Buck up and face the facts, Ebay is awash with scams and fraud!!!  Buyer beware is not enough to keep the ship afloat.  I propose a simple addition to the seller rating system that will allow an extra layer of seller evaluation by the Ebay community.

First off, this addition to the rating system will NOT solve all problems of the Ebay system.  It will allow for a more illuminating view into a sellers history of satisfaction with buyers.  There are, I am sure, other steps that can be taken by Ebay.  This is intended to be a fair, and easily implemented measure.

The current feedback system has several aspects that are flawed in respect to the intended purpose of the rating. First, only successful bidders are permitted to leave feedback.  In some cases fraud can be spotted even before bidding.  Second, negative feedback can be "bought back" by the seller by promises of refund after the neg is withdrawn.  Third, the dollar amount does not factor in and some sellers manipulate the system by selling "penny candy" in huge numbers of transactions to whitewash their big dollar scams.  To complicate matters, some sellers are abusing the private auction to hide the details of transactions making it difficult or impossible to gather meaningful detailed info from their feedback pages.

The proposed new upgrades to the feedback system - in several steps.

1) Restrict the use of private auction to high value items and allow anyone to send messages to the bidders even if it is a private auction.  If there is a reason to suspect an item may be a fraud, let the community speak to it.

2) Add a "dollar weighted" feedback rating.  Big dollar items should count more than cheap items.

3) Allow selected "Ebay Experts" as volunteers to flag suspected items and review buyer complaints of fraud.  The existing channels for complaints are cumbersome and overloaded.  Getting canned responses is a quick way to turn buyers off.

This will cost Ebay tens of thousands of dollars in the short term with lost revenue from scammer transactions.  But the truth is that Ebay must confront the 800 pound gorilla in the room instead of ignoring it, or else fraud and scammers will sink the Ebay ship!  In the long run, this and other steps to improve buyer satisfaction will be a huge boost to revenue on Ebay.

More must be done, this is a proposed new step!

Ebay Staff and Management - please take notice

Check out my other guides on fraud.

If you agree that more should be done, PLEASE vote below with a click on helpful.  Thank you.