How To Work From Home On eBay: The Art Of Feedback

How to work at home from eBay has many answers. Feedback is a very important part of having a successful eBay business. For many it is an overlooked item. Without a large amount of positive feedback, it will be difficult to make consistent sales. The art of feedback, getting positive feedback from customers and giving positive feedback are important aspects of your at home eBay business that should not be overlooked.

The art of feedback on eBay; how does it all work? In a perfect world when you sell an item on eBay, they buyer pays your promptly, you ship the item out, and the buyer receives the item and is happy with the purchase. They leave you positive feedback and you leave the buyer positive feedback and everyone is happy. In a perfect world, when you get stiffed by an unscrupulous buyer or seller you leave appropriate feedback so that others can be aware of this individual or business. That is what feedback was supposed to be used for; to accurately describe a buyer or sellers reputation as an eBay business entity. It has evolved into a completely different animal as we do not live in a perfect world.

What is feedback like in reality. You have buyers who use feedback to trash a sellers rating because they did not like the fact that the seller had to ask for payment more than once. You have buyers who try to force a seller into reshipping a damaged item without returning the original. You have people who have nothing better to do with their time than to cause trouble for others. It is not only the buyers who misuse the feedback forum. You have sellers who will try to force a buyer into paying for a damaged or item not received. Feedback is supposed to be important. It is your eBay reputation and a single negative remark can adversely affect your business. Look at my feedback for example. I have a rating of 45. Out of 45 sales and purchases, a single person was not happy. That dropped me to a 97.9% positive rating. A rating like this is too low to be considered for a PowerSeller. This particular person was offered a full refund upon return of the merchandise. They refused my offer and left the negative feedback instead. Yes it was their right to do so, however they did not mention the fact that I offered to make it right. I had to make sure I added that remark.

How do you manage feedback? The art of feedback management is important and it is an art. You as the seller should ask for feedback with every communication with the buyer. Not overtly, just a line stating that positive feedback has been left for you. Please leave feedback for me about this purchase. It is against eBay's rules to ask for positive feedback as this is viewed as coercing the buyer. As a seller, you must regularly check your feedback ratings. Active selling requires active feedback monitoring. Always leave feedback for your buyers. When they pay you promptly and as soon as they receive the merchandise, leave positive feedback for them. Customer follow up is the best way to get positive feedback. You shipped the item, delivery confirmation has been made, now send the buyer an email asking them if everything is ok with the purchase. Assume if it is not, you will hear from them. However, if you get no response then leave positive feedback.

The Rules of feedback are changing. You used to be able to leave just a remark. In an effort to get feedback to what it was intended to be, there is a multiple rating for every purchase. Ratings are on a 5 star system for each of 5 categories: was the item as described, buyer/seller communication, shipping time; and shipping and handling charges. With more detail to the rating system perhaps it will become more accurate again. Part of how to work from home on eBay is managing your feedback.