Is there any point to reporting listings?

[synetech]

(I know that they will take actions if the listing is really bad like something that violates eBay policy, but I am asking about listings that get reported for some of the many other reasons that aren’t outright illegal or flagrantly against the rules.)

Sometimes when I do a search, I find listings that are completely irrelevant. For example, kitchenware in the puzzle-toy category or bikinis in the USB cable category. I often click the report button to flag them as being listed in the wrong category, but I see things like this so often that I have to wonder if there is any point to bothering with it.

Specifically, I am wondering if anything happens with repeated offenders. Do they get some sort of censure or do they merely get an email to tell them to fix it (assuming that the listing hasn’t already ended by then)?

I am not an eBay employee, so it is already offensive enough that it is up to users to do eBay’s job for free and eternally try to clean up the listings, but if all of our work ends up accomplishing nothing because they don’t reprimand repeated offenders, then it is even worse.

Is there any point to reporting listings or is it just a waste of our time?

[reallynicestamps]

Do they get some sort of censure or do they merely get an email to tell them to fix it

Well, if someone wants a bikini and it is listed in the USB category, the seller has just reduced his chance of finding a customer considerably.

So there's that.

[ypdc_dennis]

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@synetech wrote:
... Sometimes when I do a search, I find listings that are completely irrelevant. For example, kitchenware in the puzzle-toy category or bikinis in the USB cable category. I often click the report button to flag them as being listed in the wrong category, but I see things like this so often that I have to wonder if there is any point to bothering with it.... Is there any point to reporting listings or is it just a waste of our time?

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eBay doesn't have enough staff to deal with serious problems, so I don't report minor listing mistakes to eBay.

On the rare occasions when I report a listing error -- I send a FYI message to the seller via the questions section, after all, the seller with the error is the one with the incentive to get it fixed.  And they usually do.

-..-

[synetech]

That’s true, but it doesn’t help the person browsing the USB category who has to skip past the bikinis and pots and pans.

My search terms are already getting bloated from weening out the legitimate stuff I don’t want; having to add exclusions for all of the possible mis-categorized items because of some bad sellers is just too much.