I have sold on eBay for over four years. I am just starting my third business and my first business was on eBay alone. I have received nearly 4000 feedbacks to date, and maintained a 100% positive rating. I agree and disagree with various statements others have made, but I just want to say that it is important to realize that it is not a seller's duty to leave feedback for a buyer as soon as they pay - there simply IS MORE to a buyer's end of the bargain, as others have said (how they respond to various shipping issues, for example). It should be said that eBay may be a hobby or small part of someone's day as a buyer, but it is a business and big part of the life of someone like me, and therefore, maintaining a high feedback rating can be very important. There are many buyers out there (a small percentage but still pletny) that will take advantage if you have left feedback and they haven't; especially with someone like me. You don't maintain a feedback rating like mine by just being "fair"; you maintain it by bending over backwards, willingly taking the short end of the stick, and taking the blame when someone else is simply ignorant about how things work. That being the situation, you are handing over way more power than you have to when you leave feedback for a buyer before they leave it for you. That is usually fine, assuming that the buyer is a good, rational person who understands what is "reasonable" in the world of online auctions. However, there are buyers that will hold things over your head and leave you a neutral of negative feedback if you don't do exactly what they want, regardless of the fact that you may have done everything and more that should be expected. Some buyers don't care about their feeeback, but most do, and as such I can prevent some unscrupulous buyers from taking advantage of my concern about maintaining my feedback by withholding feedback until they have left it for me.