Gunfight At The eBay Corral: Who Shoots First?

Feedback: The great eBay face-off, eh? I received an e-mail today which read, "Hi there, please leave feedback and I will do the same in kind. Thank you for purchasing (la-di-da). Please leave feedback for me on eBay and I'll do the same for you. Take this opportunity now and help build a better eBay community." Here's the thing, see: Why do I have to leave feedback first? I payed for this item before the seller even knew it was sold. Zipped through to PayPal and winged the money into their account before I'd even received a confirmation e-mail. Surely, if the buyer pays quickly and there are no problems with the money being accepted, then they have fulfilled their side of the contract. It would be better if the seller left feedback at that point, gushing about how wonderful it is to do business with this person, monies have been happily obtained and everything is going swimmingly. Then, when the buyer collects his purchase and sees that the items have arrived in one piece without any unnecessary delays, he can leave positive feedback promptly and everyone is happy. Or if his purchase was shoddily packed and generally badly managed, he can leave negative feedback without fear of reprisal. The seller has not fulfilled his side of the arrangement and therefore deserves negative or, at least, neutral feedback. There should be no tit-for-tat. I'm being told, "Take this opportunity now and help build a better eBay community"? How did that happen? Building a better eBay community must rest on basic good manners and fair trading sense, not you-scratch-my-back-and-I'll-scratch-yours. That just makes it a sham (umm...yeeees? Your point being..?) Anyway, I've replied to the seller's feedback reminder and I'll keep you posted as to how things unfold. March 6, 2006. Nothing to report. He no give me feedback, I no give he, and that is that. Perhaps I'll be blacklisted by him. Is that possible on ebay? No too sure. Anyway, it all turns into a bit of a yawn.