Prohibited Information.

[wan303win]

I've been an ebay member since the 1990's.

I've seen many changes in ebay policy in that time...changes mostly for the benefit of the firm, not too many for the buyers & sellers.

The opening of these info forums could basically be a good idea, if you were allowed to name & shame crooked sellers & buyers, or show the item numbers to which you are referring, however, I've found this is not allowed.  Legal reasons I guess.

As I'm recently retired & have lots of time on my hands nowadays, I've been following these boards quite a bit in the past few months. 

By having these forums, the main purpose by ebay management appears to be to get members to answer questions that should be referred to ebay to respond to &/or clarify. Must save the boss a lot of staff = more money for management. 

Most requests for info appear to be answered by the same group of people, who have an astounding knowledge of the rules & regulations applicable to buying & selling, I've never delved into that side of things, I'm interested only in staying within the law. I note there is a moderator who never appears to buy or sell anything, so I assume they are employed by ebay. (I did ask them that question, but never received a yes or no).

It's a shame that what started out as a great avenue for buying & selling, has just become a cash cow for those in control.

[padi*0409]

The mods are employed by Lithium wan303, who are charged with the policy adherence by members posting here.

Anecdotally only around 4% of all members use the boards, so it's probably doubtful if eBay saves money on answer centre staff - who often don't know the answers to members queries, or simply give a cut and paste answer to emails that rarely address the problem.

[kopenhagen5]

The community discussion boards are run by a company specialising in being a contractor to moderate online sites.

The company is Lithium and employs many different moderators that continuously check the eBay community and on occasions impose temporary or permanent bans on those not adhering to board policy.

I personally attempted many years ago to contact and set up a meeting with eBay for their benefit to improve the site, as responders here are on the front line see problems arising and often having great ideas as solutions.

Too hard, so I guess they were making enough money. 

But I will say, when I think about the effort responders here have made, especially in the answer centre that I have witnessed in 10 years, WOW, a few dozen people have made it much easier for members and improved the reputation of eBay by explaining when misunderstandings have been made.

Volunteers is one of the aspects that makes Australia great.

[padi*0409]

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@kopenhagen5 wrote:

I personally attempted many years ago to contact and set up a meeting with eBay for their benefit to improve the site, as responders here are on the front line see problems arising and often having great ideas as solutions.

Too hard, so I guess they were making enough money. 

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Totally agree with you there Kopes, I've tried that avenue as well but the "too hard basket" must be monstrous, and of course logic and eBay rarely coexist unfortunately.

[lyndal1838]

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@wan303win wrote:

By having these forums, the main purpose by ebay management appears to be to get members to answer questions that should be referred to ebay to respond to &/or clarify. Must save the boss a lot of staff = more money for management.

The boards are run by volunteer members who often know far more about the rules and regulations than ebay staff.  If ebay were to pay staff to answer the questions on the boards you would find that the fees would skyrocket.

Most requests for info appear to be answered by the same group of people, who have an astounding knowledge of the rules & regulations applicable to buying & selling,  Yes, it is the same group of members who answer here. As well as knowledge of ebay and paypal we need a very thick skin.   You may have noticed how often we get abused when the answers are not to the liking of the member who requested help.

I've never delved into that side of things, I'm interested only in staying within the law. I note there is a moderator who never appears to buy or sell anything, so I assume they are employed by ebay. (I did ask them that question, but never received a yes or no).

The Moderators are employed by Lithium and never answer questions on the boards.  However they are quite approachable if you have a legitimate question.  You can PM them just as you can message other members.

It's a shame that what started out as a great avenue for buying & selling, has just become a cash cow for those in control.

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[collect247]

Now that you're retired it's best that you go and find something else to do rather than follow these boards as you are completely

100% wrong in what you think is going on here

[englishrosegardens]

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@wan303win wrote:

It's a shame that what started out as a great avenue for buying & selling, has just become a cash cow for those in control.

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It's become a cash cow for a lot of sellers here too, so the benefits aren't all on ebay's side.  Many people have the opportunity to work from home in their own time and at their own pace, which is of great benefit to those of us with health issues.

[wan303win]

My sincere thanks to those "astounding" members who cleared up some of my misunderstandings.

As for "didawaywith", your comment is uncalled for, but only what I'd expect from somebody who hides behind "private" feedback.

[collect247]

Mind you it's 100% positive feedback so cheer up and learn how to take some criticism

[lyndal1838]

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wan303win wrote

..............but only what I'd expect from somebody who hides behind "private" feedback.

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Thank you for that enlightening comment.   It shows that you still have a lot to learn about how ebay works and why many of the responders here have Private feedback, as I do.