They could, but there is no incentive to do so.

In fact there's a disincentive. eBay made their commission on this sale, changing their policies would likely mess with both the top and bottom lines of their business.

Trust has value, too. Just imagine how much money they'd make if they weren't known for being a terrible place to sell OR buy.

I agree.

What percentage of the eBay-using population has reduced their trust in eBay as a result of this and many other articles on HN, though?

The brand awareness of eBay has given them a great deal of trust runway that, IMO, they can burn through before it starts to actually affect the short term numbers that dominate the things that anyone actually acts on with large, publically traded companies.

By the time that happens, though, it will be too late for them.

For what its worth I really LOVE buying on eBay for the most part and I'm not the only eBay fan.

I think the scam listings are easy to avoid and the one time I was scammed by a seller (sent me obviously used item rather than the advertised new condition) eBay refunded me and the entire process was pretty easy.

I really like eBay bucks (though they have neutered the program lately), its a great place to buy used everything, eBay daily deals can be great, major stores/brands have eBay stores and Newegg specifically has a lot of eBay only sales, and they sometimes have 10% off gas cards sold directly by SVM.

It still works even though there are scams because the vast majority of people are honest.

I sell on eBay as well but I don't love it because the commission is more expensive. If the commission were lower I'd prefer it to selling on Amazon. I do most of my selling on Amazon lately but I still eBay some stuff.

I do worry about getting scammed, especially while selling, but I think you're equally likely to get scammed on Amazon than eBay. For high value items (I sell items that cost $1,500+) I google the buyer and address, and I take pictures and video of me packing up and shipping it. I also don't ship anything that isn't eligible for PayPal's seller protection. I'm glad most people don't try to scam me. I had one person claim to have their eBay and PayPal accounts hacked but PayPal's seller protection took care of me.

Facebook groups seem to be a good place to sell and I've sold a few impossible to ship items there, but honestly, I still don't feel comfortable meeting strangers in person.

The problem with that is a decision today that favors trustworthiness pays off over years, with a negligible positive impact in the short term, while one that favors short-term results pays off, well, on the short-term. There are a lot more structural incentives to maximize next quarter's numbers than the same numbers 5 years down the road.