In an AB Post today regarding changes in eBay Marketplace policies, John McDonald, Sr. Director of US Trust & Safety said the top-line reasoning behind these changes is to “create more choice and selection for buyers and make it easier for them to find what they’re looking for. Second, these policy changes add flexibility, convenience and cost-savings for our sellers.”

And there is some great news here. For instance, the Choice Policy (good name for a policy that actually limited choice), is being eliminated so that sellers can now list items in different sizes, color, etc. in a single listing. This helps buyers with a more convenient shopping experience and provides sellers with relief on insertion fees.

But what I want to focus on here at Ink is the expansion of the Seller Dashboard and Best Match rankings because they are intertwined and very relevant to the issue of transparency. I would go so far as to say that a lack of transparency in the recent past has both pulled us away from our roots and hindered our relationship with the community. However, I’ve been encouraged, since joining the company in January, that the concept of transparency is being so widely embraced. It’s definitely something everyone is trying to get better at doing (how else would we have got this blog up and running with comments to begin with?).
(More …)