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They're changing your ID! More Ebay characters - less keword spamming.

***Coming Soon: Extended Title***
Date: 12/31/03 Time: 06:16:23 PM PST


Many members of the Community have let us know that they would like to be able to add more text to their Item Title. We are very pleased to announce that, beginning in mid-February, we will be offering an additional ten (10) characters to the Item Title as part of the basic insertion fee. Currently the Title allows for 45 characters of text, and this will be increased to a total of 55 characters.

The extra ten characters will allow sellers to further describe their items and help buyers better decide which items to look at. The longer Title will be searchable through Title Search, the same way that it is today. Extended Title will be introduced on the U.S. site in mid-February, and on international sites a few weeks later.

We hope this enhancement improves your selling and buying experience on eBay.

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***Policy Update: Search Manipulation and Keyword Spamming***
Date: 12/31/03 Time: 02:55:40 PM PST


Today we are consolidating a number of policies that relate to Keyword Spamming under a new Search Manipulation – Keyword Spamming policy. Our current keyword spamming, brand name misuse, misleading titles, and compilation and informational items policies all relate to the misuse of eBay search.

The purpose for these policies is to help buyers find the items that they are looking to find. Search manipulation is unfair to members who may be searching for a specific item and receive inaccurate search results. In addition to creating a frustrating finding experience, certain uses of brand names may also constitute trademark infringement and could expose sellers to legal liability.

Although we are not changing the policy significantly, these changes should help sellers better understand what Search Manipulation is, as well as help those that encounter it report violations more easily.

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***Coming Soon: Changes to User ID***
Date: 12/31/03 Time: 01:24:14 PM PST


Creating a consistent member experience is important as the eBay Marketplace continues to grow.

Today, the User ID links to different locations depending on context. For example, members who click on the User ID link may be taken to a sign in page, the Contact eBay Member form, or Ask Seller a Question.

In the next few weeks, we will be updating the User ID link functionality so that it will almost always link to the newly developed Member Profile, a new hub that provides a comprehensive view of a member's reputation. The Member Profile will also contain a "Contact Member" button which links to a sign in page (to access the Contact eBay Member form), directly to the Contact eBay Member form or to the Ask Seller a Question form.

We thank you for your participation and input as we continually improve the eBay user experience.



Comments

  • I LOVE the addtional 10 characters in the title.
    That was much needed.

    I am not sure what they change in spam
    stopping will actually be, but if it helps
    then GREAT

    but the User ID change makes no sense
    to me at all. I just did not understand it.
    They are not changing our acutal User Names
    we use on ebay, but some type of link to
    them?! hmmmm I just have no idea what
    that is about.


    AT LEAST They are doing SOMETHING to show
    they are improving the site!
    imageimage
  • spacktrackspacktrack Posts: 1,084 ✭✭
    I agree with BKAH. The extra characters will be a great help. I don't always use the total 45, but on several auctions I have up now, I ran out of room and was not able to include pertinent info.

    I also don't understand the ID change part, but I think what they are saying is that it will link consistently to the same page no matter where on the site you click it. I don't know what that will do for eBay, but we will see. Perhaps now when you click on the seller's ID you will be taken to the new member feedback profile and there will be other link choices such as one where you can ask a question to the seller.
  • I wonder if it will be a "trial" thing like most other features they had and then start yamming you for an extra .01 per letter.

    Buy it now was FREE
    10 day listings were FREE
    Most other features have gone up as much as 25%

    I remember sending them an email (Back when they had actual people answering them) and asking them why the sudden .10 charge for a 10 day auction. Their response was they felt the extra 3 days of exposure would compensate for the charge. I sent them a follow up email asking when they were going to cut the price of the 3-5 day auctions since I would get less exposure on those auctions. They never answered, must have gone to the auto response emails at that time.
    Always wanting odd-ball Nolan Ryan's.
  • demand has gone up. usage has gone up. costs have gone up. so why wouldnt prices go up. psa raised their prices and even charge to join. it is called free market ecconomy. if you do not like it, use yahoo auctions and see how you do. image
  • Everyone is missing - User IDs are NOT changing. The place where you go when you click on a user ID is what is changing. I.e. if I click on someone's user ID, it may alternatively take me to the sign in page, to the person's user ID history, to the "contact user through ebay" etc. What eBay is saying is that they are going to streamline this and make certain that when we click on a user ID, it takes us to the same place every time.

    Frankly I'm pretty happy with ebay prices where they are - yes I'd prefer everything to be cheaper or free, but just look at what happens when you have a free listing day. Everyone and their mother pours hundreds or thousands of items on there.

    Just like the category featured option for $19.95 - it filters out people from putting just anything up there, and as a result when I want to spend the money for it, I actually get results from it because there aren't a thousand items competing.

    eBay is the cheapest way in history to do business.
  • My point is that it costs ebay "ZERO" for a buy it now, "ZERO" for a 10-day listing, and "ZERO" for the icons and such. These items did not go up in cost, in fact, it is just as much to ebay's benefit to allow extended auctions, since they benefit from a higher dollar sale. Charge what they want, but at least say they are charging extra to make more money and not "Extra exposure" or any of that nonsense.
    Always wanting odd-ball Nolan Ryan's.


  • << <i>My point is that it costs ebay "ZERO" for a buy it now, "ZERO" for a 10-day listing, and "ZERO" for the icons and such. These items did not go up in cost, in fact, it is just as much to ebay's benefit to allow extended auctions, since they benefit from a higher dollar sale. Charge what they want, but at least say they are charging extra to make more money and not "Extra exposure" or any of that nonsense. >>



    NO! Because then, every auction would be a 10 day auction, every auction would have a buy it now - there would be no benefit to having your auction as such!

    Does it really cost PSA anymore to grade a card in 2 days vs. 45 days? It's the same data input, grading time, time to pack, etc. So why not offer all submission levels at the same price? Because no one would pay for the longer service. Just as your paying for a better product/service from PSA, you're paying for a premium product/service from eBay.
  • RobERobE Posts: 1,160 ✭✭


    << <i>My point is that it costs ebay "ZERO" for a buy it now, "ZERO" for a 10-day listing, and "ZERO" for the icons and such. These items did not go up in cost, in fact, it is just as much to ebay's benefit to allow extended auctions, since they benefit from a higher dollar sale. Charge what they want, but at least say they are charging extra to make more money and not "Extra exposure" or any of that nonsense. >>




    Ebay was sued for 35 million by the person who owns the rights of the Buy it now button and I think he won.
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