Who should be first to leave feedback for online transactions (ebay, for example). Recently, I have noticed more and more sellers delaying their feedback, perhaps indefinitely, until the buyer has posted their feedback.
While I understand the urge on the part of the seller to make sure the buyer does not burn them in the final moments, is this really appropriate? I suspect if I were to leave a nasty, negative feedback regarding a seller, they would reciprocate in some way, why else would they hold off on their own feedback until I have left mine.
But here's the thing, what if they deserve it? If I have promptly paid for my purchase, my portion of the transaction is completed. Is my feedback part of my transaction? If i paid promptly and communicated well, but left a nasty feedback, does that warrant equally nasty feedback in return from the seller?
It seems this is becoming a method for sellers to blackmail the buyer into leaving positive feedback. When combined with the more and more common "friendly" emails reminding me to leave feedback about my transactions, online purchasing is becoming only that much more hostile.
UPDATE: Ebay has stopped allowing sellers to post feedback, thus ending any possibility of sellers holding their positive feedback hostage until the buyer provides the same. There are now complaints that buyer fraud will increase in response, but any market favors one or the other. Which way is better is, of course, up to debate.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
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