user name

[plasticpaddymartin]

I have only ever purchased from EBay, I have never sold items. Now I notice next to my name when I log in, there is an exclamation mark, which was not there last time I bought an item, is this of any significance

[plpmr]

if you mean a small i in a circle that's for information and if you click on it the information appears.

[plasticpaddymartin]

No, actually it appears immediately after my name as an exclamation mark -
! -never been there previously?

[plasticpaddymartin]

this screenshot might explain

[cahic6632]

Yes, I've got this as well in a couple of places.  It doesn't do anything so I suspect it's just meant to look emphatically friendly!

[department28]

Yes, I've noticed the exclamation mark. I think it's only been there for a few days. Not sure why it has been introduced on the UK site. I've seen it on the US site though, so perhaps eBay think it would be neat! for us to have it as well....

[nat11911]

Well, it's only after your name, not your username, so I'm pretty sure it's just eBay's assumption that a (perhaps over-friendly/over-enthusiastic) '!' is the way to go in 2024. I receive countless emails and SMSs beginning: Yo!, Hi Chris!, Hello!, many from businesses/multinationals, not just personal friends/contacts etc. 

[thesmokingrunner]

I still see "Hello <first name>" when I log in. That the wording has apparently changed to "Hi <first name>!" suggests it's something which is either being rolled out or which has been released accidentally.

All rather pointless in my opinion. Still, at least doing that means they're not messing up the code anywhere else on the site...

[plpmr]

Indeed I've checked my account on several different countries and only get that mark on eBay.com.

[m25jet]

I've been getting it on my account for a while now whenever I log into eBay.  Another thing that appears to have changed on my account is that the word "Hello" has now been replaced with "Hi".  I've always seen "Hi" followed by my first name whenever I log into the USA version of the site, but it's only recently started happening with ebay.co.uk.

Personally I don't think that the switch from "Hello" to "Hi" and the inclusion of the exclamation mark after one's name gives adequate cause for concern, although I suppose we ought to be thankful that at least eBay have stuck to using English, rather than replacing the word "Hello" with something like "Bonjour" or "Guten Tag" whenever we log into the UK site.  I certainly wouldn't put it past eBay to do something that stupid whenever they decide to roll out their next lot of "improvements" to the site!

[tressygirl]

Oh my, @m25jet   your 'new'  greeting examples has sent my little grey cells in a tail spin thinking of (un)suitable alternatives.

Checked my Hi greeting and I too,  have been granted an ! mark,  which definitely was not there yesterday!!🤔

[m25jet]

@tressygirl  And if you think that sounds bad, just wait until eBay make the decision to alter the language and currency for each and every site to one that doesn't match that country's first language and currency used!

[department28]

I think I would prefer Good Morning, Sir/Madam 😄

I'm not a big fan of the casual, slang-y, American style greetings, although there are a lot worse things about eBay to grumble about... 

I particularly dislike 'Purchase Postage Label' having been replaced by 'Get Postage Label'. That does not sound very professional, imo.

[plasticpaddymartin]

Many thanks to everybody who took time out to reply, I am an infrequent user of on-line purchasing, and lack confidence in such transactions, therefore when I see something out of the ordinary it is disconcerting. I look on this as a site to conduct business transactions and tend to favour a more formal approach. I suppose I dislike change for the sake of it.

[department28]

Unfortunately, eBay seems to find something to tinker with almost every other day. I also find it disconcerting to open the site, only to find something has been moved, changed, or taken away altogether!  It is frustrating and time-consuming to have to keep getting used to different looking pages, and different ways of doing things.

Personally, I think they have spoilt the look of the site by changing it so much. The home page is now just row after row of sponsored and 'recommended' items. It is cluttered and cheap-looking. Slowly but surely, eBay has lost its unique 'look'.

And I don't think an exclamation mark after my name is going to make any difference to my 'eBay experience'... I'd prefer it if they just left things alone!