Earlier this year, eBay's Trust & Safety group announced that they planned to make it easier to report possible listing violations.

eBay auction listings will now have a Report This Item link at the bottom of the listing, next to the "What else can you do?" question. When a buyer or another seller click this link, eBay's normal "Contact Us" procedure will be bypassed, and a list of reasons why the auction should be reported, will be displayed.  As convenient as this might be, it will also make it easier for underhanded sellers and busybodies with too much time on their hands, to cancel auctions.

Skip McGrath put it this way:  "The problem comes from hundreds of insomniac listing vigilantes who stay up all night trolling eBay looking for any auction that violates even the tiniest rule. They get together on message boards and in chat rooms and brag about how many auctions they cancelled. With this new procedure it will be even easier. What eBay doesn't realize it that they will soon be overwhelmed by reports. Understaffed workers will not have adequate time to examine every auction to see if the complaint is real and they will just start pulling the trigger --canceling every auction reported."

While eBay is attempting to enhance this area of Trust and Safety,  this is a change that comes packed with negatives.  If you've ever had listings mistakenly cancelled, you know the time and profit it can cost you!  If you have an opinion or suggestion on this new feature, let eBay know through the "Contact" form.

Original announcement:  http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200604031626262.html

Hi everyone… I'm Naresh Narwani, a Product Manager for Trust and Safety features. Earlier this year, Matt Halprin, VP, Global Marketplace Policy Management, in his message on new consequences and other policy management processes, outlined our plans to make it easier for members to report possible listing violations.

I'm happy to say that the "Report this Item" feature will be here over the next few days. Every item page will have a "Report this Item" link at the bottom of the page. Using this link will bypass the Contact Us flow and take you directly to a list of possible reasons why a listing needs to be brought to our attention. This will save you valuable time and help us review potential listing violations quickly. The item number will be included automatically when you use this link.

With millions of active listings on eBay on any given day, we need your help in keeping the marketplace safe. We truly appreciate the efforts of our members who report potential violations to us, and help us keep eBay a safe marketplace to buy and sell.

Sincerely,

Naresh Narwani,
Product Manager, Trust and Safety