As for selling broken goods and laws on issues such as the buyer changing their mind, if you’re selling via auction format listings, those laws don’t always apply.

Feedback blackmail is going to shift from being a buyer problem to being a seller problem. The buyer will from May hold all the aces, you’ll have an empty hand and it’s the smaller sellers who are going to be the victims of this extortion. Power sellers will brush it off. Yet the small guy, he’s the one who will be worried. This is similar to the current situation, you don’t get many power buyers, so a buyer has more to lose from bad feedback, hence the reason they are more likely to negotiate feedback.

The fact that you leave feedback first is really irrelevant, because the next time the person buys, they still have their feedback rating to think of, it’s designed to work that way.

A poor system is a poor system, but ebay seem hell bent on making a poor system worse.

Currently I’m still waiting for my first buyer to try blackmailing me, truth is that buyers are actually pretty much like sellers – in the main they’re nice decent people

As for the feedback blackmail argument, I’ve been leaving feedback first for months now, and no one has tried to blackmail me. If sellers are so paranoid about buyers, they need to consider the reasons for that paranoia, I think.

As for the feedback protests. They are 100% justified for hobby sellers. Power sellers probably won’t be too bothered. However those who strive for their precious 100% feedback are going to be wide open to blackmail.

You don’t prevent feedback blackmail by making it a one sided win win situation. The Ebay management are either very naive or they believe that allowing buyer feedback blackmail will increase revenue across the board and so it’s acceptable.

based on his feedback, i reckon she wont get paid or he turns up and expect some “extras” from a hooky credit card.

Says so on your occupation

I know you work for ebay, but you ve got to admit this new feedback is going to cause so many problems for sellers.

check here

1)dodgy
2)won’t pay
3)try to pay with a dodgy paypal account or credit card
account/
4) Ask for delivery to an unconfirmed address
5)not read the listing properly and demand all sorts of things that weren’t in the listing and neg you for not providing the spurious requirements
6) simply change their mind and ask YOU to ship back the item (if its a heavy item THIS WILL COST)
(By the way i m pretty sure a customer is not entitled to a refund or return simply because they changed their mind)

Anyway
This isnt just supposition, i have had many experiences of people trying on such nonsense, the feedback gives an indicator of how seriously you should take the buyer. Lets face it, the main problem with ebay isnt sellers negging buyers, it’s the legion upon legion of dodgy internet characters trying to pull all manner of stunts. From Nigerians spoofing paypal confirmation emails, use of stolen credit cards for high end goods and not to mention people sending a lovely rubber cheque. As soon as i see a buyer with no feedback or negs then i know to treat them with caution. Inexperienced sellers are going to be extremely vulnerable to this type of behaviour that ebay attracts. So when a seller is ripped off as they had no inkling the buyer wasnt genuine, the seller definitely wont come back either, so its pointless to favour the buyer over the seller as the seller is paying the fees! I can see a lot of scammers/time wasters/jokers just leaving negative feedback for the sake of it. Perfectly respectable sellers will lose their 100% (or their online reputation) in an instant and will lose sales, which in turn lose ebay money as the new fees are “success driven”

I just think its absolutely daft, instead they should just spend more time policing sellers and buyers alike rather than lopsiding their feedback system.

Also I would check internet and FTC rules on the situation.

Red donuts work for not paying for an item, works to warn other seller’s that this is an non-paying bidder. If a new buyer (currently) runs a (-4) in feedback they are suspended.

Three unpaid item disputes and they are suspended.

I think if a seller files an unpaid item dispute, the buyer does not respond to it then they deserve a red donut.

I agree a buyer doesn’t deserve a red donut from a seller because the seller is getting back at them for other reasons.

I also think if a buyer does not read your auction and then leaves you a red donut, it should be removed. If you have in your terms and they don’t live by those terms, they deserve a red donut. If you go to a store and buy something and break the return policy, you do not get a gold star.

You asked what is to stop a buyer from registering a new account. To answer your question, NOTHING. eBay does not have a real verification system. This is a problem that eBay should be looking into, rather then feedback.

It is silly to think that a buyer should not be held accountable for their actions. If you bid, you win, you pay. No exceptions. You agree to those terms when you sign up for eBay. If you don’t leave up to that agreement, you should be held accountable. Should we give a non-paying bidder a bell rub, a should massage? I don’t think so.