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eBay explicitly bans AI "buy for me" agents in user agreement update

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Re: eBay explicitly bans AI "buy for me" agents in user agreement update

#261

Post by quietsegfault »

the_gastropod wrote: post #200
cheschire wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect they might lose money on returns too, which are probably more likely if an AI misunderstands what the buyer wants or misjudges quality or can’t detect fake listings etc

I don’t know if there are other ways eBay could lose money on returns. But my single data point: the very first thing I sold on eBay (a manual lever espresso machine) got returned because the buyer clearly didn’t know how to use it, and claimed it was defective. And because eBay has a money back guarantee, they just reached their hands into my back account and withdrew the earnings from the sale + the shipping costs…

I only sell stuff on EBay as-is, no returns. I'm not sure if this protects me from their money back guarantee, but it gives me a little peace of mind until I too get bitten.

Re: eBay explicitly bans AI "buy for me" agents in user agreement update

#262

Post by TZubiri »

__jonas wrote: post #166

Interesting, I’m not big on AI but I have thought often it would be nice to have an ‘agent’ that monitors ebay or other classifieds sites for items based on a natural language description. Something like “I want an old mini PC to use as a home server, it should have roughly these specs and cost under this amount”, and then an LLM would run some searches every day, parse the results and send me a message if something…

This was the premise of ChatGPT Pulse

Re: eBay explicitly bans AI "buy for me" agents in user agreement update

#263

Post by chrisoverzero »

mort96 wrote: post #242
imtringued wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to you, a bidder should always be willing to extend the bid to infinity since each increment is only one cent more.

No, I am willing to pay $0.01 more but not infinity more, there's a difference

"I made my max bid $500.00, but I'd have paid $500.01!"

"I made my max bid $500.01, but I'd have paid $500.02!"

"I made my max bid $500.02, but I'd have paid $500.03!"

…where does this process end?

Re: eBay explicitly bans AI "buy for me" agents in user agreement update

#264

Post by lowbloodsugar »

quietsegfault wrote: post #261
the_gastropod wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know if there are other ways eBay could lose money on returns. But my single data point: the very first thing I sold on eBay (a manual lever espresso machine) got returned because the buyer clearly didn’t know how to use it, and claimed it was defective. And because eBay has a money back guarantee, they just reached their hands into my back account and withdrew the earnings from the sale + the shipping costs…

I only sell stuff on EBay as-is, no returns. I'm not sure if this protects me from their money back guarantee, but it gives me a little peace of mind until I too get bitten.

IANAL: but if a seller misrepresents what they’re selling then “As is” doesn’t help them. If I sell you a Ferrari “as is” but I send you a kit car that looks like a Ferrari, “as is” ain’t gonna help.

Re: eBay explicitly bans AI "buy for me" agents in user agreement update

#265

Post by garbageman »

quietsegfault wrote: post #261
the_gastropod wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know if there are other ways eBay could lose money on returns. But my single data point: the very first thing I sold on eBay (a manual lever espresso machine) got returned because the buyer clearly didn’t know how to use it, and claimed it was defective. And because eBay has a money back guarantee, they just reached their hands into my back account and withdrew the earnings from the sale + the shipping costs…

I only sell stuff on EBay as-is, no returns. I'm not sure if this protects me from their money back guarantee, but it gives me a little peace of mind until I too get bitten.

It doesn't hurt to add it....but it doesn't help as it's happened to me.

Re: eBay explicitly bans AI "buy for me" agents in user agreement update

#266

Post by IOT_Apprentice »

MarginalGainz wrote: post #180

This ban isn't about 'fairness' or bot protection; it's about protecting the Impression Funnel. Marketplaces like eBay are designed to monetize 'Wandering Attention'—sponsored listings, 'customers also bought', and sidebar ads. An AI Agent represents 'Laser Focused Attention'. It executes a transaction with zero wandering. It effectively turns the marketplace into a commoditized backend database / dumb pipe. From a G…

If I am able to find what I’m looking for and purchase it via AI why must I be subjected to advertising & promotion of items in have zero interest in? Amazon has made finding what I want painful. I suspect eBay is just as painful (I see to work there).

Re: eBay explicitly bans AI "buy for me" agents in user agreement update

#267

Post by ikesau »

direwolf20 wrote: post #257
ikesau wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nilay Patel is calling this "the DoorDash problem" and has written an essay on it here: https://www.theverge.com/podcast/823909/the-doordash-problem...

Fewer companies get the chance to enshittify my experience? Sign me up!

Right, but I suppose one issue is that, depending on how concentrated the AI agent market becomes, the rent seeking could eventually potentially just shift to these agents instead.

Re: eBay explicitly bans AI "buy for me" agents in user agreement update

#269

Post by biophysboy »

__jonas wrote: post #166

Interesting, I’m not big on AI but I have thought often it would be nice to have an ‘agent’ that monitors ebay or other classifieds sites for items based on a natural language description. Something like “I want an old mini PC to use as a home server, it should have roughly these specs and cost under this amount”, and then an LLM would run some searches every day, parse the results and send me a message if something…

This would be helpful only if you were the only person using it.

Re: eBay explicitly bans AI "buy for me" agents in user agreement update

#270

Post by xeromal »

quietsegfault wrote: post #261
the_gastropod wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know if there are other ways eBay could lose money on returns. But my single data point: the very first thing I sold on eBay (a manual lever espresso machine) got returned because the buyer clearly didn’t know how to use it, and claimed it was defective. And because eBay has a money back guarantee, they just reached their hands into my back account and withdrew the earnings from the sale + the shipping costs…

I only sell stuff on EBay as-is, no returns. I'm not sure if this protects me from their money back guarantee, but it gives me a little peace of mind until I too get bitten.

Selling as is helps a bit but it only covers regret returns. If the item is not as listed such as claiming to be new but the packing is opened, you're still obligated to accept a return
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