eBay prevents sellers from leaving negative feedback

Brian White — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:02:00 EST

Filed under: Consumer Experience, Competitive Strategy, eBay (EBAY)

In one of the largest customer-oriented changes I've seen on eBay, Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) in quite some time, the world's largest online auction house will no longer allow negative or neutral "customer feedback" ratings to be left by auction sellers on the accounts of auction buyers.

The thinking goes like this: a buyer may be afraid of leaving negative feedback on an auction for fear of the seller retaliating by leaving negative feedback themselves.

Imagine this: you purchase an item from an eBay seller and that package arrives with a product significantly different than what was advertised. You fulfilled your end of the bargain; the seller has not. If you leave negative feedback for the transaction, the seller may come back at you with an inappropriate feedback rating. Thus, both parties may not leave feedback at all -- and that's not what builds trust in the eBay community, right?

The changes won't happen until this coming May, and current feedback ratings for both buyers and sellers will be based on a 12-month rolling average instead of a "lifetime" rating, which seems more appropriate. Perhaps changes like these -- which seem to come as a response to customer demand -- will help stem the tide of nastiness some eBay customers have had recently about the auction company.

eBay prevents sellers from leaving negative feedback originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alleged shoplifter must stay off eBay

Brian White — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 14:54:00 EST

Filed under: Law, eBay (EBAY)

eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) is the world's largest online auction house but also houses more illegitimate goods than probably any other entity. From stolen to fake goods from every corner of the globe, it's staggering to think of the billions in fraud that occur on the auction network every day. The company downplays this, though -- but it's very true in my experience. Still, the vast majority of items sold and listed on the auction giant are from truthful people.

Still, you'll never know how many serial shoplifters are selling perfectly-good merchandise on eBay at any given moment to unsuspecting buyers. The goods may be in perfect working order, but were stolen in order to be sold. If there are serial numbers attached to those goods, let the buyer beware. In Wisconsin, 35 year-old Kerensa D. Davenport has now been ordered to stay off eBay completely as a condition of a $5,000 cash bail. This is the fourth criminal case filed against Davenport related to her selling stolen goods on eBay.

If you're a motorcycle fan, you'll be pleased to know that on a recent count of 99 listings offered by Davenport on eBay, most of the items were Harley Davidson items allegedly stolen by Davenport from a local Harley Davidson store in her area. Police combed surveillance footage and indeed spotted Davenport in the store stuffing goods into her pockets for later resale on eBay. How do you like those Harley Davidson leather gloves that you received from Christmas? Did they come from eBay?

Alleged shoplifter must stay off eBay originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 28 Dec 2007 14:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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