Monday 18 February 2008

Class Law Suits??

The subject of unfair trading practices such as forcing sellers to accept ebays dodgy payment system - Paypal have been coming up. Here is part of the transcript of a converstion I have with "idee99" from Texas, US.

idee99: What do you think of a class action suit against ebay for unfair business practices?

Terry: Well, there have been other such actions, and indeed if you look at sites like http://www.paypalsucks.com/ you will see a few. Problem is though, from what ive heard, every man has his price (judges etc) and ebay can afford to pay them

idee99: I just read a lawsuit against ebay for monopoly and forcing the use paypal . How do we get publicity for our strike and the issues behind it so that some prominent firm might take on our lawsuit?

Terry: Well, Ive had a faor amount of traffic through this blog and im happy to publicise the strikes etc. The fact is though (and this is something im fast finding out - ive had over 15,000 emails since i did my listing) is that ebay really couldnt give a shit about any of it and they will just bribe who they need to bribe. The "forced paypal" thing is simply a protection racket and nothing else. Its totally illegal, but they get away with it using some bullshit about it being "safer for buyers" . It then goes on to call buyers its "customers" which is of course rubbish - sellers are! We need a major law firm to take them on.. I just dont think they will.

idee99: The way I see it, sellers get routinely scammed by buyers as well as the other way around. However, from what i read (I am a small seller with 100% feedback and haven't experience the many scamms you mentioned in your ad, but know they truley exist) ebay routinley defalts in favor of the buyer even when the prponderance of the evidence show that items have been received etc. etc. That should be illegal. I think if we could get national /international attention to the strike and the resons behind it, public opiniion would go against ebay and they might have to reconsider as that is their "customer" base.

idee99: You seem to have received much attention for your auction/ad. Has any international media sought your interview?

Terry: You are totally correct about the scam problem. The vast majority of emails i have had have been from scammed sellers. Paypal is simply a scammers tool and nothing else. The problem is that "consumer champions" you know the ones - those TV programmes that expose dodgy traders only ever concentrate on dodgy sellers - they never expose dodgy buyers. People forget that ebays customers (and therefore its consumers) are actually its sellers (its fee payers) and so the sellers are the ones the consumer shows should be championing. Its a change of thinking thats needed in the media. How that will happen, well I dont know, but Im giving it a good shot myself. Ive had contact from the media and I have put the view you put in your last post - a number of times. Ebay will only care about this if people leave (stop listing) en mass - not just a few thousand, but millions. The only way that will happen is media coverage of the REAL issues. I hope this blog will help in that fight , but much more is needed - much much more.

Terry: Yes, Ive had contact from various media over the last week or so - just hope they will publish the story.

....... So howabout it - Anyway Lawyers out there up for taking on Paypal/Ebay?? I will dream on.....

Saturday 16 February 2008

Hello - Just a quickie

Hi - Well now over a week since the "Laptop" appeared for sale, and still the messages keep coming. The interesting thing is that one of the most reglular visitors to this blog are eBay themselves (Theyre not very good at hiding their IP address!) So, perhaps youd like to say Hi eBay?

Anyway, heres a few more messages from those people that have said Hi:

This is genius ! - The kind of thing that would reach the papers
- **claire*and*bryan**

You should not loose your account for telling the truth !! (but I'm sure you will "cus" they don't like the truth )tried it my self once ! MH
- madhatter_at_the_tazbar

As a seller who's been hammered by one of these techniques I have to applaud you for speaking out. I tried for months to deal with both PayPal and eBay but both returned nothing but 24 hour delayed form letters that rarely responded to the actual question. I responded again and again for a month or more before giving up. There's simply little that a seller can do when a buyer takes advantage of them. Huge market opportunity for some eBay knockoff to steal the sellers. One day eBay will cross an imaginary line in the sand and it'll happen en masse. I can't wait.
- gascowboy

Hi there. You really seem to have reached tons of people who are taking note of what you've said and I think it can only be a good thing. (So well done you!) You definitely have my permission to publish my message, and this one as well if you need to. Keep spreading the word! Many thanks, Angela.
- amariap

GREAT advert! It appears Ebay WANTS to shed the little sellers. The perfect solution would be to seperate the two factions (PowerSellers/Private Sellers) and SELL the portion (intact) they wish to be rid of. Ebay would make a bundle! Our flea-market selves would stay intact as one marketplace. Hopefully the new buyer would be more respectful of the people that made ebay the monolith it is now. Thanks for plugging for the little guy!
- skeletoninmycloset

G'day, i saw your laptop ad. Your funny!! By the way people were discussing about you (your ad), forums in Australia. Your famous!!! haha
- stlepr

your item listing really put a smile on my face, I to was conned by paypal , an lost money, an now I'm supposed to pay item fees for an item that I lost my money on? this is the final straw.
- anemotion7

Friday 15 February 2008

This weekend...

I am afraid I will not get to check this blog much, so comments left may not appear for a while. Please however please do keep sending your emails and comments - we read all of them and will publish them if you wish us to.

Have a nice weekend.

Jamie gets the silent treatment!

Jamie (Ebay User: jbug81) spoke to eBay today:

"I talked to them today and they said that they are making the site better that gallery pictures are free and the site would be updated then I ask why they are increasing listing cost and allowing feedback changes that would allow blackmailing sellers they hung up on me"

Dont worry Jamie - I think theyve hung up on me as well!

Thursday 14 February 2008

Mark - A medium size seller

Today, I had a chat with Mark, from Utah, America - Mark is a medium size seller on ebay. Here is an extract of our conversation which Mark has authorised for publication:

Me: What do you think could be done better by ebay? I know I have gripes with Paypal and feedback as you could see from my listing, but what would you chnage if you could?

Mark: "A very big question, with many answers on many levels. But to begin I have to say that the root of the problems with eBay's market place is in the massive culture of corporate mis-management and greed"

Me: Yes, I think youre right, it does seem to be at the heart of ebays ethos. When do you think this started to happen - over what period of time?

Mark: "It was there from the beginning, but in a more "hip" form. It became increasingly entrenched as eBay grew and ther came to be really big corporate dollars to waste and grab for. Management took out huge amounts of money for themselves and there cronies, and that's what eBay is all about for them, a giant cash cow. The old bit about the "eBay community" was largely exploitation and propaganda. Management probably thinks they are very smart for having made eBay a success, but I think it was largely an great accident taking place at the right time and place. Now that EBay has grown so large, it's problems are also now very large. But management isn't smart or skilled enough to actually solve those problems. In other words, I think that eBay's fundamental problem is simple greed and hubris. All the monkeying in the world with feedback, fee schedules, etc. will not solve eBay's problems or those of it's sellers and buyers."

Mark goes on to say that he will indeed continue to use eBay as he relies too much on its services to leave. I would like to thank you Mark for your time and some very interesting points.

Do you agree with Mark? Whilst I agree with Mark, I am lucky in that I do not depend on eBay sales. I do however feel very sorry for people that do - what an awful situation.

So What are the good points of eBay?

I would like to hear all points of view as unlike eBay, I welcome alternate points of view.

And ebays way of addressing the issue..........

Received from eBay today:

Dear class-it

Receipt of this notice indicates that your account is now blocked from bidding or listing on our site. You will still be able to access your account information to determine your final bill payable to eBay for our past services if applicable.

We might require a waiting period for complete closure if you have had any listing or bidding activity in the months leading up to the date of your request. By allowing 90 days; to pass we are helping to ensure that all transactions have been completed or at least, enable both parties to access the information that may be needed for completing the transaction.

Once the 90 day period is over, we will automatically proceed with your account closure request. As part of your request, on completion we will also conceal your current contact information, your bidding and selling history, your Feedback Profile, and your About Me page if you have one.

When we have finished that part of the process, you will receive a final notice from eBay for confirmation. Please note that if you have an unpaid balance on your account, eBay will continue to use your contact information for collections efforts until your balance is fully paid. Final closure will forever conceal all information about your account ? for example, once your FB profile is concealed, it cannot be restored.

If you do not wish to have your account permanently closed, please contact us immediately. We hope that you have enjoyed your time with eBay. Respectfully,

My answer Ebay : (As I know you are looking in on the blog quite often).

I will be billing you for all the wasted hours I have had trying to contact your customer services department, and also the time spent dealing with relisting after a number of my auctions were wrecked by Nigerian Scammers. I will keep your details on file should I need to act to recover such monies you owe me as a result of non payment of my invoice for said wasted hours. I will delete your details once your debt has been paid.

I may one day decide to have an account with eBay again, but that will only happen when it is clear that you care about your customers - and I suspect that hell will indeed freeze over first.

You are a disgrace to the business world. You rip your customers off and you encourage scammers to steal off your customers. I hope that many of your customers will follow me, as I know many are, and leave. Those that remain, will leave when they start getting hit with the inevitable feedback blackmail and Paypal scams.

As for me enjoying using ebay. I did once yes, and Ive met some wonderful people on ebay. Isnt it a shame that such a great company has been ruined by people like you. Lets hope one day that your accounts will be closed and that eBay will once again be a great auction site.

Goodbye.

Groovy!!

I never knew there were so many different forums out there!! So, thanks to "My Groovy Wedding" for your kind messages and support. You can visit them HERE

Matt from THE FUTON BLOG, writes.....

I really enjoyed your auction and the light it has shed on eBays new feedback policies. I used to sell on their site, but I really don't think it's worth it since they are taking away the most valuable tool that sellers have. I now sell at http://www.goodnightmoonfuton.com.

Random Chats

Hi, Ive been given access to some software that allows me, at random, to invite visitors to this blog to have a live chat with me about what they think. You may therefore get a dialogue box appear on your screen inviting you to join me for a chat. With your permission your comments would then be published on the blog. If you do not wish to accept the invitation, simply close the dialogue box and it will not appear again.

Wednesday 13 February 2008

Good evening

Its been a lovely day here in the UK today and Ive not even received one threat today. Can I please ask people NOT to email me via ebay - in your own interests.

I've been doing stuff all day and Im knackered, so over a coffee tomorrow morning I will batch up a few more messages. I would like to thank all the forums and blogs that are featuring my story - its really kind of you all and I am making an effort to join as many as possible and say Hi.

Over the past few days I have been so lucky to speak to so many fantastic people from all over the world. Its been a humbling experience and my faith in human nature has been restored. OK, I've had a few trolls email me, but the vast majority of messages have been friendly, witty and , well just GOOD! So thanks - and you lot - LETS STICK IT UP EBAY!!

The deleted auction...

Im getting people asking if they can see the deleted auction so although ebay have deleted my auction it can be still seen by visiting most of the links in the post below, or HERE

A few Links......

Ive been getting a few emails telling me about various places where this is being discussed, so here are some links

http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2008/02/steal-this-ebay-item.html

http://www.goodnightmoonfuton.com/blog/2008/02/one-ebayer-fights-back.html

http://blogs.independent.co.uk/independent/2008/02/cyberclinic-thi.html

http://onlinesaleschannels.wordpress.com/2008/02/11/ebay-scams-please-stealerrrbuy-this-notebook-from-me/

http://www.powersellersunite.com/post-139088.html

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=730781&highlight=my+parting+shot

http://pheebay.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3829

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/11/ebay_laptop_auction/


Ive also been emailed loads of times about this shower of S*** - (Ebay Comminuty Question & Answer) If you want to see the contempt that ebay and its self appointed band of failed traffic wardens treat sellers with then have a read of this forum. Also look for the posts from "PINKS" ebay staff and in particular the Head of Trust and Safety - The contempt for sellers from this individual is breath taking! I've posted on it a few times in the past but did not realise until now how anti seller the place actually is.

Anyway, you can visit the zoo here: http://forums.ebay.co.uk/forum.jspa?forumID=7&anticache=1202920717103

BACK TO SOME MORE COMMENTS

Ebay have deleted all the emails that were stored in my Inbox. I had however saved most of them, so heres a few more:

Hello from Pennsylvania. Great job with your listing ,I'm very aware of E-Bay and their scam it is great that you brought it out to the public keep up the great work.. Ted 610-xxx-xxxx
- tedn3


HILARIOUS!!!! Thank you for an auction which said it ALL!! I am a near 10 year seller on Ebay from Colorado USA. I have over 1200 positives and only 4 negs, and have worked HARD to be honest, thorough in my descriptions and good at it...and that will all be down the tubes with this assanine new rule of ONLY buyers leaving negs. No more checks and balances. Ten years have taught me that buyers will be buyers...and some WILL leave stupid reasons for negging you. And as far as Paypal--I RESENT the huge push to use it. So I do NOT. Hope you do well on the other selling site in the UK. I am actively looking for a new place to sell here. I want a VEHICLE site, not one that has turned into the driver of MY success (and now failure thanks to their new STOOPID rules) Janie in Colorado USA (lasal on Ebay)
- lasal

Hi class-it, I love you for your laptop auction. Everything you said was sooooo true. I sell (for now) on another id and loathe paypal. I am going to try my own website and a few other sites as well. Thanks again for that auction, Jill
- rsws2004

You are my hero right now, lol! I love, LOVE this auction. Thanks for the inspiration and I feel my creative auctioning skills coming on...
- four_sisters_boutique

I saw your listing for the sony lap top. Someone posted a link on www.ballreviews.com (bowling website) classic man. Funniest, yet most truthful thing I have read in along time. Thanks for that! sgc_collectiblez Oxford, Michigan USA
- sgc_collectiblez

Loved your listing - have sent it to my friend in Canada who's had issues both as a seller and a buyer on eBay there. Have registered with Tazbar, thanks for the heads up! I've only bought on eBay, but it seems to me that sellers have as much right to be protected as buyers. I respect you for speaking out.
- targanielle

Well said, glad someone is standing up to ebay and paypal.. good luck pal! Kevin
- daisymay_2007

Brilliant absolutely brilliant.... Good on you for that... Would love to see the media get hold of this and to show Ebay and paypal how stupid they are... support all the way... never heard of that site before but looking into it....
- fairyfox2005

Excellent mate, very impressed! As I write this I see below it says: "our ongoing efforts to make eBay as safe as possible" and I can't help but laugh! I would feel safer shopping in a Baghdad slum that I do on here!
- danslearningshop

I saw this last night and is great and so true, its sad that they have forced you to close the ad but surely if they bid £10m they would have to pay? or you could report a non paying bidder and get the fees refunded :D I wont be using ebay anymore if this is really what they are going to do with feedback, it leaves it open to so many new scams and bribes!
- clair182001

can someone tell me how to close my account please ?
- mrhubz

Do you think this fair on me, how am i suppose to make a living if you tell other sellers my trade secrets.
- driver4419

Good for you!!! I'm sure that ebay did, in fact pull your auction, but it was well stated. I just wanted to say thanks to you for putting it out there like that. I sell some on ebay and my brother makes his living there, and this new policy there instituting is simply rediculous. Thanks again.
- leslie_girl_mr2

Saw this in the comments on The Register about eBay's interesting slant on feedback. Very funny indeed, but sorry if it's caused you grief. Well done though...
- crow1241

I LOVED YOUR LISTING!!!!!! Thank you for a great laugh in the middle of all this mess. Truth in Jest indeed Thank you Pat
- thekoop

Would you take a payment of 1 million (Barings Bank Chq. love this, well done dude
- *sloman*

MORE WILL FOLLOW ...... REMEMBER, PLEASE NOW SEND ANY COMMENTS TO CLASSIT999@GMAIL.COM
YOU CAN STILL SEE THE AUCTION HERE

Please note that as expected, eBay seem to have restricted my ability to receive emails via their system. Please dont bother sending me emails via the "Contact Member" - I probably wont get them. Use classit999@gmail.com instead.

Many thanks & dont forget the 18th!!

Tuesday 12 February 2008

THEY HAVE FINALLY REMOVED MY AUCTION

Apparently it didnt exist - it was a Ghost:

Dear class-it

We appreciate that you chose eBay to list the following auction-style listing(s):140205210628 - SONY VAIO VGN-NR21J/S LAPTOP BNIBHowever, your listing was in breach of eBay's No Item policy and has been removed from eBay. We notified members who placed bids on the item that the listing has been canceled.

We would like to take this opportunity to let you know what part of your listing is not permitted.Your listing(s) contains the following information:

**** STOP PRESS **** PEOPLE THERE IS NO POINT BIDDING ON THIS ITEM. IT WILL SURELY BE REMOVED VERY SOON BY EBAY. YOU CAN FIND THE EXACT SAME ITEM AND MY DETAILS ON TAZBAR (GOOGLE IT). ANYWAY, IM OFF OUT NOW, IF THIS IS GONE BY THE TIME I GET BACK ? HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED IT AND EBAY, THERE IS A SERIOUS SIDE TO THIS. SOONER OR LATER THE TRICKLE OF THOSE OF US LEAVING WILL TURN INTO A FLOOD. READ THE LETTER YOUR FOUNDER WROTE AND THEN TRY AND FOLLOW AT LEAST SOME OF IT!

You may not list intangible items or items whose existence cannot be verified, such as ghosts, souls or spirits.

(and then they add this bit)

We value you as a member of our community and wish to continue this relationship, so we must ask you to refrain from further breaches of the User Agreement and eBay policy.

So, Im a valuable member of the ebay community, but I cant auction Ghosts - and heres me thinking it was a laptop???



Is that the best these morons can come up with Ghosts, Souls or Spirits???!!!!!! Fantastic.. Just goes to show how insane this people are ......... So, it took a while - but finally ebay ran for cover !!!!!!!

You can delete the auction ebay, you can even delete my account, but you can not avoid the truth.

SO HERES MY RESPONSE TO EBAY:

Message:

F**k you.This has gone global -its been saved by thousands of people and will be appearing in forums over the world. Your war on sellers has been exposed and all you can do is come up with some pathetic excuse to delete the best auction your site has ever seen. Complete the Martyr process and close my account - You'll be reading about it in the press - and you know you will!

Is it cause I is a virus?

It has been suggested in certain parts that my auction and whats happened since has been a carefully planned piece of "Viral Advertising" by Tazbar. This is total and utter bollocks and just shows how desperate some people are to stifle debate. I would like to say for the record that I have no link what so ever with Tazbar (Save the fact that I opened a seller account with them) I do not know anyone who works for Tazbar and they have not asked me to do any advertising for them or offered me any special favour for mentioning them. This was simply a fluke - and sometimes thats how life works!

I choose to mention them cause they seem like a nice bunch of people that didnt try and rip me off when I sold my laptop through them. There are many other alternatives to ebay as well and I would advise people to simply google them - and choose the one that best suits you.

Also, the incident with the sheep, the sausage dog and the goat did not happen. Its a vicious rumour and the farmer did not press any charges anyway.

:)

SOME MORE COMMENTS !!!!

Loved the auction. Was robbed of a new PS3 player earlier this year to the tune of £385. Didn't actually know it until a few months had gone by after shipping the item and I had received a letter from a debt collection agency acting on behalf of Paypal. The Bas..rd who bought the item had claimed that his credit card had been used without authorisation and Paypal put my account in the red to pay him back. All his emails to me strangely enough were in broken - nigerian style english...hmmmm. In the end though we sent a threatening letter to the head of Paypal and within 12hours all my money had been refunded to my Paypal account. Good luck with your own auction. Colin
- databiz_uk

Good on you ! Well done! I am impressed and congratulate you for sticking it up them. I for one won't be doing anything between 18-25th. Friend from Australia!
- ID WITHELD

G'day, i saw your laptop ad. Your funny!! By the way people were discussing about you (your ad), forums in Australia. Your famous!!! haha
- stlepr

Personally, I'd like to thank you for enlightening me on the many different ways people CAN get scammed/cheated! I knew of a couple (which I told Ebay about already)but the rest are all new to me. You've made it to www.theregister.com too! There's popularity for you :-)
- captainpickard1

CONGRATULATIONS. I AM HAPPY THERE ARE PEOPLE OUT THERE LIKE YOU. NO FEAR.. EXCELLENT AND LET ME TELL YOU THIS IS BEING PRINTTED IN MANY GROUPS I BELONG TO ALL OVER THE WORLD. ENOUGH ADVERTISING FOR YOUR PRODUCT TOO.THANK YOU FOR YOUR COURAGE. GOOD LUCK .
- enjoyabletreasures4u

Just wanted you to know that a bunch of us from across the pond are laughing over this right now. Great job! Good luck to you selling on your other website. eBay is so clueless.
- bugsmom55

Not interested in the laptop, but thoroughly enjoyed your humorous-but-really-quite-serious Auction Vent. Ebay, Home of the Electronic Grifter, does have serious security flaws, along with a blatant disregard for the thousands of it's members who have been fleeced by unscrupulous theives. Cheers,
Mark, Washington State, US
- hartmandesign



Just f**king excellent!
- djharle1987


:) and on that note..............................

More comments to follow!






THE NEW OWNER OF "THE" LAPTOP

The person that actually brought "The Laptop" wanted to say:

This is the proud owner of the most famous Sony Vaio laptop - recently sold on www.tazbar.co.uk

I support the sellers boycott - it would be nice to think that it may make eBay consider their dumb course of action, but at the very least the publicity will hurt them

offpat.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This guy has been a pleasure to deal with - So, let this be the most public feedback ever :)

LINK REQUEST

Hi, I have received an email from Holly who would like a link to their petition posted on my blog. I will be happy to post links to forums and petitions - no problem, but on the understanding that you are all responsible for what you say. Please remember - dont libel anyone - these people have good lawyers!!

Anyway,, the link: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/ebay-buyer-and-seller-strike-february-18-25th-2008

The only way something like a listing strike will work is if we all put our money where our mouths are and support it!!

Good Morning World!

Well, its another sunny day here in Shropshire and still the emails come in. The response to all this continues to amaze me and I really hope that someone at eBay starts to listen!! Anyway, a few more messages Ive recieved (Please note that these are messages sent via email. Messages left on this blog will be published in the "comments" section at the end of each post.)

Well played Sir. Stand at the next election and you will get my vote!
- bluetoyboy


Great listing - says it all. Sadly it's not isolated, I gave up as a volume seller last year after a run of problems with buyers. No help at all from Ebay or Paypal who were both taking a tidy sum from me every month. All the best on Tazbar - have you looked at ebid and cqout too? p.s. Was the wine in question the Tesco's French Table Red - £2.50 a bottle and produces some of my better ideas....
- lintrade

Just saw your fabulously right on listing. The laptop listing has such fame it was posted in our artists' group (HYR). We all agree with you - when eBay goes full blast against sellers, instating the loss of sellers' ability to leave negatives, I'll be listing completely on ETSY dot COM (check it out, great art there) because I won't support a system that sets up sellers for failure. We already have that stupid anonymous rating system. if you have any ideas for how to screw this up --- or complaining to eBay. Please Advise. MoJo
- mojoanmagick


Hello from a fellow Salopian, and congrats on such a hilarious listing! I haven't laughed so much at one since...well, EVER! And it's all so appallingly TRUE! It's about time all this stuff was said, and you really highlighted it too by showing how totally ridiculous and one-sided (towards buyers) ebay now is - and soon to be even more so! I hope someone at ebay will finally wake up and take note. Way to encourage new sellers, ebay...NOT!! More power to you, and the very best of luck with the auction. I shall have to look into that website... Sheridan
- slc5

OMG just too funny we English are blessed with a amazing sense of humor.Although ebay don't give a rats ass about the seller .E bay can't pull it it's the truth.Good luck to you I moved my high $ stuff during the last hike.Keep up the great work from OR USA
- lvpoollassie

I'm definitely interested in your laptop - it's the best thing since sliced bread. Is pickup ok for this? I'm in Australia so it would have to be next week. Do you mind if I case your house for cool toys and unlocked windows while I'm there? Can I bring some friends? I promise I'll bring a hand-drawn rendition of the photocopy of the printout of the Paypal receipt. ... Love your work. Don't worry - people flocked away from Yahoo & Alta vista & MSN in droves. When a good thing goes bad it dies. It's only a matter of time.
- dontsailbackwards

Hi, just send me the laptop and I'll pay you when I win the lottery ;)
- jimanato

It made it to Connecticut.... we could watch it cross the US? You go bad boy! (-:
- jewell


Congratulations on a job well done. Cheers.
- lott-shop

Fabulous! Love it! Totally a crack- Molto Grazie! ally
- violetsoup

OK Well , Ive got to go out now - but I will post more messages later !!! Obviously I can only post a fraction of the messages that are coming in, but I will do best to post as many as possible

YOU ALL ROCK!!!

MORE COMMENTS.........

I want to have your babies. :o)
- peninsula-jewellery

my hero! I could use a laptop. I can pay in tie dyes! No paypal needed! I will even ship my package of tie dye psudeo-currency AND wait till I know you have received it prior to you having to ship the actual laptop! I'll even pay to ship them to you! I'll even include a genuine international money order to pay to ship the laptop to me! (actual shipping only, please.) How does that sound?!? Safer than the other choices, I would bet! At least you would end up with SOMETHING for your effort! I'll even send you a thank you email note to let you know my laptop has arrived, and leave positive feedback. wadaya think? can I bid? can I, can I??? again, you are my hero. ;) Ebay will be a boring place with out creativity like this. sad.
- bigbluedyes


Hello from Idaho! I've closed 2 stores on ebay now. I'm waiting that time frame to cancel my ID's. If I wrote an ad like this with my luck, ebay would let it run, make me pay the fees, then close my account. It is a sorry state for what ebay has become. I've been here only about 5 yrs. and loved it until the last year. Good luck and I hope you get this out to a lot of ebayers!
- sewsatnight-mountainmanbags

DUDE YOU ROCK !!!! I found Your Listing From A Friend, CLASSIC , as you said ebay will prob. pull it, but its great. this is my second ID and we have completly stopped selling due to continued assaults on sellers !!!! THANK YOU for spending a few BUCKS to tell EBAY they S_ck !!!!! JAY
- quietmaninwv


Cheers from the other side of the pond. Well Done! chin, chin
- itieu2


You're auction terms are great. Count on a few buyers taking you up on that. Thanks for the up&up on tazbar. Will check it out. and good luck with the lap top.
- haddy54

Your ad is making it's way across the boards in the states. I hope it gets yanked too. to save you the fees, but not for another 4 1/2 days or so!
- sierrasg

Brilliant laptop listing. Thanks for the laugh. You hit it bang on!
- lccsue

Absolutely Spot on Mate - well done. It's the reason I've not sold anything here for the last year or so (I've always been worried about the PayPal/Ebay connection anyway, surely as a "venue" they should be neutral as per payment method). It's just the catalyst I (and probably a fair few others) need to start seriously looking at the alternatives. PS will you swap the laptop for a cheese scone with Jesus's image on it?
- mikey_macbeth

MORE TO FOLLOW - BUT OFF TO BED NOW!!

Monday 11 February 2008

What happens if I press this button?
Gawd, this blog stuff needs abit of getting used to - its upside down. lol Please read from the bottom up until ive worked out how to make it the other way up!!

I am preparing a whole raft of "Pre Blog" comments which I will post within the next 24 hours.

Please bear with me....
Some Of Your Messages:

These are only a few of the thousands of messages Ive received, Im zipping, unzipping, formatting, re formatting, drinking more wine, eating cake, re zipping, formatting...... so I'll post a load more when Ive worked out how to!!!

This is kind of a test..........

Hi, Absolutely brilliant, laughed so much I've got a pain. Even people on Saga Zone are discussing it. Well done.
- easy-surfer49

Hopefully ebay will take notice...our leaving will ultimately hurt their profits. It is in their best interests to listen to us before it's too late :)
- christyruth

Brilliant mate. I have just sold my last lot of stuff on here as well. They are just bending over backwards for buyers and doing nought for sellers. Good luck to you :)
- ligaya_ngiti

I've been a member here for sodding well ages, and know what's going on to some extent, and what's coming up. I've never had any trouble, but it won't stay that way and I knows it! This is another eBayer seriously considering jumping ship due to the crackpot ideas these morons keep fabricating to make this a 'better' place. Where do they get their ideas, the Labour government/Ken Livingstones notebook? Quit whilst you're ahead people!
- oneshotphoto

Welcome to My Blog

Hi & Welcome to my Blog. This blog was set up on Monday, 11th Feb 2008 at 21.00 CET

Ive set this blog up soley to deal with what has happened since I put "THE" auction about "THE LAPTOP" on ebay. The response I have had is incredible and Id like to publish some of your comments and also give anyone who wants it somewhere to post comments about whats happening with eBay.

My auction can be found HERE.

One of the many forums trying to put this madness right can be found HERE

When / If ebay remove the auction I will post jpeg copies I have of it here on this blog. I dont really know what to write.. I'm just a normal guy that has had enough of watching Ebay rip small / medium size sellers off and allow numerous scams to be perpetrated against those sellers by scam buyers.

I know its essential for Ebay to be safe for buyers, but its sellers that pay eBay its fees. I just dont buy the "Without buyers you wouldnt have any sales...." crap. Thats chicken and egg stuff. The facts are that the value or revenue of every item sold on ebay starts with the SELLER so its sellers that pay for ebay and its about bloody time eBay started to care about its customers.

So, comments welcome and if anyone wants a link to their site / forum / etc - just let me know.

I'd like to start by mentioning http://www.tazbar.co.uk/ / http://www.tazbar.com/ Just one of the many alternatives that with our support would become a real alternative to ebay. Please note that I am not an employee of Tazbar, I do not know any of its staff and am not employed in any way by them. They have not asked me to do any favours for them and I am paying their fees like everyone else. I just like them!

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