Initially, users of Pierre Omidyar's Auction Web (later he named it eBay) e-mailed him whenever they had complaints, wanted to ask questions, or otherwise wanted to comment about the site. Since Omidyar posted his e-mail address prominently on the site, most of the messages were directed to him. However, he preferred to deal with buyer-seller disputes by having the complaining parties work out the matter amongst themselves. He, after all, was only the overseer of the site. He did not directly participate in the transactions.
The way Omidyar dealt with this problem was by adding what he called the Feedback Forum to the site. The Feedback Forum was a place online where users could publicly post comments about buyers and sellers. A seller who experienced a good transaction, for example, might jot down a complimentary note about the buyer, while a buyer dissatisfied with his or her purchase could voice a negative opinion about the seller. Buyers and sellers had the right to question comments, but usually the comments remained part of the individual's permanent transaction record. Omidyar proposed his Feedback Forum idea less than a year after the site's launch in February 1996. His announcement, posted at the Web site, read, "Most people are honest. However, some people are dishonest. Or deceptive. This is true here, in the newsgroups, in the classifieds, and right next door. It's a fact of life. But here, those people can't hide. We'll drive them away. Protect others from them. This grand hope depends on your active participation. Become a registered user. Use our Feedback Forum. Give praise where it is due; make complaints where appropriate… Deal with others the way you would have them deal with you. Remember that you are usually dealing with individuals, just like yourself. Subject to making mistakes. Well-meaning, but wrong in occasion. That’s just human.”
By establishing one of the first Feedback Forums, Omidyar ensured that the auction service could better operate on its own, with little or no seller-buyer management required from himself or other workers, especially in the potentially difficult matter of resolving disputes. He took the burden of proof away from himself and the site and placed it back in the hands of the very people who were using the service. Because of this, the Feedback Forum emerged as a new self-policing system that revolutionized e-commerce. Secondly, he encouraged buyers and sellers to become registered users.
Jennifer Viegas, Pierre Omidyar: The Founder of Ebay (Internet Career Bios), 2007
