posted on December 23, 2000 07:32:09 PM new
Dottie- spam IS OUR problem. Yes, we have a delete key. However I waste a lot of time waiting for my email to load (slowwwww modem) and a lot of it ends up being spam. I get between 5-25 spam emails a day in the mailbox I use on Ebay.
IT WASTES MY TIME!!! And I feel that my time is valuable. Delete key or not, I'm sure you value your time as well. Another, more critical problem in my opinion is that I've caught viruses from spam email. I think spam is a horrible problem.
I think that the way Yahoo is set up is perfect. I like it that it is MY CHOICE whether to put my email address in my auction or not. Just FYI, I get one or two spam emails per month in the email box I use to conduct my Yahoo business, as opposed to the 5-25 PER DAY I get in my Ebay in box.
I think there are 2 separate issues we are dealing with here. One is our privacy. The other is the extent of ebay's control over our business dealings. It seems that these 2 isues are being tied together at this point, but they really are separate.
I am in favor of a Yahoo-inspired communication system, where the buyers & sellers only have access to email addresses after they win auctions, UNLESS THE SELLER CHOOSES TO POST THEIR EMAIL ADDRESS IN THEIR AUCTIONS. This eliminates a lot of bottom-feeding and spam, which I think is only a good thing. I don't personally think that buyers' email addresses NEED to be public. I am also in favor of a seller's choice to make their email address public, or not.
I would have a problem with a decree from Ebay saying that a seller couldn't post his/her email address in the auction ad. For one thing there are always functionality issues. For another thing some customers just don't "get" those forms. Especially not since people are so used to the current way of doing things.
As for the second issue, I dislike Ebay's new tighter rules about selling off of Ebay. I think that's a bunch of hogwash.
posted on December 23, 2000 07:44:49 PM newFor another thing some customers just don't "get" those forms.
Interesting, in the past 48 hrs, I've had two Canucks use the online eBay "ask a seller a question" form, even though I have a HUGE honking link to my email addy in all of my auctions.
Go figure?
Also, with regards to getting a virus sent via spam. A few months back shortly after posting a comment on an eBay chat board, a fellow poster [who was unknown to me] sent me an email. All it contained was 1 word ... "thanks!". That email contained the Kak worm, and wiped out my entire email inbox.
My posts on the board were pro-sniping, theirs were anti-sniping. Hmmmmmm.
posted on December 24, 2000 09:22:00 AM new
reddeer,
I sincerely hope you're correct in your optimism about the upcoming changes. You seem to know more about all of it than I do. So, I guess we'll wait and see. As far as I know it's all a done deal anyway, so it's gonna happen regardless to how much debate takes place here or on other boards.
I just hope that these changes will benefit the majority of eBay members and not just the tail wagging the dog.
My biggest problem with all of it is the "VERY easy" automatic complaint system you describe. Your understanding of it's function is apparently different than mine. I hope you are right, I truly do.
posted on December 24, 2000 09:57:39 AM new
Ray ..... Hey, you know me, always the optimist.
Seriously, I've been tossing this around for a long time, and I cannot see ANY serious downsides. Bottom feeding has never been a "serious" issue with me personally, nor has spam, but to many users these are indeed serious issues.
I pushed for transactional feedback for over 2 yrs, not because getting bombed with negative feedback had ever happened to me, but because I saw the potential for disaster.
I also saw the potential for Nasty Neutral feedback bombing, and it wasn't too long before the whackos figured out how to abuse that "tool" as well. One seller I know was hit with approx. 50 Nasty Neutral feedback within 24 hours, and eBay refused to remove them.
So even though bottom feeding, auction interference, user harassment, and spam hasn't affected ME to any large extent, I still feel that there are many users that it has, and I for one am glad to see eBay finally make a move on closing the window of opportunity for many of the low lifes that use their site.
posted on December 26, 2000 11:15:35 AM newreddeer
I agree with you entirely on this. Sometimes, unfortunately, some folks have to be inconvenienced because of the actions of others and for the good of all.
I know that personally my spam has increased tremendously in the past 6 months.
And spam isn't the only problem you have with the present system!
posted on December 26, 2000 03:21:15 PM new
i don't like the new email notification that is on the non-USA ebay sites. i prefer to have my email my way. if we have to depend upon ebay to process our email, what happens when ebay goes down again? no auctions, no email questions, nothing.
pocono says, " BLOCK the e-mails from EVERYONE until the auctions are over, and then send the needed info ONLY to the winning bidder and seller. "
what happens when someone has an item i want and doesn't write the description to my satisfaction? if i want more info? using your logic, i must win the auction and then ask my questions? i think not!
bad bad idea on ebay's part. i too have a delete key for my email.
my .02 worth
posted on December 26, 2000 09:18:14 PM newi prefer to have my email my way.
No one is saying you can't,have it "your way". Simply provide an email link on all of your auctions. As a buyer, no one is forcing you to bid on auctions where the seller doesn't provide an email link.
