Hand written note with an Ebay purchase

[Whiskeinthejar]

I recently got my first ever negative feedback on Ebay after years of selling. Difficult buyer, long story. I'm just a private seller so I only sell a few items. I was worried it would affect my sales, but actually since then I've sold several items so maybe people aren't so bothered after all. It's frustrating though because none of these buyers have left me any feedback, which I could really have done with at the moment to dilute the bad one a bit.

As not many buyers leave feedback these days, I was looking through the Ebay forums to find some advice about getting more buyers to leave feedback, especially as pressing people for feedback is precarious and people can react negatively. One of the suggestions was to include a hand-written note with the item, saying thanks so much for buying, and I'd be so grateful if you could leave feedback as I really appreciate it etc.

How would you really feel if you received one? I'm not really sure if people really would appreciate that personal touch. I can see the potential for people to feel a bit weirded out by it, and it could feel a bit intrusive. Online selling has become so impersonal that I think I'd wonder what was going on.

I’d be perfectly fine with receiving a note and try always to leave feedback. I do offer buyers feedback to thank them for prompt payment. I’ve had one buyer send quite a stroppy message essentially saying I’d mis-sold something (they wanted a refund, and I don’t usually give them). Otherwise people are generally well behaved in my experience.

I always leave feedback, feels rude not to. It's important for other buyers too, to know the seller is trusted.

I remember buying something on eBay as a guest once because I forgot my password and couldn't be arsed resetting, and couldn't leave feedback. I felt so bad, and the woman emailed me too asking if I could leave some.

It takes no time at all, I just do it when checking e-mails or browsing. It's hardly going out of my way, and if it helps the seller then all good.

I sell everything on Buy It Now, so everyone pays straight away!

If you find that private sellers don't leave you feedback, it's usually because they're waiting for you to leave feedback first, because they want to know if you've actually received the parcel

As I said; I do always leave feedback regardless. I don't always get it back. But I feel if I've paid straight away then I should get good feedback as a buyer.
Buy It Now doesn't guarantee a payment any more than an auction as you still have to go through the payment page.

Whilst I appreciate a friendly message, any message asking for feedback definitely doesn't get it.

I hate being pestered for feedback. I am currently being pestered by the company I bought my car insurance from. Well buying it was fine. Feedback, positive or negative, will only be given if I have to claim. Anyone can sell insurance

@Whiskeinthejar I don’t expect it but I enjoy it iyswim. No need to get so defensive, I was only trying to be helpful.

if I've paid straight away then I should get good feedback as a buyer.
That's about the only feedback that a seller can give these days, it's virtually worthless IMO - if you didn't pay you wouldn't have been sent the item. All it says is that you buy a lot of stuff online.

For me the big piece that is usually missing these days, or expires too soon, or is hidden by private listings, is the value of the transaction.

I leave feedback as a buyer once I have received feedback (and the item of course). I've paid, that's my part of the exchange, if they can't be bothered leaving feedback for me then I'm not leaving feedback either.

When I first started doing eBay (never done it in a big way) I used to include a note saying - "Thanks for your purchase, please leave me feedback so I know it has arrived safely and I will then be happy to do the same for you". Printed not handwritten.

It helped me to build up my score.

OP if parcels are sent tracked then sellers know they are recieved surely. I would say I leave feedback the majority of the time, if not all but it obviously isn't something I put in my diary so will tend to do it en masse if I've ordered a few things and they've arrived, or when I get the prompt. Of it was high value I'd leave it immediately to confirm receipt out of politeness but it's not necessary when delivery can be tracked.

I would be potentially be put off by a lower feedback % tbh but would always look at the negative feedback it pertains to to see what the reason was and if it was something par for the course. If so i'd not be bothered so long as several people weren't saying the same thing, the complaints didn't pertain to the item I'd bought -eg "nbought perfume and it has gone off) or the ratio of negative to positive was in a normal range (so a couple of negatives but a couple of hundred positives).

Hand written notes aren't necessary and I think it's overthinking really. All the packaging is bad enough as it is and I just chuck the extra paper in the recycling and wouldn't even be likely to read it properly. When I started on ebay I did all that, printed invoices etc. I get the same amount of positive feedback now without bothering and now just recycle old packaging which I state in the listing that I do. People just want what they've ordered, present and correct in a timely manner. If anything I think posting is very quickly is the best thing you can do. The majority of my positive feedbacks refer to how quickly it arrived.

If people buy from you nonetheless why stress about it, it will go up eventually. I hate when sellers nag for feedback in messages etc and just wish they'd leave me alone when they do, if anything it puts me off that they are using private messages to, ultimately, pressure you into giving feedback- you are not obligated to give it.

I'm shocked at the people who think it's only important to leave feedback if it's negative. If everyone thought that way there would be absolutely no point in the feedback system, sellers would end up with things like 0% ratings.
OP, I wouldn't buy from someone with a v low rating (maybe under 90-95 % depending on volume) but certainly a 97% would not put me off. As a seller myself I understand that some buyers are just asses or just want to get their item free and if you don't give in to them they leave awful feedback. Luckily it never happened to me but I've seen it.
I always added handwritten notes when I was selling off my old craft bits, no idea if it helped but I've always had 100% positive after over 5000 sales. I also sometimes added little freebies into packages bound for my repeat customers (I had a few that bought from me many times) and they seemed to love that lol. I'd definitely be more likely to leave positive feedback if it feels like a more personal service (eg private seller not a big business selling new items). If I buy from someone like us selling our old goods I always leave feedback, only twice had to leave negative in many years and I buy from eBay constantly.
Don't worry about your 97%,it won't deter people, as you can probably tell from the comments, most people don't care anyway and if the ones that do are anything like me then a 97% won't matter. Good luck

I'd ignore it.

I always give feedback regardless - I want the seller to know if I'm pleased as well as if I'm not.

I always leave feedback - well I did, I’ve closed my eBay account now (not that I can tell as they email daily )

So it would neither persuade me or not. However, I sold a bunch of nail stuff, included loads of freebies, packaged in a lovely box with a note - no feedback. That irritated me.

How would you really feel if you received one?

I throw them out, and I only ever leave feedback if it’s negative.

To all the people who never leave feedback anyway

Truthfully, I can’t be arsed. I buy things from eBay because I can buy in a matter of seconds: two clicks, done.

I really can’t be bothered to go back and leave feedback once I’ve received it, unless I had been ripped off in some way.

I don;t leave feedback unless it is especially bad or especially good service. Item arrived on time and is as described is what I expect and IMO not worthy of comment.
I wouldn't be more inclined to leave feedback if a note was included. I've had some weird notes in purchases ('You have made an angel purchase -blessings be on you' < it was a tunic top> and similar type crap) I throw them in the bin. I want to buy somethng not be your friend.

Oh and one person included a bag of sequins and glittery beady shit - why?

I find some of these responses hilarious.

Someone wrote a thoughtful note.... SO I RIPPED IT IN TO TINY PIECES AND SET IT ON FIRE AND NEVER LEFT FEEDBACK FOR 100 YEARS!!!

Why are so many people saying they would throw the note in the bin? That's a given isn't it? No one thinks you're going to frame it or put it in a scrapbook!

Why are so many people saying they would throw the note in the bin?
Yes it is a given - but I think people are saying don;t waste time sending them - they are viewed as rubbish, There is no point to them. No one mulls them over and thinks 'I must give this person a good review because they've popped a bit of waste paper into my parcel'
people either give reviews or they don't.
And I guess it works out as a percentage of however many sales you make, and if you want good reviews, provide good service and the people who leave reviews will give you a good one. The people who don't won't. And no faffy little notes or other bits of detritus need to be involved at all. Save the trees and all that.

I still do things the way I always have, although I am aware of the changes and that Ebay only want the big sellers.

I usually put a little note inside, a thank you, but I have never once asked for feedback. I also send an e.mail as a follow up to let the buyer know the parcel was posted and which day, in case the Ebay automated ones go into junk. I include the tracking details and if delivery was attempted I also mention this, in case no card was left.

Throughout my feedback there are scattered comments about the little note from the buyers that appreciate the effort and some that liked the little notes.

I do get less feedback but I never leave it first as a seller because what can I honestly say other than 'Paid' ? Then find I have the buyer from Hell and I have given them a nice green dot and made them look good. No thanks. If I have a dodgy one I will say 'Sorry the item went missing in the post' but I am more concerned with getting Ebay to remove the neg which is possible in many cases when left by a nasty or an idiot.

I leave a follow up if the buyer has been an arsehole, and have left feedback simply to warn others, along the lines of 'This buyer's feedback left for sellers says it all'.

I leave feedback for private sellers, mainly because I wish people would leave feedback for me when I sell stuff. I don’t bother for bulk drop shippers. I always make the effort to pack stuff nicely, but I’ve never written notes.

As a buyer, if you are going to leave me feedback do it when I’ve paid; that’s the only part of the transaction you should be rating me on.

I love getting notes as it feels personalised. I leave feedback because I like to use sellers with good feedback and so leaving fb helps others in the future, or even future me.

This thread reminded me to get my feedback up to date, Im a buyer rather than a seller, so 100+ items are now feedback on

Regarding all the people who don't see the point in leaving positive feedback, there's something you should know. If you send me a best offer, or worse still, if I've switched off best offer and you're enough of a CF to message me anyway and ask for a discount, I will always check your feedback left for others first. If you have a load of feedback but not left much, then no. If you have a feedback score of 600 but have only left 100 for others, then no, I'm not giving you a discount. I've only ever reduced my price for one CF ever and she didn't even leave me feedback or say thanks. I know all buyers have 100% positive feedback because it isn't possible to leave negatives for buyers, but your feedback left for others can still say a lot about you.

I always do feedback, but not always in a timely fashion. I remember after some deliveries, but not others - so I end up doing batches. Adding a note wouldn't affect this at all.

Don't worry about having one negative response - it's obvious from the way the stats are displayed that it's an aberration/one-off.