Back when I first joined eBay (over 10 years ago), I remember that member feedback seemed to have real meaning. I believe the original intent behind the system was to quantify how people do business, which would create some semblance of an “online reputation”. Over the years, it seems that these principles have become lost, and feedback is instead used as leverage and as a commodity, though I believe a lot of people haven’t come to the realization that it really doesn’t mean much of anything any more.
However, it still contributes to problems, especially for those in the hobby of collecting original props and wardrobe from movies and television, as some new and casual collectors mistakenly believe that there is a relationship between positive feedback and authenticity of the items sold at auction, much in the same way some people believe that if an item comes with a COA (any COA) it must be genuine.
Though it is likely all readers are familiar with eBay’s feedback system, in the beginning, members (buyers and sellers) had three choices with which to frame their free form comments left in the profile for the member on the other side of their transaction: Positive, Neutral, and Negative. Obviously, negative feedback is considered, very, very bad. In fact, neutral is considered nearly as bad. So the objective has always been to maintain 100% feedback over all transactions.
I remember early on I received a negative feedback for a transaction – though I don’t even recall what it was for – but I remember feeling as though my account was from that point on marred, and wondered about how I could recover from such a blow.
Now, it all seems quite laughable.
In my own transactions, I have never been restrained by the prospect of leaving negative feedback. While some operate under the philosophy that it should be reserved for outright fraud, I believe it is more important to get back to the basics. If you have a negative experience in a transaction, I think negative feedback can be appropriate (as well as neutral feedback).
eBay Feedback – History
Over the years, however, it seems that the eBay feedback system has evolved into something more akin to nations in a nuclear arms race. I’m sure most are familiar with the concept of “M.A.D.”, which stands for “Mutually Assured Destruction” (see Wikipedia Entry). These principles seem to have been adopted by eBay members (until a recent policy change – more on that later).
With the “M.A.D.” doctrine of eBay feedback armament strategy – if someone leaves another member a negative feedback – regardless of who is right and who is wrong – that person could be assured they would likely receive a negative feedback in return as “retaliation”, or what as been commonly referred to as “retaliatory feedback”. This has become a deterrent for anyone to leave any feedback for any member under any circumstances unless it is positive (the only other reasonable alternative being to leave none at all).
Note: This does not address the even more advanced “strategy” of calculating the last possible moment at which feedback can be left, with hopes of launching a stealth initiative in which the recipient has little to no time with which to launch the counter attack of “retaliatory negative feedback”.
So a member could receive poor service from a seller (perhaps not even receiving the item) and leave negative feedback, and then have their loss compounded by receiving their own negative feedback in return.
Conversely, a seller could send a buyer an item, the buyer could perform a chargeback on the transaction through PayPal, and the seller could be out the item and the payment, leave negative feedback for the buyer, and receive one in exchange.
Per eBay policies, they generally will not remove feedback remarks unless there are threats or other extreme circumstances (see “Feedback Withdrawl and Removal” copied below):
eBay may remove Feedback ratings and/or comments that meet the guidelines outlined below.
Feedback (ratings and comments) may be removed in the following instances:
* There is a violation of the Feedback Abuse policy.
* A member is unable to form a legally binding contract at the time the item ended or Feedback was left.
* A member provided eBay with an email address that is invalid and could not be contacted at the time of the transaction.
* A member mistakenly leaves negative or neutral Feedback intended for another member, informs eBay of the error and has already placed the same Feedback for the correct member.
* If a member is suspended by eBay, negative & neutral Feedback left by that member is removed. If a member is suspended within 90 days of registration, all Feedback is removed.
* eBay is provided with a valid court order requesting Feedback Removal.
* A buyer fails to respond to the Unpaid Item process.
* When the communication and comments left by the buyer within the Unpaid Item Dispute Console undermine the integrity of both the Unpaid Item process and the eBay Feedback system.
See also, “Feedback Abuse” copied below:
Feedback comments containing any of the following are not permitted:
* Links or scripts
* References to eBay or PayPal investigations
* Negative statements left for a buyer that conflict with the positive rating
* Personally identifying information about another member, including real name, address, phone number, or email address
* Political, religious, or social commentary rather than a genuine comment about the transaction
* The comment, reply, or followup references a completely separate transaction or unrelated experience
* Profane, vulgar, obscene, or racist language, or adult material
* Inflammatory language, such as fraud, liar, cheater, scam artist, con man, while strongly discouraged, will not be removed unless found to be in violation of one of the above guidelinesViolations of this policy may result in a range of actions, including:
* Listing cancellation
* Limits on account privileges
* Account suspension
* Forfeit of eBay fees on cancelled listings
* Loss of PowerSeller status
* Feedback rating and/or comment removal
eBay Feedback – 2008 Policy and Further Evolution
As reported last year (see eBay 2008 Update – Policy Changes Announced), one of the big policy changes significantly altered the long adopted “M.A.D.” principles, in that only buyers could leave neutral and negative feedback – sellers could henceforth only leave positive feedback.
This obviously has a huge impact on “feedback as capital” within the eBay system.
In the past, under the “M.A.D.” feedback system, members would use the threat of negative feedback to coerce and blackmail other members.
Under the new system, one “side” has been unilaterally “disarmed”, which has changed the landscape, but in my opinion really hasn’t “fixed” anything, and it has strayed even further from the original intent of quantifying the reputations of members based on their business practices.
The new policy would suggest that the buyer can do no wrong, and while this change goes hand in hand with the integration of PayPal as the only real payment option, it further leaves behind what I would presume was the original ideas behind the feedback system – reflecting the business practices of all members (buyers and sellers).
With each change of policy and as the “battlefield” continues to evolve, there are always those willing to take advantage of the system.
100% Positive Feedback – Worthless?
As readers of this website have witnessed, there have been a number of original prop dealers selling on eBay with 100% positive feedback – and that accomplishment can hold absolutely no meaning or relationship to the authenticity of the memorabilia which they have sold.
Many unscrupulous sellers have used eBay to defraud collectors of hundreds of thousands of dollars, due in part to the power of the flawed and broken eBay feedback system.
It is not challenging for someone to build up a lot of positive feedback. That feedback result does not necessarily have any connection whatsoever to items sold as authentic memorabilia.
But given that the Internet, and by extension eBay, can be very anonymous, many eBay members have come to rely on eBay feedback as an indication of the character and reliability and honesty of the person to which it is attached. In many cases, members have come to rely on feedback scores exclusively to evaluate the seller.
New and casual prop collectors are the segment of our community that most frequently fall prey to the fallacy that a lot of good feedback indicates that the seller is reputable and offering truly authentic memorabilia. This then creates more sales, and more positive feedback, and feeds the false premise and lures in more buyers due to the activity and positive feedback reports.
Many original prop dealers with 100% positive feedback (and near 100% positive feedback) have been suspended as a result of their sales activities – and completely contrary to their eBay feedback or “reputation”.
Though it is only March 2009 at the time of this writing, there have already been two high profile examples in January and February of this year of long-time sellers with thousands of positive transactions being suspended in spite of that rating.
Suspended By eBay January 2009:
Anthony Shkutnick and his *stoneark* account had a 99.3% positive feedback rating (last 12 months) and had been an eBay member since 1999.
So it is my opinion that eBay feedback can be a poor reflection of the actual reputation and true credibility of the person it is attached to and has little to no bearing on the authenticity of items sold by original memorabilia dealers on eBay.
Investment Into The eBay Feedback System
Interestingly, it has also been my experience that some eBay members are invested into the eBay feedback system to the point that nothing else can compare with the threat of negative feedback.
As an example, in a recent series of articles, I archived an eBay transaction made between two individuals on this website as evidence and part of a larger investigation.
Though the seller of the item did nothing wrong, and the archiving of the information did not reflect any wrongdoing on the part of the seller, the person demanded that I remove the link and reference to the publicly available information found on eBay out of fear that the buyer of the item might possibly leave one negative eBay feedback remark in retaliation.
The mere risk of one negative feedback remark was of greater importance to this individual than assembling publicly available information that could potentially save other collectors from being defrauded of tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
I found this revelation to be quite fascinating, that for some, the mere threat of one negative feedback seemed to be more important than much larger concerns and risks for other innocent collectors. To me, this shows that the eBay feedback system as it functions today has created an “every man for himself” culture in the marketplace, which is really disappointing, as this contributes to the problems we all face in trying to avoid fraud and deception.
Buying Positive Feedback On eBay – $1 At A Time
Coincidentally, in preparing this editorial, I had an interesting eBay transaction in the past few days which again serves to illustrate how eBay feedback is more and more irrelevant and meaningless.
As part of the Original Prop Directory service on the Original Prop Blog, participants must buy a listing and insertion fee on eBay for $1.
Someone purchased this service for $1 this week, never submitted their information to the Directory, and then sent me the following message:
please leaves your feedback,thanks
I reviewed the buying activity of this member, and found 66 purchases over the past 30 days – exclusively for $0.99 and $1.00 items:
Is someone’s ability to buy stamps, coins, stickers, trading cards, and other miscellaneous items truly representative and reflective of their “reputation as an eBay member”?
Note: The eBay member’s $1 was refunded along with the explanation that I am not selling positive eBay feedback. As a seller, I can only leave this buyer positive feedback or no feedback… I would also be in violation of eBay “Feedback Abuse” policy to leave negative comments in a positive feedback rating.
Broken Beyond Repair?
In my opinion, the eBay feedback system was a good idea that took on a life of its own and has become increasingly broken. From the “M.A.D.” doctrine to a “buyer as king” system to boosting one’s “reputation” $1 at a time, I think eBay has lost sight and control of what was supposed to be one’s “online reputation”.
I would encourage original prop collectors to always look far beyond eBay feedback in evaluating the offerings of a seller on eBay.
Jason De Bord
Jason DeBord, Original Prop Blog