smontanaro 

I know that sellers can do some things to keep their seller feedback ratings pristine, so I generally get a bit more careful when I see a rating under 99% and even more suspicious when checking out stuff from sellers with a rating under 97%. I saw this rather cute looking Tigra city bike just now:

Vintage Bike TIGRA Campagnolo Reynold

I wasn't really planning to bid on it, especially considering it's in Italy, but how bad do you have to be to have a rating of only 93.3%?

NYMXer

I would consider the total number of feedbacks received and use a little common sense. If a seller has 99% feedback in 2 sales that tells me more than 99% for 100 sales. Also, some people just ***** over anything and leave bad feedback. Read the feedback comments. Things like "poor communication", "unresponsive" or "did not send item" would raise the hair on my neck fast.
Most sellers are now sending an e mail message asking you to contact them first before giving bad feedback. I guess they are now understanding the value of a good reputation!

D1andonlyDman

In the case of someone with ONE bad feedback, which is the case here, I read the comments, and if I'm still interested in the item being sold, I will contact the seller about it. It's certainly possible that the seller had the misfortune of selling something to a single jerk, who dinged them because they themselves didn't read the auction description properly, or some other similar issue, and they simply don't have enough transactions to wash away the one bad apple. OTOH, MULTIPLE bad feedbacks, particularly stating something similar, like poor communication, or improperly packing the item, that to me is a red flag.

A good seller with a single bad feedback should be able and willing to explain it to your satisfaction as a prospective buyer. The percentage itself tells you little when the number is calculated over a small number of transactions - in this case one bad transaction out of 16.

CliffordK

If you go through all the feedback, there are SEVERAL negative feedbacks scattered through the transactions.

For example, on one, the seller claims to have found an undisclosed defect while packing, and cancelled the transaction. I'd hardly blame the seller, although if the buyer still wanted it for the full price, then it should have been sold.

One complaint is unclear, but perhaps shipping damage, and the seller & buyer couldn't reach an agreement for the remedy.
Most feedback indicates the seller is respectable.

The one thing he may not do is go the extra mile if a problem should occur.

If it was me, I'd probably go ahead and make the purchase. But, it might depend a bit. I might go $300 on a battered used bike. I'd be a bit skeptical on a $5000 "pristine" NOS bike.

wrk101

Thats lousy feedback rating IMHO. Even some of the positive feedback note issues, like sending the wrong parts.

IMHO, you have to be either pretty bad, or not committed to maintaining a pristine feedback record.

Checking this seller's feedback, I think he is the latter. Certainly most of his auctions have gone well, really well, but too many have not. A little more commitment to great service, and this guy would be perfect.

Active sellers should have records that are nearly unblemished, In the world of eBay, for a seller with over 500 feedbacks, 93% is really low. Realize a seller who is motivated to provide top notch service can work out problems and eliminate occasional negative feedback through great responses. Savvy buyers will avoid this seller, so it will cost him $$ over time.

I've worked hard to maintain my score for over 14 years now, with almost 2000 transactions. Not every buyer will be happy, but most will be, and if you handle the concerns of the rare unsatisfied buyer, the seller's record can remain excellent. A 93% feedback score to me means the seller is unwilling to go the extra mile to keep customers happy.

Also realize that almost half of this seller's total feedback is from items he bought....... So its not really four or five issues out of 500, its four or five out of 300, plus a neutral and some positives with issues.


ALSO, beware on this item. 531 sticker on the seat tube is a FORK sticker. To me, this means sticker is not original, and is very suspect. Its also not a 1960s sticker. I'd love to know seat post OD. Sticker doesn't look like a Reynolds sticker to me, who knows.

obrentharris 

93.3% over 500 items? Expensive shipping to return item if something is wrong? I would stay far away!
Brent

FBinNY 

Not speaking to the intent of your post, but I want to remind you that 99% feedback on two sales is mathematically impossible.

RobbieTunes

That's what, 66 items? That's quite a few.

Bear in mind Robbie's eBay theories:

1-You, as a seller, will think the item is in better condition than the buyer will, unless it's new in the box.
2-The buyer thinks you are a store with $1M set aside just to give discounts, pay return shipping, etc.
3-caveat emptor is a completely foreign idea to someone who buys something sight unseen without asking questions.
4-Many buyers think "auction" means "make low-ball offer."
5-While you may know the exact mileage on a component, the buyer, having never seen it, will undoubtedly think it's more.
6-Every transaction on eBay is someone's attempt to make money, so don't approach it as anyone doing you a favor.

jefnvk

I don't generally rely on the scores. I look at the neutral and negative feedback they have received, and see exactly what problems they have encountered.

I had a few friends in college that had drop shipping shops on eBay to make a couple extra dollars. IIRC, around 2010 anything but five stars on the review detracted from your rating, not sure if that has changed since then. Also, unfortunately there are just people that have learned that PayPal and eBay will almost always side with the buyer, and refund their money no matter how ridiculous the story. One of my friends took a couple hundred dollar hit and negative feedback when the buyer complained that the new subwoofer that was shipped to them directly from the factory, was a 20 year old piece of junk that had a bouncy ball in it.

wphamilton

100% is too low IMHO. Pay your money take your chances.

exmechanic89

I'd buy from the guy if he had an item I wanted. His feedback score isn't great, but I'd take the chance. He has plenty of good feedback, too.

D1andonlyDman

The percentage is only calculated on the past year's rated transactions. In this case it's one negative out of 16 transactions

RobbieTunes

I stand corrected, but my theories remain.

RobbieTunes

Probably better odds than tonight's Powerball....just sayin...

D1andonlyDman

Your theories appear valid with respect to this seller - and as general guidelines for using ebay. I was just pointing out that ebay only calculates the feedback percentage on the most recent year of transactions.

miamijim

Its not 93.3% over 500 transactions. It's 93.3% over 16 transactions. Feedback percent is calculated over the previous 12 months. The single negative was over 6 months ago.

CliffordK

I counted 4 negatives and 1 neutral in 329 feedback.

So, that would be 325/329 = 98.7%

For a seller that gets about 20 feedback ratings a year, that one negative can blemish the score for quite some time.

obrentharris 

Good to know how that works.
Thank you!

Erwin8r

Well, I guess I'll find out... though coming from Italy, I won't be holding my breath...

PS: What the heck was I thinking?!?! I don't even know what I'm gonna do with it as it looks small... freakin' impulse N+1 buying... lol!