eBay Mentor Guidelines

[community_team]

Community is a place for buyers and sellers to meet and interact with like-minded individuals so everyone can grow their selling and buying skills.

The eBay Mentor program is designed to enable well-informed, trusted and welcoming users to help buyers and sellers with specific questions they may have about eBay. In addition to following the eBay Community guidelines, Mentors should follow these general principles:

Be helpful and welcoming

Use a helpful and welcoming tone when responding to a buyer or seller, new members may ask basic questions and different users may repeat the same question another user has asked. We want Community members to come back to Community.

Be informative

Community posts should be informative with complete answers. Point the user to other resources when appropriate.

Ask for clarification

If a Community member doesn’t ask a question clearly, ask for clarification, don’t make assumptions about what the users have asked, but know when to walk away.

Be succinct

Shorter answers are more likely to be read and understood; try and focus on the specific question the user has and refrain from unnecessary commentary

Tips to keep in mind while on the boards:

1. Responding to questions
1. Posting to a new forum can be intimidating, read the entire post before responding so you understand the newcomer’s question
2. New users don’t always know the Community protocols (e.g. use of  all caps, exclamation marks and double question marks). Provide professional and constructive guidance. 
3. All Mentors are welcome to answer questions anywhere on Community
4. There are multiple ways to become successful at eBay, so all opinions are welcome. Try not to be repetitive when answering if someone else has already answered
5. If a conversation becomes hostile or unproductive, walk away from it. Snarky comments, piling on or trying to get a response are not welcoming or helpful
6. Only add tags that are helpful for Community searches, tags should never be used in a mean-spirited or sarcastic manner
7. When disagreements happen, that’s okay. Don’t argue with a seller asking a question. Keep in mind to be respectful and calm. There’s a person, with feelings, behind every keyboard.
2. When posting in the Community, keep in mind that we want sellers and buyers to become Mentors, so Mentors should put their best foot forward
3. Let’s avoid prolonged conversations, long responses that are hard to follow, and arguing over the same topic over and over. These posts often get off topic, are confusing and it’s difficult to find action items.
4. Don’t read into or over analyze comments in the Mentor Lounge. Everyone is trying to come from a good place.
5. Let’s celebrate one another. It’s okay to share personal accomplishments, happy news or anything where your fellow Mentors will cheer you on. 
6. Don’t call one another out publicly. This includes Community team members. 

Keep in mind that more times than not, Community members are coming from a good place and we should be kind to one another. Let’s set the tone so all feel welcome to post in the Community.

Violating posts or content may be removed, and eBay reserves the right to restrict or revoke users’ access to the Mentor Program for violating Community or Mentor guidelines.