Why I don't leave reviews anymore
For quite a while now, it’s no longer possible to leave reviews for the (commercial?) seller without also reviewing the item with a free-form text at the same time.
For the items I usually buy, I can’t (at least for the time being) rate the items at all, or not yet — at least not in any reasonably meaningful way.
Since I don’t feel like writing some irrelevant nonsense, I practically don’t review anything anymore. Too bad. That doesn’t help anyone. Why can’t the additional text for the purchased item be optional?
Examples: dietary supplements (do they help?), car wear parts or tools (how long will they last?), screws, motor oil ....
On the other hand, I’d like to review many items — but only after some time has passed — once they’ve proven themselves or not. But I can’t know that right after buying them.
By combining the seller rating with the item rating, many customers who are unhappy with the respective seller are surely also tempted to write their frustration into the item review field. That also makes good items get bad reviews. In most cases, the item manufacturer is not the seller.
In short: I’d like separate ratings for seller and item and, above all, the option to rate only the item or only the seller.
w-sky
·1 year ago100% agreement with the OP. I’m very happy to give sellers feedback with a rating once an item has arrived, but at that point I can really only rate the seller’s performance and not the product.
It would make sense if eBay automatically asked for a product review about 1 or maybe even 3 months after the product was purchased. That would result in meaningful product reviews on the platform that you can really rely on.
On my last purchases I’ve seen different versions of the review form. Sometimes the detailed ratings are optional (expandable), but again and again it’s not possible to submit the form without leaving a product review. That’s counterproductive and needs to be improved.
mankeatv
OP1 year ago@ kenn-i-di
I primarily leave reviews to influence the purchase decision of future buyers.
But that has nothing to do with what this is about here.
Of course I can type "item as described." But who does that help?
If the item isn’t as described, I won’t even leave the seller a positive review in the first place.
kenn-i-di-1
·1 year agoWell, it would help me.
If I got a BW with just one punctuation mark, I might not be able to resist from here
https://community.ebay.de/t5/Archiv-Verkaufen-bei-eBay/Lustige-eBay-Bewertungen/qaq-p/2429437
borrowing a comment
... but a bit more enthusiasm would have been nice !
bootyooty
·1 year agoA punctuation mark... aha... what does that please say about the buyer, that they can't write, or what?
If you're too lazy to put a few words into a sentence, then just leave it out altogether. After all, there's no obligation to leave a review.
kenn-i-di-1
·1 year agoBut as it looks, the OP would like to leave a rating, but is stumbling over eBay's wording.
You can complicate anything....
bootyooty
·1 year agoYou can complicate everything....
That’s of course true.... it just puzzles me because Te is commercial themselves. If that isn’t the only account but there’s another one for sale as well, then I really don’t get it, if you understand what I mean. 😂 Because then you’d need ratings again.
But if I only write one punctuation mark... then at least I can manage to write the spare words
"ok", "good", "great" or is that asking too much?
Of course you can also make a mountain out of a molehill and get hung up on complicated things to make them even more complicated. 😎
kenn-i-di-1
·1 year agoIf he thinks that with a dot, comma or dash a BW serves its purpose, he should do that.
mankeatv
OP1 year ago@ sunrise
That line about “You’re not so good with reading...” I can just as well throw right back at you.
Right at the top, in big bold letters, it says: “What did you like about the ARTICLE”. That’s the main question. The smaller text underneath is just an addition - at least that’s how it comes across to me.
@ Luggi
I honestly hadn’t come up with the idea of just putting in a punctuation mark.
I’ll probably do it that way from now on too - even if that probably isn’t “what the inventor intended.”
sunrise1605
·1 year agoOh, so because you see that only as an addition, it doesn’t count for you?
Well then we can’t really help you anymore; Ebay can’t write more than that. They don’t write it for no reason. But oh well .... 🙄
Maybe you should ask Ebay to write everything the same size for you 😀
Unavailable member
·1 year agoHello @all
what is so hard about simply putting a punctuation mark in the text field and giving the rating like before in the form of stars and, if possible, green?
Hardly anyone is interested in what is written there in green.
There should be a text behind red.
mankeatv
OP1 year agoIt looks the same for me as it does for primanovo.
I search for and order M8 x 30 screws, 1.25 pitch, full thread, plain galvanized, grade 8.8.
That is exactly what I get, and that’s why I want to rate the seller positively.
But to do that, I’m supposed to write a freeform review of the ARTICLE in the field under "What did you particularly like about this ARTICLE?" — not the seller. Without this article review, I can’t rate the seller.
So how am I supposed to rate what I particularly liked about the screws I ordered? If I had received different ones, that would have been the seller’s fault. I got what I needed. I don’t order screws because I think they’re stylish and want to put them on my living room shelf.
I think the people who come up with these review templates generally buy completely different things than I do.
Be that as it may; what speaks against being able to rate the seller positively without having to write about the article?
Yes, I CAN of course write something about the seller in that field too - or something as meaningless as "delivered as ordered". But I don’t think that’s the point of the question.
molfish
·1 year agoI normally only rate the seller and not the product itself either. I know what I ordered, and if it arrives like that, then I say thanks and that’s it. As long as Ebay isn’t able to make the rating system transparent enough so that you can rate the seller and the product separately, that’s how it will stay for me too
sunrise1605
·1 year agoSay, you're not exactly great at reading, are you? @mankeatv
___________________________________________________________________________________
Just read everything!!! that is written there:
What did you particularly like about this item?
primanovo
·1 year agoThis is what it looks like for me at the moment.
It can stay that way as far as I'm concerned.
I always rate the seller, not the item. For used items, of course, the condition of the item is also rated.
I never upload pictures.(I think it's unnecessary)
miriam@ebay
Hello @mankeatv and thanks for taking the time to start a discussion here! The feedback received so far here on the topic of rating questions is already very interesting.
Just to make sure - you’re not referring to this view, but you were recently asked more specific questions about the rating of a specific item, just as @sunrise1605 reports?
Thanks & kind regards
Miriam
sunrise1605
·1 year agoHello @miriam@ebay ,
I think TE means exactly the text in your screenshot, "Tell us more about this item".
He infers from this that a review of the item is supposed to be written here and not that the seller is being rated in the usual way.
A review of, for example, motor oil is nonsense, so like so many others who have already complained about this here, he no longer wanted to rate at all.
With my quoted, apparently new text, it reads differently.
I think it is phrased very positively.
Now everyone can (again) rate however they want. The item and/or the seller.
mankeatv
OP1 year agoI generally think product reviews are good and helpful.
But at that point I don't want to read things like "thanks, glad to again" or "good seller, until next time".
The results of the product reviews are also later shown for the same product that another seller offers.
kenn-i-di-1
·1 year agoThere was also an attempt at this on eBay once, but apparently it was abolished again.
Currently, no product reviews for identical items from other sellers are displayed.
And honestly, many people haven’t really understood the purpose of a review at all.
I saw things like “arrived too late” or “seller doesn’t respond”.
I can’t do anything with that, and it’s not very helpful.
sunrise1605
·1 year agoI don’t know what text you’re being shown @mankeatv
I’m currently trying to submit a BW.
The following text is shown to me:
What did you especially like about this article?
kenn-i-di-1
·1 year agoSince I still have a BW open, I can confirm what you wrote.
All we can do is hope that the majority will rate more often again.
It would be catastrophic if only negative comments were left.
Ideally, eBay wouldn't keep turning everything upside down with new changes all the time.
It's really annoying when things keep being rearranged. Humans are creatures of habit, after all.
petersmodellbahnstuebchen
·1 year agoHi @kenn-i-di-1
I don't find the buyers' rating behavior quite so catastrophic. As I've already written elsewhere, I rate every buyer positively after payment. This also leads buyers to be more inclined to leave ratings.
Current status:
53,079 ratings given
40,406 ratings received
That corresponds to a rate of about 76%. I don't find that either lazy or rating-tired.
For sellers who only rate after receiving a rating themselves, it may look different, but that's their decision.
As a buyer with my shopping account, I see it differently: If a seller has not rated me by the time the goods arrive I assume they don't consider ratings important. Then I simply don't leave a rating either, and that's that.
But every seller, whether commercial or private, has to decide that for themselves.
Best regards from the Baltic Sea
Peter
kenn-i-di-1
·1 year agoUntil we stepped down, the BWs received were becoming fewer and fewer, even though, like you, we also reviewed upon receipt of payment.
I believe this also depends heavily on the industry and, for example, collectors are more likely to leave reviews.
@mankeatv
When I leave a review, I do so primarily to help subsequent buyers make a purchasing decision.
It is not very helpful to come across a punctuation mark. To stick with your example with the screws........one should be able to type in a simple "item as described".
mankeatv
OP1 year agoYou’re rating the seller in the field where you’re supposed to rate the product.
That’s exactly what I don’t want. I think that’s wrong.
I also normally don’t rate anyone neutrally or negatively. If I’m unhappy, I don’t rate at all.
The problem with the 60 days (which would be fine in itself) is that I don’t know when the 60 days are up. eBay doesn’t send you any warning like “last chance” or anything. And I don’t check every few days....
sunrise1605
·1 year ago@mankeatv
Oh man, don’t be such a drama queen.
Just because Ebay says there “write something about the item” doesn’t mean you have to obey it like a mindless automaton.
If Ebay says “jump out the window,” you probably wouldn’t do that either.
You’re rating the seller in the field where you’re supposed to rate the product.
Not have to or should, but can!
Nowhere does it say that it’s forbidden to keep using the field the way it always has been used. If you can also write something about the product, fine; if not, then not.
You can see for yourself that in your example with the motor oil, that’s nonsense.
Just because of that, refusing to leave a rating for the seller entirely — sorry, in my opinion that’s childish.
P.S.
Take a look at all the ratings that have been left for the sellers. The buyers are all rating as they always have.
de3trader
·1 year agoIf I’m unhappy... better watch out: I’ve already had a few sales that were just plain **ouch**.
You wouldn’t want to have people like that on eBay, neither as buyers nor as sellers. “Normal” sellers are always open, and good sellers, for example, even offer discounts without being asked.
Good ratings are important, but bad ratings are even more important - a bit of hygiene is a must 😉
PS: This stupid habit of always lumping everything together with 5 stars is pretty counterproductive, though - mediocre sales (badly packed, shipped late) usually get top ratings too, and really good sellers get lost in the 99-100% flood.
sunrise1605
·1 year ago@mankeatv
Have you ever thought about who you’re actually hurting with your refusal?
The sellers can’t do anything about eBay now deciding that the item should be rated.
And above all, who’s stopping you from writing in whatever you want, or just the same as before?
I put in there what I’ve always written, namely:
that it was shipped quickly
if there was communication with the seller, what it was like
that I’m satisfied
item great for example, I don’t write a review
"happy to buy again" or "recommendation", if that applies
often "All good, happy to buy again"
and I give the full stars 99.99% of the time, even if the item arrives 1 or 2 days late, for example
done
Especially commercial sellers depend on every rating, above all every positive one, because if ratings are only left when there’s something to complain about, even if that seems to suit the German mentality more than praising, in the end that distorts the rating profiles disproportionately toward the negative.
With consequences for the sellers, by the way, even though they can’t do anything about it, because eBay penalizes it.
So please think about what you achieve with your refusal (eBay doesn’t give a damn about it!) and who you’re hurting.
mankeatv
OP1 year ago60 days? Is that new? After a much shorter time, I get prompts from ebay to rate my purchases. Before (with the old rating system), I once tried to rate after a longer time. That didn’t work anymore.
I don’t think a layperson can rate a dietary supplement at all. Many people (myself included) also take several of them at the same time.
I often buy tools "after work" - meaning for the next time. They often sit or lie around for months until I use them.
oskar_der_wikinger
·1 year agoNope @mankeatv
the 60 days have been in place since 2008, before that it was even 90 days and there was a tool that let it work for even longer.
Leave feedback for sellers
ebay's reminders come early and often, you can read them, but you don't have to.
kenn-i-di-1
·1 year agoJust write texts in this field the way you wrote them before this stupid change and that’s it.
oskar_der_wikinger
·1 year agoHello @mankeatv
what do you mean by "however only after a longer time"?
In principle, rating is voluntary, so you can do it however you want.
But the time allowed for rating is 60 days; by then, you should already know whether a dietary supplement works, or whether the tool lives up to its promises.
directtechdeals
·1 year agoHi,
every review helps us commercial sellers immensely. If you don't feel like reviewing the item in detail, just write "The item meets my expectations and works perfectly".
That helps more than not leaving a review at all. After all, buyers often decide to make a purchase based on reviews. On eBay, it's more about the seller than the product, because we've just gotten so used to it over all these decades. At least that's my personal impression.
Best regards from Hesse.