Fine

I’m pretty pleased with my eBay feedback While it may be a modest 116 it’s the quality of that counts. Like most good eBayers I take it very seriously and do all I can to avoid anything other than a positive rating. It’s all part of the game – I must maintain 100% at all costs.

And so, thanks to my going the extra mile or two, my feedback has a tendency to glow.

“fan bloody tastic,top seller,well pleased,quick delivery,superb.10/10″

“amazing seller! Honestly, he was quick to respond and very patient. Kudos”

And then, sitting there after the sale of an Iain Sinclair hardback, is this gem:

“fine”

It’s weird how something so minimal, so non-commital, can get under your skin. Every time I see it there it burns into my eyes. What does “fine” mean?

So I figured I’d check his feedback left for others and see what he usually said. As you’ll see (unless you’re reading this in the future and he’s suddenly gone all verbose) most of them are “fine”, which made me feel better, but scroll down and some variations in feedback occur. “Good” makes a few appearances, along with “OK”. Go back a year and “very good” pops up a couple of times along with a rather startling “FINE” in caps.

I accept I’m reading far too much into this but when you’re given bugger all you tend to do that, so I have to ponder, what is the difference between “fine” and “good”, not to mention “ok”? They’re all positive, apparently, but do they sit on a scale of positivity? You might think “good” is better than “fine”, but in the world of collectable stuff “fine” is actually a higher grade than “good” (or even “very good”) which actually means kinda shabby. Is he using this nerd scale of judgement? Should I be very happy with my “fine”?

I could, of course, message the chap and ask him. But that would be taking things a little too far. I mean, I don’t want to get obsessive about this or anything.