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.