EBay has banned negative comments from sellers on its site.

The online auctioneer will block negative comments from sellers about customers they have sold to. This will mean sellers on the site will be unable to flag up late payers or recurrent troublemakers.

Buyers will still be able to post negative comments on sellers – eBay believes they need more protection because they are having to send money to a seller that they do not know. The e-tailer hopes the move will coax more buyers onto the site.

Last week, eBay announced that it will cut the cost of selling an item on its site by a third, but will be increasing commission charged on completion of sales from 5.25 per cent to 7.5 per cent.