posted on August 27, 2000 05:58:00 PM
I really like the new system that is being implemented. It promises to cut down on the number of companies "dumping" junk listings
here dramatically, which should only help the smaller sellers get their items noticed.
There is one thing that bothers me though:
Will phoney bidders still be able to create multiple fake ids, "win" auctions and then leave negative feedback? If so, it sounds like a great way for nasty little people to not only damage a sellers reputation, but her ability to list.
posted on August 27, 2000 06:44:42 PM
I dont see the new change as anything more than another useless Yahoo feature no one asked for. All it does is limit a seller to 1000 auctions. Spammers will still be able to spam, folks with 100 IDs will still be able to post 100,000 auctions and deadbeats will still frolic without penalty. The only folks this will impact are honest sellers who list high volume of auctions. Every relist counts as an auction, a seller with 300 auctions that typically run for 5 days and then get relisted will be blocked when his count hits 1000. He will then have to wait until the following month before being able to relist again.
What Y! should be doing, is making a minimal effort to police the site and remove real spam. Instead they are coming up with automated ways to do it so they can continue sleeping on the job. The problem is that automation doesnt make decisions about what's spam and what isnt.
>>Will phoney bidders still be able to create multiple fake ids, "win" auctions and then leave negative feedback? <<
absolutely. it's been happening for over a year with no action, why should this change?
>>If so, it sounds like a great way for nasty little people to not only damage a sellers reputation, but her ability to list.<<
I already know of several sellers who had their IDs trashed by phony bidders even before this new change. This only gives them a little more power. Just like Neighborhood Watch.
>> I wonder if this has been considered? <<
Y! has never considered anything except what's the easiest way to run an auction site with minimal effort and responsibility.
posted on August 27, 2000 11:34:03 PM
Seller Performance Rewards Program.
Well, I have spent much of my summer building up my # of auctions to 1800 while selling about 200 items per month in the menatime. I sell used mostly one-of-a kind and much of it, like books, moves very slowly.
So this is my reward? To have 1/2 of my hard work sit as deadwood? And when 7 items sell what good are my 200 items Bulk Loader lists if I have to wait all month until I sell 200 items (or 100 items if my auctions are cut in half)?
I know there are no details yet and possibly this is well thought out enough not to affect me. i can only hope performance is based on sales and not feedback. If feedback is the criteria NOBODY in their right mind is ever going to leave the deadbeat buyer a negative (actually that's true already, isn't it?)
Why is it I that I'm so skeptical about this program? Maybe it's because it's called "Seller Performance Rewards Program."
I find my hand buttoning my back pocket over my wallet when I read that. How can you possibly reward a seller by cutting back on his # of auctions?
I'll say this: If they really do cut me back, then this Rewards Program will be the most hypocritical thing I've ever read. I have over 1000 feedback (so what? just a fraction of buyers leave feedback...what about the # of sales? I have 1 customer who has bought 300 items and his feedback counts just 1. I told him not to leave any more feedback and i don't leave any more for him. I mean there's more to life than leaving somebody 300 feedbacks).
Maybe if I hadn't seen so much nonsense from Y! this year I would assume my maximum will be increased. There is a max now you know. It's 2900 but not really that much. The total of your active auctions and the closed auctions on your closed auctions page cannot exceed 2900. if it does, you can't submit any more until you wipe some of your closed auctions off the computer. And you can't wipe them all if you want to keep track of where you stand.
posted on August 27, 2000 11:57:36 PM
Is it against Yahoo rules to have more than one ID? It isn't at eBay. If it's OK to have more than 1 ID, the listing limit doesn't make much sense, as far as I can see.
posted on August 28, 2000 06:55:28 AM
WARR You are very correct - the exact same problems exist on eBay, and MORE, and eBay is forever adding new and useless rules, and we have to pay "through the nose" to use their system.
As long as the Yahoo system functions for you why complain about FREE - no one is making you use the system! One has a right to complain when they are paying for a service - and thank goodness we aren't paying on Yahoo.
YEA YAHOO - WE LOVE YOU!
Yes, if I were paying to list on Yahoo I would have some complaints, but for Free, I can't complain.
posted on August 28, 2000 07:03:49 AM
amalgamated2000
I don't think it is "legal" for a seller on eBay to have more than one ID, but the fact is whether it is legal or not, it is done all the time on eBay and this 1,000 limit on Yahoo will just cause large volumn sellers to create multiple ID's.
Back in the dark ages of eBay (5 years ago) I use to run 2 ID's, one for my classic items, and one of less expensive pieces.
Actually, one doesn't have to run a phony ID, just borrow the ID of a friend who doesn't sell!
posted on August 28, 2000 11:41:58 AM
For what it's worth, I've asked eBay about running multiple ID's and they said it was fine as long as there is absolutely no interaction between them. Of course, that doesn't mean the answer will be the same the next time someone asks...
posted on August 28, 2000 06:20:02 PM
it's perfectly legal on Ebay to have 2 ID's. MAny sellers do.
I learned on the boards here that it's in fact a good idea if you buy & sell to maintain separate ID's for both- then if as a buyer you run into a really horrible seller you can neg without fear that a retaliatory neg from the seller will affect your livlihood. After several nightmare purchases I made on Ebay that had me really stressed about getting undeserved negs, I opened a new account just for buying. It has worked out great!
posted on August 28, 2000 08:59:20 PM
Yea, Yahoo is free alright, but they're still making money off us through advertising. Us sellers are keepin the site alive, so yes we do have a right to complain.
Seller Performance rewards! Give me a break. My reward is I get to sell more on Yahoo, wow, I thought I already had that priviledge.
"If you lend someone $20, and never see that person again, it was probably worth it."
posted on August 29, 2000 05:39:20 AM
I listed 3 items yesterday, each with 3 pictures, and my limit went from 933 available to 921, does anyone know if each picture counts as a listing? I sell a lot of craft books, and need the 3 pictures, but that is really going to cut down on the amount people can list. By the way, I already had 128 listings, so not all of those were in the count. Very confusing!!
posted on August 29, 2000 03:36:32 PM
Thanks Melanie, that explains it! It still means that if you put all your listings to be relisted twice, which I think most people do, you can still only list 333 items, not a lot for quite a few people I think.
