Richard the Pink has now said on the PowerSeller Board [PS login required] that it “may not” go live until Monday. Many sellers will think that a Tuesday launch would be more appropriate.

Updated to add: there is now an official announcement of the delay.

The big question though is how you approach it and for sellers there are two approaches – either to focus on feedback which tends to mean agonising over every buyer, fretting whether they’ll give you a 4 or 5 star rating, or to simply ignore it in favour of simply giving great service and leaving customers to rank you at will.

Recent changes have made feedback more important than ever and it’s time to change your approach regardless of how you’ve handled things in the past.

Leave feedback first

There really is no reason for sellers not to bite the bullet and leave feedback on payment or despatch. The old argument that “the transaction isn’t complete until the buyer receives the product” is no longer valid. As sellers soon won’t be able to leave negative or neutral feedback for buyers your only choice is to leave a positive or not to leave feedback at all.

From talking to sellers anecdotal evidence suggests that sellers that leave feedback first are more likely to receive positive feedback and less likely to receive negatives. It appears by telling a buyer they were a good customer they’re more likely to rate you as good seller. Buyers appear more reluctant to leave poor feedback when they’ve already received a positive themselves.

Ask for good feedback in communications

Use communications as an opportunity to ask for good feedback. End of item emails, invoices, despatch notes, despatch email are all times when you can set buyer expectations for feedback.

Use phrases such as “We aim to receive 5/5 feedback, please contact us if we’ve not achieved this”. Let buyers know that you want five star ratings – the old adage if you don’t ask you don’t get definitely applies to feedback.

Turn off SMP feedback reminders

Many sellers have used feedback reminders asking buyers to leave feedback for transactions. I’ve always been a firm believer that this is counterproductive and can lead to worse feedback than if not used. I have known sellers send out reminders for all outstanding feedback who received negatives in return for the efforts. Sometimes it can be better to *not* receive feedback.

Feedback left within days of the item arriving will normally be better than feedback left several weeks later when the product is used, abused and possibly broken and disposed of. The excitement and pleasure of the transaction has gone, the later feedback is left the more likely it is to be pragmatic rather than effusive.

It should also be remembered that eBay have stepped up communications and send their own feedback reminders so there really is no need for sellers to do likewise.

Ship fast

I firmly believe that he single most important thing you can change, to receive better feedback, is to ship fast. The quicker you can get the product into the customers hands the more likely they are to leave great feedback, instant gratification goes a long way.

Give great service

Of course you already give fantastic service which you’re proud of, I know I do… but there will always be areas in which you can improve. Take an honest objective look at how you do business and look at your competitors, do test purchases from them and find out what they do better than you. Aim to incorporate the best practices you find from every seller you purchase from and of course avoid irking your customers with the aspects of their service which are not so good.

Giving great service is what buyers want, what eBay are encouraging, and what will ultimately determine how successful you are. There really is no secret – great service will result in great feedback, but the tips above could help along the way.