eBay automatic feedback: what it is and how to set it.

Search results for this topic mix up two features, so it helps to separate them first.

eBay's own help page says these are different features.¹ If you are a seller, the first column is the one you control. If you are a buyer who noticed feedback you did not write, the second column is the likely explanation.

The setting lives in the All listings and orders section of the Selling preferences page.¹ To set it:

1. Open Selling preferences and go to the All listings and orders section.
2. Select Edit next to Automate feedback.
3. Choose when your automatic feedback is left: after the buyer has paid, or after the buyer has paid and left you positive feedback.
4. To change the default comments or add your own, select Edit stored comments, make your changes and select Save.
5. Select Save to finish.

Those steps are the ones eBay lists.¹ Menu labels can change, so if your screen differs, look for the same option names.

You pick one of two triggers. The first leaves feedback once the buyer has paid. The second waits until the buyer has paid and has also left you positive feedback, and then it fires only when the buyer's own positive feedback arrives.¹

The second option is the more cautious of the two, because you only thank buyers who have already said something good about you. The first option thanks every buyer who pays, including those who may later have a problem with the order. Neither is wrong, but think about which one matches how you want your feedback history to read.

The comment itself is not tailored to the sale. eBay says the system uses your stored positive comments randomly, so a buyer of a rare book and a buyer of a phone case can get the same line.¹ Writing a handful of varied, plain comments in Edit stored comments keeps that from looking mechanical.

eBay is direct about the gaps. You still leave feedback by hand for items where the buyer did not pay, and for items where the buyer did not leave positive feedback if you chose that trigger.¹ You can also always reply to feedback you receive.¹

The seller setting only produces positive comments from your stored list. It does not read the order, so it cannot say anything specific about the transaction. And it is separate from the feedback buyers leave about you. Your own automatic feedback does not write, change or replace what a buyer posts for you. If a buyer's feedback about you needs to be corrected, see how to revise or remove eBay feedback.

Can you turn it off? The help page we read describes how to choose a trigger and edit comments, but it does not describe an off switch. Rather than guess, open the Automate feedback row in Selling preferences, select Edit and see which options your account shows.

eBay adds positive feedback to a seller's account when a transaction completes successfully, but only if three things are true: the buyer did not leave feedback within 7 days of delivery (as confirmed by tracking), eBay sees no sign of a problem with the transaction, and tracking shows the item arrived on time.²

It stays visible unless something suggests the order went wrong, for example a damaged item or a return being opened. In that case eBay removes the automated message.² Buyers keep control too: a buyer can still leave their own feedback within 60 days of delivery, and it then replaces the automated one.²

For sellers the practical reading is simple. Automated feedback from eBay is not something you can schedule or write, and it is not a substitute for a buyer's real review. Treat it as a placeholder that a buyer's own words can overwrite.

If you bought something that arrived on time and never left feedback, you may find positive feedback on the seller's profile that you did not write. That is eBay automated feedback.² If you want to give your own rating, comment, aspect ratings or pictures, you can still do so within 60 days of delivery, from your purchase history.² eBay also suggests contacting the seller before leaving negative feedback if you had a problem with an order.²

• Write several stored comments in your own voice instead of keeping only the defaults.
• Choose the trigger on purpose, and revisit it if your feedback history starts to look repetitive.
• Check your sold orders now and then for ones the setting skipped, such as unpaid items, and leave those by hand.
• Do not offer buyers anything in exchange for positive feedback. Read eBay's feedback rules before you add a note to a package or message.
• Keep the order itself sound. A comment from you does not fix a damaged parcel, so see our shipping supplies guide, and check margins with the eBay fee calculator.

Strooply does not leave, change or schedule feedback on eBay, so the setting above stays in your eBay account. What it does do is show feedback you receive: sold sale cards carry a thumbs up, thumbs down or neutral badge when eBay reports feedback on that sale. See how Strooply works for the rest of what it does today.