While any system can be gamed, it’s the processes and networks within and around the system that limit the extent of the abuse.
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Google Checkout was dubbed the “PayPal killer” long before it was released. Upon its release, pretty much everyone realized that’s not what the service was designed to be. An alternative to PayPal (eBay’s e-payment powerhouse), yes, a “killer” no…

Baris has an interesting post about Jonathan Miller’s declaration that AOL will aim to be more third-party friendly, and the contrast this declaration has with a few recent developments, including: eBay’s banning of RapLeaf MySpace’s banning of Sing…

Speed limits are rarely enforced in my state. This is because they can’t afford to put a cop on every corner to watch for speeders. But you can be sure that if you are caught speeding, the law will be enforced on you.

Though it’s quite possible (and probable) that eBay is specifically targeting listings containing RapLeaf links, in the end having RapLeaf links in your listing is a clear violation of their (what I consider to be easy to understand) links policy.

As for the DigIt.com listing. I didn’t see any violation there — aside from the inconspicuous link to koove.com. I would compare that to going 5mph over the speed limit: Not worth a cop’s time (unless you’re driving through a college campus where the over eager campus police are looking for any excuse to nab you… and I can attest that there are eBay employees with this same attitude, but they have to catch you in the act first.)

A few days old, but worth flagging: Michael Arrington posts the news that eBay has begun banning selective links to users’ reputation profiles on Rapleaf. I point it out mostly because I’m interested in reputation solutions for virtual spac…

We begin by talking about this development but move on to talk about the particular importance of reputation online and how eBay factors in.

You can find the podcast at http://blog.opinity.com/2006/0.....af_an.html.

Thanks.

A friend of mine just built a reputation system like this for even less than a week - check out eCrater (http://www.ecrater.com). It was interesting to observe how initially most of the sellers were against the feedback system, but after some time they started to appreciate it when sales went up!

Regarding eBay and reputation systems outside of eBay - what about SquareTrade (http://www.squaretrade.com)? They’ve been providing seal and reputation services for years! SquareTrade is backing up my vision that one cannot build a credible reputation system without collecting fees or being in control of a marketplace. Providing ID verification and dispute resolution services simply cost money.

I’m not a big fan of eBay and I don’t buy/sell stuff there unless I don’t have a choice. My experience so far has been that when I provide negative feedback as a buyer, I get punished by the seller with negative feedback too. In other cases I receive positive feedback from sellers, trying to advertise for free on my profile.

Another problem with seller reputation systems is that sometimes sellers would get (most of the) negative feedback from competitors. I’ve done this many times myself. In other situations sellers get negative feedback from haters that haven’t had any business with that seller, doing it just for the sport.

As a member of BBB and I can tell you that their dispute resolution system involves real people on the BBB side and requires a proof from both the consumer and the business. I think this is the only credible type of feedback. Guy A giving credit to guy B is fine, but unless these two guys had some real business together, it’s almost useless information or least to me it is. Feedback should also be categorized as the feedback is towards different “qualities” and this does not apply only to businesses. For example, I can rate guy A 10/10 that he keep his promises, but rate him 2/10 that he’s never on time for meetings. For businesses, usually consumers are asked to rate customer service, shipping, etc. Having one overall rating could be a guesswork and lack analytics.

eBay’s success has been not just in providing an online marketplace, but a marketplace in which people can trust each other.

Any weakening of this by other market entrants poses a risk to eBay. Don’t think that Louis Vuitton isn’t p*ssed off that there are bags that look like his flying around the globe that do just as good a job (and may even be better quality!!). He is threatened…and what do they do…try and close factories down and prevent the counterfeit goods being produced.

For those ready to launch at me, I am in NO WAY saying Rapleaf is a counterfeit operation AT ALL, but the analogy still rings true. The market leader in feedback systems (i.e. eBay) is being threatened by an equally good system and they don’t like it.

Rapleaf is a GREAT system and will become an essential component of any Web 2.0 retail company and should be supported around the blogoshpere if eBay decide to start pushing their weight around.

If RapLeaf offered some kinda random url -> real feedback url mapping built in, then users would have no problem.