Suggestions which could improve these forums.

[vinylscot]

These forums should be a valuable resource, but they are being neutered by a combination of poor input from posters, and poor administration from eBay. I think this is why their use has been decining so noticeably in the last few months. I have a few suggestions which I believe could help things run a little better in 2024. Please feel free to add any more. The first four are small changes eBay themselves could make.

1. Stop posters from posting in different or larger fonts/colours. This can give the impression to newer members that these posters are somehow “special” and brings attention to their posts. (This is of course, what the poster wants, but there is no guarantee that the advice given will be useful - often it is not.)

2. Get rid of the silly ranking system for posters, or at least change how the ranks are assigned. Currently, some of the least reliable posters have high ranking positions, simply because they post so often. As a stopped clock is right twice a day, they do pick up “likes”, but more because they post so much, than because of the quality of their responses. (Maybe the number of “likes” should be divided by the number of posts they submit - this might stop some of their silly “look at me” behaviour.)

3. eBay employees often only become involved to dampen down conflict. I believe they must allow a little more dissent, as much of the advice being given is plainly wrong, and can considerably worsen situations which are already awkward for the original poster.

4. If eBay employees are going to get involved, they should read the WHOLE thread before jumping in with both feet. Likewise, if they are offering advice, they must make sure it is correct, and they should be able to anticipate further questions, and deal with these too. Otherwise, all they are doing is killing threads, often with irrelevant, wrong, or unhelpful comments.

...and there are things posters can do. You don’t NEED to post in every conversation. If you have nothing to add, just move on; we won’t miss you. Save it for the threads where you do have something constructive to add. If you do decide to contribute, read the whole thread; if you don't, you're possibly just cluttering the thread up with unnecessary repetitions. And if someone asks for comments from those with experience of a situation, respect that, and don’t just chip in with your guess at what SHOULD happen.

I'm sure there are others. I haven't even mentioned business/private accounts, but that obviously needs some attention, although perhaps not as much as it gets!

[cobwebcottage]

5. Don't write pointless posts which clog up the boards when we all know there will be no changes from your suggestions.

6. Live and let be and celebrate the uniqueness of some contributions who choose to use different fonts and colours.

7. Happy New Year to all.

PS : not concerned if anyone likes or does not like a comment. It doesn't get you any bonuses.

[vinylscot]

Sadly, you're probably correct that my post will have no effect, but something needs to be done, or they may as well shut down the forums.

[btr.style]

Need to open member to member section for anyone to post. How can it be member to member when only someone who has signed up to some mentor status can respond? I often see some not so good advice given there (it's like they copy and paste stuff too much to try and get extra thumbs ups). Nobody is better than anyone else here, we all have good advice to give so why silence so many?

Weekly "chats" need to go. Nothing good ever comes of it. Instead once a month or every few months a staff member with some clout or bearing on eBay's operations comes in to "chat" (not that it will have much bearing but you never know). 

[pg_kicks]

Having a few sticky threads at the very top, what do I do if I haven't received my item, are we not getting x promo, I only received half of what I purchased. I know some are covered in the help section but as sellers we know people dont read the item description so will rarely read the help section. Another would be any known tech faults, it would highlight whats already been raised and 'staff' could update on there too.

The weekly chats need freshening up for sure, but as @cobwebcottage  has mentioned, nothing will change so I just wasted 5 minutes typing that out.

[kempseykate]

Agree with points 1-4.

Point 5 - who decides if something is pointless or not?

Point 6 - disagree. My eyes really struggle with some of the size fonts/colours, so certain posts I just scroll past.

Point 7 - is that a point?!

8. Scrap the weekly chat - it's annoying when responses are made after the thread has been locked and you either miss them (because you weren't tagged) or can't reply when the 'answer' is incorrect. As community staff have said we can tag them on the main boards surely that is sufficient - and the thread won't be locked before the answer.

9. Scrap the Member to Member board. Firstly it's not member to member, it's member to a very, very few members. It's misleading that in the help section it states 'Ask the Community' - the community is made up of way more users.

10. Bring back the option to block certain posters!

Edit: I took so long typing that btr beat me to it!

[btr.style]

In member to member, too many mentors enjoy copying and pasting the same old stuff about chargebacks. 

Not only could it have negative consequences regarding eBay membership or even with payment providers if too many are done, but sometimes it's completely unjustified. Such as when someone wants to return something for change of mind after 30 days and seller refuses the request. If someone has a 14 days return policy and then after that period the buyer changes their mind, why should the seller have to be punished for that? 

I feel they say whatever to try and say what the poster wants to hear to get more thumbs ups, even though likes mean nothing here. 

[four_mid_able]

Why do we only have a "helpful" button to tick ?.

Some responses are "unhelpful" (mine included !).

On a lighter note i would also like to see a "made me giggle" option 😋

[1956glyn]

Here are my thoughts as an ex experienced Mentor BY CHOICE.

The Member to Member Board is not meant to be a discussion board.......its designed to be a quick answer board hence why some responses may well come across as copy and paste.

I did not realise but was informed the other day (i presume its true) that when one comes to the boards via the app one is directed to the M2M board to post a question.    This may explain the reduction in posts on other boards.

I would also like to see way less waffle on the boards generally as i find it distracting and hard to even comprehend half the time.....so goodness knows what an inexperienced member makes of it 😞   Its the quality of a response that counts and not the quantity.   I too wish there was a laughing emoji as some responses are amusing...sometimes not for the right reason. 

I can see a time where Ebay will do away with all the boards apart from the Member to Member one......we can already see that a lot of boards are becoming pretty repetative or redundant.

Thats my current thoughts 🙂

Just to add  "abuse of kudos" has subsided quite a bit.  Personally i think only the OP should be able to give kudos on their thread.     Yes get rid of silly titles.

[plpmr]

"Why do we only have a "helpful" button to tick ?."

Many years ago there was also a thumbs down, but it was abused.

[ile136yz]

Also

Get rid of outdated threads

[1956glyn]

I agree.    Its frustrating to give the correct advice to then find out that Ebay has changed the rules without notification.

[ile136yz]

I agree the weekly chats need to go, they are very boring.

[1956glyn]

I often forget about them and read them a few days later and sometimes think to myself "surely that advice by an employee is wrong and when did the rules change".    

[237ben]

I’d like to see a 'Sycophancy' category for the people who don’t understand what "discussion" means, and only post opinions because they desperately need everyone to agree with them.

I should dearly love to see an end to the incessant round of threads demanding sellers be barred from using particular couriers. Let people make their own choices for heaven’s sake. 

I’d  also like to see an end to those petty moans about bad feedback received. There’s little point in a discussion if your starting point is a failure to accept someone else’s opinion.

[kath3735_wxmjn]

Sorry but i liked yours because i agree with you!

[cobwebcottage]

No need to apologise for your opinion. Happy New Year.

[btr.style]

'The Member to Member Board is not meant to be a discussion board.......its designed to be a quick answer board hence why some responses may well come across as copy and paste.'

I still don't see how anyone should be excluded from it though and only a select few who are made to seem more important can post there. Maybe have someone moderating the posts there instead and locking threads once it's been answered. 

You'll see the parrot effect there too. One mentor will give the answer so that should be that. Yet another comes in, says exactly the same thing but worded differently. Then another will come in hours later to say the same thing but again worded in a different way. 

They'll do that on general posts too. Someone or a few people will chip in with help. That's it, resolved, helped, advice given. Hours or even a day or so later in comes a mentor to repeat exactly whats been said already but in their own words, needlessly bumping up a thread. I've seen many where OP said thanks, accepted best answer and yet a mentor still came in to parrot what had already been said, needlessly bumping something up. 

It's like there's some sense of superiority where their word is better than anyone else's. Nobody is above anyone here even if someone has a little mentor badge on their profile. It's a role anyone can volunteer for and be accepted into, not some special skill that only few have. 

[bennotbill]

Moderate this forum more like the .com one. With a much lighter hand. On .com posts pointing out rep mistakes don't "disappear". Posters are much more blunt in their opinions. You can even post links to a certain ecommerce blog. Why the difference?

This thread will probably go the way of that "Wednesday Chat" thread.

[papso22]

I don't recognise most of what you imply is common mentor behaviour.  Sometimes you get similar responses because they were being typed at much the same time.

Anyone can ask ebay to become a  member who can give advice on that board.  Have you asked ?