eBay Fee Increase

[Brownian Motion]

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?ebayfee

The above links to an online petition asking eBay to not increase its fees, as the company plans to do in February. Although at last count 16918 people had signed, many of them also threatening to quit eBay should the fee increases not be rescinded, smart money says that both increases and most of the dissatisfied will still be with eBay 6 months from now.

What is particularly interesting about this, to me at least, is that this is a battle that ebay sellers could win and win handily: all they would need to do is organize a union ( a relative snap with the internet and email at their disposal) so that they could bargain collectively. Arrogant ebay could be made to crawl, and sooner rather than later.

But unions are foreign to the American culture we have constructed over the last quarter century, and they are no longer seen as engines of equalization between corporate power and employee power. So the ebay sellers will continue to whine and plead and beg, and ebay will continue to squeeze and squeeze and squeeze.

[Jim Alfredson]

Does eBay really need to increase it's fees? I mean, it's already turning a huge profit. It has no overhead, no stock to worry about. The fee increase seems to be pure greed from my standpoint and considering how many items are sold on eBay per day, just plain gross.

[Brad]

Does eBay really need to increase it's fees? I mean, it's already turning a huge profit. It has no overhead, no stock to worry about. The fee increase seems to be pure greed from my standpoint and considering how many items are sold on eBay per day, just plain gross.

Isn't that the american system? Isn't that what drives this economy anyway?

[mgraham333]

What is particularly interesting about this, to me at least, is that this is a battle that ebay sellers could win and win handily: all they would need to do is organize a union ( a relative snap with the internet and email at their disposal) so that they could bargain collectively. Arrogant ebay could be made to crawl, and sooner rather than later.

Sorry to burst your bubble here but this sounds an awful lot like the ideas people get in trying to topple Wal-Mart. Boycotts are rarely effective unless they are complete. People love to bitch about Wal-Mart.......usually on their way home from Wal-Mart.

Seems like the same thing here - I doubt there would be enough people willing...or able to give up eBay. And that is the exact rationale eBay has in upping their fees.

[Rooster_Ties]

People love to bitch about Wal-Mart.......usually on their way home from Wal-Mart.

Aint' that the truth (at least sometimes). I have a liberal/progressive friend who bitches about Wal-Mart all the time, but she shops there as much or more than she does any other store. Her excuse?? It's just so close to where she lives, she can't help it.

[Brownian Motion]

What is particularly interesting about this, to me at least, is that this is a battle that ebay sellers could win and win handily: all they would need to do is organize a union ( a relative snap with the internet and email at their disposal)  so that they could bargain collectively. Arrogant ebay could be made to crawl, and sooner rather than later.

Sorry to burst your bubble here but this sounds an awful lot like the ideas people get in trying to topple Wal-Mart. Boycotts are rarely effective unless they are complete. People love to bitch about Wal-Mart.......usually on their way home from Wal-Mart.

Seems like the same thing here - I doubt there would be enough people willing...or able to give up eBay. And that is the exact rationale eBay has in upping their fees.

Just as most folks in the BNBB diaspora wound up at Organissimo, so too could disgruntled Ebayers set up a permanent home at another auction site. The most vexing problem would be making sure that everyone migrates to the same alternative site. That is why organization would be necessary.

[connoisseur series500]

What is particularly interesting about this, to me at least, is that this is a battle that ebay sellers could win and win handily: all they would need to do is organize a union ( a relative snap with the internet and email at their disposal)  so that they could bargain collectively. Arrogant ebay could be made to crawl, and sooner rather than later.

Sorry to burst your bubble here but this sounds an awful lot like the ideas people get in trying to topple Wal-Mart. Boycotts are rarely effective unless they are complete. People love to bitch about Wal-Mart.......usually on their way home from Wal-Mart.

Seems like the same thing here - I doubt there would be enough people willing...or able to give up eBay. And that is the exact rationale eBay has in upping their fees.

Just as most folks in the BNBB diaspora wound up at Organissimo, so too could disgruntled Ebayers set up a permanent home at another auction site. The most vexing problem would be making sure that everyone migrates to the same alternative site. That is why organization would be necessary.

Who wants to move to a new online auction place with that big bunch of scammers?

Bottom line is that ebay can increase the fees because they know people will pay them. There just isn't enough serious competition out there to stop ebay from doing what they want.

[Brownian Motion]

Who wants to move to a new online auction place with that big bunch of scammers? 

Well, there is that. Of course some might argue that in this regard leaving ebay might be a case of jumping from the fire into the frying pan, since ebay seems to tacitly encourage scamming through such devices as "private auctions", 'hidden feedback", and "hidden bid historys".

[Jim Alfredson]

Who wants to move to a new online auction place with that big bunch of scammers?  

Well, there is that. Of course some might argue that in this regard leaving ebay might be a case of jumping from the fire into the frying pan, since ebay seems to tacitly encourage scamming through such devices as "private auctions", 'hidden feedback", and "hidden bid historys".

True enough. I really don't understand eBay these days. I've been a member since 1999 and it has changed radically since then, not always for the better. The whole "hidden feedback" thing makes absolutely no sense. Why would they give someone the ability to hide that and more to the point, why would anyone want to hide their feedback unless it sucked?

It's true that there is no competition so they can do as they please. I guess we all know what the answer is.

Craig's List!

[connoisseur series500]

It's up to you B-3er to once again come to the rescue!

You started this wonderful awful forum (quoting the Grinch!) when the BNBB went extinct. Time to work your magic once again and start a cyber auction place!