posted on June 22, 2000 11:19:10 PM new
With all of the new Yahoo sellers visiting the board here at AW just thought I'd warn you of things that may get you banned from future selling on Yahoo:
SPAM, listing more than one ad for an identical item. Some sellers can't decide what category is best so they put the same ad in multiple different ones. This is absolutely NOT allowed, even if you have 10 of the item you can only run 1 ad at a time (it can be for 1 or a Dutch for a quantity).
ADULT MATERIAL If you'd have to be 18 to buy the item in a store it MUST be listed in the Adult section. The category is Other goods and services>>adult & erotica.
Lots of sellers make the mistake of listing XXX or porn titles in regular movie categories--Playboy, Hustler etc in regular magazine categories--XXX cd's in computer categories and so on. Categories are regularly checked for violations and sellers only get one warning.
Ads with no item for sale (example "visit my website for great deals" plus a link--"make money surfing the web" plus a link--"get $5 to sign up with Paypal plus a link). Yahoo is an AUCTION site so you better have an item up for bid.
Things you can not list under any circumstances:
Any item that is illegal to sell under any applicable law, statute, ordinance or regulation
Any item that infringes or violates anyone's rights
Copyright infringing items
Stolen goods
Live animals
Food, other than packaged food meeting all applicable federal, state, and local standards for sale to consumers by commercial merchants
Alcoholic beverages (except if you are reselling an alcoholic beverage that was initially purchased from a retailer and is still in its original container and it is legal to deliver into the jurisdiction where the buyer lives)
Cigarettes
Firearms (with the exception of antique firearms made before 1898 or replicas)
Ammunition
Switchblades and knives that can be opened with one hand (with blades over 2 inches)
Bodies, Body Parts or Bodily Fluids
Used Underwear
Gambling items (lottery tickets, Sweepstakes, pyramid schemes, grab bags, raffles, etc.)
Rules ARRRGH Oh well, if you want to enjoy those FREE listings you gotta live by them.
posted on June 23, 2000 05:12:42 AM new
Thanks for the heads-up! Thankfully, I have not been violating any of those rules. Definitely good to know, though! Since I never seem to have the time to read the pages and pages of terms & conditions on ANY site. Don't know what eBay's fine print is either, though I haven't gotten in any trouble yet. I guess a lot of it really is common sense.
You know, I was glad to see the "used underwear" prohibited. I was getting really tired of eBay of seeing the ads in the regular lingerie section (NOT the adult section where they SHOULD be) tons of ads for "my sexy hot used satin underwear". Ick! It's really annoying when you're shopping for lingerie and have to read those all the time. If I was shopping in the adult section for something it wouldn't bother me as much 'cause you would expect fetish stuff like that, you know?
posted on June 23, 2000 10:07:44 PM new
I agree sellers wanting their items to appear across-the-board list SPAM. But as a seller listing multiple items under the SAME category, I take exception to the term "SPAM!"
SPAM is junk listings of no value to take advantage of bonuses or perks an auction site may give sellers for making a certain type of posting on the respective auction site's site. HUH?!!!!
I list multiple items of the same type as "Lot 1", "Lot 2", etc. This is a marketing decision and NOT junk!
The bidders know they don't have to fight over one item. AND some items are different in that there are not differences readily apparent in the item title. I have multiple signed comics that are different because the signatures are different. DUH!
posted on June 25, 2000 03:20:45 AM new
Hi there, I would just like to clarify one thing...If I have a lot of stock of merchandise, and I list a lot of the same auctions in the same category, is this not allowed? Please LMK. I guess the TOS have changed since I signed up
posted on June 25, 2000 12:14:32 PM new
Hi Xfmerch, The key word is "identical". Only one ad allowed at a time for an identical item. The same thing but a diff color, size etc is allowed, you should specify the difference in the title.
posted on June 27, 2000 09:04:46 AM new
Well I normally have 100 plus items listed on Yahoo, and have them listed in double categories, but categories which relate to the item, and have never had a problem....I just don't list the same item more than once in a given category.
posted on June 27, 2000 09:50:27 AM new
interesting discussion... thank you. I was wondering about that one item rule. I have more than one CD by the same artist, all are unopened. I guess I can only list one at a time on Yahoo.
posted on July 3, 2000 12:22:28 PM new
I just want to get this post back up top to remind everyone.
I just ran across a seller with only one item. Clicking 'sellers other auctions' shows 175 identical ads for it in all diff categories. Now that's ridiculous! Especially in categories that have nothing to do with the item.
I frequently see up to 10 identicals per seller and wonder if they are confusing Yahoo with eBay where identicals are allowed.
Keep in mind Yahoo will delete you for breaking TOS by listing more than ONE ad per identical item.
posted on July 4, 2000 08:07:18 AM new
Okay Im still confused. Help me out here. Let's say I have two identical jewelry boxes. Im not sure which category will go the best so I list one under a jewelry category and one under a furnishings category.
posted on July 4, 2000 11:40:08 AM new
Saxkid
Technically it would be against their rules to run both ads at the same time. But if you were only double listing one item I doubt they would bother you. They are ousting sellers who list double, triple & more ads for each of several items at a time. To me it wouldn't be worth the risk of getting banned, others feel differently and are willing to take the chance. I guess it depends on how much you value your Yahoo membership.
posted on July 4, 2000 11:53:12 AM new
saxkid - kasmoon is correct. If you only want to list in 2 categories, be safe about it and change a word in the title.
All Yahoo is trying to do here is prevent sellers from putting up a zillion duplicates that poor buyers must wade through. To me, it is really not something to try to get around, but something to respect and be glad is in place since it helps us not look like a junk site.
If I ask to "show all pics" I want to see 50 different images, not one sellers item 50 times.
posted on July 4, 2000 07:55:04 PM new
That yahoo! will ban a seller for listing multiples is a surprise to me. It certainly seems seldom enforced. They will automatically reject an attempt to list 2 with identical titles in same category. Some categories such as beanies and pokemon are very cluttered with sellers who alter titles slightly to use the free listings to keep their merchandise closing every hour or two.
posted on July 29, 2000 10:53:30 PM new
Looks like a trend today of reviving old threads so I'll drag mine up too hoping it helps someone.
Well said VeryModern "If I ask to "show all pics" I want to see 50 different images, not one sellers item 50 times." When I click sellers other auctions looking for something to combine on shipping I don't want to wade through 10+ pages of text titles with all the same things on them either. Yahoo has 3000 categories and I have actually run across 3 different sellers with ONE item who have listed it in every single category. I of course reported them and Yahoo deleted all the ads.
Figmente
It's unfortunately not unusual to see a seller with 15-20 or even 100 exact ads per item. Yahoo doesn't do anything unless someone reports it.
If anyone cares to report, do it here
http://add.yahoo.com/fast/help/abuse/cgi_abuse
All you have to do is fill in the user ID and type a sentence such as "many exact ads per item, please delete multiples". They certainly will.
ARRRGH Oh well, if you want to enjoy those FREE listings you gotta live by them.
Definitely good to know, though! Since I never seem to have the time to read the pages and pages of terms & conditions on ANY site. Don't know what eBay's fine print is either, though I haven't gotten in any trouble yet. I guess a lot of it really is common sense.
