Timebuilder American Horologist

LIKE NEW In eBay Titles Is Keyword Spamming Who Would Have Guessed.

This is rather funny.  We listed an old Waltham wrist watch on eBay that has never been used and shows no signs of wear.  It is old stock and in all reality was probably never worn.  This item remained on eBay for the last 4 days.  It reached about $30.00 in bidding.

Later today we noticed that the listing had been removed.  The reason from eBay was Key Word Spamming because we used the term "Like New" in the title of the auction.  WHAT?

Here is what we were told:

Using phrases such as “like new” in the title of your listing to describe the condition of the item you are selling leads to a poor finding experience for members looking for “new” items on the site. If your item is not brand new, please use terms such as “refurbished” or “slightly used” to describe the condition of the item you wish to sell.

Describing the condition of your item as “like new” in the title of the listing is considered a violation of the Keyword Spam policy. eBay doesn’t permit sellers to use unrelated keywords, because they may confuse and mislead buyers

Please go back and revise your listing to comply with the Keyword Spam policy.

So we called eBay.  Customer service was very nice in giving an explanation.  So we revised our title and relisted the Waltham watch.  So now we were wondering, how many other items are listed on eBay with the same Key Word Spamming.  There are 6497 other items using the same keywords.  And yes, they are still active eBay listings.  What a joke!

So we asked eBay if we reported those items if they too would be removed.  The answer was YES.  But who has the time to report all those items.  Which brings me to another point.  The petty babies who have nothing better to do than look around eBay for some listing violation and report it.

These people are losers and really need to get a life.  So whatever you do, don't list anything and say that it is "LIKE NEW" or some jealous simpleton might come along and report your listing to make himself feel better about his worthless life.

kienbaum2006
I had the same thing happen to me,doesn't make a bit of sense.....
Mar-25-08 14:54:14 PDT Report this comment
jcarolek
Yes, this rule went into effect more than a year ago...I had four listings pulled in one day because I did not see the announcement.
Mar-25-08 14:54:35 PDT Report this comment
jcarolek
You can put like new in the description, just not in the title.
Mar-25-08 14:55:19 PDT Report this comment
jcarolek
What drives me nuts is that my customers are always surprised...I get a lot of "wow! like new" ... well, yeah, duh, eBay just won't let ME say that!
Mar-25-08 14:56:33 PDT Report this comment
timebuilder
Well I am glad I am not the only here. I guess thats what happens when you have not been on eBay in about a year. What next will I get hit with? Just can't seem to keep up with all the eBay changes and policy changes.
Mar-25-08 15:02:54 PDT Report this comment
timebuilder
Here are some more "Like New" items.

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=like+new+watch&category0=
Mar-25-08 15:28:17 PDT Report this comment
timebuilder
Here is a good thing! It is almost next to impossible to create a listing without violating some eBay policy. I guess eBay figured this out and has now made it easy to correct your auction if you have made a mistake. Here is what they say:

Hi everyone�I�m Jim Ambach, VP of Seller Experience. Occasionally sellers will inadvertently create a listing that violates one of our policies. Many ended listings need only minor edits to make them compliant, but until today, sellers have had to start over from scratch.
I�m pleased to let you know that starting now, if you have a listing removed for certain policy violations, it will be moved to the �Unsold� section of My eBay with a clear indication that the listing was canceled. You can also refer to My Messages for a note that explains which policy was violated. A few policies are excluded, including some severe banned items (e.g. firearms, narcotics, etc.) and VeRO violations for potentially counterfeit items.

Sellers can choose to edit the listing and relist the item without having to start from scratch (or to delete it entirely from the Unsold section). Of course, when doing so, sellers should make sure that their revised listing is now in compliance with the law and all eBay policies � and check their other live listings for similar violations as well.

As I�ve mentioned at recent Town Hall events, we know this has been a pain point for sellers, and we hope this new solution saves you time and effort.

Sincerely,


Jim Ambach
Vice President, Seller Experience
Mar-27-08 17:16:16 PDT Report this comment
timebuilder
Now this makes no sense at all.....eBay is now changing "item specifics" in several different catagories that will now be able to use the dreaded "Like New" words to describe your items. Just not to long ago they said using the words "Like New" was keyword spaming....

So here is what they say now. Will somebody at eBay PLEASE make up your minds.

***Coming Soon: Changes to Item Specifics in Jewelry & Watches, Books, DVD & Movies, Music and Video Games***

July 24, 2008 | 03:24PM PST/PT


We plan the following Item Specifics changes in August:

Updates to DVD & Movies Item Specifics values
In particular media areas, we will introduce Condition values "Brand New", "Like New", "Very Good", "Good" and "Acceptable" in place of the current values "New" and "Used". The categories affected are:
Books: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Cookbooks, Children's Books, Textbooks and Audiobooks
DVD & Movies: DVD HD-DVD & Blu-ray, VHS, VHS Non-US (PAL), UMD and Other Formats
Music: CDs, Cassettes
Video Games: Games
These changes won't affect items currently listed on the site. However, during the relist or revise process, items that currently have their Condition as "New" will be defaulted to the "Brand New" value and items with the condition "Used" will be defaulted to "Acceptable". Sellers may of course change the Condition value for their item at any point after these changes are introduced. Condition will also be defaulted to "Acceptable" on new listings if the seller has not selected a condition value.

In Jewelry, eBay Item Specifics will be attached to the upcoming new Fine Jewelry categories:
Fine Bracelets
Fine Earrings
Fine Necklaces & Pendants
Fine Rings
Jewelry Condition will add "Used" to the existing "New" value.
A list of planned changes to Item Specifics on eBay.com can be found at Seller Central.

If you list items manually through an eBay seller tool (for example, the Sell Your Item form or Turbo Lister) or the eBay API, the u
Jul-28-08 23:19:36 PDT Report this comment

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