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Friday, February 01, 2008

Ebay Boycott

After my post yesterday, an anonymous fly-by posted this:

*IMPORTANT NOTICE*

Worldwide eBay Boycott February 18th through February 25th, 2008.

We the concerned eBay buyers and sellers on eBay are protesting eBays announced new fee increases and feedback policy changes. We do not believe that these changes will have any positive affect for buyers or sellers and will result in increased prices, less choices and disharmony within the eBay community.

We also are in complete agreement that eBay's policy of allowing dogs and cats to be sold on eBay in China for slaughter purposes is both cruel and inhumane and must be stopped immediately.

We urge all people's to not shop or sell on eBay during this worldwide boycott.

Please spread the word.

Thank you.


I checked into it, and the post is 100% valid. And yes, the part about Ebay allowing dogs and cats to be sold as food is shockingly TRUE. It's amazing to see Ebay kowtow for the almighty Yen.

In the past there's been talk of Ebay boycotts and they didn't pan out well. Some sellers said it would only hurt them and impact Ebay little to nothing at all. However, that's assuming that there aren't going to be enough pissed-off sellers to make it effective.

This time, I'm betting there are.

Yes, the boycott will hurt sellers for a week. But it's only a week! How many of us have taken vacation or had an illness that prevented us from listing for a week? And yet we survived it! We can do this.
And during that time, perhaps we will start selling on Amazon.com or Ebid.net and we'll do ourselves a favor by working with an ethical company who charges considerably less! After all, if the buyers know the sellers are elsewhere, they will surely follow.

I learned something new yesterday. Ebay's claim that they're dropping fees is deceptive. They'll actually be increasing their final charges, which will more than make up for the fee drop they're trumpeting. That means that not only will sellers be treated as garbage, but they'll also be charged more for the privilege.

Thanks, but no thanks, Ebay. I'm joining the boycott.

7 comments:

The Lazy Iguana said...

Nice. Are cats and dogs that scarce in China that they have to auction them off? Hell I always thought that cats and dogs were free. Just leave food outside and you can collect at least a dozen cats in a week.

The boycott sounds like a good idea. I will refrain from listing anything. Ever. Or buying anything.

Ebay is spent anyway. I do not find any good deals anymore. Too many bidders that get auction fever have driven up prices. I have seen stuff on Ebay listed for more than I can buy the same shit for - NEW - at a real store. Are people smoking crack? I guess so.

The early days before Pay Pal were the bomb. You could actually find good stuff for a decent deal - even with shipping charges. Ebay used to be an online garage sale.

No more. Now stuff sells for upwards of 80% of the new retail price. Heck Ill just buy it new and avoid the possibility of getting scammed.

Buyers ARE looking for deals. Buyers have NO LOYALTY to Ebay. If there is another site where I can get better deals, I am there.

If you quit using Ebay, you also need to quit using Pay Pal. If this is possible. Western Union maybe??

Three Score and Ten or more said...

I mentioned Amazon and Etsy yesterday, and had some folks recommend OnlineAucton.com today. Logged in, and it seems pretty busy.
Checked my stock yesterday (in Ebay) and the bottom has dropped out of it. I almost sold it at Christmas. I should have.

Saur♥Kraut said...

3 Score & 10, yeah, I heard that stock was falling. Thanks for the suggestions, btw! I will also check onlineauction.com.

Lazy, Google now has a PayPal type service! I think I'll look into that, as Google is so wildly popular, I think their pay system is a given winner.

You're right about the deals. SOMEtimes you can find a good deal still, but it's not frequent. And there is SO MUCH FAKE CRAP. I guess when I said I hadn't encountered unethical sellers, I wasn't thinking about the fakes. There are fake designer purses and sunglasses, fake amber, and fake ... well, you name it. And that drives the price of the real stuff straight down the toilet. :P Because Ebay doesn't reign in the bad buyers and sellers, we all suffer. That's why it won't last much longer.

Anonymous said...

Note to all: TAZBAR is an up and coming auction site that is worldwide and uses GOOGLE CHECKOUT as one of the payment options. Check it out.
Roll on the boycott!

exMI said...

Does Ebay allow other animals to be sold for food? IF so I have no problem with dogs and cats being similarly listed. Our cultural biases shouldn't affect what is bought, sold, or eaten in China.

Anonymous said...

I think it's sick that they would sell cats and dogs at all...for food or no food...there is a bunch of sickos out there and the poor animal has NO choice. I used to love EBAY and now I feel sick about the whole mess.

EXPOSE ebay!! Show the TRUTH!

Thanks for the good job on the site!!

A Lovely Thing said...

Thank you for supporting the eBay boycott.

There are numerous alternatives to eBay -- ecrater, blujay, etsy -- many, many more. Find a list at alovelyebayer.blogspot.com

Please visit these other sites and expand your online shopping!