I don't think the strike is over.
I don't think it will end on the 3rd or the 10th or any time soon.

What we are seeing here is a vast wake up call via a slap in the face by Ebay to its sellers and buyers.

Anger has morphed into a grass roots campaign to keep Ebay in the news -in a negative light.
Many feel that if Ebay is trying to put the sellers out of business and destroy livelihoods, The sellers will act in kind and Keep up the "noise" until it hurts.

I really do not think it is about trying to change Ebay's behaviour at this point. It is now a cold war
an "us vs. them" on a vast scale.

Howard Dean and Obama to a lesser degree have shown that motivated individuals online acting in a collective can wield clout.
If that clout can affect advertisers and retailers and make them think twice about using Ebay, really interesting things may occur.

The corporate world may have to deal with the individual in ways not possible 10 years ago, thanks to the internet.

I'm "on strike" (except for one protest listing) and will be until March 4th! I also plan to join in on another boycott starting May 1st when the new "feedback" changes go in to effect. I, along with thousands of other buyers and sellers, are migrating to www.onlineauctions.com. I hope to be completly relocated by June 1st (with the same user id, too)!

All I have heard this past week is how eBay is going to go under. Sellers are striking! Not the Big guys I assure you! lol...

Amazon has not gone under!
eBay is in direct competition with Amazon and must do like-wise to survive.

All I hear is how the big guys will be catered to on eBay. What is wrong with that?

Liquidators and small to medium companies doing business with eBay is good business!
The more the merrier! It will make for a better buying experience for consumers. They can buy with confidence.

Gone will be the fake items! Stolen items!

Ebay will be the place to shop!

I just bought 30 pair of Hanes (briefs)underwear for my husband on eBay! (10 packs of three)
Brand new...(not seconds or irregulars)...but brand new for $49.99 and free shipping! It was buy now! ....WOW! What a deal...

I can't even get that kind of a deal on Amazon! ...They want $10.00-$12.00 for 3 pair!


eBay is certainly on the right track! Bring in the big guys from all over the world....let them sell their excess inventory...Bring in the Liquidators....
They all carry...store returns...Shelf pulls...overstocks...Closeouts!

And yes...Be good to them! Cater to them!Reward them! Keep them. eBay will be...THE PLACE TO BUY AT DISCOUNT PRICES.
We all need that.

As a stock-holder I am glad to finally see eBay do something to compete with Amazon. And this is the way to do it!

People want to save on things they use everyday!
Bringing in the Big Guys will bring buyers to eBay! And everyone will make money.

Has anybody looked into the Donahoe pay package, to see how and when his stock options vest? Seems to me, he (Donahoe) would (personally) be in a better buying position (of stock options) if he initially manipulated the publicly traded Ebay share price lower -- perhaps by levying insulting, incendiary, and counter-intuitive new rules and pricing structures on Ebay sellers, so as to, essentially, keep the share price low, and thus buy his stock (options) at the lowest possible point. This he effectively did early in his regime, by announcing the new changes prior to taking over as CEO. The other way Donahoe's new rules (and keeping Ebay shares initially artificially low) benefit Donahoe, is that... If Donahoe begins his reign with a lower (personally handicapped) Ebay share price, if in the future, should Ebay's share price rise, Donahoe would look like a success. Clever, if he wants to control the numbers and look like a turn-around artist... But it has undermined the perception of Ebay's goodwill, harmed Ebay's constituency (its sellers) by removing the former parity in the system, and harmed the company itself in the competitive marketplace. The Donahoe moves ultimately appear self-serving and unethical; conceived by someone who does not understand the practical nature of the company that he has blundered into. He has clearly not spent time actually selling on Ebay. Donahoe entered with an insult, resulting in the disaffection of millions. Doesn't strike me as sound public relations... And Ebay's millions of sellers and Wall Street e-commerce analysts aren't THAT stupid!

Moselle: That's truly splendid that you got those NOT irregular underwears, but fact is, they were probably listed 3 or even 4 months ago as well and you could have made your purchase at Target on line as well. For liquidations and overstocks... there is Overstock dot com and shipping + handling there is only $2.95 ~~~~

Lets say you broke your mother's beautiful crystal bowl, and it was the only thing you had left of her's to hold her close? Where, with your new and improved Ebay, would you go to find a replacement? And I hate to disabuse you your idea that ebay is catering to its powersellers, it is not. I closed shop and my paypal account today and I am a powerseller... not being catered to. My repeat buyer ratio is 18% Ebay is an equal opportunity abuser when it comes to fattening their coffers. I can get pushed around anywhere, and not have to pay for it.

So... do you think people are striking to increase their wealth, or just to survive?

What I would like to know is -What has happened to morality and social responsibility? Are the rich so far removed from the average man that
they feel an entitlement to lord over the "have-not's" and keep them
in humble servitude?

Yes, there are Ebay millionaires, just as there are lotto winners... few and far between. A more likely Ebayer is a single mother trying to earn the school lunch money so she can afford some extra time with her kids, or the retiree with no or little pension, a young, hopeful
couple trying to save for that ever elusive house, a disabled person
and many, many small business persons -the mom and pops... The people, the reasons, are as vast as America is diverse. One thing they will surely tell you is "It is NOT easy money."


Shame on those who brag they will capitalize on lower listings to increase their take. Shame on those who do so quietly. Shame on those who clamor to invest in a company that stomps out the cries of the very people who brought it to greatness with lies and deception.


As I write this, politicians talk "big-talk" about universal health care while Congress is slowly defunding Medicare and U.S. children have the worst quality of life in the developed world. And every day the news gets worse.


Following is a quote from Bill Moyers:


"The reality of the anonymous, disquieting daily struggle of ordinary
people... searching for dignity and fairness against long odds in a cruel market world."


"Everywhere you turn you'll find people who believe they have been written out of the story. Everywhere you turn there's a sense of insecurity grounded in a gnawing fear that freedom in America has come to mean the freedom of the rich to get richer even as millions of Americans are dumped from the Dream."

Lets get real here okay....
Seems to me the more that people complain and gripe, and or bad mouth eBay, the worse the situation will only get for everyone.

In the long run bad publicity daily is not good for any business. This continued fight and battle with eBay sellers has brought eBay down over the last few years.

eBay, once a good company and money maker has slowly eroded and been taken down by disgruntled eBay selllers.

The more that people complain the worse it will get.

I suggest that those unhappy with eBay just move along and find another outlet. Sooner or later everyone gets priced out of something.

That's the way it is! That's life!

eBay sellers it seems are always trying to bring eBay down to their knees... by claiming that they made the company what it is today. lol...

What exactly is eBay today? Lol.

Speaking as a long term stock holder this company has been a real loser. Has been going down and no-where the last few years., lol.

eBay is competing with Amazon and Google and must do what it takes to stay in business! Why can't you people get that through your heads?

Why can't you people support eBay? You claim it's your bread and butter, and yet you trash this company every chance you get! You have for years now.

Move on. Go elsewhere...Leave eBay alone!

Enough said!

Mozelle,

I take issue with your comments...as I have been a long time reader of bloggingstocks articles on Ebay. I started reading and blogging here back when bloggingstocks writer Gary E. Sattler was a fellow blogger.

I stopped using Ebay in September 2006... but the mere fact that I stopped using it doesn't dissuade me from telling people not to use it. In fact, every discussion I've ever had with anybody every since then has ended by me making a statement to them suggesting that they should never use Ebay and to stay away from it, period. Why, there are safer alternatives on the net and in bricks and mortar stores.

Additional reasons...bad business decisions (read Skype), strong-arm tactics, disrespect for the small seller, monopolistic control over payment systems, blatant censorship, and otherwise bad or unethical business practices.

Until Ebay ceases and desists from these business practices, Ebay will always incur the wrath of vocal sellers (whether current and former) and vocal former buyers like myself.

Furthermore, your posts will not make me go away nor will it make me stop speaking out.

Freedom of Speech.

Have a good day ;)

We’ve seen a huge surge in business at http://hosted4.us as a result of ebay raising their fees. A lot of merchants seem to have decided that it’s more cost effective to pay a flat monthly fee and run their own website without someone taking a cut of their profit margins. We have sold more of our prepackaged ecommerce solutions http://qcs.hosted4.us in the past week than in the past few months.

Thanks eBay!

As An eBayer Of Many Years!!..I Really Hate to see that eBay.com is ruining the lively hood of so many Honest and Disabled and Veteran Sellers!!!!... Many Of The Smaller Sellers Who Helped Build eBay Have No Other Way To Make A Living!!....I Think Sellers Are Right To Take Control!...And,This Strike Is Most Definitely In Order!!!!!...If most of the Sellers abandoned their listings for a Week or MORE!! and Buyers "Don't Bid Or Browse"..It May bring eBay Management to their Senses!!...My Favorite Business Management Professor at GA. TECH always said "If It Ain't Broke...Don't Try to Fix It" ...In My Humble Opinion....The Proposed Feedback Change and the 21 Day Paypal.com Holding Period may be "Unconstitutional" & "Very Illegal"...."One Sided Feedback" may be a violation of the "Equal Protection Clauses" in the the various State and the Federal Constitutions!!.....Additionally....Both The New "Unequal Feedback Policy" and the "21 Day Holding Period" may require that eBay act as a "Law Enforcement Agency" and a "Court Of Law " in order to settle contractual disputes between Buyers and Sellers!!..Both Of These Actions May Be Extremely Illegal!!.... We Need To Help Ebay Save Itself!!....If One Strike doesn't work, Sellers may need to do it Again and Again--->Until it Does Work!! .... Hopefully!!, Persistent Sellers Will Convince eBay Management to Withdraw these proposed changes and return to Business As Normal Before The Law Enforcement Agencies and The Federal/State Courts Bring Them DOWN!! I have heard that One Of The Best Civil Trial Lawyers in Atlanta imay be waiting until the proposed changes take place before filing a multi billion dollar Class Action Lawsuit (On Behalf Of "ALL" SELLERS) against eBay, Paypal and their new cohort General Motors for Violation of the "Equal Protection and Numerous Other Clauses" Of The US Constitution!....Additionally....He may be requesting that US Magistrates and the Attorney General issue Felony Criminal Warrants requesting immediate arrest of all eBay Management and all employees involved in making feedback decisions(in which they act as a Law Enforcement Agency...AND... A Court Of Law!!) I Am Afraid That "Good Attorneys" and the almost Trillion Dollor "Class Action Suit" may Bankrupt eBay, Paypal and General Motors!! It will be Interesting to see how much it may cost eBay, Paypal and Genral Motors to reimburse all of the Sellers that are being be forced to leave eBay and give up their only source of income because of these New Feedback and Paypal Rules!!!! .....Probably Trillions!! ....My Professor Also Said..."Nothing Is "Forever"...Except Death And Taxes!!

Ebay sellers strike has nothing to do with the fee raise. That is just the tip of the iceberg.......

There once were two visionaries, named Pierre Omidyar and Meg Whitman, who followed their dreams of beginning a small on-line marketplace, where anyone buying or selling anything from a pair of used sneakers, in good shape of course, to a Russian scaled-down Bor-5 VKK spacecraft for $2 million, (item 1178647016 for those non-believers) could post their prized possession in an international auction house.
Under the leadership of those two exceptional individuals grew an exceptional on-line power broker, branching out from simple collectibles into nearly every type of market. eBay's vision for success transitioned from one of commerce--buying and selling things--to one of connecting people around the world under one large flea market. Ebay grew because there was nothing out there like it; anyone with something to sell could post it, at a reasonable price, and have millions of people from around the world bidding on their item. Any problems were always smoothly and efficiently resolved with the use of professional mediators like Square Trade or Paypal, if the item in question was paid through them.

In time, eBay has endured growing pains and a few unpopular changes, but nothing comes even close to the abomination put forth by John Donahoe, the new so-called visionary who is contemplating changing eBay into what some consider the beginning of the end for what once was a unique idea. As an eBay Power Seller, I have been a member of this great marketplace since the year 2000, currently enjoying 100% positive feedback on my transactions, which number over 3,800, therefore I speak with a certain amount of knowledge on the subject.

Mr. Donahoe's new vision lies in converting a successful and fun worldwide flea market into an on-line Walmart, or shopping mall, and there are many veteran sellers who are ready to split town and go elsewhere. We are not talking about a few, but large enough numbers to bring down eBay sales by millions, even though the power giant has been scrambling trying to keep the problem under wraps from investors and the media, who are currently occupied with the Presidential election.

Mr. Donahoe's ideas are not only, in my opinion, narrow minded and boring, but some of his demands towards eBay sellers are downright reminiscent of what socialist and Nazis expected of their subordinates. For those of you who are not aware, communism and Nazi SS control mechanisms are alive and well, living obscurely in the fine print of eBay's Terms and Conditions. I invite you to read them carefully.
I don't have to repeat what they are, anyone with a few minutes of their time can read, on this and eBay's own Seller's Forums, the thousands of posts detailing Donahoe's new future nightmarish marketplace. Doesn't he see, as well as eBay's Board of Directors, that they are going to change something that is unique, and needed, into just another cookie cutter multi-store conglomerate, selling items one can easily find in their neighborhood department store WITHOUT THE EXTRA SHIPPING EXPENSE AND THE EXTRA WAITING TIME UNTIL THE ITEM ARRIVES IN THE MAIL?
What lack of vision! What typical Yuppie cookie cutter mentality! If he wants to see an on-line store conglomerate all Donahoe needs to do is create a parent company, right alongside eBay, that would attract those type of businesses.

We sellers, who are the real heartbeat of eBay, can only pray for another visionary to take Pierre Omidyar's place and continue the unique idea of a world-wide marketplace, or flea market if you wish (Donahoe, eat your heart out). Is there one valiant business person out there who refuses to follow modern-day cookie cutter mentality? Ah Google, what we Power Sellers would do for you if you took your enormous power, assets, and technical knowledge to create the next worldwide bazaar! The possibilities are endless.....

After all, just look around you, no matter where you live; who doesn't like to find that one-of-a-kind bargain in a flea market, auction house, or garage sale?

As a multi-power seller, I think that eBay will not see a huge strike impact in this one or two weeks (unfortunately) -- but rather attrition that slowly ebbs away.

We are participating in the strike and using this time to revamp our stores and pare our (future) listings.

eBay is now only about 10% of our business; it's always been a pain in the butt, honestly, and I have personally loathed it, but seen it as a necessary evil to drive business to my websites. It's steadily fallen as a percentage of biz over the years (from near 100% down to its current pittance), but the hours it consumes don't seem to change much.

So we are revamping. Our prices are going up to absorb fees and higher shipping costs; our S&H charges will go down modestly to make everyone happy. The same item will cost about 10% more on eBay than on our website; we plan to use the questions people ask us as a way to drive them there for better selection and lower prices.

We are also cutting the number of items we offer on eBay down to our best sellers only. Gone are the days of putting everything in the store.

Even with higher pricing, we'll be absorbing higher costs. Those will be considered "marketing and advertising" expense.

We're also diversifying to other auction sites on a trial basis. This may be a blessing in disguise as it will get all of our eggs out of eBay's basket. (Did I mention I loathe them?)

eBay "helped" me once years ago, too, when they shut down my PayPal account, froze the funds, and refused to answer my queries as to why. In essence, they put me out of business with no notice at all at a time I was just starting in the eCommerce world and needed the income badly. I had to reposition quick, throw up my first website, get a merchant account, and teach myself SEO on the fly.

It was like being thrown into the deep end of the pool to learn how to swim, but swim we did. And revenues went up a couple of hundred-fold in a few short but stressful years.

I'm crossing my fingers that this latest "help" from eBay takes us to the next level!

eBay claiming that the seller strike is having no effect doesn't surprise me. These are the same people who are trying to tell us sellers that the fee increases are actually fee decreases and that we asked for them! Unfortunately for eBay we are business owners and we can do the math. The idea of having an auction and then being expected to pay to ship the product to a buyer while PayPal holds the payment for 21 days is patently ridiculous. Try that at any other auction - online or in person and see what happens! The people claiming the boycott is having no effect are also the same people who continue to change basics like feedback and institute unreasonable DSR's against honest sellers. Those sellers that try to stay will see both their reputations and their businesses destroyed by these new policies.

eBay is clearly lying - continuing to show very poor judgment while making bad and unethical business decisions. eBay has made some very costly acquisitions (Skype etc…) that have not shown the anticipated returns – more poor judgment and bad business – having absolutely nothing to do with the sellers. Yet eBay and people like Mozelle continue blaming the sellers (eBay’s customers) for their own failures, poor judgment and bad/unethical business decisions. If the majority of the stockholders are like Mozelle then no doubt the people in control at eBay will continue to be rewarded for poor judgment, bad and unethical business decisions and the company (along with it’s stock) will continue it's downward spiral. A company with these extremely poor business practices that then tries to blame it's customers will not survive.

Mozelle says eBay was once a good company and the sellers have brought it down – again blaming the sellers and completely ignoring the fact that this is eBay’s own doing and they have no one to blame but themselves. The bad publicity is a result of eBay making it crystal clear to their customers (the sellers) that they don’t want or need the majority of them. eBay could have made an effort to clear out the fraudulent sellers – non-paying bidders and bad buyers alike. Instead they chose to lump all sellers – both the honest sellers and the fraudulent sellers – together and blame all their business woes on the sellers – totally ignoring their own failures along with the issues of non-paying bidders and bad buyers.

And in case the stockholders haven’t noticed the sellers are moving on in huge numbers and taking their buyers with them. Sellers who are for the most part honest and hard working business people are refusing to be treated as thieves while paying large amounts of money for the privilege of being abused by eBay. If these sellers treated their customers the way eBay is treating their customers (the sellers) they would rightfully be out of business.

The majority of sellers are also buyers - both sellers and many people who never sold and have only been buyers are moving on and finding alternatives to eBay. Those alternative venues are welcoming them - treating them fairly and some of these sites will grow quickly. Yes it will take time but eBay seems to have forgotten that they started out small too and the sellers and buyers who made them a success can make other venues just as successful.

No I will not go back to eBay even if they reverse these most recent changes. It is no longer about just fee increases, unfair feedback or a temporary boycott. The way eBay is treating sellers has proven to me that I cannot trust them and I have no desire to pay for such unfair treatment. Yes it is costing me financially but as my previous post said staying with eBay will also cost me financially and destroy my good reputation in the process.

I laughed when I got their latest email lowering fees for 2 days on certain listing upgrades and encouraging me to 'list a bunch and pocket the savings'. Their repeated attempts to spin this as fee decreases and making it better for everyone simply disgusts me.

The fraudulent and fake auctions are thriving - from the $20,000 pretzel auction that ended a few days ago - 250218456975 - to the 3 million dollar music/albums auction that I have been told ended with a non-paying bidder. What??? One of the saintly buyers that eBay supposedly prequalified to bid on that auction didn't pay - shocking!!! There are some very strange things happening on eBay these days that have only reinforced my decision to leave permanently.

I am a buyer related to a seller. I fully agree with so many posting here..especially daves. It is the greed of ebay and it's asinine way of speaking to sellers as if they are scum. Regardless of what any one says, Ebay/Paypal can be knocked to their knees. Reading here and on other stock reports, it fries me to read that Ebay says their listings are up..fake front..HMMM did GM push the listings up for FREE..no cost to GM? Did the promo come at a perfect time? Try harder ebay...you have a long ways to go to prove you have done the right move. Yes, Dave, I follow what you have said as the way to go...'Last year' I thought it was the only way to show ebay that they just don't make the rules up as they please..that some one 'bigger' will stop them in their tracks. What goes around comes around.

ANYONE HOLDING EBAY STOCK
(OR BUYING AND SELLING ON eBAY)
MAY BE GUILTY OF SUPPORTING AN
ON-GOING CRIMINAL ENTERPRIZE!!!!

Everyone suspects that
eBay may be the World's Largest Fence
Of Stolen, Forged & Knock Off Merchandise!!.

I Think It's time for the FBI, Treasury Dept and
The US Attorney General to Begin An Investigation
Into This Company's Employees (And It's Major Stockholders!! )

Operating as a
Purveyor of Stolen Goods
Normally results in Quick & Fast Arrests!!

I think the recent decision to make
the Feedback System "One-Sided"
may be the Final Nail in the eBay Coffin!!

In order for eBay employees to mediate
the up-coming new Feedback Complaints...
They may have to act as a "Law Enforcement Agency",
"Court Of Law", "Judge" and "Jury"....Are These Acts Illegal??..

Why do eBay The eBay and Paypal Employees
That render the daily complaint decisions between
Buyers and Sellers operate under incomplete False Names??

Do They know that the decisions
They are making may be against the Law??...

eBay may be in deep trouble
as the legitimate brick and mortar
Major Retailers like Sears, Target,
and Walmart demand that eBay be held
accountable for selling merchandise that
may have been stolen from Their Stores!!

One Side Feedback May Test The
Laws Of Equity and Equal Protection!!!

The proposed Paypal 21 Day Funds Holding Period
Will Not Work...It May Be Against Banking Regulations..
And What Seller in Their Right Mind is going to ship a product
Before They Receive Payment (and may never ever get paid)???

Dishonest Buyers Worldwide
will have a Field Day...While Legimate
Sellers may continue to Boycott and Go Elsewhere!!

Unless the new proposed one-sided
feedback decision is reversed Immediately
(or the feedback system is totally removed)...The
decline and fall of eBay may only take a Short Time!!

In My mind...
eBay Stockholders, Employees
Buyers & Sellers may be un-knowingly
(or knowingly) Conspiring to support an
ongoing International Criminal Enterprise!

Conspiracy Is
A "Serious" Crime!!

This comment
has been made by...
A Retired Private Detective...
& eBay User of almost 10 Years!!!!

http://www.ioffer.com/info/parody_feepay