TIP! - Checking Feedback BEFORE You Ship! - Toolhaus.org

[jeffweico]

I have noticed several posts on the forum from sellers who seem to attract bad feedback, some of it probably justified and some not justified. Sometimes negative feedback cannot be avoided - things happen: mail is delayed, packages get damaged, etc. But there are some buyers out there who have a history of leaving tons of negatives.

While checking several hundred orders, I noticed there are 3 type of buyers. The first type NEVER leaves negatives. I would assume they work out any problems with the seller instead. The second type leaves bad feedback rarely, and you can usually tell by the tone that the seller must have really pissed them off. The third type leaves bad feedback for sellers on a regular basis - sometimes as many as 1 in 5 of the orders they receive result in a negative feedback. One buyer, in particular, must be the unluckiest buyer on eBay. She had 142 feedbacks left for her and left 47 NEGATIVES! Somehow, she ends up with every counterfeit on eBay - everything from designer purses to DVD's, to cell phone cases, everyone seems to be selling her counterfeits.

So, I wanted to share a site with my fellow members:

Toolhaus.org

This website allows you to enter a user ID and will show you a list of any and all negatives and neutrals an eBay user has left. There are several other tools on this site as well and I have used it extensively over the years.

Obviously, if you are filling 400 orders a day for HDMI cables, then checking all of your buyers is probably not very practical. But for sellers who sell higher-risk or more expensive items, checking feedback BEFORE you follow through and ship an order might protect you and your account from bad feedback, or even maybe from being scammed.

I tested this tonight and looked up 200 orders. It took me less than 1 hour. So, for some of you, this might be a reasonable tool to use.

This tool also allows you to check feedback RECEIVED, blocked bidder lists and a few other things. Every eBay user should have this in their arsenal. It is totally free and NO I do not own any part of it, nor am I affiliated with them. I just wanted to pass it on.

[slokor]

Could be a very useful tool for many of us. Thanks for sharing.

[GreenBean]

Originally Posted by jeffweico

IOne buyer, in particular, must be the unluckiest buyer on eBay. She had 142 feedbacks left for her and left 47 NEGATIVES! Somehow, she ends up with every counterfeit on eBay - everything from designer purses to DVD's, to cell phone cases, everyone seems to be selling her counterfeits..

There was a user some years ago with that MO.

Fool and money comes to my mind.




That's a very handy tool. It's a valuable aid in having a business plan work well.

That is essential for stealth.

[solefoodbk]

Wow thank you so much for sharing this information! Already bookmarked it. Agreed, must have for any fellow Ebayer!

[rsot]

The first type of buyer is golden assumption or not

[joesshooze]

I always check the buyers feedback and date joined.

[jeffweico]

Originally Posted by joesshooze

I always check the buyers feedback and date joined.

Right, so did I. But more and more, I find myself wanting to know if a buyer has a history of leaving negative comments. In my experience, the buyers who leave the WORST comments - the ones that will actually hurt your sales and potentially get your account banned usually have a history of doing so.

I'd rather be proactive here. I've had it with being accused of fraud. I recently had one buyer who emailed me wanting a partial refund because THEIR CHILD did not like the book as much as they did when they were a kid. I refused and she left a negative stating I was selling counterfeit books (nobody is counterfeiting $5 books). When I checked her feedback, she had about 150 total feedbacks and had left 22 negatives, all of them nasty.

So I have become a big believer in this. It only takes a few second to cut and past the user-id into Toolhaus and see what is up.

It would be a dream come true if eBay would let us automatically block bidders/buyers that left over x% of negative feedback, with x being a value we could set.

[Bunneh]

Thanks for sharing x