December 01, 2006 | 04:11PM a SGT
eBay has made changes to its feedback policies to enable members to better understand when we will take action for artificial inflation of feedback. Some background: the Feedback Solicitation policy focused on prohibiting sellers from soliciting feedback within a listing description or title. For example, a seller may have included the following language in the listing title of a very inexpensive item: “Build your feedback score quickly.” Doing this invites members to artificially enhance their reputation (also known as feedback padding).
As the Community has grown, we have learned that some members have become increasingly sophisticated about how they create a false reputation on eBay. Instead of soliciting via an actual listing description or title, some members will demonstrate patterns of behaviour that prove to be feedback manipulation. An example of feedback manipulation is a member buying or selling 25 items with a Buy It Now price of $0.01 with no postage costs and then immediately selling more expensive items such as plasma televisions. A buyer viewing this seller’s record may assume that the seller earned the 25 feedback by selling plasma televisions. Therefore, the seller’s reputation is not representative of their actual activity on eBay.
The new Feedback Manipulation policy will enable us to take action against members when we identify a pattern of behaviour consistent with Feedback Manipulation. Violations of this policy may result in a range of actions including:
Listing cancellation
Limits on account privileges
Account suspension
Forfeit of eBay fees on cancelled listings
Loss of PowerSeller status
Feedback removal
Feedback is the foundation of trust on eBay. Purchasing, selling or trading Feedback undermines the integrity of the Feedback system and decreases trust within the eBay marketplace.
The Feedback Manipulation policy is now in effect on eBay.com.sg and other international sites.
Sincerely,
The eBay Singapore team
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