Originally Posted by
Dave Mayer
Feedback for the buyer is deserved when the buyer pays within the auction terms. Nothing else is owed by the buyer. Feedback for a seller is deserved when the product is received as advertised. I reiterate: sellers who wait for the buyer to send feedback first are maintaining the threat of negative retailiatory feedback simply to lessen their own chance of getting (deserved) negative feedback.
When I am bidding on something substantive, I check on the sellers feedback history. If the seller delivers feedback (good or bad) before the buyer, I might bid. If the seller waits for the buyer to send feedback first, I don't bid.
I think this is good in theory, but in practice, there are just as many a-hole buyers as there are sellers. If you leave good feedback for a buyer and they want a discount because they use a subjective term like "good condition" to mean NOS, what are you supposed to do when they flame you over a $0.99 item?