Each eBay user has a Feedback Rating which is contributed to by the other members who he Buys from and
Sells to
(Feedback works in much the same way on all auction sites)
- Whenever a users name is displayed on eBay it is accompanied by their feedback rating after it in
brackets, like this amadeupuserid (a number) possibly followed
by some icons.
- The User ID. Clicking on the user id, in eBay, will take you to the "contact an eBay member form",
which you can use to send a short message to the member. This message is e-mailed to the member
from eBay and contains your registered e-mail address for replies.
- The Feedback Rating. Clicking on the number takes you to the members "id card" which shows the
calculations which make
up the members feedback rating, the date they registered, location and feedback comments & responses.
It is possible to hide your feedback rating, when this happens the word private appears instead
of the number. While there are a number of legitimate reasons why you might set your feedback rating
to private this should ring a warning note.
- Some Icons. There are a number of icons which are often seen after the name and rating
- A Pair of Sunglasses
 indicates a new user (or someone who has recently changed his eBay user id).
The sunglasses are removed after 30 days.
- A coloured or shooting star, these indicate feedback in certain ranges (i.e.
Yellow
 = Feedback of 10 - 99,
Turquoise  = Feedback of 100 - 499,
Purple  = Feedback of 500 - 999)
- A little
This is a link to the users eBay web page which can contain information, links, terms & conditions
etc etc.
- After an Auction has finished the Seller and Winning Bidder are able to leave each other Feedback
(Each Winner in a Dutch Auction is able to exchange feedback with the Seller and if the Seller in any
auction makes a Second Chance Offer to one of the losing Bidders and it is accepted they are also both
able to leave each other feedback)
Feedback has two components
- A comment, which the receiver is able to respond to if they want.
- A Positive, Negative or Neutral 'tick'
A Positive, will add 1 to the receiving users total Feedback Rating.
A Negative, will deduct 1 from the receiving users total Feedback Rating.
Multiple Positive or Negative feedback from the same user, (i.e. if a Buyer buys more then one item
from the same person) only counts once. This is shown on the id card as
"2
positives. 1 are from unique users and count toward the final rating."
in this example
1 user has given this user Positive feedback twice, which has increased his Feedback Rating by 1.
- A users Feedback Rating can be thought of like a bath which you are trying to fill without putting the plug in,
The positives are the speed the water is entering the bath from the tap,
the negatives are the water escaping down the plug hole,
the Feedback Rating is how full the bath is.
- When bidding on an auction you need to look at the sellers feedback.
- If it is negative, walk away. (eBay will deregister users who have a Feedback Rating of -4 or less
if they are told about them,
 Support WebForms
(Negative Feedback equal to or greater than 10% of the total rating should also be reported to eBay))
- High value items being offered by any low Feedback sellers who have
should be treated with caution. This particularly applies if it sounds too good to be true and seems
to be very common with Mobile Phones and whatever the latest must have consumer electronics device is
(PlayStation 2, X-Box etc)
- The higher the feedback the longer the user will have has been trading on eBay and the more
satisfied customers they have had.
/*
Here is a list of UK based eBay users with a feedback of
2000 Plus
which includes some of eBay UK's highest rated UK users.
*/
This user (actually a small family business employing about 3 people) has the
highest feedback rating on eBay.
- In all my auction dealings, as a Buyer & Seller, I compare the amount of money involved in the
transaction with the other parties Feedback Rating, if the rating is lower then the monetary value
I switch into caution mode, applying it more rigorously the bigger the difference.
On the flip side if the monetary value is lower then the Feedback Rating I attach less risk to the
transaction.
- The presence of some negatives in an otherwise good feedback rating should not be seen as
a problem if they make up a reasonably low proportion of the total.
It is worth looking at the negative comments to see why the neg' was given and what the response is,
you will find negatives being given because of shipping delays,
misunderstandings, disagreements over terms and conditions of the auction which are implicitly accepted
when the bid is placed etc.
- Once you have given someone feedback you cannot retract it. Before you leave a negative comment
against another user you need to be sure you have pursued all possible courses of action.
- On a members ID Card page there is a link which goes to a page showing the total number of
feedback comments they have given others and the actual comments (plus any responses).
- The option to leave feedback is available for 90 days from the end of the auction. Some people
like to do their feedback in batches. There is a link in my eBay on the feedback page which shows
you all the feedback you need to leave.
- It is not compulsory to leave feedback and you will find that some people leave very little
feedback, you can use the feedback left link to compare how much feedback a user has left
with the feedback they have been given.
- It is worth checking low feedback trading partners to see if they have ever left feedback.
I send this e-mail to my buyers who have never left feedback -
Feedback Request
- If you are given feedback which you feel is incorrect / unfair etc there is little you can
do about it except leave a response and give your point of view. eBay will
remove feedback
in some circumstances,
Feedback Related Web Links
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Your Comments / Thoughts / Additions / Corrections etc 
