Online Auction Was Pulled From the eBay Auction Site

An online auction was pulled from the eBay auction site. There are several reasons why an auction listing can be pulled off of eBay. One seller found out one of those reasons when her listing was recently pulled. She had listed hip boots for fly fishermen and offered a bonus free book. It was her bonus that got her listing pulled. Her bonus book had nothing to do with fishing gear or great fishing spots. Its topic was the upcoming eBay seller boycott. You may wonder exactly how this violated eBay policy and got this online auction listing pulled off the eBay auction site.

eBay's purpose is to provide an auction arena where buyers and sellers can arrange purchase transactions. Any other purpose is not allowed. Furthermore, eBay does not allow the posting of personal opinion in auction listings. eBay felt that the seller's posting of the bonus book concerning the eBay sellers' boycott did not comply with eBay's purpose, and it also expressed personal opinion.

I know eBay is a huge marketplace and a great place to get the word out about anything. But I have to question the seller's wisdom in trying to use eBay against itself. Maybe the seller thought eBay would not stumble upon that one auction listing among all the others. Anyway, click below to go read more about how the online auction was pulled from the eBay auction site.

Censored! Invisible Waders

Whether you feel eBay's actions toward this seller were appropriate or not, you need to take heed that your online auction listing can be pulled from eBay's auction site if eBay feels your listing violates its policy. If this happens, you may be given a chance to correct your listing. But you can also suffer penalties, such as loss of listing fees or having your account affected with limitations or possible suspension.

More Problems With eBay Feedback System

A few days ago, I wrote a post about problems with the eBay feedback system entitled Neutral Feedback on eBay Leads To Lawsuit . I pointed out that many eBay sellers were also buyers. But as buyers, they were hesitant to leave honest negative feedback for other eBay sellers. They were afraid they would get backlashed with undeserved negative feedback from the seller in revenge. And as eBay sellers, they could not afford to have their feedback rating damaged.

Well, I read a post today that gives a perfect example of this type of seller backlash. Read this lady's experience with a bad eBay seller (Be sure you come back to read the next twist in the story):

Bad eBay Feedback Experience

Now eBay has advised us recently that it will be changing its feedback policy. Apparently, eBay sellers will only be allowed to leave positive feedback for buyers once the changes go into effect. Well this seems to solve the problem of getting backlashed from the seller when a buyer

leaves justly deserved negative feedback, but does this cause other problems with the eBay feedback system. Read this next article to see how one eBay seller feels these policy changes will negatively affect the business for eBay sellers and also for buyers.(Article begins on second paragraph on page.)

One eBay Seller's Thoughts About Changes To The eBay Feedback System

If you read that article, you will see that the seller feels like these changes will allow more buyer scamming that could affect eBay sellers and future buyers.

I read another article that listed the changes that will be made to the eBay feedback system on May 19, 2008. I think the changes do propose some conditions that will help the eBay sellers. To learn what changes will be made, go check out this article:

eBay Feedback Changes Coming 19 May 2008

Some of it sounds good; some of it sounds bad. It's really no different than when any big corporation makes changes. Everybody grumbles as we move forward. But forward we go and make more changes along the way to solve problems as we go. Surely eBay will update its policies as necessary to solve future problems with the eBay feedback system.

eBay Sellers Plan to Boycott eBay May 1

Here is another breaking eBay news story. Unhappy eBay sellers plan to boycott eBay for May 1. This boycott will extend beyond the United States. On May 1, these sellers will not list auction items, read listings, or make eBay purchases. Although the recent ebook policy changes are key to this boycott, there are other issues involved. Apparently the feedback received by sellers affects what fees they will be charged. Some eBay sellers feel like the eBay fees and Paypal fees are eating up their profits.

eBay feels their recent decisions in policy changes reflects their goal to provide the best buyer experience, and eBay feels that sellers that do not share that goal do not belong with eBay. eBay is confident that it can weather the boycott. It has many sellers that want to stay with eBay. And eBay's sales are up from last year.

This latest eBay upheaval has been good news for Chris Fain, founder of Online Auction. His auction site has experienced great growth in membership since the ebay sellers plan to boycott eBay, and many of them are flocking to his site to reestablish their businesses. He has a monthly seller fee plan that he feels will be a welcome change for those sellers leaving eBay behind.

To read the full story of how ebay sellers plan to boycott eBay, go read this article:

Auction site eBay defies boycott threats

More eBay news: eBay Sues Craiglist

Here is some more eBay news. Apparently back in 2004 eBay bought shares in Craigslist from one of their former executives. eBay has now taken Craigslist to court. eBay claims that the board of Craigslist has taken measures to limit its investment by 10%. To protect the investments of eBay's stockholders, eBay has decided to seek intervention from the courts in remedying this situation. I am including links to two articles for you to read more about this latest eBay news. One version suggests that eBay is surprised by Craigslist's actions because the two parties have always been amiable. A second version implies that is not true. It says that eBay has involvement with a second classifieds business, and the relations between Craigslist and eBay have never been happy ones. So if you are interested in reading more about it, click on the two links for the different versions of this eBay news.

eBay Files Corporate Governance Suit to Protect its Investment in craigslist

eBay Finally Loses Cool: Sues Craigslist Over “Stake Dilution”




Note: (I haven't forgotten that I promised you tips on studying feedback on eBay when you want to make a purchase. I'm working on it. Check back later.)

Neutral Feedback on eBay Leads To Lawsuit

Unbelievable. I just read a post at a blog by Tim Gross. An eBay seller is suing one of his buyers for leaving him neutral feedback on eBay. I have no idea what the feedback said. This could turn into such a nightmare if the seller wins his case.

However, the eBay feedback system already had problems. It was often manipulated by the "sell penny ebooks strategy" for the fast road to feedback success. And now all the ebook sellers are in an uproar because eBay changed their ebook policy to try to improve the feedback system again.

There were other problems with the ebook feedback, though. Some eBay sellers were getting away with selling total garbage. But people didn't want to leave negative feedback because they were afraid the seller would burn them with bad feedback for their honesty. And many eBay buyers are also eBay sellers, so they don't want to get bad feedback on eBay over a digital product that cost less than $10.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not against eBayers selling ebooks. In fact, eBay was my favorite source for buying ebooks. I got many good ebook deals from great eBay sellers. But there were those who sold trash and counted on others to keep quiet to keep their feedback score high. Let me give you a few examples of what I'm talking about:

1. One eBay seller was selling an ebook package for $9.99 with master resell rights. When you got the ebook, there was a notice in the ebook that said you didn't have master resell rights unless you purchased the ebook from the product web site. The eBay seller didn't have the right to sell the master resell rights.
2. Another eBay seller was selling you a guide to get free products like cameras or xbox systems. When you received the guide, you learned that the methods were unethical. (I'm not saying that all guides for free products on eBay are bad. I'm talking about a particular one that I purchased.)
3. Another one was selling a money making plan that they said you could make a living with. The plan involved getting paid to complete offers from a list they would give you, and you couldn't make enough money to live for even one week.

That is just a few I could remember of all the ones I have seen in the last three years. Yea, I know. You're thinking what a sucker she is that she bought all those products. Well, I love to read and learn new things. And most of the products I bought weren't bad for the money.

Here is the bottom line though. Eliminating ebook feedback from the system might help some, but it is not going to totally solve problems with feedback on eBay. Some of the other inexpensive products on eBay, besides digital products, are junk. As long as eBay sellers have to protect their reputations with a high feedback score, they are going to be hesitant when leaving feedback to other eBay sellers who have just sold them any inexpensive but worthless product. Even if they left totally honest negative feedback, the eBay seller could leave them totally undeserved negative feedback in return. If you spend sometime reading feedback on eBay, you will see that it can get quite nasty sometimes. For an eBay seller, leaving honest feedback on eBay on a bad purchase you made is risky business. Maintaining your reputation as a seller through a high feedback score may outweigh seeking justice on a cheap ripoff. The sad result of this is the eBay seller that is selling junk does not get his just negative feedback. His feedback score stays high, and he is able to go on peddling his garbage and raking in the cash.

Oh well, I guess no system is perfect. At least, eBay is trying to maintain a fair system for leaving feedback on eBay. That is evident in their recent ebook policy change.

By the way, don't forget to go to Tim's site to read the article that set me off on this long post: Buyer Gets Sued For $10,000 By eBay Seller For Leaving “Neutral” Feedback

And take heart, my next blog post will give you some tips for looking at seller feedback on Ebay when you want to make a purchase.