AuctionBytes interviewed eBay's Director of Global Feedback Policy, Brian Burke, to learn more about the company's new feedback rating system. Feedback 2.0 was rolled out in 8 pilot markets in early March and was slated to begin rolling out worldwide Tuesday afternoon. One key difference in the new system is the added ability for buyers to rate sellers on four criteria, referred to as "detailed seller ratings." As with the old system, buyers will still be able to leave an overall positive, neutral or negative rating for sellers along with comments.
Burke said with Tuesday's global launch of Feedback 2.0, eBay would be making the 5-star system more detailed, showing ratings in increments of one-tenths. He said under the pilot program, sellers with ratings of 4.4 and 4.7 would be grouped together as 4.5. Now, shoppers will be able to see a more detailed rating.
What are the concerns eBay is hearing about Feedback 2.0?
Burke said the biggest concerns from users in markets where the system has yet to be rolled out include:
- Concern over the item price displaying on feedback profile pages. While it is not new information - the information has always been available, "we're surfacing it a little higher," and sellers are concerned it might have the potential to depress prices they can get for items.
- Concern that the detailed seller rating component might have a negative impact on someone who ships cross-border.
- Concern that buyers don't really understand the whole shipping component, whether it's the cost of packaging or the time it takes to get it to the post office, and whether buyers would consider those factors when rating sellers. "We tried to mitigate that issue by stressing to buyers that what they are rating the seller on is time the seller took to ship the item, not the total time - not when it arrived at the door. The question we ask is, how quickly does the seller ship the item, and in the help language, we provide information that gives guidance to the buyer."
Burke said that even if buyers do rate on how long it actually takes an item to get to a buyer's doorstep, all sellers are in the same exact position. He said it is very important for sellers to set expectations, which they can do in the item description.
Burke admitted that cross-border trading is something eBay will be watching closely with the global rollout, since the US and Canada experience the biggest cross-border trading. "We'll continue to look at this."
Why not hold off on Feedback 2.0 in North America until after the USPS rate changes occur in 2 weeks?
"We think (implementing Feedback 2.0) is the right thing to do, buyers want the information prior to making a purchasing decision. The concerns in the UK, Australia and France (over Feedback 2.0) haven't materialized. We're sensitive to the concerns, but all sellers are in the same boat."
Burke said with eBay's annual conference coming up in 6 weeks, "we want conversation at eBay Live - what are constructive criticisms around Feedback 2.0? I'd like to get through that." Burke believes that two to three weeks from now, sellers will find themselves in a stronger position.
Do detailed ratings give shoppers useful data if they rate seller criteria similarly?
When asked about the criticism that most sellers are getting the same level of ratings for each criterion, thereby making the ratings homogeneous, Burke said, "The vast majority of sellers do a good job. It was never our intention to see a bell curve with the majority of sellers at a 3. But we do see more distribution with Feedback 2.0 than with the current system. The majority of sellers do rate a 4 and above."
Burke believes the high adoption rate - measured by how many transactions that get an overall positive, neutral or negative rating receive a detailed rating - protects sellers from occasional mistakes or from mishaps that are out of their control. Some countries where the pilot has rolled out have an adoption rate of over 70 percent - it's a little lower in smaller countries such as India and Belgium. "If the post office loses a package, with the high adoption rate, the average will make one misstep that is outside of the seller's control have less of an impact on their rating. But if it's not occasional, but a pattern of behavior, we'll see that show up in the detailed ratings." In pilot countries, the rate of buyers leaving feedback did not decline, according to Burke.
Did eBay poll sellers in pilot countries for their feedback after the new rating system rolled out?
eBay did not poll users, but closely measured Feedback 2.0 results the UK, Australia and France and the ongoing community reaction. "The initial concern among the community all dissipated quickly after the introduction." Burke said what's important is what is happening with listings and bidding, which have not experienced a decline.
Burke also said that in the UK, there had been concern that displaying the listing title in a buyer's feedback page would discourage bidders in certain categories, who might be embarrassed to have their purchases displayed so publicly. (Purchase information was always available, but users would have to click on each listing to see what an item was.) "We tracked risque categories across all other categories, and there was no difference in bidding activity."
What buyer qualities might eBay envision sellers being able to rate?
Burke said that 2 years ago, eBay conducted a survey of 20,000 users. The vast majority of buyers said they wanted detailed seller ratings and over 80 percent said they would take the time to give detailed seller ratings. However, there was only a small percentage of sellers who said they would be likely to take the time to give detailed buyer ratings.
Burke said that realistically, most sellers automate the process of leaving feedback, and sellers would not necessarily use information from detailed buyer ratings to eliminate a buyer.
Two pieces of information that could help sellers are the buyers' communication and speed of payment. The current system already gives sellers ample commentary on communication, Burke said. And, "as we integrate PayPal, we could provide to sellers the ability to limit buyers on how quickly they pay," saying the structured data eBay could provide on PayPal timeliness could be helpful to sellers. However, this is not his domain, he said.
eBay already provides sellers the ability to limit bidders to those who accept PayPal, and ban bidders with net negative feedback and UPI strikes (non-paying bidders), Burke said.
Would eBay ever use detailed seller ratings to influence a seller's exposure on search results?
eBay first wants to make sure the ratings are used properly, that buyers get to a comfort level where they can leave appropriate feedback without fear of retaliation. The ratings could provide structured data that could be beneficial, but there are no plans right now to have the ratings influence exposure on search results, Burke said. "It's a possiblity in the future, but we are concentrating on getting the data right, and making sure buyers understand the nuances to get accurate data."
Is there anything else you'd say about Feedback 2.0?
"I hope that two to three weeks from now, the best sellers can look back and can say it hasn't harmed them and has helped them better differentiate themselves from sellers not doing as well. I hope sellers will let us know if they experience issues."
eBay's discussion board on feedback:
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/forum.jspa?forumID=113
