eBay’s credit evaluation system includes a mutual evaluation mechanism and seller ratings, which are similar to Taobao’s credit evaluation and credit rating system.
On eBay, every time a transaction is completed, sellers and buyers have the opportunity to rate each other, including good reviews (+1 point), bad reviews (-1 point), neutral reviews (0 points) and short comments.
Unlike buyers, sellers can only give buyers good reviews or give up reviews. The mutual rating score is an important part of the user profile and appears directly next to each user ID.
Also appearing is the positive rating, which is calculated by dividing the number of positive reviews in the past 12 months by the total number of ratings; recent ratings: calculate the number of good reviews, bad reviews and neutral reviews in the past 1 month, 6 months and 12 months; the number of bid withdrawals: calculate the number of times the user has withdrawn the auction during the past 12 months.
Based on different scores, eBay will divide users into different levels, which is similar to the red star, diamond and crown level division style of Taobao, and the logo is a five-star of different colors and shapes.
eBay measures to protect buyers: In most cases, user feedback information can be permanently retained, so sellers will pay special attention to buyers’ evaluations. eBay also recommends that buyers communicate with sellers before giving sellers neutral or negative reviews. Once buyers decide on their evaluations, they cannot modify the scores individually. Buyers cannot deliberately purchase goods repeatedly to lower the seller’s score. Within a certain period of time, buyers and sellers can modify the ratings by reporting to eBay after reaching an agreement.
Sellers cannot restrict buyers from leaving comments for any reason. Comments cannot include web links, profanity, or other inappropriate content.
eBay measures to protect sellers: Because sellers cannot give buyers negative or neutral reviews, eBay needs to establish other mechanisms to protect sellers’ rights, including the following.
(1) Sellers can add buyer conditions to the product list to avoid malicious buyers, such as buyers whose mutual ratings are lower than a certain standard are not entitled to purchase the product, buyers who have currently purchased more than a certain limit of products in the store are not allowed to purchase the product, or specific buyers are restricted from purchasing based on user IDs.
(2) Non-auction sellers can require buyers to use PayPal to pay the full amount immediately.
(3) Sellers who are subject to malicious comments or ratings can file a complaint with the eBay Reporting Center. After verification, eBay will delete the false comments or ratings. Sellers who are blackmailed can use records of conversations such as “Give me extra benefits, or I’ll give you a bad review” as evidence to complain to eBay.
(4) The “eBay Seller Protection Department” closely monitors buyer behavior records. For buyers who request refunds multiple times or frequently give sellers bad reviews, eBay may freeze their accounts or delete their comments and ratings.
(5) eBay recommends that buyers who are dissatisfied with the transaction results give ratings after negotiating with the seller, but this is not mandatory. eBay is currently considering whether to force buyers to communicate with sellers in advance before giving neutral or bad reviews.