Enlarge image
Download option of the Ebay classifieds app: The service still has the word Ebay in its name
Photo: Rüdiger Wölk / IMAGO
The operators of Ebay classifieds have decided on a new name for their online marketplace.
According to a press release, the online portal, which is widely used in Germany, will only be called “classifieds” in the long term.
It will be accessible online via the address Kleinanzeige.de.
The press release states that nothing will change immediately for users as a result of the name change.
»The new brand identity including the new logo will be developed by June 2024 and only gradually become visible.«
The background to the name change is the sale of the parent company in 2021. The portal, which was part of the so-called Ebay Classifieds Group, has since belonged to the Norwegian group Adevinta and is only indirectly connected to the US company Ebay (in the form that Ebay at Adevinta is the largest shareholder ).
In the course of the deal, it was agreed that eBay classifieds would be allowed to use the word "Ebay" in their name for a maximum of three years.
These innovations are coming soon
In addition, the portal has announced a number of new functions and security measures.
"In the coming weeks" the portal wants to unlock a feature called "Buy Direct".
Sellers who post offers with fixed prices can thus enable interested parties to buy items immediately – without having to exchange messages beforehand.
The money flows through the "secure payment" function, which has been available for a long time, where the amount first ends up in a kind of escrow account and earns money on the Ebay classifieds through fees.
According to Ebay classifieds, the company's declared goal is "that users can complete the entire selling and buying process" directly via the platform if they so wish.
However, it should still be possible to only initiate transactions via the online marketplace, which then, for example, take place as a product handover with cash payment at the front door - without Ebay classifieds making any money from it.
In addition, the platform security should be increased.
Ebay classifieds, for example, says they want to introduce “a risk-based two-factor authentication” in the near future – again the talk is of “the coming weeks”.
If the service registers anomalies such as an unusual location during log-in processes, a second factor beyond the password should in future be used to check whether it is really the respective user.
Users may therefore have to confirm their log-in, for example via their stored email address.
Ebay classifieds wants to make it more difficult for scammers to place fake offers under a false identity.
The »Phone number« field disappears
The portal also wants to completely remove the "telephone number" field from its system, which previously could be filled out voluntarily when placing ads.
Ebay classifieds is thus reacting to phishing attacks, in which criminals use telephone numbers published on the platform to contact users via SMS or WhatsApp to try to rip them off.
"The telephone has lost much of its importance as a contact channel for trading via Ebay classifieds in recent years," the company comments on its form adaptation.
»On the other hand, the associated risk has increased significantly.«
If you absolutely want to give out your number, you can still do so.
In the future, however, Ebay classifieds wants to display warnings as soon as someone types an e-mail address or a multi-digit sequence of numbers (which could be a telephone number or an account number) into a message field.
This innovation is also intended to help protect users from common online scams.
mbo
