Grassroots Support Helps eBay Lobbying Efforts

from the p2p-democracy dept

Mon, Jun 5th 2006 8:02am — Joseph Weisenthal

For some time, states have been mulling regulations that would require some eBay sellers to get licensed as auctioneers. Ostensibly the regulations are intended to protect consumers against fraud, but in reality such requirements simply benefit established auctioneers, who don't like that anyone can do what they spent years in fast-talking school training for. But so far, no such regulations have passed, owing much to the company's strong lobbying efforts. While other tech companies are seen as lagging on the lobbying front, eBay's political success has come much the same way as their business success -- they rely on their network of independent sellers and eBay-based small businesses. The sellers can alert the company when there's been a shift in how regulations are being enforced, and when the company wants action on a specific bill, their users can be mobilized. Clearly, they're very much helped by the fact that their interests are aligned with their users, and that much of the company's value is outside of the corporation itself. For those interested in how the internet is affecting politics, eBay's experience looks like a good case study.

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DittoBox, 5 Jun 2006 @ 8:33am

Anytime anything good happens...
Anytime anything good happens, the government no matter how small always wants a piece of the pie, and they'll stick their grubby little thumb into just after scratching their bum before just to secure their pie...even if they never end up eating it.

Rotten good for nothing politicians.
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Howard, 5 Jun 2006 @ 8:56am

Ebay only cares if...
Ebay only cares if something happens that will impact their income in a major way. Not all of their interests are aligned with their users'. They are getting so many fraud complaints now that they can't respond in time to make a difference in any given case. They are also uninterested in enforcing their own rules except in cases where it has a major impact on their income. For instance, there are thousands of 1-cent BIN listings active right now, which have shipping charges that reflect the actual cost of the item (plus a miniscule actual S&H). This is a way to for a scammer to avoid ever having to deal with returned defective merchandise, because you can only get back the penny 'cost', and not the enormous "shipping & handling" charge.
BTW, these scammers have by & large learned how to play the feedback game so that their feedback numbers are unrelated to actual customer satisfaction.
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Mousky, 5 Jun 2006 @ 9:46am

Re: Ebay only cares if...
First, it is a good thing that eBay cares about income. Companies tend to 'last' longer when they make a profit.
Second, care to cite a reliable source that eBay is "getting so many fraud complaints"? Just because people complain does not mean that fraud is rampant - people that have a negative experience are more likely to complain and be vocal about that experience than people who have a positive experience.
Third, there is this small thing called "buyer beware". No one is forcing anyone to buy anything through eBay.
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ehrichweiss, 5 Jun 2006 @ 10:35am

Re: Re: Ebay only cares if...
"Second, care to cite a reliable source that eBay is "getting so many fraud complaints"? Just because people complain does not mean that fraud is rampant - people that have a negative experience are more likely to complain and be vocal about that experience than people who have a positive experience."

While I see your point somewhat, you forget that people who are scammed do not often have POSITIVE experiences. And not all people who are scammed will file a report so it's likely that you have only heard the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

*I* am a totally reliable source for fraud complaints because I have about 100 cases documented that I discovered(without a dollar of my money being spent thankfully) and reported; some of those cases were likely the same person/group but they are definitely there and if you are aware how scams work, you can see them a mile away.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Jun 2006 @ 11:19am

Re: Ebay only cares if...
Having problems on ebay myself, when you file a dispute with PayPal, it's for the whole amount including S&H. If people didn't more often buy lower price items with higher S&H versus the other way around, it wouldn't be done.
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John Bailey, 5 Jun 2006 @ 12:15pm

I've been using Ebay for several years now. So far, so good. There is fraud on Ebay, just like the rest of the world. Where there is money, there is fraud. But there are way more idiots who get auction fever and refuse to let go of an item until it costs more than retail. I wonder how many are the victims of these frauds.
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online auctions, 14 Feb 2007 @ 6:31pm

Ebay
This is a very sad truth. They are getting a lot of complains right now, but I think they should have dealt with those same problems when there were not that many. That is where they made the biggest mistake.
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