posted on January 20, 2001 09:23:06 AM
I need info fast.
last night ebay ended all of my friends auctions with NO warning.It may be MY FAULT!
I saw so many people with links to thier own page where they had a store with a shopping cart that I thought it was a good idea. I opened an account at one of the free venues where you can build a page and have a shopping cart etc.
I made myself a nice little banner to be clickable in my listings sized 159 x 144. It says click here to visit my online shop and it has a nice little logo.
I've been running it two weeks and have a handful of items there and the prices are at least $20 higher than I start them at on eBay.
Now comes the bad part.
My buddy saw what I did and thought it was cool and asked my help in helping him set a store up too. Of course I obliged him.
I made him a banner very similar to mines. a store very similar.
The only differences I can see in what we did is that I just put my banner logo in my listings with a little line of text above that says: visit my online store and when they click on it they come to the front page where I have 2 categories listed. 1 takes them to buy the games that I invented and the other takes them to the page where I sell similar items to those I list on eBay.
My friend has been talking up the fact that he is opening an online store in his listings and telling people to be on the lookout for it's grand opening and when you click his banner, you go directly to where he sells his items similar to the ones he sell on ebay. He has also recently started all of his auctions at $1 in the hopes of attracting new business whereas I have started all of mines at around $25 except for "wacky wednesday" where I start the ones I start and end on wednesdays at $1.
I dont know if ANY of this makes any sense but I thought that we could have a link to our personal page where we sell items as long as they started quite a bit above our ebay starting price so that they cant accuse us of fee avoidance.
Any help or hints will be greatly appreciated because it would be bad enough if they did it to me but they did it to someone I HELPED do what they say they kicked him off for.
posted on January 20, 2001 09:32:46 AM
Could have been the size of the banner, directly from ebay: The logo size may be no greater than 88x33 pixels. Taken from here: http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-list.html
Hope this helps!
posted on January 20, 2001 09:35:43 AM
I believe Ebay is cracking down on the banners you have in your listings. If his were cancelled and yours weren't then they just havent gotten to yours yet.
A text link to your store is acceptable but a banner graphic no longer is. Nor is a lenghty dialog of what is on your site.
I had nearly every listing I had shut down when I had the large paypal banner that I hand coded (before paypal auto added banners)........right after they made that new rule.
If your friend has a text banner saying please visit my site etc etc it should be fine.
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posted on January 20, 2001 09:36:47 AMListing Techniques that Circumvent eBay's fee structure. Users may not use systems or techniques to circumvent eBay fees. Some examples include
Offering in a listing the opportunity to purchase the item or other merchandise outside of eBay
Would this be applicable to your friend's situation? Maybe because he specifically mentioned in his listing that he was selling the same thing elsewhere?
edited for UBB
[ edited by athena1365 on Jan 20, 2001 09:38 AM ]
[ edited by athena1365 on Jan 20, 2001 09:39 AM ]
posted on January 20, 2001 09:47:26 AM
The items for sale on your website are not directly linked to your listings... they are "Two clicks away"...
From what you described.... your friend seems to have his link go directly to the items for sale from his listings on eBay. THIS might be a violation. Check the rules and regulations within the site map on eBay for some clarification.
ALSO... double check that the banner is an eBay appropriate size. They updated the guidelines on Links to personal websites some months ago, and I can't recall off hand what the exact size etc. is allowed. I believe BANNERS aren't allowed, unless they are TEXT and a certain size.... but like I said, double check the guidelines on eBay for accurate information on this.
ALSO... you mentioned that your friend has been "Playing it up" on his listings by promoting the website. I believe that there are only a few "eBay approved" ways of having a link to a website where identicle items are not being sold for less...
You can say "visit my website for more information" or some CLOSE variation to this. The reason behind this clarification is that folks are allowed to offer links that go to their personal websites if it is to provide more information about (assist with the sale of the) item listed on eBay.
So, there are at least a couple of areas that your friends listing MAY have been in violation of the LINK policy for personal websites in the listings.
AND... these infractions are spotted randomly by eBay personel or turned in by other users of the site... so DON'T feel like you got away with something while leading your friend down a slippery slope.
It's not your fault. *smile*
It seems it was more a matter that your friends links were riding closer (if not over) that fine line within the rules AND perhaps a bit of rotten luck for getting caught. *sigh*
posted on January 20, 2001 11:01:31 AM
How come you edited out your post, Pocono? That was interesting! I am bewildered too because I would have thought it was none of eBay's business. I receive similar e-mails occasionally and have always assumed they were genuine.
posted on January 20, 2001 11:37:03 AM
Below is from safeharbor about linking...
They email me this after I inquired to them about what I can and cannot have as a link..
It appears the link MUST relate to the product you are selling on the auction...
--------------------------------------------
From: eBay Safe Harbor <[email protected]>
Send reply to: eBay Safe Harbor <[email protected]>
Hello,
Thank you for writing to ebay. I apologize for the delay in getting back
to you. I will be happy to answer your questions and concerns.
You are allowed to have a link to your web site. Please remember: the
intent of allowing links to a web site from your Item page has always been
to enable you to provide additional information to help you sell that
item. The link should not advertise other items or the fact that you may
have other items for sale on your web page. The links to your own web site
must comply with the guidelines outlined in the Advertisements policy.
Additionally, please follow the linking guidelines, which do not permit:
links to other auction-style trading sites
links to sites offering the same merchandise for the same or lower price
links to sites offering merchandise prohibited on eBay
Example of a permissible link to your web site:
Please visit us at www.mywebsite.com
You may also want to review our current policies at the following URL:
