ShipScript has been an eBay Community volunteer since 2003, specializing in HTML, CSS, Scripts, Photos, Active Content, Technical Solutions, and online Seller Tools.
1 BEST ANSWER
Accepted Solutions
I tested each major block of code in the listing editor.
Your first and second products trigger the error message.
I stripped one product down to these lines of code that fail.
As you can see, the @-sign is the problem.
16dBm@B mode
12V@1A . DC47-2mm Socket.
Removing one or the other appears to let the phrase pass the filters, but including both stops the listing. This doesn't make sense because you have more of the phrases in other products in the same listing.
This phrase appears in both products that fail, and is probably the more pressing issue because the name in front of the @ is longer, and adding spaces throughout makes no difference.
16dBm@B mode
Now, here is where it gets tricky. I can fiddle with both phrases and add spaces and non-breaking spaces and HTML wrappers to break the sequence, and can see that the bots are looking for specific methodologies in addition to the phrase, in plain text mode. I can list one or the other, but not both. It's a strange trap that has something to do with some programmer's mindset.
When I change that one phrase to 16dBm in B mode it goes through, of course, so that is how I would pursue a solution. I took your entire listing and changed the above phrase in the first two products and the listing posted.
Unfortunately, I have not nailed down the exact filter, but I am getting some idea.
I am going through your listing right now. I am able to duplicate your errors.
This is where I will test first....
I'll remove this link. Even though you have added spaces, the bots ignore the spaces, and this is definitely not allowed, so it has to be removed anyway.
www . Repair . org
Then I'll visit your voltages.
Remember, eBay ignores spaces, so adding spaces around your @-symbol won't fool the bots. Additionally, do not put a period after the Amps. These both look like real emails:
12V@1.5A . DC
12V@1A . IEEE
If that fails to solve the issue, I will remove blocks of code until the suspect code is revealed (this is a surefire way to find the bad guys). Be back later...
I tested each major block of code in the listing editor.
Your first and second products trigger the error message.
I stripped one product down to these lines of code that fail.
As you can see, the @-sign is the problem.
16dBm@B mode
12V@1A . DC47-2mm Socket.
Removing one or the other appears to let the phrase pass the filters, but including both stops the listing. This doesn't make sense because you have more of the phrases in other products in the same listing.
This phrase appears in both products that fail, and is probably the more pressing issue because the name in front of the @ is longer, and adding spaces throughout makes no difference.
16dBm@B mode
Now, here is where it gets tricky. I can fiddle with both phrases and add spaces and non-breaking spaces and HTML wrappers to break the sequence, and can see that the bots are looking for specific methodologies in addition to the phrase, in plain text mode. I can list one or the other, but not both. It's a strange trap that has something to do with some programmer's mindset.
When I change that one phrase to 16dBm in B mode it goes through, of course, so that is how I would pursue a solution. I took your entire listing and changed the above phrase in the first two products and the listing posted.
Unfortunately, I have not nailed down the exact filter, but I am getting some idea.
Interesting... the 12dBM @ B mode did not work in my testing, but was possibly related to the amount of text surrounding my test code. Nor did surrounding the @ with HTML. I was able to list your entire description by changing only the 12dBm phrases and without changing the other phrases like 12V@.
Indeed, it appears that eBay has gotten cleverer and the filters are converting HTML and entities to "plain text" prior to testing the results, yet your 12dBM @ B mode example got through for you, but not for me.
I think there may be some interplay with Standard mode. In most cases, I stayed in HTML mode for testing, but in some instances I viewed Standard mode. When I whittled the issue down to those two lines of code in plain text mode, I was probably in standard mode, except when I tested non-breaking spaces and html wrappers.
Still, the browsers are different, and they each encode Standard mode differently.
As you can imagine, eBay is desperately trying to thwart the scammers who post emails and IMS numbers in their fake listings, so we can understand the effort. It just makes it more difficult to post technical specs that use the @-format.
@atikotek-1 wrote:... so that genuine seller can know that , what exactly is offensive...
In 2005, I confronted eBay Trust and Safety with this very question. I wanted to know the filters. The person in charge at that time, Brian Burke, told me that eBay wanted to keep that information secret because disclosing their filters would allow the scammers to work around the filters.
Of course, this is true. Just as we are trying to work around the filters for valid reasons, scammers are always trying to find loopholes. If you and I can find a workaround, then so can the scammers. Back then, eBay's filters were right there in the HTML, so I simply captured the filters and wrote a web page that helped sellers find their offending text and provided work-around options. Some of that is still valid, although the underlying reasonings are no longer relevant because eBay has blocked or suppressed active content and scripts since 2017.
The newer problem surrounds texting and requests for external transactions, which are usually fraudulent attempts to scam buyers or sellers. So we are seeing more stringent filters aimed at external communication of any type. The filters are always evolving and either we sellers need to state specifications differently to let the filters remain in place, or we need to tell eBay that the filters are not working for seller listings. For the most part, I like to recommend changing the listing so that eBay's filters can still trap the bad guys. But if that is not possible, then we need to let eBay know.
