Jim 'Griff' Griffith

Should Newbie Buyers Have Restrictions
on Leaving Feedback?
by Jim 'Griff' Griffith
eBay Staff Member

Q: I occasionally receive undeserved negative feedback, usually from brand new buyers. This is a source of never-ending frustration. Every time I see someone with a feedback score of zero or less than 10, I have a little sinking feeling, although I know that this might be unfair to the person. I have a suggestion to address this issue:

Why not restrict all newbies so that they cannot leave feedback until they themselves have a specific positive feedback score of, say, 10 or so? At least that gives them time to get acclimatized to eBay. I'm sure that the majority of sellers would prefer not to receive feedback from these buyers rather than leave their reputation in the hands of the newbies.

A: Thanks for your suggestion. The idea of a feedback restriction for newbies would be not only unfair but also potentially dangerous as well. That said, we have some changes planned for later in the year that should help remedy the situation you bring up, and I've summarized them below.

First, consider this scenario that could result if all newbies were unable to leave feedback. A newbie buyer with zero feedback suffers an unpleasant experience with a seller. However, because of the feedback restriction, this buyer would be unable to record their experience for the benefit of others in the Community.

Imposing feedback restrictions on newbies could also expose them to those very few sellers on eBay who employ less than satisfactory business practices or ethics. These sellers would be very happy to have new, zero feedback buyers to victimize, knowing that these buyers would be unable to alert the rest of the Community.

We agree, though, that we need to strike a balance between allowing new members the right to leave feedback and helping good sellers preserve their reputations. Later this year, we're going to require newbies – members with less than 10 feedback – to take a tutorial before they are able to leave a negative or a neutral. The tutorial will take 5-10 minutes and will educate the newbie about the importance of feedback and all the ways that they can communicate with their trading partner before leaving feedback.

Next, we're going to remove any feedback left – positive, neutral or negative – by a user who gets indefinitely suspended within 90 days of registering on the site. We think it's important that only Community members have the right to leave feedback, and we feel that people suspended in this timeframe were never truly Community members.

It is my experience that, for the most part, one tends to receive the treatment one expects. If you expect that your new buyers with zero feedback are basically good until proven otherwise, you will be amazed at how often your expectations are met or exceeded!

Sincerely,
Griff