Boycott eBay?

[Rhythm N. Bliss]

Just heard about this boycott of ebay. Not sure if I'm in or not.
Maybe some of you guys can help me figure out what to do.

The following was posted on one of my other fav sites:

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000636290&start=0

The eBay boycott is set for next week, February 18-25.  Organizers are
asking people not to buy, sell or list on eBay for that week long
period.  Here are some of the reasons people are doing this:


*Final value fees are going up by 66%
*Listing fees up 20%-50%
*Sellers cannot leave negative feedback for dishonest buyers
*Reserve price is increasing by 100%, up from $1.00 to $2.00
*PayPal reserving the right to hold onto seller's money for up to 21
days w/o interest
*eBay customer service has always been poor, and now stands to get
worst

But the main reason I will be supporting the boycott is their
attitude.  They are trying to pass all this off as a decrease in
fees.  They are trying to make people believe that they are making
eBay a better place for buyers.  But the truth is that they are
implementing these changes to make tons more money.  They obviously
think we are stupid.  The new CEO of eBay said he was not worried
about the boycott, and that all the people complaining about it were
just "noise".
This is truly a grassroots effort, organized to show big business
monopolies that we are not just sheep who will stand idly by and
accept whatever is fed to us.  I for one am tired of companies like
Comcast, Microsoft, PayPal and eBay doing what ever they want because
they feel they are the only game in town.  Hopefully, this boycott
will be successful so the next time any large monopoly decides to try
such tactics, they will be reminded of the eBay boycott of 2008.

also, keep in mind that you also have the opportunity to profit from
eBay's success.  eBay is listed on NASDAQ and currently is sitting at
$28.17 per share.  Rather than complaining about fees or trying to
hurt the company, why not partner with them and profit from their
success.  That's one of the great aspects of capitalism, you can share
in the greed.  eBay's on a downward trend right now, and has been
since October.  If the new CEO turns the company around and gets eBay
back up into the 40's, you could stand to turn a nice profit.

Hmmmm....This is the first I've heard about it. I didn't get anything from ebay about them raising or decreasing prices. Have you?

[Dave W]

They're making major changes and I think most of them are steps in the right direction. They're improving the feedback system by not letting sellers leave feed back for buyers. That eliminates retaliatory seller feedback and will give a more accurate picture of what the seller is really like. At the same time, they're taking stronger action against dishonest buyers.

They're lowering listing fees and raising final value fees. Some people will like that better, others won't.

The biggest controversy I've heard is that in some cases new sellers can have their Paypal funds held for 21 days. It's a fraud prevention effort to make sure the product is delivered, but it won't be popular.

As far as the boycott goes, I support anyone's right to boycott. But when somebody starts yammering about "big business monopolies" and lumps them in with Microsoft and Comcast, IMHO he's an idiot. No one forces anyone to use eBay. They're not a monopoly. If enough people get dissatisfied, someone will come along and offer something better and less expensive.

[gweimer]

I don't mind Ebay so much.  It is what it is.  And in an enormous community like that, the automated rules sometimes go behind common sense.  They recently locked my account because I owed $1.61 from the previous month in fees.

What really irks me is PayPal, their retarded step son.  They have horrible customer service, and will side with the buyer in an instant.  I'm closing my account with them, and sending them the "brand new" Plantronics portable headset I got ripped off on as a good-bye present.

[uwe]

"They have horrible customer service, and will side with the buyer in an instant."

Not my experience, Sir! More the other way around. When I once mistransferred funds that should have gone to John the barkless hound (for his Yamaha Attitude which I still love to play) to another "fertig"-address which had nothing to do with the sale and was long dead, all my hollering did not help and they waited their stipulated month before making a return transfer. Anybody could have made off with the money in the meantime.

I think ebay is a convenient thing and with more than a 100 transactions I have yet to make a real bad experience. The worst I had was an incomplete bridge, but if truth be told I could have/should have noticed the missing bridge parts from the picture.

Uwe

[eb2]

I have seen Paypal from Uwe's side.  I see Paypal as being geared to the buyer losing his money.  The very nature of their dispute resolution process leads the buyer down a path where they will lose their funds by avoiding filling out their required documentation in their fine-print time frame.  I am no fan of Paypal.  And the sheer volume of nonsense on ebay makes me wish there was something better.  But till there is, I am there.  Truth be told the number of great transactions vs the number of bad has been fine, although as time has passed it has gotten worse.  When I first started using ebay in 1998 it was amazing.  Now, pain in the butt and deals are almost impossible to find.

[Dave W]

Most people don't seem to realize that a lot of what Paypal does is dictated by their agreements with the credit card companies. In the eyes of Visa, MC etc. Paypal is a merchant and has to abide by their merchant rules, and by extension, that means that you as a seller have to abide by those rules if you accept Paypal.

Those "Paypal sucks" sites really irritate me. When I've looked at them, almost every complaint I've seen is by someone who was in violation of their rules or claiming buyer or seller protection they weren't entitled to. And they often claim Paypal "stole" money from them when what actually happened is that Paypal awarded the money to the other party. OTOH, I have no trouble believing that Paypal and eBay sometimes make the wrong decision in disputes.

[felig]

I don't have a problem with ebay or paypal for the most part.  I don't like the fact that sellers will no longer be able to leave negative feedback for buyers.  Getting payment from the buyer is only the initial part of the transaction--I've had several buyers who have made my life hell in spite of my best efforts to resolve their "issues".   My wife does a very large volume of basically low dollar sales & it seems every week there is someone who is giving her a rough time--and she is also a seller who tries to satisfy the buyer.   

When I am selling, I rarely pay attention to buyer's feedback--I think I can tell when a seller is being a dick about something, or is retaliating against the buyer who has a legitimate issue.   I do pay attention to a seller's feedback, on the other hand, & I like to see, by way of the exchange of feedback between buyer & seller, how both parties dealt with each other.   

[uwe]

Most people don't seem to realize that a lot of what Paypal does is dictated by their agreements with the credit card companies. In the eyes of Visa, MC etc. Paypal is a merchant and has to abide by their merchant rules, and by extension, that means that you as a seller have to abide by those rules if you accept Paypal.

Those "Paypal sucks" sites really irritate me. When I've looked at them, almost every complaint I've seen is by someone who was in violation of their rules or claiming buyer or seller protection they weren't entitled to. And they often claim Paypal "stole" money from them when what actually happened is that Paypal awarded the money to the other party. OTOH, I have no trouble believing that Paypal and eBay sometimes make the wrong decision in disputes.

PayPal ain't perfect, but it is improving all the time and it is for a European like me buying stuff from US sellers one hell of a lot more convenient than doing bank transfers which even in this day and age of seconds-fast computer transmission seem to take ages.

[PhilT]

I agree with Uwe that, as a European often dealing with the US, Paypal is a hell of a lot easier, and generally cheaper, than dealing direct with a bank. I don't understand why I can't make an overseas funds transfer from my internet banking account, or why it costs $30 to do it after I've filled the paperwork in for them over the counter, but I can't and it does. The other thing Paypal does is insulate your bank and credit card details, so at least you're only giving them to one potential villain, rather than hundreds.

eBay's big problem is the haters are quite creative in getting publicity. This was quite an amusing stunt.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/11/ebay_laptop_auction/

[Dave W]

eBay's big problem is the haters are quite creative in getting publicity. This was quite an amusing stunt.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/11/ebay_laptop_auction/

See, this is what irritates me: "Paypal is currently ebays preferred method of stealing high value electrical items off sellers." No, it's scammers doing the stealing. And then his first item is about shipping to an unverified Paypal account -- something eBay warns against doing.

I read a few months ago at the Washington Posts's Security Fix blog where a cybercrime research group found about 3,700 fake eBay sites online at one time. Yet some people won't take precautions and blame eBay for the existence of criminals.

[Rhythm N. Bliss]

I'll probly boycott ebay for 2 reasons:
1) I've been spending WAY to much there. ...& besides, I have enuf basses!!!!!!
&
2) It IS a monopoly. Why doesn't someone else do something similar?

Maybe the boycott will do some kind of good. ...at least give me a breather. heh

[nofi]

amazon.com has been useful at times.

[gweimer]

The reason Ebay has so few competitors is that they were the first to get it working.  Yahoo has done auction-style selling for a while, and I recall there was EBidz at one time.

The newer one to watch is one dedicated to police auctions.  It's called www.propertyroom.com

And I've also found that Amazon has been a better alternative for a lot of things, especially CDs and DVDs.  It's gotten to the point where I can find things at Amazon that are priced as good or better, and have far less hassle and drama. 

[Barklessdog]

I saw a special on Ebay and it's founder. His business model was to get people to buy & sell stuff over the internet.

Everyone told him he was crazy that everyone would rip each other off. He said he believed if given the chance, people want to do good things and with a performance system, that would reward or punish people.

He was proven right for the most part or else ebay would not have ever got off the ground.

I was also surprised on what a basically good person he is. He said he is using the money he makes to ake he world a better place and the is his primary focus now, not Ebay. He has started inner city college funds and film programs for kids. He sounded like a great guy in the interview

[gweimer]

I will say that the one thing Ebay has done is give the small business a fighting chance against big corporations.  They have, if nothing else, provided an international marketing tool that a lot of small mom and pop shops might never have been able to access before.