Professional eBay Sellers Alliance Members Overwhelmingly Support Upcoming Feedback System Changes on eBay.com

    /24-7PressRelease/ - PITTSFIELD, NH, August 03, 2005 - A new poll of members of the Professional eBay Sellers Alliance (PESA, www.gopesa.org) shows overwhelming support for three recently-announced changes to eBay's feedback system. PESA is the nonprofit trade association comprised of over 800 high-volume eBay sellers representing over seventy million eBay transactions and $1 billion in eBay sales annually.

A full 95.7% of PESA members responding found the overall changes favorable or highly favorable for marketplace integrity.

The most notable announced feedback changes on eBay, and the percentage of PESA members viewing that change favorably, are:

- Neutralizing feedback left by members who don't participate in issue resolution processes (91.6% favorable/beneficial, including 59% highly favorable).

- Removing feedback from users who are indefinitely suspended within 90 days of registration (98.5% favorable/beneficial, including 82% highly favorable).

- Requiring new members to complete a tutorial before leaving neutral or negative feedback (95.7% favorable/beneficial, including 77% highly favorable).

"Marketplace integrity and safety are of critical importance to PESA members, and the feedback system is an integral component of assuring a safe shopping experience on eBay," explains PESA Executive Director Jonathan Garriss. "PESA is devoted to promoting the highest levels of professionalism, fairness, honesty, and integrity with respect to online trade. We're very happy to see eBay's responsiveness to the requests from the community in making these changes."

The survey also asked PESA members what other steps eBay should take in order to build trust and safety in the marketplace. The most highly recommended steps include:

- Create a Trusted Seller program more stringent than the current PowerSeller program, with trusted sellers noted in search results (83.4% recommended, including 56.8% strongly recommended).

- Improve ID verification of buyers and sellers, such as verifying credit card information (79.8% recommended, including 56.8% strongly recommended).

- Allow buyers to search only for sellers with 98% + positive feedback (73.4% recommended, including 39.6% strongly recommended).

- Show seller User ID in search results (68.4% recommended, including 39.6% strongly recommended).

When asked for additional ways to specifically improve the eBay feedback system, 54.8% suggested requiring buyers to supply proof of payment before leaving negative feedback for sellers.

Additionally, the survey had several areas where top sellers were able to brainstorm on long-term ideas to improve the eBay marketplace. A summary of these suggestions will be published on PESA's website and will be topics of discussion on the PESA member forum.

PESA sponsors at the recent eBay Live! Event, where these feedback changes were first announced, included Shopzilla, Foxglove Communications, buySAFE and Square Trade. PESA has just announced its next Summit meeting, October 13-15, 2005 in Austin, TX.

About PESA
The Professional eBay Sellers Alliance (PESA) is a non-profit trade association comprised of over 800 high-volume eBay sellers generating over seventy million eBay transactions $1 billion in eBay sales annually. PESA provides a forum for members to exchange innovative and creative ideas and business solutions; promotes the highest levels of professionalism, fairness, honesty, and integrity in online trade; and represents a collective voice of top sellers. For more information, please visit www.gopesa.org.

Contacts: David Yaskulka, Chair, PESA Marketing
508-347-7787 [email protected]

Jonathan Garriss, Executive Director, PESA
[email protected]

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