Brian Burke

Hi… I'm Brian Burke, Senior Marketplace Policy Manager for Feedback.

Earlier this year, at eBay Live! 2005, we announced a number of changes to eBay's feedback system that would be launched later in 2005. The response from the Community has been very positive, and I'm back to give you an update on our progress.

It was our hope and expectation to launch all of these changes later this year. The good news is that we expect to launch three of the four changes, as scheduled, later this year. However, one change will be delayed until 2006. Let me give you a rundown of how we anticipate the feedback system changes to occur:

1. Removing all feedback from users who are indefinitely suspended within 90 days of registration.
   Later this month we will begin removing all feedback from members who are indefinitely suspended within 90 days of their registration. As discussed in my June 23 letter, our belief is that members who are indefinitely suspended within 90 days of their registration were never truly members of the Community. Therefore, their feedback should not count.



2. Requiring new members to complete a tutorial before leaving neutral or negative feedback.
   In late November/early December we will begin requiring members who have 10 feedback or less to complete a brief tutorial before leaving their first neutral or negative feedback. In addition, we will be updating the current page all members see prior to leaving neutral or negative feedback. The updated page will emphasize the importance of communicating with your trading partner prior to leaving feedback. It will also urge members to make sure they have given their trading partner enough time to fulfill their obligations.



3. Removing feedback ratings (not comments) left by buyers who don't participate in the Unpaid Item process for that item.
   In November we will begin automatically removing feedback ratings left by buyers who do not participate in the Unpaid Item process for that item. This means the rating (whether positive or negative) will not affect the recipient's feedback score. The feedback comment itself will remain and will include an administrative note from eBay indicating that the feedback rating was removed because the member did not participate in the Unpaid Item process.



4. Removing feedback ratings (not comments) left by sellers who don't participate in the Item Not Received process.
   In order to remove feedback ratings left by sellers who do not participate in the Item Not Received processes we must first align the eBay and PayPal systems. Unfortunately, aligning the systems will take longer to complete than we had originally estimated. This component of the announced changes will be ready sometime in 2006.

It was a difficult decision not to be able to launch the Item Not Received rating removal at the same time as the other changes. But we decided that the benefits of the other changes described above were too important to delay.

I will keep you updated via our Announcement Board as we get closer to delivering each of these changes.

Sincerely,

Brian Burke
Senior Marketplace Policy Manager