Questions about automatic ratings
Summary: stubenkram raised concerns about eBay's automatic rating system, which affects both private and commercial sellers. She explains that eBay gives a positive rating when the purchase appears to go smoothly, which sometimes puts her in the position of having to leave her own rating, even when she didn't want to. lidor3073 offers insight from a seller's perspective and suggests writing reviews in a differentiated and fair way. It is argued that ratings influence sellers' image and that eBay buyers' processes sometimes have unintended consequences. deutscher-kampfhund comments critically that buyers are often put at a disadvantage in this system. In closing, stubenkram reflects on the dilemma and the responsibility of buyers when leaving ratings.
Hello everyone!
I don't quite understand the automatic ratings.
Does this system apply only to commercial sellers or also to private sellers?
It often happens that as a buyer I give no rating if I am dissatisfied with the condition of the item, the packaging, or the communication. But then Ebay gives a positive rating for the seller - as it were on my behalf - provided the item was delivered on time and I had not reported a problem?
That would then force me to leave a rating in which I explain exactly what was not okay for me about a transaction. But I wouldn't find that appropriate toward some sellers who apologized for a mistake or offered me a return shipment. In such cases I would then come across in the ratings like an unfair complainer, and I don't want that either.
deutscher-kampfhund
·3 weeks agoBut there are also sellers who have never left a rating and still receive automatic positive ratings. On eBay, one person is always the sucker, in this case the buyer.
stubenkram
OP3 weeks ago · EditedThanks for your answer, @lidor3073 I suspect that if I don’t use such a label in a return process, it will just sit there at first. I don’t know whether there is an input field for the amount of postage, which I would then pay in the DHL shop. There will probably be a line for manually entering the tracking number, though. Once the package has arrived at the seller’s, I’ll get a refund of the sale proceeds and shipping costs plus, possibly, the value of the unused return shipping label. So in the end I’d have paid one or two euros more that nobody reimburses me.
No idea whether it could be like that. ;-) I’ll ask separately about that. I don’t want to try it out.
For sellers, the reviews they receive are probably very important in several ways. But as a buyer, a seller’s profile only gives me an approximate first impression. I see the total number of reviews, probably read one or another positive review, but by no means all of them. I take a closer look at the worse reviews and the seller’s comments.
Reviews are something very subjective. Some buyers cheer with joy over services from the seller that I consider a given, or tell the whole world how happy they are to now own this or that. Other buyers complain about things that aren’t the seller’s responsibility. Or in their review they nitpick about the item because they didn’t look closely before buying or had a different idea of the item. All of that interests me only marginally, if at all.
How good the seller’s service is for me personally I only know once I’ve had my own experience with them. A seller’s review profile is only one part of the whole for me.
Much more important to me is what the seller has on offer and how well and honestly they present their goods: several clear pictures that show the item from all sides and on which details are easy to recognize, as well as a clear and as accurate a description as possible, containing everything important, such as material, condition (restorations, alterations, or damage), exact size details, age and manufacturer, if known, and so on. If there’s no AI drivel in the sales description, I find that pleasant.
If I have to ask about incorrect or missing information in the description or for more pictures, I usually notice pretty quickly from the answers whether buying from that seller is advisable.
I also expect the service to be right, not as something natural, but as a matter of course, because I pay for the item and for delivery to my home. That’s why I want correct information and careful packaging that protects the item bought from damage in transit. Anyone who manages that reasonably well as a seller gets a short, positive review from me and all the stars. If a friendly and pleasant exchange has developed, I sometimes mention that as well. If packaging was particularly cumbersome and time-consuming, there’s extra praise, and for freebies an extra thank you.
I no longer take the time for detailed, individually worded, and more extensive positive reviews. Besides the seller, hardly anyone reads positive reviews anyway. At some point I noticed that when I was completely satisfied with everything, I always wrote almost the same thing and desperately searched for rephrasings so it wouldn’t sound so monotonous. But then it can also just say the same every time when everything was "perfect" again.
This is a deal that seller and buyer make with each other, not mutual praise. As a buyer, I don’t expect a review. Prompt payment is a matter of course, money for goods. It’s just that Ebay is in between. ;-)
As a seller, I would also consider buyers rude who don’t thank good service with a review. A good child says "thank you" when it gets something. And that’s why I think these automatic reviews are quite good. They say little or nothing about the actual quality of the service, but at least they confirm on-time delivery, provided there was tracking. Isn’t that better than nothing?
@deutscher-kampfhund
Do you expect praise from the seller for paying? You do get something for your money and can sit back and relax until the goods arrive.
The work and the service are done by the seller. They have disadvantages if they often aren’t positively rated for their perhaps very good work because buyers are too lazy to write "thank you". As buyers, though, we don’t have any disadvantages if the seller leaves us without a review. That’s only the case with completely new Ebay members, because people don’t yet trust them and may exclude them from buying.
With the automatic reviews, the "bad apples" among the sellers naturally also cash in praise they partly don’t deserve. But as a buyer you can prevent that by rating yourself in time.
That a buyer may be more willing to write a "thank you" and happily buy again from the same seller if they received a friendly review from the seller, every seller can think through for themselves. There is also no obligation for sellers to rate their buyers.
stubenkram
OP3 weeks ago · EditedWhat I, as a buyer, really don’t like about these automatic ratings is the indirect pressure to leave a rating in order to prevent the word "without problems" if necessary. Ebay claims something there that may not be true at all.
How disappointed or annoyed I may have been when receiving the goods because of the condition or the packaging, Ebay can’t possibly know unless I write it down. If I can clarify a problem more or less well in conversation with the seller, that’s a matter between the two of us. If there was a dispute and trouble in the conversation, that too. That’s nobody else’s business.
If I don’t want a "black sheep" to get away unscathed with praise, I’m forced to choose green, gray or red and, at least for gray or red, to justify it as clearly and factually as possible.
So Ebay is passing the black Peter to me as the buyer and making work for me with my decision and the wording of a critical review. I can no longer simply tick off an unpleasant transaction or cheekiness in the contact and forget about it.
If there was an unresolved conflict between the seller and me, then in the critical ratings it will at least partly be readable for everyone, and it may continue in the ratings through the comments. That also makes my (buying) behavior public or I have to respond again.
Then I’d perhaps rather let a black sheep get away completely unscathed with its double praise than expose myself "voluntarily" to further stress and trouble through a critical review.
As a buyer, I am not responsible for describing a sometimes not-so-great "buying experience" in detail, and it is not my job to preemptively correct Ebay’s automatic ratings.
If a seller has merely made a mistake, apologizes for it and perhaps even makes amends, I see no reason to "reprimand" them again - in connection with a green rating - and this time in public. I would consider that unfair. I don’t want to be treated that way either.
If I were to start handing out critical green or gray ratings across the board because something wasn’t right, then in the end that would also reflect back on me. I don’t want that.
I still need to think carefully about how I’ll handle ratings in the future.
lidor3073
·3 weeks ago · EditedHello stubenkram,
your concern is absolutely justified, and you’re hitting a very sore spot in the new system here!
Since the end of 2025, eBay has been automatically awarding the positive feedback “Order delivered on time and without any issues” after 7 days in the case of smooth shipping (according to tracking and with no reported case). This applies to all sellers—whether private or commercial.
I completely understand your dilemma: up to now, not leaving feedback was your fair middle ground for expressing dissatisfaction (e.g. with poor packaging or sluggish communication) without directly sticking it to the seller. Unfortunately, that middle ground no longer exists because of the automation. If you stay silent, the seller still gets praise.
From our perspective as sellers, this system was introduced because ratings literally keep us alive here. Many buyers simply forget to leave feedback when everything goes well. But the downside is that sellers are now being positively rated even when they actually delivered poor service.
So what’s the best way to deal with this now without immediately being branded as a “complaining type”?
Check the listing and profile carefully before buying:
This is the best protection. If descriptions are vague or the profile already shows gray areas, it’s better not to buy. That saves you the hassle afterward.
Contact the seller:
If something isn’t right (poor packaging, rude communication), write to the seller directly. If they show understanding and find a solution, then maybe they really did deserve that automatic positive feedback after all.
Override the automation:
If a seller remains unresponsive or rude despite mistakes, you should use your right to manually overwrite the automatic eBay rating within 60 days. A factual, neutral rating is then not “complaining,” but an important, honest note for the community—and completely legitimate!
Negative feedback should really only be used when something has happened that cannot or could not be corrected, or the communication has reached an outrageous level.
My honest tip (and I buy things from time to time too): for the item you want, specifically look for sellers with great ratings and read through them—you can spot a solid pattern. As soon as something seems off, I’d steer clear.
Unfortunately, as sellers we don’t always have influence over how the goods are handled during shipping or how long delivery takes. Because of that last point, I successfully had a buyer’s neutral rating removed by eBay because it was not permitted.
That’s my personal opinion on this.
stubenkram
OP3 weeks ago · EditedHello @lidor3073
Thank you very much for your detailed and informative answers!
That’s right. Transactions with sellers I hadn’t rated were “in limbo” between green and gray. I wasn’t sure how to rate or what to write. For me, not rating was also a nice way of not having to deal with any hassle again. I could just forget about it.
So now I’ll have to change my rating behavior a bit, especially when a problem wasn’t solved at all, meaning I was harmed or had to put up with cheekiness.
In a similar case to my mixed-lot seller, I could in future leave a positive rating and write "Glad it still worked out in the end. Thank you very much." That’s fair, doesn’t embarrass him, and reflects my opinion.
In principle, I don’t think the automatic ratings are so bad. At least the sellers who put in a lot of effort and do everything right don’t come away empty-handed. And in my experience, that’s the vast majority. I hadn’t realized that so many buyers don’t rate, as you write.
Actually, there should also be automatic ratings for buyers. ;-) Something like:
Of course, the number of ratings a buyer has hardly matters. But I also often don’t get a rating from private sellers, even though I left a positive one. If I didn’t rate, then nothing comes anyway.
That’s what I usually do, or I look at the neutral or negative ratings if needed and then decide whether I want to buy there. And that’s another reason why I’m very reluctant to leave a critical or neutral rating. I don’t want to spoil the sellers’ good profile.
Probably a lot of people have done it the way I have so far, preferring not to rate at all if they can’t say anything positive. Otherwise I can’t explain why, in the past few months, I had the most massive annoyance (brazen communication) דווקא with two private sellers who both have 100% positive ratings. But maybe it’s also just because with other buyers no communication was necessary because everything went smoothly.
I know that. I collect old and antique toys. Even with the very best packaging, a 120-year-old dollhouse always carries the risk that the thin, brittle wood will break from bumps or that the old glue joints will give way. So the seller can’t really do anything about that, and I would mention it, but not criticize it.
I buy on eBay from other collectors and specialized dealers, but also from dealers who probably do estate clearances or from private sellers who, among other things, offer old toys from family ownership. So these are all very different providers with very different levels of expertise.
A collector/dealer usually knows (but not always!) what matters when it comes to describing, photographing, and packaging antique toys and is able, for example, to pack an antique doll or a celluloid doll in such a way that it won’t be damaged in transit. A junk dealer/private person may not know that.
Some things, though, common sense should tell you even without any special expertise. For example, everyone knows that glass and porcelain are fragile. But it doesn’t seem to be common knowledge that they’re very likely to get damaged if they knock against other things, are squeezed, or rattle around completely unwrapped in the box? I’ve given up on that and no longer buy doll dishes on eBay if they’re still in the original box. There were always shards, because people can’t or won’t pack them safely.
My experiences as a buyer on eBay are about 80% very positive. The biggest disappointment and most trouble I’ve always had here was with the “packaging artists.”
Despite my unanswered request to wrap everything well and separately, a few months ago I received a large and very heavy antique doll stove together with little dolls and lots of accessories made of all kinds of materials, including porcelain. The packaging consisted of banana-box lids taped together with big holes in the sides. No idea whether anything went missing on the way, or whether something broke off during transport or was very small. Nothing was wrapped or padded. I’m sometimes very surprised by such packaging that anything at all arrives here intact.
For this doll stove with accessories there was no mutual rating, as I just saw. An automatic rating was created there too. This is also a seller with 100% positive ratings.
My question doesn’t directly have anything to do with the automatic ratings, but maybe you know this:
I’m not sure whether I could use such a label. I don’t have a printer (and no smartphone). The Hermes shop is outside our village. So I could only send something back with DHL. Would I then have to pay for the shipping myself?
lidor3073
·3 weeks ago@stubenkram
I’ll reply in detail when I’ve had a chance to think it through. Just this much: I’m dismantling a highly complex porcelain collection and household. I know a thing or two about properly packed items.
I’ll be in touch!
lidor3073
·3 weeks agoI read your article saying that you don't have a smartphone.
As for your question about whether you have to pay for the return shipping yourself: as soon as you receive something and the item differs from the description, the seller has to pay for and provide the label. If the decision is in the seller's favor, the buyer has to pay the return shipping, so if a buyer complains about something and that defect is stated in the seller's description, the buyer has to send it back at their own expense if they don't like it.
I don't know how it is with commercial sellers. One of the experts here would have to explain how that works.
I once saw that return shipping is handled differently with commercial dealers.
Packaging goods like the ones you collect is really the holy grail. For me, secure packaging is the top priority, and if you look at my profile, you'll keep reading that everything with me is packed really well. I'd be friendly and take care of it. I'm just saying that; I don't mean to boast or anything.
The highlight I once saw in the profile of a private seller was a negative rating after receiving a stereo system that was packaged suboptimally. Every child knows those are sensitive. What was shown? A box where the system had just been thrown in, and a discount store flyer as so-called “filler material.” Of course the system didn't work.
Unfortunately, some buyers seem to take it as a given that the service will be fine. According to the motto: “No complaints means it's been praised too much!” They buy and then disappear. Even though I always leave a good rating after payment. Always.
Some buyers from certain cultural backgrounds, such as Asia with a German delivery address, hardly ever rate at all, if at all.
If there are ever discrepancies, like an unjustified rating because of a failed delivery on site that was removed, I add a so-called supplemental comment under the positive rating I gave. I describe matter-of-factly what I didn't like about the buyer's behavior. That has only happened once so far.
In general, it can be said that the seller ratings they receive say a lot about the service they provide - whether negative or positive. That's why ratings are so important - even if they are voluntary. I've already written two topics about this here and had to explain myself against some very one-sided arguments.
I hope I could contribute something that helps you understand the seller's perspective.
Best regards 🤗
voli-maus
·3 weeks agoWell then, go ahead and rate it, @stubenkram .
stubenkram
OP3 weeks agoBut for a wide variety of reasons, that’s not always what I want to do, @voli-maus
In the past, a seller had neither any particular advantages nor disadvantages from the fact that I didn’t leave a rating once in a while. It was simply as if the sale had never happened at all. But now the seller clearly has an advantage if I don’t rate them (critically).
I just found such a positive, automatic rating from Ebay for a private (?) seller:
If I don’t want to “give” a seller a rating like that because I did in fact have a problem, then I’d have to rate them.
Since ratings have to reflect the facts, I at least have a noticeably greater effort when wording them, or I’d have to “out” myself or the seller.
I’d find it petty to mention again in the rating a mistake the seller made and for which they have already apologized kindly.
A while ago, for example, I had the problem that a larger lot was photographed in such a way that several major damages couldn’t be seen. Three items were also not sent at all. The seller offered me a return shipment. I didn’t want that, because what mattered to me most were the missing items, which I would have liked to have. The seller responded to my message, “There’s no point in a return shipment for either of us.” Messages and pictures went back and forth. The seller then found the missing three items again and sent them to me afterwards at their own expense. I was happy with that. Should I have written all that in a rating? That really only concerns the seller and me if we were able to agree on something. Should I have exposed them as a mess? The seller had already been punished enough by the extra postage. They received an automatic rating from Ebay, which I really do wish for them. But it doesn’t correspond to the facts.
If I’m unhappy with the condition of an item, I’m often partly at fault, or it would just be my word against theirs. Before buying, I could have asked questions or requested more pictures, but because of lack of time or out of good faith, I sometimes didn’t do that.
I haven’t sent an “packing instructions” note for fragile items for a long time now. Sellers who already know how to pack something well sometimes reacted snippily, and the ignorant ones probably didn’t even read it. Damages that weren’t shown or that occurred during transport because of inadequate packaging mostly just accept silently. I’ll probably have to change that now if I don’t want such sellers to be rated positively by Ebay.
Green, gray, or red — what does a seller deserve who, out of ignorance, by accident, or on purpose, conceals defects and/or packs badly? I often don’t know, and I don’t want to “throw anyone under the bus” if they may have merely made a mistake. I don’t get upset about little things anyway and wouldn’t mention them.
There are sellers who drive me up the wall, because they think, for example, that a rude “Then just send it back!” settles the matter. They’re probably banking on the fact — rightly — that the sometimes considerable effort of repackaging and going to the post office is too much hassle for me. In such cases, I usually didn’t leave a rating so far.
Do I have to leave a positive rating for a seller who offered me a return?
Because I have absolutely no desire to read comments like “Return shipping was offered and declined!” or even “Buyer caused the damage themselves” in my future ratings from sellers I’ve already argued with pointlessly in messages. There are sellers I trust to do that.
lidor3073
·3 weeks agoHere I would choose a healthy middle ground. To stick with your lot with the missing parts as an example: here I would actually leave positive feedback with the words:
“Transaction was completed to my satisfaction despite some difficulties, and the seller was willing to correct the mistake.”
Something along those lines.
Let’s stay with the snippy seller: “Well then just send it back!”
Here I would, again, take a differentiated approach. If an item doesn’t match the description, a seller has to provide you with a shipping label. If they do that, I would write neutral feedback after the return shipment: “Item did not match the description, seller reluctantly agreed to a return shipment.” If they refuse, I would give the red feedback directly.
So you see: For us sellers, it is essential HOW the buyer rates something. And it is worth writing feedback in detail - that’s what the character limit is for - “All OK” is unfortunately sometimes too vague. Of course, it also depends on the range of items.
Maybe my perspective as a seller helps you. Feedback is essential for our “reputation.” And eBay’s automatic feedback is also too “anonymous.”
Best regards