For years, I’ve heard people selling products (usually books) write their own reviews on Amazon and/or have their friends “help them out” with reviews regardless of whether they’ve owned or used the product.  At the time, I didn’t think much of it because I didn’t place much weight on reviews.  What one person finds great may be seen as horrible by another and sometimes “hidden gems” don’t get heavy airplay or press.

Since eBay raised its fees and removed Stores from search, more eBay sellers have finally discovered the wisdom of a “multichannel selling strategy.”  Amazon has been one of the more common and popular sales venues for eBay sellers.  As more and more eBay sellers flock to Amazon, categories are becoming more crowded and competition is becoming more prevalent.  As a result, Amazon sellers are scrambling to find ways to increase their profits- whether by offering new products, trying to enter less crowded selling categories, etc.

Competition can be beneficial because it helps sift the “wheat from the chaff” and because it often lowers prices for buyers.  However, in the haste to chase the almighty $ or to get placement in Amazon’s prized “buy box,” Amazon sellers have started reviewing their own products and are seeking as many reviews as they can, regardless of whether the reviewer has ever owned or used the product.  On Amazon, apparently the QUANTITY of reviews matters more than the QUALITY of reviews.  Amazon sellers are also exchanging reviews with each other even if the reviewers have never owned or used the product.

Sellers engaging in this “review pimping” call it a “smart business strategy” because it boosts their frequency in Amazon’s buy box that they believe has resulted in increased sales.  Sellers equate "review pimping" to "item descriptions" on eBay, but seem to forget that "item descriptions" on eBay have NOTHING to do with giving sellers higher placement in search like reviews do on Amazon.  Critics of “review pimping” argue that reviews should only be done by people who have owned or used the product.

Personally, I think that just because you can do something does not mean you should do something.  As a buyer on Amazon, I like to think reviews are by people who OWN and USE the product and thus, the reviews are HONEST and IMPARTIAL.  Now that I know more sellers are “gaming the review system” on Amazon, I'll give reviews even LESS credibility than I already did and I will NOT buy from certain sellers with “questionable reviews.”  Once more buyers learn about the “gaming the review system,” Amazon’s credibility is going to go downhill just like eBay’s has and sellers may find that their "smart business strategy" ruined the legitimacy of Amazon as well as hurt their sales.

What do you think? Does knowing that Amazon sellers are "gaming the review sytem" change your opinion of Amazon?  Will it impact your buying behavior?

At eBay Live 2007, eBay promised many new and exciting changes for eBay Stores.  eBay Store Design Center makes it easy to customize your Store without having to have advanced HTML knowledge.  To learn more, go here: http://pages.ebay.com/storefronts/designcenter.html

The second change deals with increasing the visibility of eBay Stores.  If you look at the upper left of eBay's homepage and other eBay pages, you'll notice there is now a Stores tab.  Since the presence of eBay Stores in search was drastically reduced last year, many eBay sellers have complained that their eBay Stores suddenly became "invisible" and that sales slowed down.  Will the new eBay Stores tab at the top of eBay's homepage restore more visibility to eBay Stores?  It is too early to say for certain, but today, we had 3 eBay Store sales, so here's hoping!

To learn more about upcoming eBay changes that were announced at eBay Live 2007, go here: http://blogs.ebay.com/rainmanesq/entry/eBay-Live-2007-Keynote-Highlights/_W0QQentrysyncidZ208385012QQidZ192532012

Over the past 1-2 weeks, eBay sellers have been posting on eBay message boards saying their accounts have been suspended (generally for 14 days) by eBay for "seller non-performance."  While eBay alluded to "improving the marketplace" in 2006 and deemed 2007 "the year of the buyer," it does not appear that eBay's made any formal announcements giving sellers a heads up about the seller non-performance policy being more strictly enforced.

When a seller is suspended for non-performance, they receive this message when they log into eBay:

"Selling Activity Restricted
Access to your eBay account has been restricted for violations of eBay’s Seller Non-Performance policy.

Our top priority is to ensure that eBay remains a safe and reputable place to buy and sell. At this stage, we cannot permit you to continue to sell with this account due to the nature of this policy violation and the number of issues you have outstanding with your buyers.

For the next 14 days you will be able to continue to bid and buy but you will not be able to list any new items with this account. Once 14 days have passed your selling privileges will be reinstated automatically.
Selling Activity Restricted
Access to your eBay account has been restricted for violations of eBay’s Seller Non-Performance policy.

Our top priority is to ensure that eBay remains a safe and reputable place to buy and sell. At this stage, we cannot permit you to continue to sell with this account due to the nature of this policy violation and the number of issues you have outstanding with your buyers.

For the next 14 days you will be able to continue to bid and buy but you will not be able to list any new items with this account. Once 14 days have passed your selling privileges will be reinstated automatically.

If you require assistance with this matter, please contact Customer Support.

Here’s some steps you can take now:

· View emails sent from eBay in My Messages

· See all open disputes in the Dispute Console

· Learn more about the Item Not Received or Significantly Not as Described Process

· Learn more about Mutual Feedback Withdrawal

If you require assistance with this matter, please contact Customer Support.

Here’s some steps you can take now:

· View emails sent from eBay in My Messages

· See all open disputes in the Dispute Console

· Learn more about the Item Not Received or Significantly Not as Described Process

· Learn more about Mutual Feedback Withdrawal"

eBay is trying to purge the bottom 1% of sellers who make up 35% of bad buyer experiences.  In targeting sellers, it appears eBay considers factors like the # of negatives and neutrals, the # of item not as described or item not received complaints, detailed star ratings (Feedback 2.0), and the # of PayPal chargebacks over the past 1-6 months.

On the surface, eBay's crackdown on bad sellers seems like a great concept that may eventually re-instill buyer faith which may eventually generate more sales for sellers.  In the past, eBay's taken a fairly "hands off" approach towards policing sellers, prefering to let the "Community police itself."  While the idea of "community policing" is great in theory, as the internet's become easier to use and as eBay's ballooned to 230+ million users, it's become easier for dishonest sellers to swindel innocent eBay buyers.  Thus, while eBay's enforcement of the seller non-performance policy may rile a few feathers (and perhaps nab a few good sellers in its enforcement), I think it's a necessary growing pain.

Based on what sellers are saying on the eBay message boards, it appears that eBay is targeting Powersellers and non-Powersellers with less than 99% positive feedback.  What is disconcerting is that there appears to be a discrepancy between small sellers and large sellers.  For example, a seller with 100 feedback and 5 negatives (and possibly some INR/SNAD complaints and PayPal chargebacks) may fall into the bottom 1% since their feedback is less than 99% positive, but a seller with 10s or 100s of 1000s of feedbacks and 100s-1000s negatives (and likely some INR/SNAD complaints and PayPal chargebacks) apparently will not fall into the "bottom 1%" due to the sheer volume of sales even if the large seller's feedback is less than 99% positive.

While I applaud ebay's latest "seller crackdown," I do not think sheer volume of sales (and/or fees paid to eBay) should excuse large sellers from falling under the seller non-performance policy.  If a seller routinely racks up 100s-1000s of negatives/month (and almost as many neutrals), something is wrong with that seller's business practice and eBay should take action to ensure that buyers are not being ripped off.