How does ebay enforce Listing policies?

[mannteuffel]

How does eBay enforce its listing policies, such as Offensive/Hateful Items?

Is it an algorithm, or does eBay rely on other users to Report listings they personally find offensive, much like the old KGB/Gestapo tactic?

[recped]

Depends on which policy you are talking about.

eBay doesn't do anything about something that is "personally offensive", they do take action on things that eBay deems offensive....BIG difference.

Yes they do action on user reports IF a user is reporting an actual policy violation. They also take action against policy violations that they detect on their own.

[mannteuffel]

"Personally offensive", meaning someone reports an item which that Subject finds offensive, which is the policy I'm referring to. I find multiple listings violating this policy, yet auctions go to conclusion. It seems to me to be very inconsistent.

This has happened to me on several occasions, which I've appealled successfully and listing restored. So again...

How does this occur? Is it AI, an algorithm,  or self-reporting KGB/Gestapo types? 

[reallynicestamps]

If an item has a word,  words, or partial words, that alert the robots during listing, that listing will be rejected.

This included vulgar language. And inadvertant vulgarity. Don't mention that your "writing instrument"  "is" .

Some items get closer scrutiny than others.

For example, Germany totally bans most Nazi-era stuff and one result is that with the exception of stamps and coins, any attempts to list army patches or other war prizes* are looked at closely.

And if a member Reports an item, it will be looked at. If many members Report it, it is more likely than if just one does, since  a single report may be mistaken, mischievous, or a competitor.

Any item that is covered by the VeRO program will be looked at, not only by eBay but by the company which owns the brand rights.

Black Americana can be fraught, as is Judaica.  Both groups have too much pain to be willing to put up with oblivious sellers.

*Because the winning soldiers did bring home souvenirs.

[mannteuffel]

Received a reply from eBay after I appealled it. To wit (or twit):

"Thank you for contacting eBay Customer Service regarding the listing your item "285630516160 - WW2 German M-40 Helmet Shell, Repainted & Original Size 64". My name is Prem and I’m glad to help you.

Upon checking with the details I would like to inform you that your listing for a WWII German military item have images showing other sides of the item or the images have been edited. We do not allow items (such as helmets, daggers, medals, etc.) that bear the Nazi swastika, SS runes or other symbols.

This includes images that have been edited, or items that have been altered. Therefore, these symbols are part of the item, please do not relist the item. This practise is not allowed and we consider it policy circumvention due to which it is not allowed.

We have a strict policy against hate and discrimination to ensure that our platform remains a safe, trusted and inclusive environment for our global community of buyers and sellers."

Every angle of helmet shell was photographed and displayed, nothing edited, nothing altered, no symbols, nothing but sand colored paint.

Plenty of examples of other listings showing said "offensive symbol" as the one attached, a simple search brings up multiple listings. Many, many more show obvious editing. 

EBay support- awaiting your response.

[shallow_karl]

If you are selling 25,000 items a month on Ebay, you can get away with murder.  Category jump, have your associates shill-bid, never to be questioned by Ebay because they get their cut.  Not only that, now we have the Chinese listing cheap items for INSANE prices, like on Amazon.  I don't know if it's some intricate listing scam, or money-laundering, but they get away with it.

[mannteuffel]

No response from eBay so I did some testing...

Reported 5 sellers obvious who were obviously ignoring the 'policy', Swastikas abound, up and running on the site for several days. Before you shame me for doing so, I have no qualms regarding this due to the fact they were coming out of Poland and Ukraine (the usual suspects in this category) and were obvious fakes (doesn't eBay have a 'policy' regarding this as well?).

All listings were removed, save one- this auction took selective pictures of the cover of a Nazi era magazine but were careful to not show the whole cover, which would have revealed a Swastika. This also violates eBays own policy, in which I was impacted for not showing all angles of a helmet (which I did), for not showing all angles and or obfuscating the offending symbol. 

No consistency here. Rather, Sellers are at the mercy of disgruntled buyers, or eBay users who are simply arschlochen. Though I appealled the decision against my 'offensive' steel helmet without any insignia, it was rejected with no explanation, just a repeat of the policy blurb.

Perhaps it would help if eBays Customer Service wasn't in India, as the grasp of comprehension is very low when dealing with concepts, pictures, and facts. Getting fed up with this platform, it's hypocrisy & duplicity, and lack of adequate & effective Customer Service.

EBay, your CSR's and whomever they escalate to need further training.