mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
ShipScript has been an eBay Community volunteer since 2003, specializing in HTML, CSS, Scripts, Photos, Active Content, Technical Solutions, and online Seller Tools.
Hi Community,
Please join The Community Team here on Wed Feb 21 at 1 pm PT for a Q&A Community Chat. We don't have a set topic today, so please come prepared with your buying & selling questions.
Thanks & talk to you then! 
@terrycanarsky wrote:
Terapeak.
I believe I read that eBay considers this to be a valuable marketing resource for pricing. And maybe it is for some. In our experience, it is a caching site only. I use it to find listings of ours which have been removed for one reason of another long ago; it's a 50-50 shot whether or not the information is there, however.
It is causing a bit of havoc, however. For the first time ever, I've fielded two calls in the past week or so from potential buyers who, knowing eBay now owns Terapeak, found old listings of ours and called to inquire. Problem is, both items sold and shipped over two years ago! These buyers were not interested in purchasing anything else, only what they were seeing on Terapeak, believing it to be accurate and up-to-date.
So. Any way to put a disclaimer on Terapeak that shows it is a caching site rather than a back door into eBay? These buyers were polite, but they were ticked off they'd wasted valuable time inquiring after something they thought available.
~M
Hi @terrycanarsky, I'm happy to pass your suggestion along to the appropriate team for consideration!
@vrykalakwrote:
@Anonymouswrote:
@fuzzymaewrote:Hello everyone!
I ran into a problem listing a set of ten adult coloring books. The title of one of them is Amazon Animals. How can I list the title/name of my item if there is a restricted word in it? Call it "the South American Jungle that starts with A" Animals coloring book? Who's going to find that.
Hi @fuzzymae, this would not be considered a violation of any policies as there are numerous products that contain both Amazon and Animals in their title or description. What category were you attempting to list this in? Did you receive an email or notification related to a block?
This just started sometime yesterday: you can't use the word "Amazon" in any context in your listing.
It's very similar to the policy change a couple of years ago, that you can't describe ethnic jewelry as Native, African, Tribal, Indian, etc. unless you have a certificate from the maker proving it is from an approved source.
First, you couldn't use the category.
Then you couldn't mention those words in the title.
Finally, a couple of years ago, you couldn't use those words in the Description either.
This new policy adds "Amazon" to the list of illegal words in a title or description.
Do you have a link to a list of prohibited words.
@mallontown wrote:
Thank you for allowing me to post to this Community Chat about Ebays new unwritten rules. I checked the policies and could not find any that pertain to the Customer Service message in quotes below.
Seller now must educate buyers.
I'm not sure if everyone knows but Ebay now says "A seller has a vested interest in the success of the eBay platform and as such have a responsibility to educate their customers of any policy concerns that come up in a transaction."
That sure sound mandatory and is very concerning.So now sellers must educate buyers if a buyer uses ebay messages and sends the seller a message with a possible policy violation in the message.
Ebay has the ability to stop customers from sending any message that may violate ebay policy. but instead will mark the buyers account with a warning and also mark the sellers account with a warning even though the seller had nothing to do with the message. That's right both accounts are marked with a warning.
Myself I think that's eBay's job as eBay has the ability to stop buyers from sending emails that ask sellers to violate policy. And while the seller can respond to policy questions they are aware of, making it the responsibility of sellers is wrong as all sellers may not be aware of all policies or may interpret eBay's policies different than how eBay interprets them.
Sellers do not work for ebay. eBay employs Customer Service Reps for these types of questions of eBay's policies.
So be careful with all questions by buyers. You may have to answer any implied questions. You may have to research all of eBay's policies.My question is where can I find this information in eBay policies?
Please show me the link.
Hi @mallontown - there isn't a policy that officially states that a seller is required to educate a buyer on any potential violations they may be committing. This would simply be a suggestion that benefits you and your customers.
This is a recommendation that a member may want to take the time to advise another member of rules that may be being broken in communication. However, we don't expect you to. We do have Customer Service teammates who review messages and educate members or take action on policy violations.
Ultimately we want your business to do well, and so we have a number of suggestions on how best to do that - from Best Match suggestions, to optimizing for mobile, to staying compliant with modern Internet browser standards. These aren't things we are requiring of you or your business, but tips, advice and changes that we believe will help you succeed.
In addition to the business-focused areas, there are also suggestions on how best to grow the eBay community of members (buyer and seller alike). Providing great customer service is one of those, as is answering questions, and sometimes helping new members understand the rules of the road. However, since it's not something that we would require, that's why there's no official policy. Thanks!
@Anonymouswrote:
@fuzzymaewrote:
The title of one of them is Amazon Animals. How can I list the title/name of my item if there is a restricted word in it? Call it "the South American Jungle that starts with A" Animals coloring book?Hi @fuzzymae, this would not be considered a violation of any policies as there are numerous products that contain both Amazon and Animals in their title or description. What category were you attempting to list this in? Did you receive an email or notification related to a block?
@Anonymous Last week I was helping a member on the UK forum whose relist was similarly blocked.
"It looks like your listing contains a reference to another site.
For example, you may be trying to compare prices or mention where this item was purchased.
Referencing other sites where items can be purchased,
even if you don’t link directly to them, isn’t permitted.
Please remove the reference from your listing.{e56127-975535x}"
They used the Sandbox scanner tool and it showed no external links. I manually checked the source of several ended listings and saw no links. However, I did see that the description included something like "compatible with Amazon Fire Stick". The seller removed the brand name from the description and the listing posted. The filter writers need to work on that one.
