The Great eBay Boycott Is Officially On, Will Anyone Notice?

By February 20, 2008

Here we are a few days into a week-long eBay boycott over policy and fee changes and no one is sure if it is having any effect. It appears that listings are down 3%, but no one is sure if the drop is the result of the boycott.

eBay’s spokesperson told CNNMoney that the boycott “hasn’t had an impact on our listings.”

Some boycott supporters are hopeful, however:

“If [eBay's listings total] falls below 12 million we’ve made a pretty good impact,” said Nancy Baughman, an eBay PowerSeller who deals antiques and co-authored Buy It, Sell It, Make Money, a guide to doing business on eBay. “I’m hoping that it goes down below 10 million. If that happens, we will have made a huge impact.”

eBay says that it’s sticking with its changes — including a hotly contested decision to prevent sellers from leaving negative or neutral feedback about buyers.

EBay boycott begins, to uncertain effect [CNNMoney]

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Comments

  1. coraspartan says:
    February 21, 2008 at 6:18 pm

    I used to buy a lot of stuff on eBay, but rarely do anymore–I can usually find stuff cheaper elsewhere. The only things I buy on there anymore are unusual or vintage items I can’t find anywhere else.

    I used to sell on eBay too, but since they raised their fees on pretty much everything, I stopped making money and therefore stopped selling. Now I just craigslist it and if I can’t sell it there, I donate it for the tax deduction.

  2. thalia says:
    February 21, 2008 at 7:18 pm

    Buyers think this is great for them, but after a few weeks when all products on eBay are only available at retail price because eBay is raping the sellers…we’ll see if buyers are still happy about the changes!

  3. WhirlyBird says:
    February 22, 2008 at 4:15 pm

    @nursethalia: I’ll be ecstatic. Only a poltroon would buy new/retail merchandise from eBay – I wouldn’t mind if all those scammers left and never came back. Them we can get back to selling one-of-a-kind garage-sale crap, which is what auctions are intended for.

    If someone wants to open an online store for selling new stuff, go somewhere else.

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