Reporting on eBay is broken and it’s infuriating.
As a seller, I had some of my items removed due to 'eBay policy'. Specifically the "Pradesh Gypsies" Magic The Gathering card, since its publisher, Wizards of the Coast, removed it from official databases and banned it from sanctioned play. The cards were stated to violate both the Offensive materials policy and the Product safety policy , as they are considered racially insensitive and recalled (banned) by the manufacturer.
I was curious, since there were still plenty listings of the card live on eBay. So I did the (probably petty) thing and reported a few myself. figured it would be a no brainer because my own listing was already taken down, so clearly eBay had already decided this card violates their policies.
Most of these reports were handled by AI, and in every single case, the AI failed to flag a violation.
I got the response: "We looked into your report and didn’t find the listing to be in violation of our policy. This determination was made using automation or artificial intelligence."
So why was my listing removed and not the others?
However, when the reports were actually reviewed by actual customer service agents, three of the listings were removed, but even then, one was not. So it appears most Reps agree it does violate eBay policy.
The lack of consistency is frankly disappointing. The AI repeatedly failed to recognize obvious violations, and even human review is unpredictable. Some listings are removed, others aren’t, with no clear rationale. How seriously does eBay train or enforces its own policies?
Yes, it’s just a Magic card. I know the stakes are low. But it’s frustrating. Do you even bother reporting items if the AI can't figure out what is going on or a random agent might just shrug it off? And then there is the worry that some serious listings slip through entirely while other legitimate ones can get removed for no clear reason.
Has anyone else noticed this or been affected by it?
tobaccocardyahoo
·10 months agoMy best customers for racially and ethnically insensitive items, when I could find them, were members of the group who are believed to be demeaned.
Even after I began selling online, I was able to pick up my phone and offer such items to past buyers of mine without using the internet, at all.
I have never had any respect for people who are not part of the group who are the subject of such artifacts of our society who think they can be proxies for the people affected.
There are items I have acquired which are so vile that I will not sell or give them to anyone other than a museum. But I own them and I choose where they go, and I elect to see history preserved no matter how offensive that history was.
I don't believe in hate crimes either. A crime is a crime no matter what the motivation. Many of the people who advocate for punishing hate crimes are also people who excuse crimes by favored criminals. The same level of punishments should apply to the same crime whatever the reason.
gurlcat
·10 months ago@chris_wholesale_outlet the ones that 'passed' scrutiny -were any of them listed in categories that weren't exactly where you'd expect to find them?
chris_wholesale_outlet
OP10 months agoNo, actually. The ones I just checked are all in the correct one: Toys & Hobbies > Collectible Card Games > Single Cards
estate_echoes
·10 months agoMostly for sale by the same seller.... who omits the word "Gypsies"?
Pradesh Gypsies for sale | eBay
simba6
·10 months agoThat will only make it more collectable.
tobaccocardyahoo
·10 months agoOne of the side effects of enforcement of censorship for insensitivity is some of us get educated in greater ways of being insensitive.
Ebay's bots are not self-teaching so they may miss many opportunities to be insensitive.
gone.c-33
·10 months agoGypsy is a slur to Romani people. That is why MTG stopped making it, selling it and it is no longer allowed in MtG sanctioned games.
meme6253
·10 months agoWOW we have gotten way to sensitive!
gone.c-33
·10 months agoAre you Romani?
estate_echoes
·10 months agoKlan members say the same thing about the n word.
But an ethnic slur is still a slur.
roccotacodad54
·10 months agoMeme does have a point. When I was young my circle of friends included Asians, Native Americans, Blacks, Hispanics, Whites and Pacific Islanders. ( I think I got them all in).
We commonly got each others attention with slurs as in "Cracker (to me) toss me a beer" "I say sure (insert slur here)" and it was all friendly, Smiles all around. None of us ever got offended unless these words were used in anger with the intention of insulting the other person.
Nowdays the mere mention of these words is considered an affront regardless of intent..........
gone.c-33
·10 months agoBy the way, the card was banned over 5 years ago and is virtually worthless, even in good condition.
Certainly not worth arguing with eBay to relist it.
gurlcat
·10 months agoYou don't see any differences between a circle of friends and a global selling platform? How about a circle of friends versus global platforms of friends .... and their friends ..... and their friends .... and then completely non-connected people all over the planet, within hours, if the algorithms detect a "trend"? That is what a company like eBay has to worry about, not just whether individual shoppers are offended by something when they see it, but what they can do beyond just seeing it. A couple decades ago, they would (at worst) just tell their circle of friends, verbally, and maybe by the time any of them went to see it for themselves, it would already be deleted. But with social media something that really only existed briefly can be made immortal.
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gone.c-33
·10 months agoThat item title *smh*
Personally, I don’t understand the “when people weren’t so sensitive†part. Pretty sure the people being depicted in a demeaning way or being called slurs have always hated it. Their voices just weren’t heard at the time. It’s the people who are mad they can no longer be senselessly mean towards others for merely being that I find sensitive.
â€We used to be able to dehumanize and discriminate freely and no longer can†is a weird hill to die on.
gurlcat
·10 months agoExactly, and it's not even like the "right" to dehumanize is being truly lost, just recognized for what it is. Like you still can stay whatever you want, but people can judge you for it because that's their right.
I've been noticing one of the terms that is currently on its way out (and I'm glad) is "prostitute." I'll never forget the day, only about 10 years ago, I was in my car and there was a news story on the radio (NPR of all things -supposedly a bastion of liberalism, ha), about a serial killer who'd just been identified and arrested. The news host was describing the horrific crime history and said that the first victim was "a 14-year-old prostitute named ___________". I just gasped, imagining hearing that as a relative or friend of the poor girl, being called that, as if what happened to her wasn't bad enough. Was prostitution the technical name of the activity that enabled the killer to be alone with her? Yeah. But was she "a prostitute"? HeII no, she was a child trafficking victim! And that can be the case even for women (and men) over 18. And even ones who don't have 'pimps' don't call themselves that word, because everybody knows it's derogatory.
So I'm glad to hear it being phased out of polite discussion, but it's still in kind-of 'early' phase-out, so when I hear someone use it, I don't assume they're a woman-hating jerk or anything, especially if they're past a certain age. Kind of like how my great-grandmother always said "colored" and she believed that was the 'nice' term, because back in her day it was!
roccotacodad54
·10 months ago"You don't see any differences between a circle of friends and a global selling platform?"
Sure I see a difference. But I also think the mere mention of a word shouldn't cause such an alarm. The black face listing you posted is a historical fact not neccessarily a targeted insult.
" That is what a company like eBay has to worry about, not just whether individual shoppers are offended by something when they see it, but what they can do beyond just seeing it."
If people want to be offensive they don't need an ad on eBay to achieve that. Worrying about what other people can/might do with a simple ad is worrying in itself (at least to me).
I just miss "sticks and stones" before everyone got so sensitive over every preceived or even real slight. People have been conditioned to be outraged by everything they don't like instead of just shrugging it off and realizing that it isn't worth their time to even be bothered by it.
I see and hear things all the time that attempt to insult my heritage. Don't really give it alot of thought other than that they don't like me, OK that's just their opinion. I'm not going to get all in a huff about it.
jonathanbrightlight
·10 months agoEnforcement of most eBay policies has never been perfect or consistent. I have reported many clear violations that were deemed not to be violations in the past. It’s mostly an issue of scale and volume, I suspect, but it is an issue.
powell-collectibles
·10 months agoCurious – why is this card considered offensive? I looked at an image of the picture – didn’t look like anything offensive to me. Granted, I’m not easily offended, and I’m sure I’m missing something obvious.