posted on July 29, 2001 07:10:51 PM
I was just looking at some auctions, and there is a seller that has a redirect link in his auction that takes you to his website automaticly.
Click on his auctions, and your wisked right off of ebay... and to his website.
posted on July 29, 2001 07:16:12 PM
Leave the poor seller alone. The only way the no links rule will ever be enforcable is if someone rats someone else out.
The only way we sellers can maintain some semblance of control over this situation is to refuse to rat on others.... while keeping our links in! <wink wink>
posted on July 29, 2001 07:22:15 PM
Yeah, but this one is such a sham.
You are wisked off of ebay and on to his website before you could even begin to read the listing. It's not a "clickable link", but a "redirect" to his website where the same merchandise is for sale.
I guess I would be annoyed by that myself. I probably still wouldn't turn him in but that's just me being passive. Catch me on the right day of the month and watch me work!
posted on July 29, 2001 07:29:05 PM
eBay's staff gets paid to ferret these things out. Until eBay starts paying referral fees, mind your own business !!!!!!!!
posted on July 29, 2001 07:29:40 PM
If your goal in life is to make yourself feel important by causing trouble for others, go ahead and turn him/her in. Otherwise, leave the poor fellow alone. He/she's just trying to make a living, which eBay is making it harder and harder to do.
posted on July 29, 2001 07:30:49 PM
This is a hard call to make, for sure. I guess the bottom line is, do you want to work for the eBay police? As I see it, that's what eBay is expecting people to do - enforce their rules for them - at YOUR time and expense.
posted on July 29, 2001 07:31:52 PM
I just checked, He signed up today, and has almost 800 auctions up like this, almost half of the listings in the catagory he's in. Every one of these listing automaticly take you off ebay, and onto his website. Fair to the other sellers in that catagory???? (that are running real auctions)
posted on July 29, 2001 07:36:27 PM
If eBay can't discover that many auctions from a newbie ID with a redirect, they've got more problems than I thought.
Just be a good little eBayer & keep your mouth shut. If temptation still is prompting you, try going to confession in the morning, even if you're not religious.
posted on July 29, 2001 07:43:49 PMIf eBay can't discover that many auctions from a newbie ID with a redirect, they've got more problems than I thought.
Yeah, your right. If I was selling in this catagory, I'd be ticked off at it tho'. Half the listings in the catagory are like this. I'm going to leave it alone, but I BET they don't last long anyway.
posted on July 29, 2001 07:53:44 PM
Agreed, not only will these listings be gone by mid-day tomorrow, but he'll likely become a quick NARU as well!!!!!!!
posted on July 29, 2001 08:27:17 PM
I turned in a seller like this who was redirecting his about me page to a neo Nazi site. Actually I'm thinking of going on a campaign of thining out the competition in my main category. There are way too many sellers that blatantly flout the rules while I try to work within the system I agree to by not cancelling my registration. Mostly I'm talking about huge logos that link to their websites thus diluting the market for actual auction sellers. People really should think about paying more than $0.30 for their marketing efforts. This has nothing to do with caring about eBay, its strictly self interest. The only thing that gives me pause is that generally I like to keep my head low where eBay is concerned, I don't know if I want to get on their radar.
For those that will react negatively to this let me just say that I do agree with one of eBay's arguments that this sort of thing weakens the marketplace for others.
[ edited by bemused on Jul 29, 2001 08:27 PM ]
posted on July 29, 2001 08:32:46 PM
Going against the flow here, I think this bites. This isn't a matter of having a clickable link here, folks..this is blantant misuse.
Thinly veiled insults aside, I honestly don't think that trying to maintain a coherent marketplace is "user unfriendly." It may very well be inconvenient to the sellers who just want to shortcut their way to advertising though. The more time buyers spend milling about on your personal website the less likely they are to run across something they didn't know they "needed" being offered by another seller. What's more selfish, ratting them out or leeching them away? eBay is an auction site not an incredibly cheap advertising agency.
posted on July 29, 2001 08:59:25 PM
The way this guys script is written, once you hit one of his auction pages, you have to hit the back button 3 times before you are back on ebay. He redirects you twice, and even hitting the back button twice just takes you back to his auction page, and it starts all over.
You say that you are thinking about turning in folks in your category for TOS, and thus thin out the category.
BAD EBAYER!!!!
Also, remember, with the endless TOS rules eBay has, this action may come back to haunt you. The 3 times I have had an auction canceled for TOS, I immediately "presume" it is another seller in the same category, who wants to eliminate competition. I imagine many sellers "presume," the same thing and simply start turning in everyone in the category. Such actions as you contemplate can quickly come back to haunt you AND you are being selfish and doing no one any good, except perhaps briefly helping yourself - but if you do such to a high strung seller, you may find your auction cancelled next....I like most experienced eBayers can find a TOS boo boo in almost anyone's auction.
Bottom line is, your desire to do such to eliminate competition via turning other sellers in is BAD EBAYING.
*********
LET EBAY BE THEIR OWN POLICE!
*************
Regarding the “redirect” link, I despise those things, regardless of where I encounter them. I have gotten locked into some, where I absolutely had to go off the internet and re-enter to get out of the thing. I must admit in this instance I would be tempted to turn them in – tempted, not compelled.
posted on July 30, 2001 09:00:49 AMYou say that you are thinking about turning in folks in your category for TOS
I don't sell in this catagory at all. (I know I wasn't the one you were responding to, but...) I also decided not to turn him in... But I was sure tempted.
The auctions are still running this morning.
I still think what this guy is doing is wrong. He flooded a catagory with these auctions, and anyone that clicks on one of his auctions are wisked right off ebay, and the only way to get back with the back button is to hit it 3 times real quick. Like I said, if I was selling in this catagory, I'd be ticked.
A level playing field is one thing, but but this guy is turning the field on it's side, and dumping all the buyers onto his website.
[ edited by Microbes on Jul 30, 2001 09:04 AM ]
posted on July 30, 2001 10:19:23 AM
I agree with the sentiment of a "coherent marketplace". People have a certain expectation of eBay. When you click on an auction you should get an eBay auction page. If instead you get one of those tiny javascript window launchers and you get redirected to some irrelevant website, then the bidder gets turned off. IF that bidder was a newbie, they may never come to eBay again. That hurts every seller.
So I guess there's a fine line. Would I report someone for having a clickable link to their website? No. Would I report this seller with his triple redirect? Probably.
posted on July 30, 2001 10:43:34 AM
Ugggghhh! The redirects are the worst!
I would report this Seller for violations because it impedes and disrupts my ability to browse/shop on ebay. IF i wanted to be off ebay and go to another site, I would do so without this Seller sending me there unknowingly.
Whereas, I find nothing offensive about the Seller continuing to post his website addy/link in the auction listing (and would not report that violation), I DO find it offensive to be dragged off ebay. Kinda a virtual kidnap....no?
posted on July 30, 2001 10:50:13 AMBemused, I'm sorry you took my little attempt at levity as a "thinly veiled insult." It wasn't intended that way. What the user did was wrong, and redirect javascripts are expressly prohibited by eBay. Whether or not a user should complain to eBay is up to that user's conscience. Speaking for myself, if I noticed a seller doing that in the category where I sell, I would probably complain. Otherwise, no. There are too many rule-breakers to net-cop everyone, so I stick to those who directly affect my sales. Also, from experience, SafeHarbor doesn't do much.
Whether eBay is trying to create a "coherent marketplace" or is a greedy monopoly, is another argument altogether. From your statement, though, I wonder if we're talking about the same eBay. Do you mean the one that placed targeted banner ads leading your customers off-site, then turned around and banned links in sellers' View Item pages? Or is there another eBay I'm not aware of?
posted on July 30, 2001 11:07:32 AMwhat is the category you're referring to & what's the website address?
they were in "Computers > Software: PC > Operating Systems ", but it's a moot point now. The auctions have all been killed, and the guy is a NARU.
I have his website address, but posting it would probably get me a warning (or worse).
I knew there was no way someone was going to get away with this. If I had reported him, the auctions might have been killed a little sooner, but with something this bold, no way would they run their full course.
I'll bet he got lots of page hits out of it, though. Probably sold some stuff too.
The "landlord" can always get away with more than the "tenant", I don't have a problem with that. The difference is that a seller leading buyers away to their private site has a vested interest in keeping them there, I feel pretty safe in presuming that eBay makes an effort to bring consumers back. One way they do this is by having reciprocal linking arrangements with their big advertisers. eBay prevails not because they have the best platform or for any other technical reason, its because they've done the work to make the eBay brand ubiquitous, sometimes by partnering with the oft mentioned "big boys" that drive traffic to the site. I don't begrudge them trying to leverage their traffic to generate more income because I think their marketing of the main site more than compensates. The same can't be said for the leeches that are only concerned with their own bottom line, I say let them buy some air time and see what it really takes to advertise a business, more than $0.30 I'll bet.
I have in fact been on the receiving end of this and you know what, I was violating the TOS unwittingly. In fact this once cost me a sale of $530 that was on its way to $1200 for an item I paid $8 for. I groused, sucked it up, learned from my mistakes and brought my auctions into compliance. I don't really have any fear of being turned in at this point because I make sure I comply with the rules.
