Ebay is fined £30m

"Ebay has been fined £30 million for failing to stop counterfeit luxury goods being sold on its site." Metro, Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Ebay makes profit of around £650 million, according to the free newspaper Metro, which is distributed in all tube stations in London.

Ebay makes scandalous profits, and recently changed the voting system. You can't put a negative vote to a seller or buyer if something goes wrong. You can always leave a neutral vote, but if someone has been trying deliberately to con someone else is it really fair to be allowed to leave only neutral feedback?

Does Ebay really care about the welfare of buyers and sellers? From my humble point of view, they don't. Now the trust system, which was one of the basic principles of Ebay, has been "amended" you can't really express your honest opinion, so how can you trust the feedback given?

I have never ever left a negative feedback to anyone, all the people I bought from have been honest citizens, but now I can't really know if a member of Ebay has negatives, I can't be bothered anymore to do anything in there.

Conmen exist everywhere but Ebay should be doing their best to avoid them. My suggestions are:
1. Only allow a couple of IDs per member, which should be linked to a real and verified ID (i.e. passport, driving licence, etc)
2. Bring back the old feedback system, so if anyone had a problem with a buyer or seller, people can make decisions taking into account all feedback: positive, negative, and neutral.
3. Open a helpline, manned by real people, so when the worst happens you can report it immediately. I am sure with the profit they make, they can afford to have a call centre.

And for all ebayers out there remember: Caveat Emptor (Let the buyer beware). If some Luis Vuitton bag or a Christian Dior item looks too good to be true pricewise, it is better to pass on it...