- Joined
- Jan 6, 2003
- Messages
- 4,599
- Reaction score
- 78
Please excuse the rant:
I just spent an hour on the phone with ebay trust and safety. They ended three auctions this afternoon, one of which was disappeared AFTER the item had been sold. The auction title: NWT $1295 RALPH LAUREN POLO SPORTCOAT BY CANALI 38 40
According to trust and safety, this is keyword spamming. Their keyword spamming policy:
"Keyword spamming is the practice of placing inappropriate words in searchable text to draw attention to Web content. To ensure that members' searches produce relevant results, sellers are not permitted to put brand names or other inappropriate keywords in a listing title or description for the purpose of attracting members to a listing. Sellers can only include a brand name under certain limited conditions.
For example, sellers can include a brand name in a listing title only if the item being offered for sale was produced or manufactured by the company that uses the name."
and:
"Keyword spamming occurs when members place brand names or other inappropriate keywords in a title or description for the purpose of gaining attention or diverting members to a listing. Keyword spamming in listings is not permitted on eBay. The searchable text sellers place in listings must be directly relevant to the item being sold."
In this case, the coats I was selling were tailored by Canali for the Polo line. On explaining this I was told at first that they were ended because the wording "tailored in Italy by Canali" did not make it clear that Canali was the manufacturer! After challenging that, they said that in cases where one company is a subsidiary of another (they cited Abercrombie and some other company) only one brand name is allowed to be used. I agreed with them on that policy, citing the rampant Tom James/Oxxford misrepresentation sellers often use, but explained that this case has nothing to do with subsidiaries, that Canali is a subcontracter, which is clearly relevant according to their own policy "For example, sellers can include a brand name in a listing title , only if the item being offered for sale was produced or manufactured by the company that uses the name." I was then informed that I was still in violation because even though Canali made the coat, only one brand name was allowed in the title. I asked them to point me to the section of ebay policy stating that. I was then informed that they couldn't do so, that it was not in the policy listed on the site, but was instead part of some sort of private unlisted policy, not to be found on the site, but which was still binding. And that contrary to what listed policy seems to indicate, that only the brand name that appears on the label is allowed in the title. In one last attempt I cited instances where a coat bears both the name of the designer AND the manufacturer on the label. But no, that is in violation of their 'policy' too, even then only one name is allowed in the title.
If they worked this hard to harass sellers who actually keyword spam, I bet my sales would go up 10%.
Rant over.
I just spent an hour on the phone with ebay trust and safety. They ended three auctions this afternoon, one of which was disappeared AFTER the item had been sold. The auction title: NWT $1295 RALPH LAUREN POLO SPORTCOAT BY CANALI 38 40
According to trust and safety, this is keyword spamming. Their keyword spamming policy:
"Keyword spamming is the practice of placing inappropriate words in searchable text to draw attention to Web content. To ensure that members' searches produce relevant results, sellers are not permitted to put brand names or other inappropriate keywords in a listing title or description for the purpose of attracting members to a listing. Sellers can only include a brand name under certain limited conditions.
For example, sellers can include a brand name in a listing title only if the item being offered for sale was produced or manufactured by the company that uses the name."
and:
"Keyword spamming occurs when members place brand names or other inappropriate keywords in a title or description for the purpose of gaining attention or diverting members to a listing. Keyword spamming in listings is not permitted on eBay. The searchable text sellers place in listings must be directly relevant to the item being sold."
In this case, the coats I was selling were tailored by Canali for the Polo line. On explaining this I was told at first that they were ended because the wording "tailored in Italy by Canali" did not make it clear that Canali was the manufacturer! After challenging that, they said that in cases where one company is a subsidiary of another (they cited Abercrombie and some other company) only one brand name is allowed to be used. I agreed with them on that policy, citing the rampant Tom James/Oxxford misrepresentation sellers often use, but explained that this case has nothing to do with subsidiaries, that Canali is a subcontracter, which is clearly relevant according to their own policy "For example, sellers can include a brand name in a listing title , only if the item being offered for sale was produced or manufactured by the company that uses the name." I was then informed that I was still in violation because even though Canali made the coat, only one brand name was allowed in the title. I asked them to point me to the section of ebay policy stating that. I was then informed that they couldn't do so, that it was not in the policy listed on the site, but was instead part of some sort of private unlisted policy, not to be found on the site, but which was still binding. And that contrary to what listed policy seems to indicate, that only the brand name that appears on the label is allowed in the title. In one last attempt I cited instances where a coat bears both the name of the designer AND the manufacturer on the label. But no, that is in violation of their 'policy' too, even then only one name is allowed in the title.
If they worked this hard to harass sellers who actually keyword spam, I bet my sales would go up 10%.
Rant over.