Ratings on eBay

Did you know that if you attempt to leave a "less than positive" rating about a seller (and presumably a buyer, as well), they ask you to go through a tutorial discussing the seriousness of what you are about to do?

Does that seem appropriate?

Let's review:

1. You've bought something on eBay. You paid the seller immediately using PayPal, which provides them their funds immediately, as well.
2. The seller, having other more important things to do, waits almost 2 weeks to ship the item to you.

What kind of rating would you give the seller? Why does eBay even have an opinion about your impression of the seller's performance. I mean, if they are so actively discouraging buyers from dinging sellers, why even ask for feedback, at all? Clearly, they system is biased in favor of the seller, and that seems very backwards to me.

Let's also talk about those sellers who threaten their buyers with negative feedback if the buyer leaves them negative feedback. This is absolutely no way to do business, and I would never buy from anyone who feels they have to coerce me into not telling the truth about my experience. It's almost like saying: "We're going to dick you over, but if you complain about it, we will make you sorry you ever bought from us." I just save everyone the hassle and avoid the sale in the first place.

Sure, some buyers would unfairly trash sellers. People are selfish, dishonest pricks, and while it's difficult enough to do business on the web, and eBay in particular, honest sellers don't deserve bad marks just because the buyer doesn't like the way they've handled the transaction.

Most of the "bad" experiences I've had have been a "casualness" in shipping items I've bought. I don't care how busy the seller is, it's their business to sell things on eBay, and they have an obligation to ship promptly once they've been paid. Either that or provide an explanation for the delay. I've also had times when the seller would not reply to my questions, and that also has drawn bad marks.

But eBay would have me think very seriously before I leave non-positive feedback. OK. I've thought about it, and I've decided that if I can't encourage sellers to be more attentive to their buyers by being responsive after the sale, then perhaps eBay isn't as good a business model as some people would have you think.

It also means that you can't really rely on the seller's ratings, because the system is stacked against the buyer. Don't bother telling me who pays eBay's bills (ostensibly it's the sellers), because without buyers, both of them would be sucking it. The buyers are paying all the bills, and no one should be able to conveniently forget it.