Fred, June 23rd, they made some changes in the feedback system, mostly minor points but reasonable:

June 23, 2005 | 09:39PM PST/PT

Senior Marketplace Policy Manger Brian Burke
Brian Burke
Hi… I'm Brian Burke, Senior Marketplace Policy Manager for Feedback.

eBay's feedback system is a powerful way for perfect strangers to have the confidence and trust to trade with each other on eBay. Like other areas of the eBay marketplace, the feedback system has continually evolved to keep up with the changing needs of the Community.

Today, at eBay Live! 2005, Bill Cobb, President of eBay North America, announced a number of changes we will be making to the feedback system later this year.

These changes include:

1. Neutralizing feedback left by members who don't participate in issue resolution processes. We believe that members unwilling to participate in processes designed to help resolve issues, such as the Unpaid Item process or the Item Not Received process, shouldn't be able to impact another member's reputation. After this change is implemented, if a member leaves feedback for a transaction and does not participate in these processes, eBay will neutralize their feedback. This means the rating (whether positive or negative) will not affect the recipient's feedback score. While the feedback comment itself will remain, it will include an administrative note from eBay indicating that the feedback doesn't count towards the member's total score.

2. Removing feedback from users who are indefinitely suspended within 90 days of registration. We believe that members who are indefinitely suspended within 90 days of registering on eBay were never truly members of the Community, and so their feedback comments and ratings should not count. We will automatically remove feedback (positive, neutral, and negative) left by such users.

3. Requiring new members to complete a tutorial before leaving neutral or negative feedback. This change will require all new users (members with a feedback score of less than 10) to complete a short tutorial before leaving neutral or negative feedback. We hope that the tutorial will educate new members about the feedback system as well as ensure that they are aware of the various communication tools available to them prior to leaving feedback for their trading partner.

Since we will now be addressing member non participation within the eBay issue resolution system, we will align eBay-approved certified dispute resolution services' feedback withdrawal systems with eBay's and only accept mutual feedback withdrawal when both members agree to the withdrawal. This will take affect when we introduce the process for neutralizing feedback from members unwilling to participate in issue resolution processes.

I've written an article in the July issue of eBay online newsletter, The Chatter, detailing these upcoming changes and the philosophy and history behind the feedback system. I invite you to read an Advance Copy of July's Marketplace Safety article to learn more. Please stay tuned to the General Announcement board for more updates on these upcoming changes as we get closer to launching.

Sincerely,

Brian Burke
Senior Marketplace Policy Manager