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Auctionbytes-NewsFlash, Number 1528 - May 01, 2007 - ISSN 1539-5065      Previous Story | | Next Story

eBay Tweaks SMI and Talks Trust & Safety at Town Hall Meeting
By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
May 01, 2007
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eBay held its monthly Town Hall meeting on Monday afternoon focused on Trust and Safety issues, and the company also announced changes to its new Safeguarding Member IDs (SMI) policy.

Rob Chesnut, eBay's Senior Vice President of Trust & Safety, Dave Cullinane, eBay's Chief Information Security Officer, and other managers were on hand to answer questions from eBay users who called by phone or emailed their questions ahead of time. The Town Hall forum where users were previously able to post questions appears to have been removed from the website, AuctionBytes is awaiting confirmation from eBay whether this is so.

eBay started the meeting by discussing the new Feedback 2.0 system that will be rolled out worldwide this week. eBay said the adoption rate in countries where the system has already rolled out is over 70 percent. There has been no decrease in the number of feedback left, and no change in the percentage of positive and negative ratings. However, eBay said the conversion rates for sellers with ratings under 3 have gone down.

Sellers had several questions about the new rating system - one wanted to know whether eBay would use the detailed ratings to gauge PowerSeller status in the future (the answer was no, not at launch, though they couldn't promise it would never be a factor, and eBay said the system was designed to give buyers more information).

Another seller wanted to know why the new system was being implemented right before the USPS postal rate increase coming in 2 weeks. (Feedback 2.0 was ready, eBay said, and explained what the company had done to prepare itself and sellers for the postal rate changes.)

eBay also announced some changes to its new Safeguarding Member IDs policy on Monday. SMI is designed to protect eBay bidders from unwanted spam, and eBay said since introducing SMI, it has seen a significant reduction in fake Second Chance Offers and other types of solicitations sent to bidders on higher-priced auction-style listings.

eBay said it will make the following adjustments to SMI this week:

  • Enhancements to Search by Bidder
    When members use the Search by Bidder feature (found under Advanced Search), they'll now be able to see all the details of that bidder's bidding activity on items below the $200 threshold.
  • Sellers can use Advanced Search to research potential buyers
    Sellers will be able to use Advanced Search to conduct full research on their current bidders for a 48-hour period after the bid is placed. In addition, they will also be able to research the activity of any member who sends them an Ask Seller a Question email or uses Best Offer within a 48-hour period of the email/offer being sent.
  • Safeguarding Member IDs on listings with a Reserve or Buy It Now over $200 If a bidder bids on a listing where the Reserve price or Buy It Now is above $200, their ID will be anonymized just as if they had placed a bid over $200.
  • Anonymous bidder IDs for Best Offers The IDs of buyers on the Best Offer history page will no longer be fully displayed to viewers. Instead, the last part of their ID will be hidden by asterisks. However, the seller of the item will be able to see the ID in full, as before.

Announcement - Update on Safeguarding Member IDs:
http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200704301313182.html

Photos of the eBay Town Hall Meeting on the eBay Chatter Blog:
http://www.ebaychatter.com/the_chatter/2007/04/live_coverage_o.html


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Related Stories
  • eBay Extends Initiative to Protect Bidders from Spam - January 09, 2007, Issue #1448
  • eBay Members Fear New Policy Will Inhibit Buyer Bids - January 16, 2007, Issue #1453
  • eBay to Roll out Feedback 2.0, Safe Payment Requirement - January 18, 2007, Issue #1455
  • eBay's 'Feedback 2.0' Revealed - January 23, 2007, Issue #1458
  • Feedback 2.0 coming to eBay.com in May - February 28, 2007, Issue #1484
  • News from eBay IMA Conference, eBay May Lower SMI Threshold - March 02, 2007, Issue #1486
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  • AuctionBytes Publishes Survey Results on eBay Feedback 2.0 - March 09, 2007, Issue #1491
  • eBay Rolling Out Feedback 2.0 Worldwide - April 26, 2007, Issue #1525
  • eBay Rolls out Feedback 2.0: Interview with Brian Burke - May 02, 2007, Issue #1529
  • eBay Tests New Search Technology, Delays Rollout of New Feedback - May 04, 2007, Issue #1531
  • eBay Rolls out Changes to Search, Home Page, Bid History - August 24, 2007, Issue #1607
  • Is Bidding from eBay's Auction Page Now History? - October 07, 2007, Issue #200
  • Received Unfair eBay Feedback? Tell It to the Jury - October 31, 2007, Issue #1654
  • eBay Feedback Survey Causes Seller Uproar - November 19, 2007, Issue #1667
  • eBay Town Hall Meeting: More Changes to Feedback? - November 30, 2007, Issue #1675
  • ChannelAdvisor Launches DSRWatch for eBay Sellers - December 11, 2007, Issue #1682
  • eBay UK Disadvantages Sellers with Sub-Par Shipping Ratings - December 21, 2007, Issue #1690
  • eBay's Top Sellers Perform Poorly on Feedback 2.0 - January 02, 2008, Issue #1696



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