survey for new ebay features

[toinfinityoutlet]

Did anyone else receive a email saying based on their selling stats they were being offered a $250 gift card to participate in a trial and survey of a new eBay feature? Well I got one, said it starts today the 15th, but when I try to follow the link to participate it tells me the survey is not currently active? 

Any one know what's going on with this?

[frankenhobbit]

It also says the survey is being conducted 'In accordance with the Market Research Society Code of Conduct'.

That's a UK organization. But you are in the US and they are offering a USD gift card?

[bennotbill]

If customer service says its legit then it must be OK😀. Far better if a forum rep confirmed that.

Even if true $250 is chump change considering the video's etc will probably end up in some advertising campaign. That's even if the gift vouchers work, considering their reputation on these forums.

Does the "Take the Survey" button want you to login?

[fashunu4eeuh]

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@toinfinityoutlet wrote:

it came to my email but i spoke to ebay over the phone today they assured me it was legit and came from their research & development team. He contacted them while I was on the phone, apparently it was based on my seller activity.

I am still a little weary of it thought, but I should be getting contacted directly from the research and development team shortly. Ill update you guys.

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Hi again @toinfinityoutlet I am getting very nervous about this invitation. @duffy4444‘s post hit on every major red flag. Any important communication sent by eBay goes to both one’s email and eBay Messages and includes one’s full name and user ID.

Calling an outside eBay number can connect you to untrained overseas script readers who have no authority to act on a member’s behalf and are known to give out incorrect, even damaging advice. 

I do not believe eBay would ever use a third-party research company like dScout. They have their own extensive in-house research department. I have also never heard of eBay paying for seller focus groups, surveys or solicited feedback. Doesn’t mean they wouldn’t, but i am very concerned that this is not an official eBay-led market research. The message is misleading, allowing one to believe it could have originated from eBay. But nowhere does it state it is from eBay.

[mam98031]

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@toinfinityoutlet wrote:

This is the email I received

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This is something that likely needs to be verified.  I would go to the email, click on forward the email and send it to spoof@ebay.com

I hope you have not given any information to them yet.  It really needs to be verified first.

kyle@ebay 

devon@ebay 

elizabeth@ebay 

[kyle@ebay]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@toinfinityoutlet wrote:

This is the email I received

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This is something that likely needs to be verified.  I would go to the email, click on forward the email and send it to spoof@ebay.com

I hope you have not given any information to them yet.  It really needs to be verified first.

kyle@ebay 

devon@ebay 

elizabeth@ebay 

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Hey @mam98031 we'd need a little more information to know for certain, but I would lean toward @duffy4444's advice being correct. 

It's not too unusual for eBay to reach out and offer a gift card or something for compensation for a survey.  But with everything else Duffy noticed, I'm a bit leery about this one too.  We'd need to see who the sender of the email is, for starters.  
@toinfinityoutlet if you could please forward that email to us at AskCommunity@ebay.com so that we can see the sender info, and also include your eBay user ID as well, we'll be happy to take a closer look!

[fern*wood]

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@sextons-sweet-deals wrote:

smells fishy to me!

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Maybe they should google them and look at their house.

[jameshen1]

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@fern*wood wrote:

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@sextons-sweet-deals wrote:

smells fishy to me!

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Maybe they should google them and look at their house.

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Bwahaha.  Good one.

[toinfinityoutlet]

the sender was research@ebay.com i can def forward it also

[mam98031]

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@toinfinityoutlet wrote:

the sender was research@ebay.com i can def forward it also

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If you would go into the email and FORWARD it to Kyle at askcommunity@ebay.com they can see the properties of the email.  Forwarding it to them is the important part, they can see much more info about the email itself.

[adamcartwright]

@toinfinityoutlet 

It's definitely a fake, IMO.

"Dates:  July 15th-26th... Over the course of these three weeks..."

That's a two week period, not three.

That's a mistake a scammer would make.

[chapeau-noir]

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@toinfinityoutlet wrote:

the sender was research@ebay.com i can def forward it also

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Any email address can be faked - what is the source code?

[gurlcat]

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@duffy4444 wrote:

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   6.  It's highly unusual for the email proofreaders at eBay to skip over misspellings: "you spelling habits" should have easily been corrected to "your spelling habits". Again, a common tip-off something may be wrong.   

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or "your selling habits."  
😉

[candd205]

You say you called eBay. If you got the eBay phone number from the e-mail that you got, then you weren't necessarily speaking to eBay. If it's some sort of scam, the scammer will include their own phone number when they send you the e-mail. Why would eBay send you an e-mail when they can efficiently communicate through eBay messages? Be cautious.

[jerseyboymusic]

If it didn't come through Ebay messages on the Ebay site, I would ignore it, personally

[deltilogical]

Back in my 20's last century market research projects weree a way to pick up a quick $100 for a couple hours of discussion - they tended to not like me because my semiotics training cut right through their symbolism. 

How much is your time worth?  $250 isn't very much, especially if they send you a 1099 to go along with it.