We thought we’d scared Garreth off when we revealed his super-dedication to eBay at the time he launched the Trust and Safety blog. Not so though, he’s come back with avengeance and a new video clip on the Safety Centre home page.
In the video he covers the basics of phishing, how to spot if your account is compromised, and what to do to contact eBay. It’s all pretty basic stuff to a seasoned eBayer but it’s great for new comers to the site.
There’s a second video with tips on Buying Safely on eBay which again is great for newcomers to the site. It gives some basic tips on how to assess a seller and make sure they are trustworthy and the item is the one you want.
It’s refreshing to see a senior figure from eBay in person, even if it is just on video. Too often the company is a faceless behemoth and although each and every transaction is personal to the buyer and seller the marketplace can appear unapproachable.
I’ve just one question though…. Gareth, you began your Trust and Safety blog on the 17th January and still only have one post. Surely something newsworthy has happened in Trust and Safety that you want to share with us?
2 Responses
How Ebay discourages negative feedback and the remedy.
Negative feedback is bad for Ebay’s business as prices and sales would be reduced as a result.
Negative feedback is very rare on Ebay. This is because buyers are fearful of retaliatory negative feedback from sellers. Ebay feedback does not distinguish between negative feedback from buyers and sellers.
On Ebay’s website you can read the following “Even if you believe that you didn’t deserve negative Feedback from another member (e.g. because you think it was left in retaliation), it’s unlikely we’ll remove it.â€
It would be an obvious improvement to the Ebay feedback system if the headline feedback score star system as a seller was entirely kept separate from feedback as a buyer. This would make feedback retaliation much easier to resolve fairly. In fact it would be much more transparent and less amenable to manipulation.
Unfortunately Ebay are likely to suspend the accounts of people who complain too much.
Unfortunately Ebay are likely to suspend the accounts of people who complain too much.
I’d like to see any evidence you have for saying this, Ray?