bizzar - you can then decide if to sell to them again, esp as it has so many consequences on TOS

If you know system you can look at the 'feedback left for others' and that then gives an idea of how many may have sold - but only if you know to look from it.

To some extent automatic could be left - it would encourage people to give their own views...
if buyers did not want this they could just leave feedback of
"-" as I have seen, may be from people who cant be bothered but know its value or other reason
automatic could be, 'automatic - no problems reported'

Many people just cant be bothered or as only buyers have no idea how much + are needed to keep you being allowed to continue selling on TOS

Feedback can be important to some buyers as many will not buy from sellers with less than 100 or 1000!!

As always + and - for everything...

[cerealmunkee]

In reply to emmily. Yes, I did leave FB shortly after the buyer paid as I gather that is how things are done here.

Sorry Poscar but I diagree about automatic FB. IMO it should always be voluntary and from trading partners. The idea of a transaction count was that it would be automatic, an 'official' number of sales / purchases. It might even encourage people to leave more FB. If in a years time I have racked up 100 transactions but got a lot of bad FB others could draw their conclusions. I'm sure it would help newbys with little or no FB to get sales.

One of the first things I listed here was a Bagley glass vase. It is very collectable and on a good day on TOS it would sell in a seven day auction, get several bids and sell for more than I'm asking for it here. Here it has had 48 views and not sold. One reason I think is that I have no FB.

Anyway, it's been suggested before. Does anyone know if ebid reads these posts and if they do does anything get acted on?

I would be interested if Tonyreddevil would like to let us know why he says previous suggestions may be implemented.

Thanks for your replies.

it appears that the people who run Ebid do actually read whats posted on the forums...i mean....who d'you think goes around deleting threads and posts/?.....as well as those who regularly make reports. So...yes plenty gets acted on.

The Bagley vase example that you make isn't particularly unusual....there have been plenty items that i've listed over hare and i still have listed that would sell pretty quickly if listed elsewhere, but they stubbornly sit doing nothing on Ebid...despite the high view figures in many cases....although its been suggested that the viewing figures are the result of Google bots scanning these rather than real people showing an interest....hence...the lack of sales activity, after all, real people have a habit of making a purchase while a piece of software is hardly to do likewise.
I believe that your lack of views is totally unrelated to your lack of feedback....but instead is the result of Ebid in general not attracting enough potential viewers...potential new buyers....i think that not enough are still aware theat this site actually exists.

Feedback is rarely left on Ebid and it leaves new viewers with the impression that not too much goes on over here. With that said i regularly and happily make purchases from companies own websites and these never....at least as far as i can see, feature any form of buyer feedback...and this never concerns me...so....is the subject of feedback in reality a none issue?.
The buyers that i attract on Ebid are nearly always very newly registered users...mostly registered within a minute or two of making their purchase and if i was concerned about these buyers having no feedback then i'd have to call it a day over here, yet this doesn't concern me at all.

[johnwash1]

I think feedback is less important than it used to be here and everywhere else. I seldom leave or get it on the river. It is almost unheard of on Etsy.

As a buyer I make a judgement about the seller (including asking a question if I'm in any doubt).

As a seller I count money not feedback.

I've never used Etsy, so I can't comment on that. I often use the river, buying and occasionally selling. I'm not in the least surprised you rarely get f/b there. I find it a nightmare to discover how to do it, even when I'm motivated to do so. These differences in site usability are why I wonder whether that may be a significant factor with ebid also. Perhaps some usability testing is needed on this (as well as other aspects).

But very few developers find the time to corral a bunch of dumb users in a room, set them tasks and video them. Just time? Or arrogance?? After all, there couldn't possibly be room for improvement with my code!

[theElench]

it appears that the people who run Ebid do actually read whats posted on the forums...i mean....who d'you think goes around deleting threads and posts/?.....as well as those who regularly make reports. So...yes plenty gets acted on.

The Bagley vase example that you make isn't particularly unusual....there have been plenty items that i've listed over hare and i still have listed that would sell pretty quickly if listed elsewhere, but they stubbornly sit doing nothing on Ebid...despite the high view figures in many cases....although its been suggested that the viewing figures are the result of Google bots scanning these rather than real people showing an interest....hence...the lack of sales activity, after all, real people have a habit of making a purchase while a piece of software is hardly to do likewise.
I believe that your lack of views is totally unrelated to your lack of feedback....but instead is the result of Ebid in general not attracting enough potential viewers...potential new buyers....i think that not enough are still aware theat this site actually exists.

Feedback is rarely left on Ebid and it leaves new viewers with the impression that not too much goes on over here. With that said i regularly and happily make purchases from companies own websites and these never....at least as far as i can see, feature any form of buyer feedback...and this never concerns me...so....is the subject of feedback in reality a none issue?.
The buyers that i attract on Ebid are nearly always very newly registered users...mostly registered within a minute or two of making their purchase and if i was concerned about these buyers having no feedback then i'd have to call it a day over here, yet this doesn't concern me at all.

The whole question of transaction count / feedback is obviously more complex than I thought when I first posted, still it's nice to know that suggestions are noted and sometimes acted on. It's also very good to have a discussion without the thread being high-jacked by people pushing their own agenda as so often happens on TOS.