Silk Road forums

Support => Feature requests => Topic started by: NorcalKindness on August 07, 2011, 07:18 pm

Title: Buyer feedback
Post by: NorcalKindness on August 07, 2011, 07:18 pm
Transparency goes both ways, ya know - & we're all for it! 

Lots of options with the idea of feedback on buyers, here's a list to begin with:

1) count of transactions (doesn't need to be precise, but something like "none" "few" "many" "veteran")
2) count of transactions which auto-finalized (same - this gives vendors an idea how flakey the buyer may be)
3) count of transactions in dispute (same)
4) count of days between shipment confirmed, and transaction finalized.

It would be nice to be able to know which buyers are cool & legit, and which may be less so.  Also, a good enough rep as a buyer could lead to tiered pricing, or other bonuses, etc.

Or, it could be as simple as a +/- from the vendor for each transaction.
Title: Re: Buyer feedback
Post by: joeblow2 on August 07, 2011, 08:14 pm
I LOVE IT! :D

Since one of the main purposes of SR is to match up sellers and buyers who are well-suited for each other but would never have the chance to meet in real life, this kind of buyer feedback would be an outstanding tool.

It would also allow the sellers to tailor their acceptance of orders to the types of buyers who fit *their* needs most precisely.  A person who doesn't finalize orders and just lets them sit once they have their product may end up having to pay more than someone who always finalizes the day they get the order.  And that is just as it should be! 

Sellers would need to be vigilant, just like buyers should be now, to notice when a long finalization history is caused by being out of the sellers home country and to give allowances for that.

Additionall, sellers shouldn't penalize buyers for having *no* history, because everyone starts out as a newbie.

But the opportunity to treat a "VIP buyer" as a VIP from the first order because their purchasing history is publicly available is reason enough to go with this type of program.  Buyers should receive benefits for their overall buying behavior, and not just when they ask for a larger quantity.  I can't imagine any good buyer who wouldn't welcome having the nature of their behavior with one seller on file for other sellers to see.

However, just like with seller feedback, we are painting a target on the persons who are the lifeblood of SR if we put out a rating system that gives too many specifics in absolute terms.  I wouldn't want to be the #1 buyer on SR with 15,482 transactions spread over two years any more than I'd want to be seller #1 with the same statistics shown publicly.   :o

Besides the fine points NorcalKindness mentioned, I'd suggest to add or modify in the following ways:
1.  1 point=communication-were they polite and specific.  Minus scores for harassment or just sending sloppy pm's over and over.
2.  1 point=prompt finalization-keeping in mind what is realistic depending on geography and shipping method.
3.  1 point=gave feedback-the SR system thrives on it.  so it should be rewarded if it's given and done properly.
4.  1 point=play by the rules-one point for just ordering according to the listing without extraneous fluffery.
5.  1 point=seller's choice-if the overall experience with the buyer was good, give a perfect score.  Not given if order had problems that were
                 caused by the buyer OR went to resolution and the buyer was unreasonable.  +1 if problems happened but were solved amicably.

Then weight the scores based on the same things as the sellers feedback: number of orders, size of orders, how recent the order is, etc.
Veteran buyers and sellers could work very closely together with the lowest prices because they know what's going to happen before the order ever takes place.  And new sellers could see what problems they might encounter with a particular buyer, so they could make their own decisions accordingly, but always with the info in front of them.  New sellers would know that if they persist and do a good job that one day they could work with only the best buyers and have a very smooth life at SR, indeed.    8)
Title: Re: Buyer feedback
Post by: mseller on August 07, 2011, 08:43 pm
I think that buyers feedback is not necessary. Feedback as it is is good but vendor must be able to respond to each feedback.
Readers that way can drawn their own conclusions based on what feedback claims.