The most controversial change is that sellers will now no longer be able to leave negative or neutral feedback about buyers. While eBay says this is because some sellers are abusing the feedback system, many prolific sellers on eBay are unhappy.

"A small but significant number of sellers manipulate their Feedback ratings by threatening to leave unfair 'retaliatory' neutral or negative Feedback for buyers if the buyer is minded to leave them an honest negative comment about the purchase," eBay explained.

The change will not come in until May but many are expressing their irritation about it already, saying that sellers will not know whether they can trust the people buying from them to pay up.

Boycott threat

Some sellers are so incensed by the changes they have decided to boycott the website for one week from 18 February. The organiser of the protest claims that thousands of sellers plan to join the boycott.

Other eBay sellers, though, are unconvinced by the protest, despite disagreeing with the changes.

"I am not going to take part in any boycott because it is pretty much doomed to failure. I do, however, think the changes are ill-conceived and eBay should have just dealt with poor sellers directly rather than making the site a more dangerous to sell on," one seller said.

eBay insists that the changes mean that it will be "easier for sellers to report 'bad' buyers," though this has not quelled the unrest.

"I have never left a negative yet, but it was useful to be able to threaten a negative if a buyer was slow paying or non-paying even. There are lots of time-wasters who bid with no intention of paying, so are they going to get away with it?" one visitor to Web User's forum asked.

However, another forum member didn't think this change would be a bad thing.

"The only negative I could initially think of is the fact that you could no longer neg non-payers. But on the counter side of that you will be able to block 5,000 bad buyers as opposed to the current 1,000," the forum member said.

Fees

There are also changes being made to the way sellers fees are charged. Listing goods on eBay is to be made up to 33 per cent cheaper for regular sellers as the auction website looks to reward its most prolific users.

The company will also offer sellers who give the best service more prominence in search results. Quality of service will be measured by detailed seller ratings left anonymously by buyers over the previous 30 days' trading.

From 20 February, "the majority of fees will now be payable as a Final Value Fee, only if and when an item sells, aligning your total fees much more closely to your selling success," eBay said.

The changes will reduce the upfront risk when listing an item, eBay claimed.

eBay Express

eBay has also taken the decision to close eBay Express in the UK. The plan is to integrate it into the main site and the decision, eBay said, was taken after listening to feedback from the eBay community.

eBay Express was a separate part of the site specifically for businesses and high-volume sellers, selling only new and unused goods.

According to eBay, this change will benefit businesses selling through eBay Express, as they are already obliged to provide a certain standard of customer service - something that will stand them in good stead in eBay's new listing policy where better sellers are given more prominence in search results.

"Good customer service from sellers keeps buyers coming back again and again, and these changes mean sellers who offer this will increasingly stand out from the crowd," eBay said.

What do you think of the changes to eBay? Have your say at www.webuser.co.uk/forums.

www.ebay.co.uk

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