What Don't You Understand About NEW and USED?

eBay just announced they will make changes to product attributes, called Item Specifics, in certain categories in August. In Books, DVD & Movies, Music and Video Games categories, eBay will change "Condition" values from "New" and "Used" to "Brand New", "Like New", "Very Good", "Good" and "Acceptable."

I think this change will muddy the water and introduce a level of ambiguity to the condition of the item for used books, DVDs, movies, music, and games. NEW and USED are pretty easy to understand. On the other hand, what do "Like New", "Very Good", "Good" and "Acceptable" mean? Without eBay defining each of these, sellers can't accurately describe their items in terms that the buyer can agree with.

There are published descriptions for various condition levels out there already, such as at the International Online Booksellers Association (IOBA). Some used book sellers are already using one of the accepted standards, such as IOBA, and the rest are doing their best to describe the condition of the item in the listing description. And that works up to a point with the current NEW and USED condition specifics.

In my opinion, eBay needs to publish a similar set of definitions for each of these categories and they need to be easily accessible by both buyers and sellers. Otherwise, I think there will be a steep rise in the number of dissatisfied buyers and unpaid item disputes due to the confusion this change will create.

So, what do you think? Leave a comment below by clicking on the word "Comments".