Trying to Police eBay

[rubrtoe]

reply to friend: it's a royal pain to report any seller to the ebay idiots. They'll ask what item I bought and I'll say none and then they won't let me. This is rampant on Ebay because of this. Ebay is so brain dead! The sellers ARE their reputation, but eBay provides no effective way for honest sellers to help police the bad 1s.

[rei-npkrlma]

I suppose if they let anyone "report a buyer" for any reason, they'd get deluged with people complaining and of course, people just trying to hurt competition.

I totally get your point, but one does have to try to look at both sides and in this one, I'm not sure there's a solution that would make everyone happy.

[beautybylynn]

ebay employs the theory, each buyer beware. I agree whole hearted with you, but how do they difference between a bad seller and someone you have a gripe against. to dothat they will have to hire a boatload of more, and that will vastly muck stuff up. and the fees to cover that will go thru the roof!

[jonscastle]

I totally agree with you, I have spent about an hour trying to figure out how to let them know about a fraudulent listing. You can’t send an email, I did report the item, but there is no place for comments there, and I agree that they have to be careful about trolls and such, but as you said I’m just trying to do the right thing. I’ve never had a problem with anything I’ve bought in 20 years, but I ordered an item that said it was genuine leather,  and handmade, and from the us, I checked rating, it was very good. When I received it it was cheap plastic Naugahyde or something, and when I started researching it more, there were many different listings for the same item, all saying last one, many with only  a few ratings, or maybe 70, I think they are creating reviews and then, just making new listings when they get caught. When I requested a refund, they asked if I would take $20, then $30 for a $58 item. I did get a refund, but just wanted to alert eBay! Thank you, rant over! 🤣

[rei-npkrlma]

OH ugh, I'm SO sorry that happened to you - been there and totally empathize.

Did you try calling? Sounds like you have a very valid concern.

[chipper01work]

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@Urubrtoe wrote:

reply to friend: it's a royal pain to report any seller to the ebay idiots. They'll ask what item I bought and I'll say none and then they won't let me. This is rampant on Ebay because of this. Ebay is so brain dead! The sellers ARE their reputation, but eBay provides no effective way for honest sellers to help police the bad 1s.

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Personally , I refuse  to do volunteer work for a multi billion dollar for profit corporation for any reason. But to each their own. Knock yourself out op.

[luckythewinner]

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@jonscastle wrote:

I totally agree with you, I have spent about an hour trying to figure out how to let them know about a fraudulent listing. You can’t send an email, I did report the item, but there is no place for comments there, and I agree that they have to be careful about trolls and such, but as you said I’m just trying to do the right thing.

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You did do the right thing - you reported the item.

The fact that eBay did not take the specific action that you think they should have taken does not change that.

[plumbingspecials]

If you did not purchase something from a seller on eBay, you don't GET to report them.

You have to be a paying member to complain.

[plumbingspecials]

jonscastle -
That is why you, as a buyer, have MBG. If the item is not described, you can open a return for Not As Described.
Buyer Beware. This means buyers should know what they are buying.
If you do not get what you ordered by the estimated delivery date, you are protected.
Buyers are not protected from their own stupid purchases (not saying yours was a stupid purchase - but many buyers will order the wrong thing and then blame the seller).
So, even though there are scam sellers out there, it is still the buyer's responsibility to read and research the item. And to KNOW their protections here. No need to report a seller. Simply do not buy.

eBay cannot allow potential buyers to report a seller if there is no transaction. Otherwise, sellers would be putting each other out of business. It's nothing personal against buyers. eBay assumes that buyers are reading descriptions and using common sense when purchasing.

[tellmemama]

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@plumbingspecials wrote:

If you did not purchase something from a seller on eBay, you don't GET to report them.

You have to be a paying member to complain.

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That's not necessarily true.  I'm not an eBay monitor but I've reported a seller's listings even though I never purchased from her.  She is located in the UK and would flood the vintage and collectible toy categories with her new trashy women's club wear clothing.  Think the Chinese garbage that is all over the clothing category.  Now that would be all well and good if they were in the proper womens clothing searches.  But they weren't.  Every day I would find dozens of duplicate listings in most of my buying and selling categories.  She went so far as using the correct vintage manufacturer for her items in the product details even though her clothing clearly was never made by Mattel or Hasbro or Ideal.

I tried contacting her through one of the listings to see if she realized she was listing in error and manipulating search.  She had blocked questions from buyers so that didn't work.  I finally messaged her once using member to member with no response.

I reported each listing every day.  After a few days with no removal, I contacted eBay via Facebook Messenger.  Within 48 hours all of the listings were taken down.  A month or so goes by and she starts the same thing again.  So using the same procedure on my end, they are all removed again.  And there haven't been any new ones since.  I'm guessing the seller was suspended for a quite a while this time. 

I'm ready for when her suspension is over.

[nawlinsron2]

I reported an "adult toy" listed as a toy water pistol about a week ago...used "Report this item" from the listing page.
Crickets...listing still current.

[plumbingspecials]

tellmemama
What you are talking about is reporting a listing, not reporting a seller.
Buyers cannot report a seller if they have not purchased from that seller. Buyers can open a case against a seller IF the seller sends them an item other than what is described (SNAD), or if the item is not received (INR). It is still the buyer's responsibility to read the listing, because a false SNAD is a violation of policy. Opening a case against a seller is the only way you can "report" a seller, therefore, a transaction is required.

You, as a buyer, can report listings, but be aware of what listing policies are before you do. And that you are policing eBay on your own time for free. So, just because something is offensive to you, that does not mean someone else won't want it. If the item is not "authentic", eBay has procedures for reporting such.

[best_vintage_photos]

There are much bigger issues in this world than listings on eBay. Just saying . . . .

[hioctane62]

Ebay does not want to police their site, nor do they want us to. The "report" buttons are basically a placebo. Ebay is well aware of the "bad ones", and they are well aware that they make huge profits from them.

[ted_200]

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@plumbingspecials wrote:

If you did not purchase something from a seller on eBay, you don't GET to report them.

You have to be a paying member to complain.

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Well, don't tell eBay that.  There's a "Report Item" button on every single listing, and you don't have to pay for anything to use it. 

Years ago, if a user used that link, someone at eBay would review the report and make a determination.  OF COURSE you cannot let just anyone report listings and then take their word as gospel. 

Although there has been no formal change in policy from eBay, the reality is that they rarely take any action on reported listings.  They've pretty much decided they'll let paying buyers deal with it, get a refund, and keep tally of things with seller performance standards.

If you rip people off and get away with it, and make sure eBay or PayPal doesn't end up holding the bag if it goes south, it's all good.   Fees are fees.