Maybe eBay is so desperate now that it will do everything just to win back its lost customers. Now, it’s willing to suppress open communication with its new feedback policy banning sellers from leaving negative comments to buyers.

It’s very obvious sellers are fuming about this rule. In defense, eBay says sellers are 8 times more likely to send negative feedbacks against buyers. In the words of eBay North America president Bill Cobb:

Overall, the current feedback system isn’t where it should be,” wrote Cobb. “Today, the biggest issue with the system is that buyers are more afraid than ever to leave honest, accurate feedback because of the threat of retaliation. In fact, when buyers have a bad experience on eBay, the final straw for many of them is getting a negative feedback, especially of a retaliatory nature.

Though some sellers and even buyers tend to abuse the feedback system to smear the image of each other, putting a gag on one’s mouth will not solve the problem. It might even worsen the situation. Remember, communication is a 2-way process. It’s time for folks at eBay to use their overpaid brains and think of more intelligent solutions to this problem.

Via ars technica

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