eBay gets bad karma from ratings

Its been a truism on eBay for years that you damn by faint praise, since if you actually criticize you tend to get a bad mark against you too. This goes both ways. But now, an interesting snippet from the BBC:

Online auction site eBay has said it plans to overhaul its feedback system and will ban sellers from leaving negative comments about buyers.

EBay said problems were occurring, and slowing down trade, when buyers left negative comments about sellers who then retaliated with their own views.

From May, those selling on eBay will not be able to leave unfavourable or neutral messages about buyers.

This surely makes the game theory unequal, as sellers were quick to complain. eBay counters that problem buyers can still be dealt with.

"If a buyer doesn't pay, the seller can easily contact eBay, we will review any complaint and maybe remove the buyer," a spokesman said.

The changes aim to "improve the overall customer experience", eBay said.

Our prediction looking at the geme theory - give it a few months (well OK, a year or two for it to get serious) and they will have to put in software again for marking dodgy buyers, this is simple game theory.....

But the most interesting thing is not that they are doing it, but why. This game has been in town for at least 5 years, so why bother to change it now? Growth has been pretty flat in recent years, this is clearly an attempt to attract more (and more risky?) buyers online. Stark reminder of who really has the power.