eBay 2006 Annual Report Download - page 8

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designed to detect and prevent some forms of abuse, such as a user leaving positive feedback about himself or
herself through multiple accounts.
SafeHarbor Program: We also offer the SafeHarbor program, which provides guidelines for trading,
provides information to resolve user disputes and responds to reports of misuse of the eBay service. eBay’s
SafeHarbor staff investigates users’ complaints of possible misuse of the eBay service and takes appropriate action,
including issuing warnings to users, ending and removing listings, or suspending users from bidding on or listing
items for sale. The complaints the SafeHarbor staff investigates include various forms of bid manipulation,
malicious posting of negative feedback and posting of illegal items for sale.
Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) Program: The Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) Program lets intellectual
property rights owners request the removal of listings that offer items or contain materials that infringe on their
rights. This helps protect community members from purchasing items that may be counterfeit or otherwise
unauthorized.
Customer Support
We devote resources to providing personalized, accurate and timely support services to our community of
users. Buyers and sellers can contact us through a variety of means, including email, online text chat and, in certain
circumstances, telephone. We are focusing our resources on increasing our accessibility and capacity, expanding
our category-specific support, extending our online self-help features, and improving our systems and processes to
allow us to provide the most efficient and effective support possible.
Value-Added Tools and Services
eBay users have access to a variety of “pre-trade” and “post-trade” tools and services to enhance their user
experience and to make trading faster, easier and safer for them. “Pre-trade” tools and services are intended to
simplify the listing process. “Post-trade” tools and services are designed to make transactions easier and more
convenient to complete.
These tools and services include: Turbo Lister, eBay Blackthorne, ProStores, Selling Manager and Selling
Manager Pro, which help automate the selling process; Picture Services, which enables sellers to include pictures in
their listings; the Shipping Calculator, which makes it easier for buyers and sellers to calculate shipping costs;
Shipping Labels, which allows sellers to print certain postage and UPS labels; Shipment Tracking, which enables
sellers to track their shipped packages; the eBay Toolbar, which helps eBay users stay connected with eBay
wherever they are on the Internet; eBay Sales Reports and eBay Sales Reports Plus, which provide sales and fee
information to sellers; eBay Market Research, which enables sellers to analyze sales in categories across the site;
Reviews and Guides, which assists shoppers in making more informed choices; and PayPal, which facilitates the
online exchange of funds. We currently provide these services directly or through contractual arrangements with
third parties.
Loyalty Program
PowerSeller program: PowerSellers are eBay’s top sellers who have sustained a consistent high volume of
monthly sales and who have a high level of positive feedback. Members of the PowerSeller program get a range of
special benefits, including prioritized customer support, promotional offers, eBay promotional merchandise,
advanced selling education, opportunities to participate in research, and other special rewards. The PowerSeller
program is free of charge and a special PowerSeller icon is located next to the seller’s user name if the seller
qualifies for the program.
Marketplaces Growth Strategy
We intend to achieve our mission of creating the world’s leading e-commerce franchise by building upon our
core Marketplaces business and building our adjacent businesses.
We will continue to grow our core Marketplaces business by enhancing our products, improving Trust and
Safety and extending our product offerings into new formats, categories and geographies. Our product
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