Sellers began complaining last week eBay had "moved" them hundreds of miles from where they live. eBay recently rolled out a distance-search feature on the site (http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y04/m12/i10/s02), and some users say incorrect zip codes are now being used to populate the Item Location field of their eBay listings when relisted.

Users on an eBay message board began complaining Tuesday their listings displayed zip codes of cities they never heard of in the Item Location field. An eBay moderator came on to acknowledge the problem on Friday. But she said the problem was due to sellers having reset their own zip code preferences at some point in their listing history.

Despite several users denying they had ever changed their zip code, the moderator came back moments later and said, "all the examples we've seen are where the zip codes are incorrect are due to the default having been changed at some point by the account holder. As always, if we can find examples that are contrary, we can dig further into the matter." Users again posted denials that they had ever changed their location.

One user said he never wanted his zip code to be made public. The new feature changed the default preferences for displaying locations.** He posted, "we believe it is an invasion of our privacy to have our zipcode bandied about for the sake of those who want to search "same area.""

However, he said he was unable to change the zip code information because the link was not working, reporting that it simply looped back to the revise page.

It's not known how many sellers might have been affected by the apparent zip-code problem. The moderator has not been back to the thread to update users, and eBay did not post an announcement on the Systems Announcement Board.

** From the eBay announcement about Distances Sorts and Filters:
Currently, when sellers list their items, they must use a checkbox to indicate that they want their items included in distance searches. After this change, any item listed with a valid ZIP code will be automatically included. If you do not want your item to be included in distance searches, you can remove your ZIP code from the “Item Location” section on the Pictures and Details page of the Sell Your Item form. http://www2.ebay.com:80/aw/marketing.shtml#2004-12-09120854

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