Background and Literature Review

eBay's Rating System

Within the eBay trading community, both buyer and seller have 'official reputations' represented by a Feedback Profile. These profiles are created when both parties in a transaction grade and comment on the performance of their trading partner. After a transaction has been completed, the trading partners have a chance (if they wish) to rate their partner by leaving either a positive, negative, or neutral comment of up to 80 characters in length (Figure 7-1). As a member accumulates transactions, and thus feedback, a user feedback rating is calculated with each positive comment earning +1 points, each neutral comment earns +0 points and each negative comment earns -1 points (eBay Feedback Forum, 2003). This rating is prominently displayed next to the users' ID as both a number within parentheses and a star icon whose color signifies various point levels (Figure 7-2).

Figure 7-1: eBay feedback form

Figure 7-2: eBay rating levels

Though not required, eBay's official position on feedback is a strong suggestion and plea for participation. In the help section of the site that focuses on feedback, it is suggested to always leave feedback after a transaction as, 'Your honest feedback shapes the eBay community and impacts the success and behavior of other eBay members ' (eBay Feedback FAQ, 2003).

The decision regarding the comment to leave for one's trading partner is often times difficult. In fact, buyers left feedback on sellers 52.1% of the time and sellers on buyers 60.6% of the time (Dellarocas, 2003). Once left, a comment cannot be edited and becomes a permanent part of the feedback profile. Thus, a negative or even a neutral comment can be detrimental to the user's ability to either buy or sell in the eBay community in the future. To reduce the number of negative comments and to ensure positive buying experiences, eBay suggests that communication be used to resolve any problems that may arise during the transaction. If these problems are not resolved properly then negative commentary will warn future trading partners about the user. Once feedback is left, the user has a chance to respond. Regardless of whether the initial feedback was positive, neutral, or negative, the user may leave a written commentary detailing their viewpoint on the transaction.

On March 1, 2003, eBay changed the general format of its auction pages as well as the information presented (Figure 7-3). The new page format created a section on the page entitled 'seller information,' which presents the seller's user ID followed by the aforementioned feedback rating, the feedback rating is again presented on the next line, a new statistic called a positive feedback rating, and the date and country that the user ID was registered.

Figure 7-3: eBay feedback rating