I would have to honestly say that a Million Dollar Company like ebay would not do something like that, it wouldn't be in there best interest to even try and pull something. If they did thou, it would destroy the ebay marketplace. That is just my opinion.

From what I saw of it, it looks like this is something that has gone on for some time, so I don't think it was done in response to the Boycott--at least not exclusively.

I definitely think something strange IS going on, however, because as soon as they phony listings were found and publicized on the ebay forums, the listings started disappearing by the thousands, and then the eBay thread itself was pulled, as well!

It's anyone's guess what eBay is up to these days--this is a company that is clearly in a lot of trouble. My guess would be that padding the listings would be more for the benefit of the stockholders, than for the Boycott press. Maybe some of both? In any event, there is so much shenanigans going on, which those who are closely involved with eBay and the Boycott see every day--it is only a matter of time until this once great company does itself in if it doesn't somehow manage to get its act together and turn things around soon.

Unfortunately, they seem to be going about it entirely the wrong way.

Thanks for your input Val and Lisa...

I have been listing items on eBay since 1995 and think that we (the sellers) have been spoiled for quite a while.

To list your item on a venue that gets millions of hits a day and that gives you the ability to target a specific audience (via its search function), if you think about it eBay fees really aren't that bad at all.

For fractions of what the final price of your item sells for, you are able to list anything you want.

People are complaining about its new fees and changes, but I honestly think it is a pretty good deal to list things on eBay, with or without these new changes.

I saw thousands of these listings for myself on ebay. The user was NOT a registered user. You could NOT bid or buy. I wrote only once to ebay. The usual response. Thanks for your concern. LOL
On youtube, He was filming this & it disappeared right on camera.

Just in my circle alone of friends & family I speak to on a daily basis.
6 people closed their stores for good. 4 where powersellers. Myself included. Over 20 good friends respected the boycott for the week plus.
I know for a fact.
The boycotters do NOT dislike ebay. They just would like it to stay the way it was.
The fee hikes, are terrible for smaller sales. This is what made ebay what it is today. The flea market treasures!
The feedback is really bad. This allows opportunities for easier theft now.
Ebay already had a bad reputation for online scams. I as a powerseller have had my fair share of horror stories.
Yes, I do believe that the boycott did hurt ebay.
I saw that there was something strange with all those thousands of listings.
They have to worry about the stockmarket, with so many people packing up & moving on..

Well, if they actually forged those listings in that fashion, that is very sad and doesn't look well for eBay or its future.

I guarantee there won't be another hike in fees for a long time. This time it hurt them, the next time it may have a real long-lasting effect.

I have not followed all this EBAY trouble and boycott situation. Is there indication that this company is in trouble financially?

One thing I have noticed is an increase (or maybe a sustaining) of smoke and mirrors games coming from EBAY. These are in the forms of promotions with caveats and this idea of decreasing small item listing fees but increasing the FVF fees. There is a very transparent characteristic to EBAYS rationale for the ways that sellers will save money, it is not true, it is simply costing more in the final analysis. Big companies sometimes get sloppy, then panic, get shady, and start to dig a whole that they never can recover from. I hope this does not happen with EBAY, but there is a less than honest characteristic of EBAY I am keeping one eye on. If EBAY sinks, believe me, there will be plenty of new options available to the consumer.

This could be related to a disturbing trend I am sensing in many businesses. Younger leadership structuring marketing for maximizing short term profits that leave the company on very weak legs for long term survival. The outlook is very short sighted. EBAY spends too much time on damage control after implementing poor plans. Half their time is spent planning and launching ideas, the other half of their time is spent mopping up/damage control after all the problems with their plans are identified. They should have some of the best in the business world running things, and they appear that they do not, maybe that is the real reason the CEO recently took an early retirement.

One thing I have a problem with is the complete lack of benefit for SPENDERS on Ebay. If you buy $100, $500, or $1000 every month, you should be rewarded too! The Powerseller program is laughable. Flat out give me EBAY $ credit if I sell/buy a certain amount on a regular basis.

Old news?
Not really.
Try this out for current news.
Based on terapeak.com based on a 90 day history (March 2, 2008-
May 31, 2008. The most current info at the time of publishing):
Seller: Buy
Total Items Listed: 2,708,987
Total sales: $3,924,907
Successful listings: 64,638
Total Items Offered: 249,431,285
Sell through rate: 2.39%
Average Sale: $44.43
MINIMUM listing fee, including dutch auctions: $24,943,128.5 (Based on the lowest fee of .10 per listing, and offering Media Mail. Does not include higher listing fees, or other promotional listing fees, or Final Value Fees, which would increase the fees dramnatically).

The boycott IS working
Tim
http://myspace.com/boycottebay
http://forums.delphiforums.com/boycottebay/start