Back

ebaY Limits Email BAD News

ebaY Limits Email and That is Bad-

What we found and when we found it -
TAG uses the ebaY email system frequently to send answer to folks who post questions on the ebaY boards. On the night we discovered the email limitation (very late on 5 Nov) we were sending email with the TAG zero feedback addy. We hit the limit, and then tried with our editors 300+ email addy but were not allowed to send further emails. We dumped all our cookies and temp internet files and tried again. No go. TAG then went to the DNF board reported the problem and got help from another very experienced computer geek and long time ebaYer. They ran the same checks and got the SAME results. They are the ones who were able to determine that is was IP address linked not cookie linked. We checked EVERYWHERE on ebaY and could not find ANY mention of a limit, so we reported what we found in TAGnotes.

Some questions were raised about what we reported when we reported it and if we should have reported it.

First of all - Did we research it sufficiently? We did all we could at our end that seemed logical. How could we possibly know all the variables? We could only check those variables we had available to us.

Second - This is a change of policy and therefore a change to the User Agreement. In ebaY's CONTRACT with us they are supposed to give 30 days notice on any change to that user agreement. Here a change was made unannounced to ANYONE. How can any of you know if that limit was changed between the time we found it and the time ebaY finally put together and announced a policy AFTER getting calls on it and AFTER we reported on it? Were our details wrong or did ebaY quickly change them for damage control??? Why was this not posted in advance of it going into place?

Third - When ebaY's own employees responded to this later on the 8th, when it was posted on the ebaY threaded boards, they said it was a lie, no truth in it. Four hours later they came back and posted that they had been informed there WERE limits and they were 5 for zero and below, 100 for 1 and above feedback, unlimited from the ask a seller a question link. ebaY's own people had NO IDEA this was is place because there WAS no policy in place. ebaY scrambled to make policy after the fact.
ebaY Thread

Fourth - some folks criticized us for not waiting and getting the "facts" from ebaY. We have no ability to call ebaY and get a straight answer from them. On the few occasions we have gotten any answers, they are usually either inaccurate or lies. Once in a while we get a straight answer but that is extremely rare. So we report what we find, and that usually precipitates ebaY into establishing policy they don't have in place, or "clarifying" policy we have shown to be faulty. We feel the case this time was that .there was no policy in place. ebaY was experimenting with this new control on the email system when we ran against it. We posted about it on the Discuss New Feature board, which ebaY monitors, and they still posted nothing about it. It was not until we published the information in TAGnotes leading to posts on the boards, and calls from various folks, that they suddenly had a policy.

The most critically important point about this new capability that ebaY now has in place is their ability to limit the number of emails anyone can send through their system at any time. They can decide who can communicate on their site, with whom and when. They can limit the emails by user id and/or by IP address. This is extremely dangerous, and the death of the open marketplace. This is a direct threat to the business of every seller on ebaY. It puts ebaY in control of every interaction between you and your customers, and limits your customers access to you.

Right now if you have 1 or more feedback, they are allowing you to send 100 emails a day to anyone you want, and unlimited emails to your bidders and buyers. If you have less than 1 feedback your can send 5 emails to anyone you want OR unlimited questions to buyers/sellers who currently have auctions for sale. If you send 5 emails using the ask a seller a question link that will use up the five per day emails you can send to anyone. You can continue to send emails, but only to sellers with auctions. ebaY is not currently limiting this by IP address, but they have the ability, as we found on the night of the 5th.

TAG does not see this as a SPAM control, ebaY's favorite excuse for the ever tightening noose of control. TAG sees this as another tightening of that noose, a test of the power they have, and a way to control dissident contact on ebaY. Many folks who are critical of ebaY's changes use zero feedback user IDs. This effectively eliminates the ability of these dissidents to communicate with others. The immediate solution is to buy something with the ID, until ebaY imposes the IP block, or higher feedback limits. This is a dangerous step in the wrong direction. When ebaY finally shuts down all direct communication, and takes the person to person out of the online auction and trading industry, will you have a full set of alternatives in place so you can stay in business?