Seller Verification

[snugglypuppy]

Members Ask eBay CEO for Seller Verification at Shareholders Meeting
By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
June 13, 2006 
At eBay's annual shareholder meeting today, long time eBay seller Jay Senese asked eBay CEO Meg Whitman to address the issue of seller verification. "Maybe the time has come for more verification," he said. Many members believe better verification will make the eBay marketplace safer from fraud.

Whitman said the head of eBay Marketplaces John Donahoe has reviewed policies. "The Internet has become larger, with many more people, and we have asked, do we need to revisit issues like seller verification? We're hearing from our community and are reviewing it."

Donahoe said, "This is a topic we are addressing." The first is cross border - this is the first place to address seller verification. The worst violations come from members who register in one country, then sell on an eBay site in another country.

He said in China, eBay has shut down registration for members without a manual verification.

Whitman added, "Country by country, we are trying to strike the right balance - let new sellers on, yet keep out the bad guys. We'll do it in dialog with our community."

Another shareholder who collects antique glass on eBay asked Whitman to bond all sellers on the site. She suggested all sellers be bonded and qualified, and that they put up the money so they lose something if they are criminals. "I'm tired of bearing the cost for criminals." She added, "I appreciate being part of eBay - the ultimate recyclers."

Whitman said eBay's principle that people are basically good "enables average people to access this very powerful new medium." Average people may not have been able to go through the bonding process. She wants to "enable open marketplace but make sure criminals are not online. We will continue to tweak the system." But, she said there are no plans to "go all the way to bonded sellers at this point."

Whitman will be addressing 15,000 eBay members and staff at the annual eBay Live conference this evening.

http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y06/m06/i13/s06

[amy]

But, she said there are no plans to "go all the way to bonded sellers at this point."

Very few eBay sellers would agree to BuySafe's background checks (credit check, must be a business, providing details on total assets and liabilities and annual business income, etc.)

My suggestion to build buyer trust is to drop the anonymous user ID crap and instead use real business names (or DBA names). 

[BellisimaJ.]

My suggestion to build buyer trust is to drop the anonymous user ID crap and instead use real business names (or DBA names).

This is a great idea, Amy. Too bad ebay doesn't follow the KISS principle---might actually make the site worth using. :

[thentavius]

And since several of eBay's largest shooting star sellers (most of which were BuySafe members) have recently bit the big one, it causes one to wonder if the BuySafe process is even an accurate review of a seller's "safety rating."

Lots of people actually *liked* Parrothead--and even he (verified through BuySafe), bit the big one.

BuySafe may prevent phony businesses from stealing money, but it doesn't protect buyers from legitimate businesses who go under, or who steal money.

I don't necessarily have a proposed suggestion of how to fix eBay's safety issues--except that there should probably be a system of repairs, and not one large bandaid (the bandaid seems to be the most likely attempt).

I recently opened a third eBay ID (last week, actually) and I had to provide both a credit card AND a bank account number before I could proceed. I was able to choose which would be my auto-payment-withdrawal, but I was not able to opt-out of automatic payments. I haven't checked inside my admin area to see if I can switch from auto fee payment to manual, but I'm betting I can't. They have both things on file, though.

I also used a credit card I'm using on another eBay account, which would have halted the sign-up in the past. Now, apparently, it's OK to use the same card for more than one account.