This is so f'n common....

[Bonkers]

This is so f\'n common....

So I get a letter from ebay last night regarding some
parts I listed last week saying they canceled my auctions
due to "inapproprate spamming practices." For instance
one of my titles was "Dodge Viper complete interior swap
for GTS RT not SRT." So I contact ebay about it and they
tell me that the ads were pulled from the result of a
another ebay members specific complaint.

Meaning someone took the time and energy to report my ads
because I wasn't using the term "SRT" in what -they- felt
was proper context.

Now I'm a little miffed because I feel that I didn't do
anything wrong - notifying potential buyers that it will
not fit your specific make saves both parties the annoyance
of downloading the page. But my question is who would
bother doing such a thing? I am half-expecting to discover
it was dodge protecting their precious SRT nameplate.

Ebay has gotten so crappy and expensive lately I wonder
why I even bother.

 

[Lee00blacksilverGTS]

Re: This is so f\'n common....

I would be more inclined to not believe someone complained but that it was their crappy software that picked up the "not" As that is the way that kind of ad becomes search spam. As in not srt, not vette, not mustang so that all searchers using those words pick up your ad. In this case however you were doing the buyer a favor by explaining up front. I would suggest when you resubmit you use something like "inappropriate for an SRT" Bet that won't light up the software like "not" But on the other hand anyone doing a search for SRT anything would have pulled up that ad, but they must be particularly strange to let it bother them to the point they would complain. Perhaps "inapproriate for later than 2002 Viper" would work. Or fits 1996 to 2002 Viper only.

 

[Mccarlin]

Re: This is so f\'n common....

They are raising listing fees AGAIN starting Feb 1 too.

 

[ViperGTS]

Re: This is so f\'n common....

talking about the game - monopoly
F...

 

[MacManInfi]

Re: This is so f\'n common....

While your ad title does make sense, there are a TON of ads on ebay that will use the "not blah" to try to get more hits on their ad. Like it'll be an ad for some guy selling a camaro, and he'll have "Camaro, not mustang, corvette" in the ad's title. If I'm looking for mustang parts, I sure don't want to see this guy's camaro in my search results.

I'm sure they're just doing a broad search for titles using "Not" in them, and cancelling the ads to try to combat the problem. Too many ads to judge each one on an individual basis. I wouldn't take it personal, and you should certainly still be able to specify that it's not for SRT's in the items description.

 

[MacManInfi]

Re: This is so f\'n common....

...Or fits 1996 to 2002 Viper only.

Exactly.

 

[DodgeViper01]

Re: This is so f\'n common....

They are raising listing fees AGAIN starting Feb 1 too.

Was just about to say that. The biggest is the final fee increase for items sold between $25 - $1000. It goes from 3% to 3.25%! It is only a matter of time before someone else comes out and is just as equal as eBay and does it for less.

 

[danfromohio]

Re: This is so f\'n common....

It is only a matter of time before someone else comes out and is just as equal as eBay and does it for less.

This site has been trying for a while:
www.epier.com

I have never used it, but they seem to know their competition pretty well!

 

[Bonkers]

Re: This is so f\'n common....

Lee - I looked into that. You can use the word "not"
in your auctions so long as you are not describing a
trademarked product (like SRT for instance.) "Car not
Truck," "B-Body not F-body," ect... For the software to
single out SRT seems to me like a longshot... but I've
been wrong once before.

I'm pretty much done with ebay. I think after this round
I'm gonna start looking elsewhere. I've been emailing them
daily about their new bidder ID thing, buts its clear they
couldn't care less about any of their customers. What we
need is a solid auction platform than doesn't allow multiple
auctions for the same item and incorporates a 5 minute bid
ender - any bids placed in the last five minutes causes the
auction to run another five minutes until item is sold.

Anyway I relisted with this - I wonder how long it'll last.

"Due to an employee at ebay's extreme overzealousness to
keep their job the previous auction was removed because I
used the term SRT "inappropriately" in my auction. Seeing
how I am selling an interior for a Dodge Viper GTS or RT I
simply figured that by adding that this interior will not
fit into the SRT line Dodge Vipers that I'd be saving some
time for people looking for SRT10 specific merchandise. It
wasn't like I haphazardly adding irrelevant keywords to my
auction like ford, chevy, toyota, nissan, honda, kia, or
deawoo, or even describing products that have nothing to
do with my auction like ipod, ibm, levi, corningwear, or
longenburger. As such I deeply apologize to the people who
bidding on my auctions and the many more who were watching
my auctions before they were so heinously removed. Sincerely
- type3particle."

 

[kcobean]

Re: This is so f\'n common....

You can use the word "not" in your auctions so long as you are not describing a trademarked product (like SRT for instance.) "Car not Truck," "B-Body not F-body," ect...

Sounds to me like you answered your own question here.

I'm with you, I wonder how long your new ad will stay up. Did they charge you a listing fee for the one they removed? (or is the fee only assessed if the item sells? not sure how that works.)

 

[danfromohio]

Re: This is so f\'n common....

There's no way they will pull it just for some criticism that does not contain any objectionable language. If they do pull it, they must feel that they did something wrong in the first place.

 

[Lee00blacksilverGTS]

Re: This is so f\'n common....

Nice shot you took at them, imagine the complaints now with all those search words.

ford, chevy, toyota, nissan, honda, kia, or
deawoo, or even describing products that have nothing to
do with my auction like ipod, ibm, levi, corningwear, or
longenburger.

I think you spelled longenburger wrong, all the basket people will miss your auction. ha.

 

[DrDJ]

Re: This is so f\'n common....

Sorry Bonkers, but I have to agree with EBAY on this one. Why would anyone think that a GTS / RT/10 interior would interchange with the SRT?

Search SPAM is far too prevalent on EBAY. One example is searching for "HID lights." The result is 2900 hits, 99.99% of which are regular old fashioned halogen bulbs. Type in "true HID" and 95% of the hits (not 100%) are actual true HIDs. In 6 more months, a "true HID" search may well yield the same results as "HID lights."

If I'm searching for a GTS, I don't want to see listings with "RT/10 not GTS." The examples go on and on. Sometimes search spam is just an annoyance, other times it is a major hassle.

DrDJ

 

[Bonkers]

Re: This is so f\'n common....

Sometimes search spam is just an annoyance, other times
it is a major hassle.

I don't disagree with you. I recognize typing in the word viper
will get you everything from car parts to swing gate accessories.
But I also think a lot of ebayers are savvy enough now to use the
search feature to their advantage. My annoyance is the notion
that they would bother someone with singlized auctions and not
the ones who list 50 different auctions for 50 of the exact same
product.

Talk about annoying spamming - typed in "dodge viper" and got seven
auctions for an avenger body kit and eight auctions for red dakota
racing seats. I've never been annoyed at getting other viper stuff
as part of my searches, but I think ebay's time would be better off
coming up with rules to circumvent this kind of practice.

 

[Mister XR]

Re: This is so f\'n common....

I think the word "not" shouldn't be allowed as part of the title on an ebay auction. It needlessly muddies search results and I see no purpose of it other than to get more "hits" for SEO-savvy people. What if I have a competition-coupe? That wasn't in the "NOT" section so does that mean it WILL fit my car? If you must tell people what it is NOT, then that should be part of the full item description that people are supposed to read before bidding.

You might say "well just look at the title, realize it's not for you, and move on". That would be ok if you were the only one listing things this way. The problem is that tons of sellers do it on ebay and so I would get a half page of these.

But I also think a lot of ebayers are savvy enough now to use the
search feature to their advantage.

I always use the "minus" operator on ebay. For example, if I were looking for an exhaust, I'd search "KTM 950SM exhaust -NOT". It's true that I might miss some good auctions but that's acceptable loss for me... you have to stand up for what you believe in.

Nothing personal in all this, but: short story long, I don't blame eBay - they're trying to keep their search results relevant, and using "NOT" in the title opens the door to tons of irrelevant searches. After all, isn't a search engine supposed to give you "everything you want, and nothing you don't want"?

 

[malcoll]

Re: This is so f\'n common....

"Due to an employee at ebay's extreme overzealousness to
keep their job the previous auction was removed because I
used the term SRT "inappropriately" in my auction. Seeing
how I am selling an interior for a Dodge Viper GTS or RT I
simply figured that by adding that this interior will not
fit into the SRT line of Dodge Vipers that I'd be saving some
time for people looking for SRT10 specific merchandise. It
wasn't like I was haphazardly adding irrelevant keywords to my
auction like ford, chevy, toyota, nissan, honda, kia, or
deawoo, or even describing products that have nothing to
do with my auction like ipod, ibm, levi, corningwear, or
longenburger. As such I deeply apologize to the people who were
bidding on my auctions and the many more who were watching
my auctions before they were so heinously removed. Sincerely
- type3particle."

It's always a good idea to use proper grammar and include all appropriate words when publicly "slamming" someone.... kind of shows your intended superior intelligence and wit. By the way.. proper names such as Ford, Nissan, Honda and Longaberger should always be capitalized.

Then again, I guess my gripe with the above is about as silly as this thread.... just for fun.

 

[AviP]

Re: This is so f\'n common....

So I get a letter from ebay last night regarding some
parts I listed last week saying they canceled my auctions
due to "inapproprate spamming practices." For instance
one of my titles was "Dodge Viper complete interior swap
for GTS RT not SRT." So I contact ebay about it and they
tell me that the ads were pulled from the result of a
another ebay members specific complaint.

Bonkers, I think you got it wrong. It's not the SRT that's the problem. I think they don't like 'swap'. Am I wrong in understanding that you were swapping (NOT selling) the item on Ebay?

See if you are swapping rather than buying/selling, then the swap price could be $0.01 and you would be using Ebay's services without much in fees.

While I love/hate Ebay, they might be justified on this one. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[V10SpeedLuvr]

Re: This is so f\'n common....

So I get a letter from ebay last night regarding some
parts I listed last week saying they canceled my auctions
due to "inapproprate spamming practices." For instance
one of my titles was "Dodge Viper complete interior swap
for GTS RT not SRT." So I contact ebay about it and they
tell me that the ads were pulled from the result of a
another ebay members specific complaint.

Bonkers, I think you got it wrong. It's not the SRT that's the problem. I think they don't like 'swap'. Am I wrong in understanding that you were swapping (NOT selling) the item on Ebay?

See if you are swapping rather than buying/selling, then the swap price could be $0.01 and you would be using Ebay's services without much in fees.

While I love/hate Ebay, they might be justified on this one. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I think you misunderstood. Bonkers was selling the interior to someone who wanted to "swap" their interior to a different color. Then again, I may be wrong. Its bound to happen one of these days

 

[Bonkers]

Re: This is so f\'n common....

Chad is correct - I had a few auctions canceled, but the
only one that had swap in the title was a complete interior
for you to do you're own "swapping." The fees (which where
refunded "the first offense) are significant. The problem
ebay had was the word SRT - had I said "not Gen3" it would
be permitted because "Gen3" is not a trademarked object.

But I have to admit - day two of the original auction had
over 200 hits, this round I just pushed 60 with my own hit
this morning.

 

[Magicboy2]

Re: This is so f\'n common....

Hi Bonk,
I have some experience selling on Ebay. There is a rule against using "NOT [this or that]" in your auction heading. It's called Keyword Spamming. It was likely reported by someone else selling competing items in an attempt to get your auctions out of his way.

Your beef wasn't from Dodge- had it been, you'd have received what's called a VERO notice, which is what you get when a trademark holder objects to you selling their products online. To the best of my knowledge, Dodge does not participate in the VERO program- it's more for the high-end retailers or OEM software companies.

Ebay can still be a useful tool for certain things, but for the most part, its glory days for sellers are long gone.

 

[ViperJames]

Re: This is so f\'n common....

Most importantly here...EBAY's customer service is HORRIBLE. Any time there is an issue, it take FOREVER to resolve. You would think they make enough money to hire the proper staff to handle these situations. It should be as easy as picking up the phone and calling ebay to discuss the situation with a live person. The whole email/ live "IM" chat is not productive whatsoever. All 5 times that i have had issues, they were neve resolved. ALL of my concerns/ objections were totally legit.