Should I take eBay up on their offer?

Rock Steady · 10-22-2005, 08:45 PM

I don't know if I should do this or not. What the hell would I do on eBay for three hours? Three Hours? This offer came after I made my first sale after being a member for over three years.

Dear Rock Steady,

At eBay we are continually striving to make our site more useful and easy to use. To accomplish this, we have created an innovative new program called the Visits Program, and we would like to invite you to participate. The program was created to observe how members of the community actually use eBay, in their own homes (or offices), so that we can have a better understanding of how to improve our site.

If you are interested in participating in this program, and if you qualify based on certain criteria, three members of our trained research team will visit you in your home (or office) for approximately 3 hours to observe how you use eBay. The visit will take place on a weekday between November 7th and November 18th, at a time that is convenient for you. It will be fun for you and for us too!

As a token of our appreciation for their valuable time, qualified participants will receive a $50 gift certificate from www.giftcertificates.com and an additional $100 to use online, during our visit.

If you would like to participate in this important research program, please click on the link below (or copy the address into your browser) to fill out a short questionnaire: ...

Qualified participants will be contacted by a member of our research team to schedule a visit. Your answers to our questions will be held in complete confidence and no marketing or sales efforts involving you will occur as a result. Your personal information will be used only to qualify you to participate in the eBay Visits Program.

Regards,
eBay Research Department

I'm probably disqualified for working in the advertising industry.

melidasaur · 10-22-2005, 08:59 PM

It sounds like a scam... I wouldn't do it.

Elspode · 10-22-2005, 11:51 PM

What information was required by the questionaire?

BigV · 10-23-2005, 12:00 AM

Is your time worth $50/hr?

I had a team from Microsoft shadow me around the office one day (half a day, in the morning) and I got the obligatory One Unit redemption voucher from the Company Store. it was interesting. They seemed very earnest, and didn't hassle me when I couldn't answer their questions because either I didn't know the stuff they were asking about or I knew but it didn't apply to my work situation. It also felt good to participate in the process (however peripherally) of making the next round of stuff from Microsoft better. The are trying and I tried to help.

I'd do it.

Rock Steady · 10-23-2005, 12:34 AM

Well, I went ahead and did the questionaire. Just generic questions about how much time I spend online, how many times did I buy online this year, how many times did I buy at ebay and sell at ebay.

Actually, my time is worth $150/hr. I have this awful side job with a law firm doing offense on a patent. I hate doing it so I'm going to quit. My full time job is too busy for this other nonsense.

I would do it do for the reasons you state, it would influence their product development, perhaps to meet my needs better.

Beestie · 10-23-2005, 12:47 AM

I'm trying to figure out what they can learn from looking over your shoulder that they can't figure out from your click history. Once within the eBay domain, every click is stamped with the time and IP address, stored, and analysed (not individually but in aggregate).

It sounds like garden variety market research which typically pays in the $100 to $150 range for the amount of time they are requesting. I doubt there is any harm.

It would be kind of fun, though, to search for some -ahem- unusual items while they are observing you just to see what kind of reaction you get.

Tonchi · 10-23-2005, 01:46 AM

Go into the Help Section of Ebay and search for the info about contacting them. Send them the original email and ask to have it verified. I've been buying and selling on Ebay since 1998, and have received a lot of what Ebay classifies as "Spoof Mail". Ask them to verify it for you, it really does not sound right

Rock Steady · 10-23-2005, 02:15 AM

At ebay, the stuff on spoofing says that it is legitimate if the last thing before the first single slash is ".ebay.com". This was a URL in the middle of the questionaire.

http://survey.ebay.com/survey/ebay/eby05023

Seems legit to me. Was generic marketing survey.

Rock Steady · 10-23-2005, 02:36 AM

I didn't have to reply to the email. The survey was thru a link. Also, I have about 6 email accounts for different purposes, and that email account is for online buying and gets a lot of spam. Keeps it out of my better email accounts.

BTW, the survey company that ebay uses for this is located in Fresno.

Tonchi · 10-23-2005, 02:44 AM

There ya go!

Clodfobble · 10-23-2005, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beestie

I'm trying to figure out what they can learn from looking over your shoulder that they can't figure out from your click history. Once within the eBay domain, every click is stamped with the time and IP address, stored, and analysed (not individually but in aggregate).

Every click can be stamped; not every click is. It's just too much data to store, especially for a site the size of eBay. There are third-party companies who will collect, store, analyze, and send back reports on that data--this is exactly what my husband's company does--but they're expensive. Why? The amount of data is immense. The company gains 4 terabytes of data every single month.

Beestie · 10-23-2005, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

Every click can be stamped; not every click is. It's just too much data to store, especially for a site the size of eBay.

AOL as of the time I left there kept every single click including the "from" and the "to." Their ad revenue and ad metrics depended on it. The time stamps told them how long people stayed there and were normalized for folks who clicked and left for a while.

I have heard the that google has every query and every click stored but can't represent it as fact.

You'd be surprised how much these companies are willing to spend to get and keep this stuff.

Clodfobble · 10-23-2005, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beestie

You'd be surprised how much these companies are willing to spend to get and keep this stuff.

That's what I'm saying, they're willing to spend a lot and often they farm the work out to other companies. Assuming this thing isn't a scam, eBay has obviously farmed this out to a company in Fresno who, for whatever reason, is supplementing their info with real live people watching.

Personally, I think it's a bit of a scam in the sense that all they really want you to do is fill out the questionnaire, but they're dangling the possibility of "qualifying" for $150 in gift certificates to get you to do it. I bet less than a dozen people actually get visitors to their house.

feesh13 · 10-25-2005, 03:08 AM

You should just look at the naughty auctions the whole time.

Sundae · 11-02-2005, 07:49 AM

I would love to have the opportuniry to participate in this, but I think it might flag to my boss & work colleagues that not all the time I spend in front of my PC is work-valid....!

Am with Clodfobble on the theory that the visit is a carrot to get questionnaires returned though. Any update on this?

10-22-2005, 08:45 PM	#1
Rock Steady Day Tripper Join Date: May 2005 Location: Silicon Valley Posts: 784	Should I take eBay up on their offer? I don't know if I should do this or not. What the hell would I do on eBay for three hours? Three Hours? This offer came after I made my first sale after being a member for over three years. Dear Rock Steady, At eBay we are continually striving to make our site more useful and easy to use. To accomplish this, we have created an innovative new program called the Visits Program, and we would like to invite you to participate. The program was created to observe how members of the community actually use eBay, in their own homes (or offices), so that we can have a better understanding of how to improve our site. If you are interested in participating in this program, and if you qualify based on certain criteria, three members of our trained research team will visit you in your home (or office) for approximately 3 hours to observe how you use eBay. The visit will take place on a weekday between November 7th and November 18th, at a time that is convenient for you. It will be fun for you and for us too! As a token of our appreciation for their valuable time, qualified participants will receive a $50 gift certificate from www.giftcertificates.com and an additional $100 to use online, during our visit. If you would like to participate in this important research program, please click on the link below (or copy the address into your browser) to fill out a short questionnaire: ... Qualified participants will be contacted by a member of our research team to schedule a visit. Your answers to our questions will be held in complete confidence and no marketing or sales efforts involving you will occur as a result. Your personal information will be used only to qualify you to participate in the eBay Visits Program. Regards, eBay Research Department I'm probably disqualified for working in the advertising industry. __________________

10-22-2005, 08:59 PM	#2
melidasaur Traded your soul for pogs. Join Date: May 2004 Location: Champaign, IL Posts: 646	It sounds like a scam... I wouldn't do it. __________________ I love England, what can I say?

10-22-2005, 11:51 PM	#3
Elspode When Do I Get Virtual Unreality? Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Raytown, Missouri Posts: 12,719	What information was required by the questionaire? __________________ "To those of you who are wearing ties, I think my dad would appreciate it if you took them off." - Robert Moog

10-23-2005, 12:00 AM	#4
BigV Goon Squad Leader Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Seattle Posts: 27,063	Is your time worth $50/hr? I had a team from Microsoft shadow me around the office one day (half a day, in the morning) and I got the obligatory One Unit redemption voucher from the Company Store. it was interesting. They seemed very earnest, and didn't hassle me when I couldn't answer their questions because either I didn't know the stuff they were asking about or I knew but it didn't apply to my work situation. It also felt good to participate in the process (however peripherally) of making the next round of stuff from Microsoft better. The are trying and I tried to help. I'd do it. __________________ Be Just and Fear Not.

10-23-2005, 12:34 AM	#5
Rock Steady Day Tripper Join Date: May 2005 Location: Silicon Valley Posts: 784	Well, I went ahead and did the questionaire. Just generic questions about how much time I spend online, how many times did I buy online this year, how many times did I buy at ebay and sell at ebay. Actually, my time is worth $150/hr. I have this awful side job with a law firm doing offense on a patent. I hate doing it so I'm going to quit. My full time job is too busy for this other nonsense. I would do it do for the reasons you state, it would influence their product development, perhaps to meet my needs better. __________________

10-23-2005, 12:47 AM	#6
Beestie -◊\|≡·∙■·∙≡\|◊- Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Parts unknown. Posts: 4,081	I'm trying to figure out what they can learn from looking over your shoulder that they can't figure out from your click history. Once within the eBay domain, every click is stamped with the time and IP address, stored, and analysed (not individually but in aggregate). It sounds like garden variety market research which typically pays in the $100 to $150 range for the amount of time they are requesting. I doubt there is any harm. It would be kind of fun, though, to search for some -ahem- unusual items while they are observing you just to see what kind of reaction you get. __________________ ♠ ♥ ♣ ♦

10-23-2005, 01:46 AM	#7
Tonchi Victim of gravity Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Hiding in plain sight Posts: 1,412	Go into the Help Section of Ebay and search for the info about contacting them. Send them the original email and ask to have it verified. I've been buying and selling on Ebay since 1998, and have received a lot of what Ebay classifies as "Spoof Mail". Ask them to verify it for you, it really does not sound right __________________ Everything you've ever heard about Fresno is true.

10-23-2005, 02:15 AM	#8
Rock Steady Day Tripper Join Date: May 2005 Location: Silicon Valley Posts: 784	At ebay, the stuff on spoofing says that it is legitimate if the last thing before the first single slash is ".ebay.com". This was a URL in the middle of the questionaire. http://survey.ebay.com/survey/ebay/eby05023 Seems legit to me. Was generic marketing survey. __________________

10-23-2005, 02:36 AM	#9
Rock Steady Day Tripper Join Date: May 2005 Location: Silicon Valley Posts: 784	I didn't have to reply to the email. The survey was thru a link. Also, I have about 6 email accounts for different purposes, and that email account is for online buying and gets a lot of spam. Keeps it out of my better email accounts. BTW, the survey company that ebay uses for this is located in Fresno. __________________

10-23-2005, 02:44 AM	#10
Tonchi Victim of gravity Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Hiding in plain sight Posts: 1,412	There ya go! __________________ Everything you've ever heard about Fresno is true.

10-25-2005, 03:08 AM	#14
feesh13 Romantic Necromancer Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 29	You should just look at the naughty auctions the whole time.

11-02-2005, 07:49 AM	#15
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	I would love to have the opportuniry to participate in this, but I think it might flag to my boss & work colleagues that not all the time I spend in front of my PC is work-valid....! Am with Clodfobble on the theory that the visit is a carrot to get questionnaires returned though. Any update on this?

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