eBay Search and Browse Manipulation Policy
Clever (devious?) eBay sellers have learned how to create their listings in a way that will manipulate eBay searches to get more hits. Here is eBay’s Search Manipulation Policy:
“Members are not permitted to engage in any activity for the purpose of inappropriately gaining attention or diverting members to a listing. This includes any activity that harms the shopping experience by making it difficult for buyers to find the items they are looking for. Ultimately, it is the seller’s responsibility to ensure that each listing accurately reflects the item being sold, while not using any unfair methods to divert members to their listing. This includes, but is not limited to, a listing’s title, subtitle, item specifics, description, pictures, links, and meta tags.” (From eBay Help Index.)
Ok, so what does this mean, exactly?
Users may not create a listing, title, or subtitle that does not describe the actual item in the listing. In other words, you many not create a misleading title just to get buyers to click on your item. For example, if you are selling an off-brand of jeans, you may not say, “Men’s jeans like Levis.”
Users may not list an item in a category where it doesn’t belong. This is called miscategorization. For example, if you are selling hairbows for little girls, you many not list them in the girls’ dresses category in an attempt to direct buyers to your listing and buy accessories for the dresses.
Users may not include extraneous, irrelevant, brand name, celebrity name, or other words that don’t describe the item, or that are intended to misrepresent the item. This is called key word spamming. The jeans example above also fits here. Another example is perfumes. If you are selling a knock-off perfume, say an imitation of Obsession perfume, you may not use the brand name of the item in your title to describe the imitation item.
Finally, eBay has this catch-all for anything else, “Any other activity that eBay deems as inappropriately diverting members to a listing or harming the finding experience for buyers.”
Be careful what words you use in your title. Just because other sellers do it (they just haven’t been caught yet) does not mean it is allowed. Read the eBay policies to make sure you are following the rules and running a legitimate business.
[Image Source: Flickr]
