New eBay Feedback

[johnriley1uk]

eBay have changed their feedback system so that sellers can now only leave positive feedback. This is ostensibly to prevent tit-for-tat negative feedback being given by sellers who are below standard and want to get revenge when they receive negatives from buyers.

I'm not sure that the effect isn't that buyers now feel they have total power over sellers, and even quite benign buyers tend to be rather cavalier in their attitudes and demands. Of course blackmail would not nbe tolerated, but there's a lot of behaviour that falls just under the radar and a lot of gently implied threat...

Fortunately most sellers and buyers are straight enough, but I wonder what experiences anyone has had and whether they think there has been a definite change in attitudes?

[Mike]

That does seem weird because the other sellers will be able to treat you like dirt because you won't be able to leave any return feedback. Or an I misunderstanding the whole idea. PS You would love the ebay App on the iPhone. It keeps you up to date with all your bids and items for sale.

[stimpsonslostson]

I just bought a new bass guitar on ebay. It cost under £100 (+p&p). And looks a lot like this.

However to win this auction I used: the ebay app for my iphone- to watch the auction and check for bids, to tell me it was ending etc and to ask the seller if he'd throw in the hard case (which he did )

and (less ethically) I used a bid sniper. What are your thoughts on this? I told it what my max bid was and then the sniper submitted this bid with 5 seconds to go- thus preventing anyone else submitting a higher revised bid. I think its PROBABLY fair... if they'd set a higher original maximum than me I wouldn't have won, I WAS willing to pay more than I did. I think it saved me money- had I submitted when I usually would (5 mins to go) I think someone would have outbid me. (They certainly did on 3 previous auctions for virtually identical basses- I won for £96, the others went for £115, £135, £168, so I got a good deal- especially as mine was the only one with a case, worth £50!).

[johnriley1uk]

I wonder what happens when more than one bid sniper tries to muscle in 5 seconds before the auction end?

It's technology and you're just using it, so it's probably no more or less ethical than anything else in an auction process. IMHO anyway.

You could still be beaten by a human bidder, but it would be a slim chance indeed.

[mr_e]

Bid sniping is the reason I usually try to watch auctions right to the end. I remember placing bids with as little time as possible to go after placing some tester, slightly lower, bids with about a minute left: that program just automates what I'd do myself. It's not something I would regard as unethical, it's just a behaviour that Ebay encourages by the way its bid system works.

Nice bass (and a nice price!): the Yamaha Pacifica with a similar RRP always got good reviews, so should be a decent bass going off company reputation.

[Mike]

I don't see a problem with that as an idea. Lots of people know that to win the auction you place your best bid near the end of the auction. To have a programme do it for you is not a bad thing as far as I can tell. I suppose it always depends on how good your internet connection is though.

Nice that you got such a bargain, suppose the seller was less pleased!