Molly*Marine Speaks on Feedback
By Molly*Marine

I understand how important it is to get feedback when you’re new in order to “establish yourself” as a reputable trading partner. That said, it is important to have a clear understanding of how the feedback forum works, which will hopefully help set your mind at ease.

Feedback's primary purpose is for a member to let the community know what to expect when dealing with you – it is simply a voluntary evaluation of a member’s experience with a trading partner. Feedback is not meant to be a "thank you" or a way to show appreciation for good customer service, although oftentimes you will see people incorporate those things into their comments.

Because feedback is optional, everyone has his own method of leaving feedback. Some sellers leave it after payment is received, while others choose to wait until the transaction is complete (i.e. buyer has received the item and is satisfied with it) before they leave feedback. Some don’t leave feedback at all, and some leave it inconsistently. For a buyer, getting that feedback is a bit less important than it is for a seller. (I say this as a buyer, BTW.) Why? Because the reason that the feedback forum was created was to offer buyers a measure of security that the strangers we are handing our hard-earned money to are reputable. There are, of course, buyers who are scam artists, and the community should be made aware of that via feedback. But by and large, feedback's importance to a buyer is not what is on his own profile, but what is on the profile of his potential trading partner.

The best advice I can offer, if this issue is important to you, is to select those sellers whose feedback practices are in keeping with what you prefer. If you buy from a seller who doesn't leave feedback consistently or at all, then you are unlikely to get that seller to change.

Another thing you can do is e-mail the seller to let him know that the item has arrived and that you have left positive feedback. This will serve as enough of a "hint" if a seller is inclined to leave it anyway. Beyond that, I don't recommend sending repeated e-mails or demanding feedback.

I do recommend reviewing a seller's "feedback left" profile regardless of your stand on feedback in general. This part of a person's profile can tell you a lot about how he or she conducts business.