| Eroding Marketplace Integrity
Professional eBay Sellers Alliance
eBay Marketplace Security Statement
January 2005
Eroding Marketplace Integrity
The Members of the Professional eBay Sellers Alliance
(PESA) believe that the integrity of the eBay marketplace
is the single largest issue challenging their businesses
on eBay. Negative buyer experiences and the associated
media coverage have created a strong caveat emptor mentality
among shoppers when considering browsing eBay. During
the past year, our members have seen the eBay marketplace
weaken. While competition in the market has increased,
we believe that the state of mind of the shopper is the
primary underlying issue. Conversion and average selling
prices have slid across most categories. Buyers appear
more price conscious than ever. We believe that a shift
of balance of buyers versus sellers as well as an erosion
of buyer confidence from fraud experiences and media attention
has caused the flattening growth of eBay US. Although
eBay started as an online flea market, many of the merchants
that have joined the site are now offering new merchandise.
Unfortunately, buyers still perceive eBay as a flea market
with shady sellers and poor customer service.
The members of PESA are concerned that eBay is not taking
serious action to address this issue. The INR/SNAD process
that is being rolled out in January is simply a reporting
mechanism with no protective value to the consumer. It
does nothing to curtail improper practices from occurring,
only reporting after the fact. We believe that eBay needs
to implement policies that will prevent people with negative
intentions from doing excessive damage to innocent shoppers.
eBay should verify the address and identity of sellers
as well as place restrictions on selling activity until
certain criteria are met. A new seller should not have
an issue providing a verifiable name and address before
needing to list 50 plasma televisions or laptop computers.
eBay should also let the cream rise to the top and make
it easier for shoppers to find its best sellers. Buyers
should be allowed to search for items using seller criteria
such as feedback percentage or return policy. If these
search criteria were available to shoppers, it would provide
an incentive to sellers to adopt best practices. In the
current environment, why should a seller have a return
policy or strive to achieve a 99% positive feedback rating
when the items from a seller with a 99% rating will be
listed alongside a seller with an 88% rating.
The members of PESA believe that the changes from the
INR process are purely cosmetic and only seem to add a
greater reporting burden on high volume sellers without
any improvement in the integrity of the eBay marketplace.
About PESA
The Professional eBay Sellers Alliance is a non-profit
trade association organized to provide common resources
to business merchants operating on eBay. The Group's mission
is to help members improve their businesses through member
information exchange, coordinated interaction with eBay
on marketplace issues, and group purchasing opportunities.
Additional Resources
eBay
INR/SNAD Page
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