eBay In Person: Brian Burke

by Nino
eBay Staff member

Brian with some of his prized eBay purchases – antiquarian books and a Belleek teapot from 1954

This month we meet Brian Burke, Senior Policy Manager, Feedback Policy. Brian's responsibility is to create and monitor policies to make sure that Feedback remains a credible predictor of behavior on eBay, enabling safe trade and promoting satisfactory transactions.

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When did you start at eBay and what did you do before?
Before joining eBay in June of 1999, I spent about 8 years at Apple Computer, and about 2 years at 3Com – in various roles. I learned about eBay just from being based in Silicon Valley – it was one of the undisputed successes of the first Internet wave.

Initially I managed the Community Development team, but in 2002 I joined eBay's Trust and Safety organization, which Rob Chesnut was just setting up. I wanted to be part of the effort to create the right foundation for policy on eBay. Also, Rob Chesnut and Jeff Taylor were people who I could learn a lot from. It was a very exciting time.

What are your responsibilities at eBay?
In my early days on the Trust and Safety team, I was involved in several policy areas, but my focus is now exclusively on Feedback-related policy. It's a huge area, and one that our Community is very passionate about (so my experience managing the Community Development team often comes in handy!)

Within Feedback, my first area of responsibility is monitoring and evaluating current policies around Feedback. It's my job to make sure that we have the right Feedback policies, and that they are effectively implemented, with the appropriate consequences for violation.

The second, and more strategic area of responsibility is to look at Feedback holistically to determine how we can make it a more credible predictor of future behavior. One of the issues we're trying to understand is how the Feedback system can help potential transaction partners set expectations about the transaction. For instance, if a buyer is dealing with a seller that has a Feedback score of over 3000, and it's 99.5% positive, how can it help set the buyer's expectations about shipping and communication?

We're always reaching out to our Community to get answers to such questions, through surveys, discussions with Voices groups, and other methods.

I also work closely with eBay's product team to define requirements for Feedback-related features on the site.

Tell us a little about the history of Feedback on eBay, and how it has evolved.
If you visit the Feedback Forum, at the bottom of the page, you'll find a note from Pierre Omidyar, outlining his vision for the concept of Feedback on eBay. Pierre introduced a simple and effective way for the Community to evaluate trading partners and stay safe on the site.

It's been ten years since Pierre launched Feedback on eBay. We've made some changes along the way, but we're always careful about making any changes – because fundamentally the system works as it's designed to.

Pierre 's original vision was to allow members to leave Feedback, not just for a transaction, but also for participation in the marketplace outside the transaction. For instance, allowing members to leave feedback to people who help others on the Answer Center and discussion boards. But we soon found that this was an imbalanced system, as members could acquire disproportionate negatives or positives for a non-transactional activity. So in early 2001, we decided to restrict feedback only to a transactional level.

Another major change was the introduction of Mutual Feedback Withdrawal in 2003. It's a concept that lets members in transaction withdraw their feedback ratings. Each member's feedback score is accordingly adjusted, although the actual comment remains on the site.

Last year we introduced three other changes to the Feedback system. First, we neutralize feedback left by members who don't participate in issue resolution processes, such as the Unpaid Item process. We believe that members who don't participate in such dispute resolution processes shouldn't be able to impact another member's reputation. Second, we now remove feedback from users who are indefinitely suspended within 90 days of registration . We believe that such members were never truly members of the Community, and so their feedback comments and ratings should not count. And third, because our research indicated that new users left a disproportionate amount of the total negative feedback left on the site, we require new members to complete a tutorial before leaving neutral or negative feedback.

Why is Feedback so important?
When you walk into a brick-and-mortar store, so many cues influence your purchase decisions – for example the presentation of inventory, the friendliness of the salespeople, the ambience, and so on. This experience is missing in the online world – but on eBay, feedback provides buyers the opportunity to make informed decisions about their purchases.

For sellers, feedback is an indicator of their reputation on eBay. You take your reputation everywhere with you. It's especially important on a place like eBay, which is more than an eCommerce site – it's also an active Community.

What do you like about working at eBay?
First off, my kids really think it's cool that I work at eBay (laughs). Joking apart, eBay is one of the few companies I know of, where the work you do and the actions you take directly affect the lives of so many people. That's an empowering feeling, but it also comes with a sense of responsibility.

I also like the types of projects and concepts I get to work on, within Feedback – it's very satisfying, intellectually. eBay has some very smart people – working with them is very exciting and exhilarating.

What skills have you found yourself utilizing most in your career at eBay?
I would rank public speaking towards the top of the list. I've been addressing eBay Live! participants about Feedback, and believe me, that can take some doing! Being able to think quickly and respond to tough questions in such situations is a critical skill.

Another skill I've found useful, especially in my area of policy management, is the ability to craft clear and concise written communication – it's critical to articulate a point of view very clearly, because there can be so many different nuances in the world of policies.

What do you buy or sell on eBay?
The last thing I attempted to sell was our Town & Country van, on eBay Motors. Unfortunately it didn't reach the reserve price. Mostly I'm a buyer. I buy books, legos, and toys for my kids. One of my favorite recent purchases was a second edition of Eugene O'Neill's “ Long Day's Journey into Night.”

What do you like to do for fun?
Work at eBay (laughs). I like spending time with my family. I used to play basketball but don't do it enough these days. I like going to sporting events. I also enjoy skiing and golf - when I have the time