18 January 2007 | 04:36PM EST
| Rob Chesnut |
I’m Rob Chesnut, Senior Vice President in charge of Trust & Safety for eBay. I work with our teams worldwide, including the Australian Trust & Safety team, to ensure
our community of users feel safe and confident when buying and selling on eBay.
As internet usage continues to grow, so does the expectation from buyers for a safe and positive user experience. That’s why it’s more important than ever that we
understand the risks of online shopping and exercise common sense when we’re online.
To keep pace with the changes in the online world, we’re evolving eBay’s Trust & Safety priorities. Historically we've emphasised transparency and free choice for buyers
on eBay, but acknowledge that more actively protecting our buyers from fraud and other bad experiences on our site is equally important.
We have been working on solutions that address these two priorities worldwide:
- Take a new, more proactive approach towards Trust & Safety to protect our members from fraud.
- Improve the buyer experience on the site by holding sellers to higher standards.
A more proactive approach to Trust & Safety
In Australia we recently launched Safeguarding Member IDs. This project is a new approach to auction-style listings that offers more privacy for our members through
changing how bidding information is displayed. We believe this change will help balance the need for openness and transparency in the marketplace, with the need to
protect our Community of members from the threats that have appeared as the internet has grown.
We also believe the Safeguarding Member IDs project provides the Community with enough information about the bidders involved in an auction-style listing for them to
feel confident in placing a bid – without revealing actual User IDs.
Another issue we continue to fight on eBay is counterfeit items – the sale of counterfeits is unethical and results in negative buying experiences. We cooperate with
Rights Owners around the world through our VeRO program to remove counterfeit listings and recently we’ve started requiring additional seller verification, eliminated
the ability to list these items with 1 or 3-day auction durations, and put in place additional restrictions for members selling these items cross-border.
We’re continuing to balance transparency and convenience with the need to keep our Community safe.
Holding sellers to higher standards
Many negative buyer experiences result from circumstances controlled by sellers. Buyers are less likely to return to the site after having a frustrating experience – like
finding the postage and handling charges excessive, receiving an item that is not as described, or experiencing poor customer service during a transaction with a seller.
It’s clear we have a shared responsibility with our sellers to make sure our buyers have a satisfactory experience. Here are some ways we’re addressing the issues:
- Private Feedback – In October 2006 we eliminated the ability for sellers to make their feedback private. This was important, as buyers should have access to
a sellers’ complete feedback record before trading so they can make more informed decisions about a seller’s history.
- Cross-Border Trade Requirements – We’ve also implemented new requirements for sellers who want to sell cross-border. To sell outside the eBay site you are
registered on, new sellers must now establish their identity by becoming PayPal Verified.
- Feedback 2.0 – Our Feedback system enables trading partners to rate their experience with one another after each transaction – this helps provide a positive
experience as members can feel more confident knowing who they're trading with. eBay members worldwide have left more than 5 billion feedback comments for one
another regarding their eBay transactions.
In addition to leaving an overall positive, neutral or negative Feedback, from next month buyers will have the option to leave Detailed Seller Ratings for the seller on four
aspects of a transaction:
- Item Description
- Communication
- Postage time
- Postage & Handling charges
The average score of the Detailed Seller Ratings received by a seller will be displayed on the seller’s Feedback Profile page. It’s a system that rewards sellers by
recognising the things they do to ensure customer satisfaction.
Next month, we’ll be launching Feedback 2.0 in pilot markets and we’ll share more about this soon, so stay tuned.
Finally, I want to thank our Community for your help and support in keeping the site safe. Each report we receive from our buyers and sellers helps us to investigate and
take action to stop negative activity where appropriate. We appreciate everyone’s contribution in making eBay a great place to buy and sell.
Sincerely,
Rob Chesnut
Senior Vice President, Global Trust & Safety
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