Perhaps a little scared by recent lawsuits from fashion makers, eBay has agreed to some form of policing on its site and has teamed up with the British Museum. Together, they are warning sellers and buyers about the legalities of treasure finds trading.
The British Museum has set up a team to monitor sales on eBay and make sure antiques are sold legally with the illegal listings reported to special police detectives. This is done under the English, Welsh, and Northern Irish law where failure to report "treasures" is deemed a criminal offense. Not all items that are considered treasures are even allowed to be sold. The team will ensure proper reporting, which in turn result in legal sales.
eBay, on its part, would stop illegal listings when asked to do so and educate customers, both buyers and sellers, who may not be aware of the law. eBay has posted a guide to buying antiquities.
While eBay signed a memorandum of understanding, the company isn't actually paying the British Museum to support the team. Some found that to be ironic.
I doubt today's 2.58%, or 71 cents gain in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) share price has anything to do with the above, though. The rumors of something happening in China are still floating around and that is what most likely has propelled eBay's recent (starting last week) rally. eBay closed at $28.18 today.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-04-2006 @ 8:22AM
eBay forum Girl said...
Hard to believe but eBay is getting a run for their money now. But more competition will be better for the users of eBay because eBay might have to lower their fees.
10-04-2006 @ 3:34AM
ceobay said...
Waht about the rumor, about Microsoft to buy Ebay very very soon?
somethig will happend Octber 18th. Wait and see your screen....
10-04-2006 @ 3:43AM
Brian Snale said...
This move is to be welcomed, but does nothing to correct the gaping holes in eBay security. Until there is proper verification of users, anyone can set up with a fictitious ID, build some bogus feedback with the 1cent e-cook scams and start listing. Collect the money from hoodwinked buyers and disappear onlt to resurface hours or even minutes later withyet another new ID.
Buyers have lost confidence in the place, that is why sales are in the doldrums, and no amount of special listing days to keep the numbers up is going to solve these real problems. No still a DEFINITE SELL from me.
10-04-2006 @ 4:01AM
Alex said...
It’s good to see Ebay are now appearing to make moves to curtail the sale of items that shouldn't be on their site. It’s just a shame that the costs of this policing this are to be met solely by the British taxpayer.
In Britain, if a "venue" such as a pub is found to be responsible for allowing its drinkers to get out of control, they get fined and risk losing their licence. If a "venue" such as a football stadium experiences crowd trouble, they get fined and risk disciplinary action. Football clubs also pay a police bill regularly to meet the costs of crowd control.
Why should Ebay escape the costs of 'policing' their site? After all, they do profit from crime in many cases.
This cute publicity stunt is an obvious attempt to appear to Joe public that attempts are being made to control illicit sales. It would be good if this was true, but surely Ebay should share some of the costs of this.
In another issue, it’s good to see “feedback farming” gaining attention:
http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y06/m10/i03/s02
Particularly this quote:
"It manipulates some of Ebay's numbers, registered members, active members, sell-thru stats, etc."
10-04-2006 @ 10:56AM
Jeff said...
A ship without a rudder...
http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y06/m10/i04/s02
cruising across ice fields in the North Atlantic, at full speed, in the dead of night.