Community Court FAQs

What is Community Court?

eBay's Community Court allows you to appeal against negative feedback you have received on eBay that you think is unfair. You write a statement about why you think the feedback is unfair, along with any accompanying photo evidence. The person who left you feedback is then asked to justify their feedback. You have a chance to respond to their statement, after which the case will be put before a jury of 21 randomly selected eBay members. They will vote on whether your feedback should be removed or not. If they vote to remove the feedback, an eBay Customer Service representative will then remove the feedback from your account.

What is the Community Court Process?

1. Seller appeals against feedback that has been left for them by the Buyer, within 30 days of the transaction. They write a statement of up to 5000 characters and can upload up to 3 photos.
2. Buyer has up to 10 days to respond to the appeal. They are asked to write a statement of up to 5000 characters to justify their feedback and can upload up to three photos. If the Buyer does not respond in this time frame, the case progresses to the Jury without the Buyer's response.
3. Seller has 2 days to respond to the Buyer's statement. If they do not respond in this time, the case progresses to the jury without the response.
4. The case is put active. It is served to randomly allocated jury members to vote on over a period of 10 days.
5. If more than 50 percentage of jury members vote to remove the feedback, the case will go to a Customer Service Representative to remove the feedback. If fewer than 50 percentage of jury members vote to remove the feedback, the feedback will stay.

How long will it take?

It could take a month from you submitting your appeal to get an answer, although most cases will be settled in a shorter time period.

How do i know the status of my case?

Both sides will be emailed at all steps of the process to inform them of the case's progress and to alert them to any actions they need to take. You can also log into the Community Court at any time to check the status of the case.

Is this regulated by eBay?

No, this service is not provided by eBay, but all the decisions are made by members of the eBay community. eBay will only get involved if material in a case is flagged as being inappropriate, in which case the material will be reviewed. The final decision of the jury will also be acted upon by an eBay Customer Service Representative, who will remove the feedback if appropriate.

How can I signin?

You can sign in here - all you need to do is log in using your eBay user ID and password. Actionable feedback disputes will be displayed for you to start your appeal against a feedback or defend a feedback that you have left.

I've received unfair feedback, how do I make a claim?

to the Community Court site using your normal eBay user ID and password. You will be shown any transactions that are eligible for you to make a claim on.

Why can I only appeal against negative feedback, not neutrals or even positives unfair comments?

Community Court is currently a trial service, and we wanted to start off with the cases of unfair feedback that have the greatest impact on our users. If the trial is successful, we might consider broadening the criteria in the future.

Why can I only appeal against feedback left in the last 30 days?

We did a lot of research to understand what information is needed to make a fair decision. We found out that it is critical for the jury to be able to review the original item description, which is available for 60 days. We needed to allow enough time for both sides to write a statement and for the jury to vote, so we have set a limit of 30 days after the transaction to make a claim against unfair feedback.

What is the fee to use Community Court?

Community Court will be offered free of charge during the trial period.

What information do I need to make a claim?

You need to get together information that will help you show why you think the feedback that you have received is unfair. This might include dates of bidding, buying and paying; when you sent or received an item; proof that you paid for, sent or received an item; information about the condition the item was sent and when you received it and all other information that will support your case. You will be asked to write a statement of up to 5000 characters, and you can include up to 3 photos with your statement.

Why do I need to agree to a Privacy Policy to show photos?

gives us permission to show the photos that you have uploaded, and to show any photos the other party uploads, to the jury. This is required as the photos may contain personal information about you or the other party that would not usually be suitable for third parties to see, so we need you to agree that you will take reasonable steps to prevent this happening and that you are happy with this.

What will it look like to the jury if I don't agree to the Privacy Policy?

, the jury will not be able to see photo evidence from either side of the case. They will see a message informing them which party did not agree to the Privacy Policy.

What if the other party uploads a photo with inappropriate content?

Both sides have to agree to the Privacy Policy in order for photos to be shown, which includes agreeing to not upload nappropriate content. In addition to this, you both have the opportunity to flag if there are issues with the other party's statement or images. If you report inappropriate content, the case will be reviewed. If you abuse this feature, you will not be able to use the Community Court service in the future. The jury is also able to flag inappropriate content.

How do I know the jury is trustworthy?

We have set minimum criteria to join the jury: they must have been a member of eBay India for at least 6 months, they must have feedback of at least 20 with 97% positive feedback, and they must have made at least one buying and one selling transaction or 10 buying transactions. This means that the jury are all experienced members of eBay, both sellers and buyers, and should be capable of judging the fairness of the feedback.

How do I write a good statement?

You should keep your statement focused on the feedback rather than the transaction itself. Stay factual and avoid any personal references or obscene language. You must not include any personal information about the other party in your statement or in your photo evidence (for example, their email address, eBay id, name, address or telephone number). Make sure your statement is free from spelling errors, and is easy to read - for example, that it progresses through your arguments in a logical manner and that you have included all information relevant to your case.

Can I edit my appeal?

You will be allowed to edit your appeal anytime before the buyer responds. Once the buyer responds, your appeal will be locked.

Do I get a chance to comment on the other side's statement?

The seller has the opportunity to respond to the buyer's statement. They have 2 days to do this after the statement is written. You will be emailed to alert you when you can go in to the Community Court to do this.

What sort of photo should I upload?

You might want to upload photos that you think support your case. This could include photos of the item. You can upload up to 3 photos. Please try to make sure the photos are clear, for example they have plenty of light, well focused and use an appropriate level of zoom. You must have permission to use the photos and they must relate to the case.

If I don't have photos, or a means to obtain a digital photo to upload, will that be a significant detriment to winning my case with the jury?

In principle not, Jury members are advised to be fair and impartial discarding elements that might be detrimental to the case. However caution must prevail, as if the other party has uploaded photos, the jury will be able to view those photos.

Do cases always go before the jury?

Yes, even if the buyer does not respond the case will go before the jury.

Will I know who the jurors are?

No. Anonymity of jurors would be maintained and any attempt to trace and contact the juror/s are would lead to being barred from using the Community Court.

What do I do if I don't agree with the jury's decision?

The jury's decision is final and binding. There is no appeals process. eBay will not respond to any appeals made in relation to Community Court verdicts. You cannot submit a case of unfair feedback twice.

Is the jury's decision communicated to the other party of the transaction?

Once the jury reaches a majority, the decision will be communicated to both the buyer and seller.

Is the feedback actually removed?

If the jury votes to remove the feedback, then yes, the feedback (the negative and the comment) will be removed from your feedback record by a Customer Service representative. It will look like feedback was not left for the transaction.

How will I know when I need to justify feedback I have left?

If someone appeals against negative feedback that you have left for them, you will be emailed so that you know what you need to do next. You have 10 days from the time that they have written an appeal to write your statement in response. If you choose not to justify your feedback within 10 days, the case will automatically progress to the jury voting stage where the jury will vote based on the seller's statements and photos.

What do I need to do?

If you want to justify your feedback, you need to review the statement and the photos that the Seller has put together as their appeal. You can then write a statement of up to 5000 characters explaining why you think the feedback was justified. You can also upload up to 3 photos to support your case.

What will happen next?

The Seller has 2 days to review your statement and to write a brief response. After this, the case is put active and will be served to randomly allocated jury members to vote upon. You will be emailed to inform you about the status of the case, and you can log into Community Court at any time to see the status of the case.

What will happen if I do not respond to the case?

After 10 days, the case will progress to the jury voting stage where the jury will vote on the case solely based on the seller's statements and photos.

If I don't have photos, or a means to obtain a digital photo to upload, will that be a significant detriment to winning my case with the jury?

In principle not, Jury members are advised to be fair and impartial discarding elements that might be detrimental to the case. However caution must prevail, as if the other party has uploaded photos, the jury will be able to view those photos.

Will I know who the jurors are?

No. Anonymity of jurors would be maintained and any attempt to trace and contact the juror/s are would lead to being barred from using the Community Court.

Is the jury's decision communicated to the other party of the transaction?

Once the jury reaches a majority, the decision will be communicated to both the buyer and seller.

Who can register to become a jury member?

SELLERS will be eligible to serve on the jury if they are

• Registered on eBay India for 6 months
• Should have 20 feedback scores with overall rating of 97% positive feedback
• Should have completed atleast one transaction on eBay as a buyer and one as a seller

OR

BUYERS will be eligible to serve on the jury if they are

• Registered on eBay India for 6 months
• Should have 10 feedback scores with overall rating of 97% positive feedback
• Should have had 10 buyer transactions

Why can't anyone become a jury member?

Feedback is an important issue, and we think it is valuable for jury members to have reasonable levels of experience buying and selling on the site so they appreciate both sides of the story and can make a fair judgment.

How do I sign up to the jury?

You can sign up here - all you need to do is log in using your eBay user ID and password. If you are eligible to join the jury, you will then be asked to agree to an honesty statement before you can become a jury member. You can then start voting straight away.

How many people are on the jury?

21 people vote on each case. We wanted to make sure that any decision to remove feedback was fair and objective. Having a large number of people voting on the case helps to even out any biases in individual votes.

How is the jury selected for a case?

The jury is not pre-selected. When a jury member logs into Community Court, they are randomly allocated to a case. Jury members will not be allocated to a case if they have ever had a transaction with either side of the appeal, or if they have already voted on the case.

Can I choose which cases I vote on?

No.

What if I don't want to vote on a case that I am allocated to?

As a responsible jury member, you must vote on the case that you are allocated to. However if, for some very important reasons you do not wish to decide on the case, you can abstain from voting and must give your reasons for not wanting to vote on the case.

How do I vote on cases?

When you have registered to become a jury member, you can then log in to the Community Court case at any time. You will be randomly allocated to a case. After reading the case information on both sides, you will then be asked to vote on whether you think the feedback should be removed or not.

What information will I be shown about the case?

Both sides will submit a statement and photo evidence. In addition to this, you will be shown the photo of the item with description at the time of listing.

Can I vote on a case twice?

No. You will only be assigned to a case once.

How many people need to agree that the feedback should be removed?

51% out of the 21 jury members must agree that the feedback should be removed in order for it to be removed. If the first 11 people all think that the feedback should be removed, the case will be closed at that point and the feedback will removed. If the first 11 people vote not to remove the feedback, the case will be closed and the feedback will not be removed.

What emails will I receive as a jury member?

You may receive occasional emails from eBay regarding your jury membership, and cases that need your kind attention. We will never pass on your details to another company for marketing purposes.

Do I get paid for being on the jury?

No. It is important that decisions about whether feedback is fair are based only on the facts of the case, and are not affected by anything else.

How many cases do I have to do?

There are no minimum or maximum requirements for the number of cases you should vote on. However, it is necessary that you log in at least once a month to vote on a case.

Will my decisions be monitored?

Yes, your decisions will be monitored and if it is noticed that there has been any collusion, biasness or unfairness, you will be struck off from serving as a jury member

What happens when I report a case?

If you flag a case as containing inappropriate content, the case will be temporarily removed from Community Court and the content will be reviewed by a Customer Service Representative. If this process is abused, you may be removed from the Community Court jury.

Click here for Community Court Help