penguins_dont_fly is a Volunteer Community Mentor
mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
@sj125690 wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:
@mtnbkr96 wrote:
@penguins_dont_fly wrote:
@mtnbkr96 wrote:
@gramophone-georg wrote:
@mtnbkr96 wrote:
@forgottenape wrote:so do i read this right no more suspensions or purges? so if someone messes up all they have to do is correct the problem and the listings become visible again? does this include veros? are there any cases that will be suspended?
There are still limited situations where we may suspend an account, such as when a seller registers with a false identity. However, sellers who are selling in good faith do not need to worry about being suspended.
When a VeRO member reports an item as infringing, it will still be removed to protect the seller, buyer and eBay. If a seller continues to list these products after they’re removed by the VeRO member, instead of suspending the seller will hide all of the seller’s listings for a temporary period. During this time, the seller will be able to review their listings for any other products that are infringing and remove them proactively.
The new seller-friendly policy approach applies to all eBay policies, including Duplicate Listings enforcement. If a seller continues to list duplicate items after being warned to stop, then all of their listings would be hidden. During this time, the seller will be able to review and edit their listings to ensure they don’t have any duplicate listings.
What will the financial penalties be for these violations? Fee increase?
There is no financial penalty. We are working to partner with you. We understand our policies are numerous can be complex. We will notify you, without penalty, if there is an issue with policy. If you continue to have an issue, we will hide your listings and give you a chance to comply. This way when you comply with the policy, your listings can come back with you having to relist. you will retain your search placement and sales history.
I'm sorry if I missed the answer to my earlier question …
Is there a timeframe attached to this, or any sanctions if the seller does NOT comply or is a repeat offender?
For example … if a seller does not clean up their act in 60 days, will the "hide" become "end and suspend"?
As a responder on the help forums, I would like to be able to give definitive answers to questions from sellers that have their listings hidden … there will be questions, I am sure, once this goes into effect.
Let me provide a little more detail.
When a seller has an issue with a policy, we will notify them of the policy and what they should do to comply with the policy. There is no penalty when a seller is notified of a policy issue.
If the policy issue continues, the seller's listings will be hidden for 3 days. This will give them an opportunity to correct the issue.
If after their listings are unhidden, there continues to be an issue, their listings will be hidden for 7 days.
If after their listings are unhidden, there continues to be an issue, their listings will be hidden for 10 days.
We will continue to work with the seller to help them understand and comply with the policy, even if we need to keep hiding their listings while they make adjustments to their business.
That sounds like a great plan to me. Sometimes we don't mean to breach a rule or we have interpreted it differently than Ebay has intended. This looks very reasonably to me. Thank you for the details.
One more thing. Would you please provide a link to this policy so we can all bookmark it for future reference.
There isn't just one policy link, this is a new enforcement measure and will be applicable to all policies.
I think that @mam98031 was asking for the page that specifies exactly what you laid out up there (the part that I bolded and colored). Is there a link to that somewhere?
@abfabvintage wrote:
Knowing I am probably the dullest knife in the ebay drawer...when these listings are "hidden" which to me means not seen in search, no one can purchase, and assume not "ended?" (like on a Vacay)...how does the GTC impact those listings? Are they just considered "stale" and at a standstill? Then when they are "released" and again available, how does that work?
First let's start with you opening statement. I've seen you around on the threads for a long time and I would never even think to describe you that way. IMHO you come up with some VERY good questions and observations.
Hidden doesn't mean ended. Two separate things. The listing is still active, it is just running in the background so to speak, like they would if you hide them while you are on vaca. It has no affect on GTC, things will renew as they would even if they were not hidden. They are just hidden until they aren't.
They are not "stale" either. That too is different.
@penguins_dont_fly wrote:
@sj125690 wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:
@mtnbkr96 wrote:
@penguins_dont_fly wrote:
@mtnbkr96 wrote:
@gramophone-georg wrote:
@mtnbkr96 wrote:
@forgottenape wrote:so do i read this right no more suspensions or purges? so if someone messes up all they have to do is correct the problem and the listings become visible again? does this include veros? are there any cases that will be suspended?
There are still limited situations where we may suspend an account, such as when a seller registers with a false identity. However, sellers who are selling in good faith do not need to worry about being suspended.
When a VeRO member reports an item as infringing, it will still be removed to protect the seller, buyer and eBay. If a seller continues to list these products after they’re removed by the VeRO member, instead of suspending the seller will hide all of the seller’s listings for a temporary period. During this time, the seller will be able to review their listings for any other products that are infringing and remove them proactively.
The new seller-friendly policy approach applies to all eBay policies, including Duplicate Listings enforcement. If a seller continues to list duplicate items after being warned to stop, then all of their listings would be hidden. During this time, the seller will be able to review and edit their listings to ensure they don’t have any duplicate listings.
What will the financial penalties be for these violations? Fee increase?
There is no financial penalty. We are working to partner with you. We understand our policies are numerous can be complex. We will notify you, without penalty, if there is an issue with policy. If you continue to have an issue, we will hide your listings and give you a chance to comply. This way when you comply with the policy, your listings can come back with you having to relist. you will retain your search placement and sales history.
I'm sorry if I missed the answer to my earlier question …
Is there a timeframe attached to this, or any sanctions if the seller does NOT comply or is a repeat offender?
For example … if a seller does not clean up their act in 60 days, will the "hide" become "end and suspend"?
As a responder on the help forums, I would like to be able to give definitive answers to questions from sellers that have their listings hidden … there will be questions, I am sure, once this goes into effect.
Let me provide a little more detail.
When a seller has an issue with a policy, we will notify them of the policy and what they should do to comply with the policy. There is no penalty when a seller is notified of a policy issue.
If the policy issue continues, the seller's listings will be hidden for 3 days. This will give them an opportunity to correct the issue.
If after their listings are unhidden, there continues to be an issue, their listings will be hidden for 7 days.
If after their listings are unhidden, there continues to be an issue, their listings will be hidden for 10 days.
We will continue to work with the seller to help them understand and comply with the policy, even if we need to keep hiding their listings while they make adjustments to their business.
That sounds like a great plan to me. Sometimes we don't mean to breach a rule or we have interpreted it differently than Ebay has intended. This looks very reasonably to me. Thank you for the details.
One more thing. Would you please provide a link to this policy so we can all bookmark it for future reference.
There isn't just one policy link, this is a new enforcement measure and will be applicable to all policies.
I think that @mam98031 was asking for the page that specifies exactly what you laid out up there (the part that I bolded and colored). Is there a link to that somewhere?
Exactly.
@chapeau-noir wrote:
@penguins_dont_fly wrote:
@mtnbkr96 wrote:
<snip redundant conversation and overlong quotes>Let me provide a little more detail.
When a seller has an issue with a policy, we will notify them of the policy and what they should do to comply with the policy. There is no penalty when a seller is notified of a policy issue.
If the policy issue continues, the seller's listings will be hidden for 3 days. This will give them an opportunity to correct the issue.
If after their listings are unhidden, there continues to be an issue, their listings will be hidden for 7 days.
If after their listings are unhidden, there continues to be an issue, their listings will be hidden for 10 days.
We will continue to work with the seller to help them understand and comply with the policy, even if we need to keep hiding their listings while they make adjustments to their business.
Does that mean that the seller's listings will be "unhidden" after 3 days (7 days, 10 days) automatically, even if they don't correct their listings? And how long will the listings stay live if/when they get "unhidden" without corrections?
How long can a seller get away with policy violations before they get the "big stick" of suspension? Or are policy violators just going to be able to ride out "hidden" listings forever?
I read this as they have to correct these listings. If they do so, they're unhidden after the three day time period, but they continue the practice for more listings, the next time it's 7 days. If they fix those but try it again, then it's 10 days. I assume after that, it's suspension, but that's last is just a supposition.
There's no reason to hide listings then unhide them if the seller doesn't do anything about the violations.
That's not how I'm reading it 😞
The bolded blue part of the statement above states that eBay will just "keep working with" a seller.
That implies (to me) that an offending seller just keeps riding the carousel of hidden listings, whether or not they actually make changes.
While I am happy that newbie sellers and sellers that make an occasional mistake will be allowed to recover from their goof-ups, I am concerned that blatant and egregious violators will be allowed to continue doing what they do with no consequences besides a 10 Day vacation, after which eBay just gives up and let's the listings ride 😞
There is one seller that consistently posts new dropshipped items in the Antiques categories. These aren't repops or fake antiques ... actual new mass produced items like Ring Doorbells are listed under Antique Hardware>Doorknockers 😞 ALL of this seller's 1000+ items are in the wrong categories, not just a few.
Reporting these listings for Search and Browse Manipulation> Wrong category has done nothing. This seller knows what they are doing wrong and doesn't care.
Another peeve of mine are the vape sellers ... There are thousands of listings for vapes. Reporting might take the listing down for 24-48 hours, but the sellers just repost with slightly different wording and keep on keepin on 😞
When does it stop? When do these sellers get the boot?
@myjunqueyourtreasure wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:That sounds like a great plan to me. Sometimes we don't mean to breach a rule or we have interpreted it differently than Ebay has intended. This looks very reasonably to me. Thank you for the details.
One more thing. Would you please provide a link to this policy so we can all bookmark it for future reference.
As an aside, it would be nice if they would take this more lenient approach with board posters as well. We've lost a lot of good posters over recent time mostly for very minor "violations" of board policy.
While I've noticed a few posters I felt were valuable to the threads missing, I don't know if that is because of some issue on the threads. And if it was because of a problem on the threads, how do you know it was minor? I had thought that on the threads they do have a warning system before any vacas are given, then vacas are for different durations depending on how many warnings they have and previous vacas. Is that not how it works?
@myjunqueyourtreasure wrote:
We know because they tell us outside the board messages.
Most5 forums I've been on actually have transparency and you can SEE how many "violations/infractions" you've racked up and why.
I've never had a mod reply to even one of my responses to the sometimes over the top violation notices btw.
I'll most likely get another now for even mentioning moderation - sighs.
You bring up some very interesting stuff. I have to give this some thought. Very interesting indeed.
