Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Ellis]

This is a double edged question.

Firstly. Are you wary or put off by a seller's negative feedback?
In the case of private seller I tend to be and carefully examine a seller's history particularly if they have a score of 100 or less.
With commercial sellers with scores of hundreds or thousands I accept that not everybody will be satisfied but will still buy.

Two years ago I bought a hardtop for my BMW M3, unseen and from a seller with some negative feedback but I did talk to him on the 'phone before bidding.
When it arrived by courier it was in near perfect condition, better than described and I quickly gave a positive feedback.

Secondly. I have sold only a few items on Ebay but am a little nervous of a disappointed buyer. It can happen and indeed did to a friend of mine.
She had a 600+ 100% rating and sold something which did not please a buyer.
With no communication or complaint from the buyer a negative feedback was registered against her. She was upset and rightly so because I know few people as honest or respectable.

Your opinions please.
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Starting Handle Expert

1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[ukdave2002]

As a "buyer" one has to apply a bit of common sense, if the seller has only sold 5 items in the last 12 months and revived 1 negative comment, their feedback will only be 80% looks awful so worth probing the 1 negative comment as anyone ca be at the receiving end of a grumpy purchaser..... if they had the same percentage feedback having sold 50 items ; probably best to avoid.

It's worse with Trip Adviser; try and find a hotel anywhere in the world that doesn't have at least 1 minimum rating, folk will complain more readily than praise.

Dave

[roverdriver]

My feelings are similar to yours, Ellis, and your observations, Dave are quite pertinent.

As a buyer, I do look carefully at any negative feedback, then make a decision based on what I see. Quite often the negative seems to be from lack of understanding or just plain grumpyness. Any seller comments regarding the specific negative is worth taking into consideration as well

I have bought quite a few items on E-bay, and only once had a problem, and that was resolved via Paypal.

As always, caveat emptor (I hope that I spelled that correctly!)
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Dane- roverdriver but not a Viking.

[D4B]

I sold a pair of childs spiderman wellies on ebay, almost brand new, in an auction starting at 99p plus postage £2.80 which is what it cost me.

The auction ended at you guessed it, 99p.

2 weeks later the purchaser claimed that the wellies leaked
(which I am quite sure the didn't, unless perhaps she opened my parcel with a stanley knife...

Without question I refunded her the 99p and £2.80 postage
(which of course I cannot reclaim from anywhere),
she then gave me negative feedback

Gumtree is a much better way to sell your stuff, no fees to pay, no paypal, and no posting stuff!!

[Rootes75]

I am always a little wary of buying from ebay so I do check out the sellers feedback.

With regards selling on ebay I have and close family have had there fingers burn't. I have had a couple complaints but no negative feedback, both complaints were about delivery time rather than the item and were sorted with a polite email or two.

My nephew buys and sells computers on ebay, PS3's, Xboxes and the like. He buys joblots splits out the working models and sells on the non working ones for 'spares or repairs'. He was telling me the other day of one chap who left him negative feedback, it was for an Xbox console and it read in the title 'Not Working - For Spares or Repairs'. Without any communication the chap left him negative feedback saying that the console didn't work and it didn't come in its original box!! He only paid £12 for it!
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Various Rootes Vehicles.