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Venting about half.com feedback...

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Venting about half.com feedback...

Old 11-04-01, 03:54 AM
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Venting about half.com feedback...

What is it about buyers on half.com? Are some people just spiteful? Someone just ruined my perfect feedback rating with the following post ...

"ordered the 27th, received the 3rd. DVD's like new. NICE"

Apparently, he was happy with the quality of the discs, but only gave me a 4/5 because it took the post office 5 days to deliver a media mail package, and the guy lives halfway across the country?!?! Is that how you would interpret what he said? (He ordered Saturday night, they delivered the following Saturday). The DVDs he ordered were in absolutely perfect condition, and sold for about half price, so I can't figure out what else he considered to be wrong.

I suppose I could be like a lot of Half.com sellers that ship first class, but they always ship in manilla envelopes with little to protect the DVD. I know I always get frustrated when I receive an order like that, so instead of putting the DVDs in an manilla envelope, I put them in a plastic freezer bag to prevent scuffing, place soft padding around that, and then fill in any extra space with soft foam peanuts. All of that goes in a box (usually one of the Columbia House boxes I receive), and costs me more than the first class costs of shipping a manilla envelope. Then I ship the same day or no more than one day after the order.

Maybe I've got it all wrong - Do you think buyers put more emphasis on speed of delivery and couldn't care less about the quality of the packaging?

Just wanted to vent. Sorry...
Old 11-04-01, 05:48 AM
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You are complaining about a 4/5 feedback?

I'm sorry, but I never give a 5/5 feedback unless everything is absolutely perfect! And this includes sending the stuff first class, IMHO.

I think this how a feedback system like this should work. If there are only three options (like positive, neutral, negative on ebay), I'd always give positive feedback if there have been no major problems.

A more precise system requires more precise feedback.
Old 11-04-01, 06:37 AM
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Originally posted by Mike Myers
I'm sorry, but I never give a 5/5 feedback unless everything is absolutely perfect! And this includes sending the stuff first class, IMHO.
If you asked for media mail, then why would you consider it imperfect when the seller sends it via media mail? When you get down to it, a seller only has three obligations:

1. Accurately describing the DVD's condition.
2. Shipping it on time (within a day after confirmed).
3. Packing it secure enough to prevent damage in transit.

Thus, if the seller does all of those correctly, then why penalize him for not doing what you expect, when he has no way of knowing what you expect? What's next, taking a point off because he didn't think to include a bag of microwave popcorn?

Please don't think I stick with media mail to profit from the shipping, because putting the DVD in a box always costs more than Half.com will reimburse. The same can't be said for shipping first class in a manilla envelope, which usually costs less than $1.50.
Old 11-04-01, 10:28 AM
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Originally posted by TexasGuy

If you asked for media mail, then why would you consider it imperfect when the seller sends it via media mail? When you get down to it, a seller only has three obligations:

1. Accurately describing the DVD's condition.
2. Shipping it on time (within a day after confirmed).
3. Packing it secure enough to prevent damage in transit.
Agree. Many sales are decided by the seller's rating. If a shipment is very late I may check the postmark and if shipped late I deduct a point. If it is pooly packaged but arrives undamaged I just make a comment about the packaging. However, condition is very important to me. I only buy "like new" dvds. If the disk is pristine they get 5/5. If it is scratched they get 1/5. There is no middle ground. It is damaged... or not.
Old 11-04-01, 12:39 PM
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Originally posted by TexasGuy
If you asked for media mail, then why would you consider it imperfect when the seller sends it via media mail?
OK, if the buyer ASKED for Media Mail it's a different story. But you didn't mention that in your original post.
Old 11-04-01, 01:05 PM
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Originally posted by Mike Myers


OK, if the buyer ASKED for Media Mail it's a different story. But you didn't mention that in your original post.
Did he really need to?? I mean I don't think he would be grumbling about getting a 4 if someone asked for 1st Class and he shipped it Media Mail. If that happened to me he would get a 1 for sure.

BTW, Texas Guy I agree with your gripe. If all went well and he got the disk in 5 days in perfect condition you should have gotten a 5 rating. No question.

Point of Note. Many times it is actually cheaper to ship 1st class rather than Media Mail - even in decent padded packaging. This is why many on half advertise the upgrade for free. Try it!!

Last edited by moocher; 11-04-01 at 01:08 PM.
Old 11-04-01, 03:47 PM
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Originally posted by Mike Myers


OK, if the buyer ASKED for Media Mail it's a different story. But you didn't mention that in your original post.
With half.com, the buyer selects whether he or she wants media mail or priority mail. There is no option for first class mail, and the buyer has no way to contact the seller to request it.

Some sellers ship things by first class mail rather than media mail, though. I think it's actually cheaper to ship a CD first class than it is priority.
Old 11-05-01, 09:00 AM
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I've gotten a few of these as well, for example:

4/5 overall rating by (censored) (11/15/00)
I got this DVD in a timely fashion, the price was right and the condition was acceptable, as advertised.

I did ship the DVD via first class (upgraded from his requested media mail) btw. Did I deserve a 4/5?
Old 11-05-01, 11:38 AM
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I have one 3/5 on my record and the buyer gave no description as to why he gave me that rating.

The only thing I could think of is that I shipped the CD a day later than half told me to because the date that half.com wanted me to ship on was a holiday and the post office was closed.
Old 11-05-01, 04:40 PM
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i have two 4/5 and the buyer didn't give any explanation. Don't know why...I always package it well and ship it the day after it was confirmed. I only put stuff as "like new" if it's mint. Even if the case has a dent, I'll put a note and use "very good"
Old 11-05-01, 05:43 PM
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Thanks for all the feedback. This is interesting, since buyers seem to be interpreting the rating system different ways:

Buyer Group "A": Starts with a 5, then subtracts points for problems, such as incorrectly rating, poor packaging, or late shipping.

Buyer Group "B": Considers a 3 to be "average", and adds points for packaging or shipping, or subtracts points.

Buyer Group "C": Rates randomly depending on their mood that day.

BTW, I don't ship first class because my post office won't do delivery confirmation on first class. I actually asked about it today when I shipped a couple of DVDs. Boxed, they were either $1.83 for media mail or $3.90 for priority mail. Without delivery confirmation, it was $1.93 for first class versus $1.33 for media mail, but I like having the security of delivery confirmation in case someone decides to deny they received it.
Old 11-05-01, 08:08 PM
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BTW, I don't ship first class because my post office won't do delivery confirmation on first class. I actually asked about it today when I shipped a couple of DVDs. Boxed, they were either $1.83 for media mail or $3.90 for priority mail. Without delivery confirmation, it was $1.93 for first class versus $1.33 for media mail, but I like having the security of delivery confirmation in case someone decides to deny they received it.
MY POS post office doesn't even do delivery confirmation. Actually, I asked one of the workers there and he said they're a "contract station"
Old 11-06-01, 10:33 AM
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Hey man, just be glad you get ANY feedback at all.

I've sold approx 40 items, and have received only 9 feedbacks so far (all 5/5). I even include a little note asking people to rate me.

In this case no news is good news I guess.

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