Is the eBay customer always right? In the eyes of eBay itself, 'YES!' In your eyes that might not always be the case, but unless you're willing to trade your positive feedback score to stand behind your beliefs, you will have to conform to the traditional retail standard that most companies operate by.
Unlike a traditional brick and mortar store, you can't just send a customer packing when they've done something that any store with a 'No shirt, No shoes, No service' sign could typically refuse service for. In fact, on eBay you can't refuse service to a customer at all. In a sense, every customer that ever buys from your eBay store owns a certain piece of the success of your business. It's all about what they decide to leave in your feedback.
So how do you keep your customers happy? With eBay's new policy of not being able to leave negative feedback for difficult customers, you are at the mercy of the customer. Luckily, most customers are reasonable and honest. However, some you won't be able to please no matter what.
Most customer problems can be solved on eBay by offering a refund or replacement of their product. This is by far the fastest way to make thoughts of negative feedback floating around in your customers minds, disappear. Ideally, you want to try to keep your feedback score at 100%.
At 100% you will be one of the most trusted sellers on eBay. At 99.9%, some buyers might pass up your auctions for those with 100% feedback. That .1% may be trivial in your mind, but it is a big deal to some customers. The farther your feedback percentage goes down, the more sales you'll lose.
If you can't get into the 'customer's always right' mentality, then eBay might not be the right business for you. eBay caters to the buyers, not the sellers. Don't let this article scare you though. eBay is a pretty friendly place for the most part. If you want to be successful, just remember these five little words, 'the customer is always right'.
