Hello

We are the victims of eBay's supportive policies towards crooked eBay Buyers. For 10 years, we sold on eBay, our eBay sales accounted for about 1/3 of our income, and until recently was a great experience. Recently, eBay changed its management and since instituted horrendous policy changes against its Sellers. For example, it used to be that under its Buyer/Seller feedback (FB) system, both Buyers and Sellers could leave +FeedBack, neutral FeedBack (nFB) or -FeedBack against the other, and if either got too much -FeedBack, eBay would suspend them. Ebay drastically changed this policy so that now Sellers can leave only +FB to Buyers while Buyers can still leave -FeedBack to Sellers - even if the Buyer never pays a dime for the purchase! This has resulted in a system where crooked eBay Buyers can now openly extort and rob money from honest eBay Sellers by using Seller -FeedBack as their gun.

Furthermore, because Sellers can no longer leave -FeedBack, eBay's feedback scores are clearly now statistically invalid, and therefore clearly fraudulent because they don't now measure anything.

Ebay combines both Seller and Buyer FeedBack scores to derive the composite FeedBack scores it publishes about its Buyers and Sellers. Many eBay Sellers are also eBay Buyers, and since Buyer feedback statistics are now clearly invalid, it can now be argued that these eBay Sellers/Buyers have been forced by eBay into a situation where they are engaged in fraud and unfair business practices by enticing customers with artificially inflated +FeedBack scores, and by, for example, claiming Power Seller status, when they may not have qualified as Power Sellers if as Buyers -FeedBack could have been left for them. On the other hand, eBay Sellers who do little or no eBay buying and have eBay competitors are at a disadvantage because their FB scores will trend lower than eBay Sellers who do a lot of eBay buying and received only +FeedBackB as Buyers resulting in  pumped up composite FB scores.

It can also be argued that eBay itself is engaged in fraud and unfair business practices because artificially inflated FB scores for Buyers give the false impression to prospective Sellers that eBay does such a terrific job screening Buyers that few, if any, eBay Buyers are crooks, and therefore it is much safer to sell on eBay.

Recently, I was kicked off of eBay because I refused two Buyer extortion attempts against me and each gave me -FB. I offered full documentation to eBay, and eBay refused to investigate the matter to remove these unfair -FBs, but continues to use the excuse that I am not doing enough to 'please' my Buyers. Ebay continues to refuse to even appeal my case or document exactly how only two -FB in a period where I also got 100 +FB justified kicking me off. Clearly, all eBay is interested in is its short term bottom line - it charges a final value fee (FVF) for each sale - whether or not the Seller pays protection money to a crooked Buyer and even whether or not the Item is paid for (with the sword of -FB hanging over the necks of Sellers, some Sellers are not going to file a dispute to recover their FVF if Item is not paid for). Also, in recent years eBay has so jacked up its fees that many Sellers have fled eBay.

In the long run, eBay has cut its own throat - not only by opening itself and its Sellers/Buyers up to possible huge increases in lawsuits and regulatory actions, but by making itself  a pariah to Sellers.

Ebay also continues to refuse to prove to me mathematically that its feedback system is a statistically valid and reliable system, and exactly what it is supposed to actually measure.

And while eBay claims that it has tightened up its Buyer qualifications, eBay continues to refuse to provide me any evidence whatsoever that it is now doing a better job screening out crooked Buyers. It appears to me that if the Buyer applicant can see lightning and hear thunder, and has a valid credit card, he/she is accepted.

I expect to soon file fraud and unfair business practices against eBay with the AG of New Mexico and AG of California (where eBay is located).

Clearly, eBay should not now be allowed to operate in any country. And if permitted to operate, should now be charged justifiably enormous fees, subjected to a severe regulatory environment, and require very lengthy, detailed and involved application processes.

Thanks. John Williams, wizguru@consumertronics.net