AI issues on ebay
Summary: jeffremington discussed challenges faced with eBay's reliance on AI for policy enforcement, sharing frustration over a carved African head being removed under the Offensive Materials Policy. *vyolla* suggested that the description of ebony might be a problem due to CITES regulations. delph1909 added their grievances about AI misclassifying items, leading to unnecessary removals, and expressed a preference for other platforms like Vinted and Facebook. kath3735_wxmjn recounted a similar issue with a school tie being misidentified by AI, resulting in them leaving eBay for other selling channels.
As ebay relies more and more on AI it is like hitting a brick wall. As AI still doesnt have the intelligence of a 'proper' person I can see increasing problems. On another account an item removed due to offensive, violence, discriminatory reason it was a wooden head carving of items flooded on ebay listings including an almost identical ornament. AI does not tell you what is actually the specific issue. You try chat and cant get an agent only AI stuff. You ask to chat and they insist on a phone call. Saying no phone (poor reception) is replied with 'we will phone you' 3 times. Cannot end item have to appeal. If ebay are using robots the least they can do is highlight what exactly was the issue. Maybe if we give in and be lazy sellers allowing AI to do our descriptions it cant then fall foul of arbitrary policy? All I can think of is we referred to black wood as ebony. Maybe the appeal will shed more light...or dark...
kath3735_wxmjn
·1 month agoGood luck on your appeal!! My item was banned (by AI) because it was supposedly part of a police uniform tie - it was a school tie, nothing to do with the police. I appealed and the ban was upheld (by AI again of course). I even gave them the name of the school... Anyway as i had only just returned to E bay to try a few items to see if it had improved (I know, ever optimistic though!) i just deleted everything and have given it up as a bad job. Who knows maybe one day it will get better but not before it gets a lot worse. End of story was i listed it on V and within 2 days it had sold.
delph1909
·1 month ago · EditedTell me about it. My Trench Art vase was removed because it was a "shell" and could be dangerous, the only way would be to hit someone over the head wtih it! Then my cheese wire cutter which is regarded as knife despite the fact it isn't anything like a knife in any sense.
However wait until they impose the new AI listing tool, it must makes more work when you have to removed all the rubbish its going to put in
If someone uses an AI description it puts me off buying - I don't need ot know what it is, I need to know what the condition and size it is, not if it will enchance my collection.
To say I loathe ebay would be an understatement and I can only hope another platform comes along as i will be off there like a shot. I already use Vinted Facebook and car boot more, totally ebays loss through their own stupidity
superretroguy
·1 month agoI have had the same problem with morse keys and radio coils too.
*vyolla*
·1 month agoWas the wood ebony? That's a pretty niche type of wood and may get removed if not listed correctly.
Certain species of ebony (such as Diospyros) are protected under CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) regulations.
jeffremington
OP1 month agoEbony was not the issue and antique wood. The problem was 'Our Offensive Materials Policy prohibits items that portray negativity or stereotypes based on race or ethnicity. The item you listed related to Black Americana fall under this policy and are not allowed on eBay.' This was a carved African head carved by Africans and the ebay category 'African Head' has....... 12,000 listings with one almost identical and many dark wood listings far uglier than ours! This will hardly help the African economy if their tourist souvenirs cannot be resold eventually. I picked a listing category shown on ebay.....