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Dismay Over eBay Changes

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 18, 2008

One of the beauties of eBay is that even though buyers and sellers don't know each other or might not even be on the same continent, they can feel comfortable in their exchange because of a feature called "feedback."

It keeps both sides of a transaction honest, since the feedback comments will reveal who doesn't keep their side of the bargain.

But now eBay wants to limit sellers' ability to leave negative comments about buyers.

The new rules would allow sellers only to leave positive comments about buyers, who would still be free to say anything they want about a seller.

Feedback is vitally important, especially when you don't know someone's real name. It reveals which sellers deliver quality items promptly and which buyers pay on time.
eBay needs to boost sales, and the company wants to minimize features that might discourage buyers. The feedback change is part of a series of adjustments, but it has thousands of sellers ready to boycott the online auction house for a week starting today.

On eBay, track record is everything. It is going to lose good sellers - and thus good buyers - unless it holds both sides of a transaction equally accountable.

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