Ebay removing guides?

[newnewnewmann]

Is there an official announcement from ebay about this? I have searched here and the internet and only find the same quote that isn't attributed to any source or person. The ebay Buying Guides page says nothing about it.

If guides are banned on ebay "April 12" why would ebay encourage people to continue to write and publish guides and not mention the upcoming ban on the Buying Guides page?

http://www.ebay.com/gds

[newnewnewmann]

I found the answer...ebay emails. Ebay has emailed some people about this ban. I would still like to see this announcement by ebay on these boards or on the guide page. Is there one somewhere?

[*coins · Accepted solution]

@newnewnewmann

Here is a screenshot of the message if it helps:

 

[Anonymous]

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@newnewnewmann wrote:

Is there an official announcement from ebay about this? I have searched here and the internet and only find the same quote that isn't attributed to any source or person. The ebay Buying Guides page says nothing about it.

If guides are banned on ebay "April 12" why would ebay encourage people to continue to write and publish guides and not mention the upcoming ban on the Buying Guides page?

http://www.ebay.com/gds 

---

Hi everyone,  

We've sent out an email to those who have written a Buying Guide in the past, but I also wanted to address some of the concerns raised here. The way that people seek and share content online has changed drastically since guides were launched, and the reality is that guides no longer fit into most buyer and sellers’ online shopping behavior.

This being said, sellers today have many alternatives which better suit how people shop and search for content, including:

• Promoted Listings and Promotions Manager, which together increase listing visibility and move more of the merchandise sellers choose.
• Social channels and blogs, which not only drive traffic to sellers’ listings and stores, but also help them brand themselves as experts in their field.
• And of course our eBay Community, where all eBay customers can ask questions, share their expertise, and engage with fellow members of the world’s largest online marketplace.

I hope this adds some context to our recent decision regarding guides. We look forward to seeing everyone's expertise shared here on the boards and other platforms!

[all_fakes]

@Trinton

Sorry.   I disagree.  There may be some validity to what you say.   But one very useful function of the ebay guides was to provide information to allow ebay bidders to recognize the numerous fakes and forgeries listed daily on ebay.

     It is understood that ebay has no legal obligation to provide that information; but it has a moral and ethical obligation.

Ebay is the single largest source today for fakes and forgeries of all kinds; perhaps not intentional, but that is the way it is.  And in large part this is fostered by ebay's refusal to enforce their own rules.   There are rules about the listing of fakes and reproductions in most categories; there is zero enforcement of these.

One example:  a listing for a "native american pendamt" is REQUIRED to list the maker or his tribe.

When such a listing fails to do that, why does ebay refuse to enforce the rule?  This has nothing to do with the understandable inability to recognize fakes; it has everything to do with a failure to enforce rules violations that are obvious merely by reading the listings.   When reported to ebay, these violtions should be enforced.   In many categories, the listing of fakes is a crime; it is a felony to list a fake as Native-made; it is a felony to sell a replica coin as real.  It is a crime to assist in a criminal enterprise; and there are numerous ebay sellers whose business model is simply to commit those crimes; and ebay is a co-conspirator in that criminal activity.

So I believe that if ebay is going to allow the listing of fakes and forgeries, it has an ethical obligation to provide at least some information to counteract that criminal act.

[meoxcross]

This is becoming a joke, eBay should remove the social media part of its platform so that we know where we stand. How many hours have i wasted creating collections and guides only for ebay to start fiddling with it?

I should just move everything to wordpress & pinterest so that at least i know where i stand and i can at least list the several different shopping sites without ebay gagging and censoring links.

[*coins]

Now the button to create a guide is gone. Looks like they are starting to slowly take it apart.

[fashionclubgurl]

attention Ebay - since ALMOST all of the Guides are now gone, why are there still a few remaining? And some of the remaining ones are even more useless than they were when they were posted.

Just one example - follow the links on the gateway page

https://www.ebay.com/gds

to Fashion and then to Womens Accessories:

https://www.ebay.com/gsr/Women%27s-Accessories/4251/i.html?rt=nc

One broken link that just goes back to the gateway page, one guide by "Ebay" from 2014 about Maui Jim Sunglasses(???) , one designer brand shoe sizing guide, and  a guide dated 2012, already 6 years out-of-date, about spotting fake Coaches that contains a lot of outdated or incorrect information with 1 or 2 mistakes every paragraph and is a good example of why many of those "authenticity guides" caused so much trouble in the first place and why hundreds of sellers were falsely reported over the years to be selling fakes. And now that this is the only guide remaining on the subject, inexperienced members are going to assume that this is the only official guide OKd by Ebay and act accordingly, including reporting even MORE honest sellers because their Coaches dont have the Coach name stamped on the hardware, or because there are Cs on the outside and inside (there are a lot of exceptions to that particular rule), etc. The seller even was posting the "all Coaches have YKK zippers" lie that had been exposed for the nonsense that it is way back in the mid-2000s on Ebays own predecessor to the Fashion forum, the old Shoes, purses and Accessories forum. Although she later posted an update to the Guide, that misinformation had been recognised as actual "fake news" for years by that time.  I even saved a few of the posts and links although they disappeared when the forum name changed.

Can one of the Ebay people see to it that this incorrect and misleading leftover Guide is removed? Thanx!

[itapaquanitatuckahenry]

yes, there were a lot of shamelessly self-promoting postings in the guides that were not helpful at all. i wrote several guides that had nothing to do with anything i might sell, but gave clear and useful information with examples. there is an enormous slice of ebay traffic in the "loose gemstones" category, for example, and it's important for people to get help. similarly with such things as antiques and art that require a degree of knowledge.

[annakilbo]

eBay wants you to pay for eBay guides. This is not helpful to buyers, sellers, or eBay. The guide I wrote as a seller was 100% truthful, received thousands of views, and allowed buyers to learn which remote control deadbolt adapter/activator was: 1) Patented first, 2) Is still the price leader, and 3) Was given many likes by buyers. It was working great for all, so eBay deleted it in hopes of creating a new income stream. NOT!