Ebay to stop digital goods auctions

Posted by Scott on March 26th, 2008 .

Remember when people would sell ebooks for £0.01p and within a day get hundreds of positive feedback and then go on to commit scams and theft? Well it looks like those days are past, unfortunately with any major rule change there is always collateral damage.

Hello…This is Brian Burke, Director Global Feedback Policy. Digital goods are often reproduced at little to no cost to the seller. On eBay, this creates the potential for Feedback Manipulation (both real and perceived). To preserve the integrity of the Feedback system, effective March 31 all goods that can be digitally downloaded or transferred electronically must be listed using the Classified Ads format.
Using the Classified Ads format, sellers receive a 30-day ad at a fixed price. This solution enables sellers to continue to market their digital goods on eBay; however, because Classified Ad listings are a lead generation tool and do not result in transactions that go through eBay, Feedback cannot be exchanged between buyer and seller.

So you can continue to sell digital goods or goods that can be transferred electronically but only through classified lead generation, no auctions, would that include domain names then?

Source Ebay

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6 Comments »

Comment by Justin Cook from SEO Toronto Subscribed to comments via email
2008-03-26 12:42:41

Yeah, I can only imagine that this includes domain names. Was eBay a good market place for you? I would think that SEDO and other domain-specific sites would generate higher profits in the case of domains.

Comment by Scott from Scott Subscribed to comments via email
2008-03-26 12:46:06

I have sold a few websites through Ebay Justin which I would guess would also have to be covered by this rule change. I know for the most part you get dross on Ebay but the odd gem comes up for sale and it has been a good place for finding new buyers outwith the normal domain/webmaster forums.

Comment by Justin Cook from SEO Toronto Subscribed to comments via email
2008-03-26 12:48:57

Well in that case, I would think that you could still find the occasional gem. If they’re a real seller, not out to manipulate the system, then they may still list in the marketplace

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by Scott from Scott Subscribed to comments via email
2008-03-27 07:59:27

But not in an auction environment which would either mean fixed priced sales or offers I presume. I don’t know if the average joe who had a domain or old website would use this format if they were unsure of the items value, we will see.

 
 
 
 
Comment by David Fiske from David Fiske
2008-03-26 13:45:01

I wonder how this will affect eBay’s profits as there’s an awful lot of ebooks on there.

That’s 10p a time for ebay at a minimum.

Only time will tell.

 
2008-03-26 21:57:17

[...] over at Self Made Minds has another good point: Could this also mean no more selling domains on eBay? They’re transferred electronically too. A little something to watch for, I [...]

 
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