I have read many topics and messages on how the new policy adversely affects sellers and buyers alike. Well I have run into a situation where this policy can backfire.
I had to block a potential eBay buyer from purchasing an item after questions and dialogs ensued and I felt there was certainly something wrong and I could see a potential problem with the buyers requests and feedback record. It is the seller's responsibility to be proactive. Apparently blocking the international buyer from purchasing the item really pi**ed them off. I have some nasty emails to prove it. I pulled the item and relisted making some adjustments in the details etc and relisted. Well it turns out a friend of the pi**sed off buyer in the US bought the item almost immediately after I relisted! Because of some gathered facts and similarities I know I came to this correct conclusion on this. Anyway since I could not prove this to Ebay and cancel the transaction with actual justification and risk a bad feedback for not following through, I did follow through. I shipped almost immediately after payment and packed the item as if it were going to the moon, decided to pay extra for signature confirmation, insurance, basically trying to ensure there was no room for complaint or negative feedback. Well the buyer has received the item and I have tried multiple email dialog attempts, in a very nice way, to get a positive feedback. After all this time no feedback, and except for an initial "received item" response I cannot get buyer to leave feedback.
So based on the the new pending policy of a 21 day wait and the possibility that the buyer may come up with a lame excuse to not leave a feedback, or a less then positive feedback at the last minute in that 21 day cycle I am dead in the water. I may then have to go through another whole process to fight the good fight to get those funds released. If every potential sale can go sour and a seller is put through the possibility of a long drawn out cycle of trying to collect funds Papal may not be worth it. It was great the way it was. The resolution process and feedback process within eBay were fine. Now that a new policy has extended itself to Paypal it can become a second tier mess. By the way I have perfect feedback and always have. If I had a problematic history as a buyer/seller I understand a 'tag' that would need to be placed or removed based on feedback rating until it improved (Ebay Only)
Last but not least, if I had to put a stipulation in place on every sale that states "item will be shipped after sellers receives payment" with the intention of waiting for Paypal to release funds, how is this going to please angry frustrated buyers who have waited 21 days before item is finally shipped and received. I see this as a catch-22 situation and the final result is lose/lose for buyer and seller alike.
There still needs to be a certain level of trust between buyer and seller to work for eBay to continue to flourish and over-legislating the payment process of the transaction may eventually be more trouble then it's worth. If it takes 3 weeks or more from being to end for a Ebay/Paypal transaction with no guarantees of outcome then back we go to checks and money orders which certainly wouldn't take any longer then the current potential process. Paypal was successful because it was fast and convenient for both parties. If the convenience goes away, the thrill is gone!
Sorry for the essay, but I wanted to show you a true life scenario that is still ongoing. I'm sure other community members can see the potential for abuse with other possible senarios. I seems to me that the seller is now at quite a disadvantage here.
