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eBay Strike Ends, Seller Wrath Grows

eBay sellers went on strike earlier this month after the ecommerce giant raised fees and implemented other policies that sellers claim silence them. The one-week strike ended today after the company, surprisingly, said it didn't care--they need us more than we need them. In an interview with USA Today (link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20080225/tc_usatoday/onlineauctionlistingsdown13inboycottofebay), Jim Griffith, dean of eBay Education, said the protest had little to no impact and that the hated policies would remain.

However, third-party data says eBay is bluffing. Dealscart.com says auctions dropped to around 13 million since the strike began, while medved.net says reports an estimated 13 percent drop in total listings.

But given eBay's problems (slowing growth, competition, Skype, etc), "making sellers angry looks like another exercise in shooting oneself in both feet," the trade noted. Indeed, shrugging them off will only cause eBay's sellers to take a longer look at Amazon, Google and even, Craigslist.

Read the whole story at Ars Technica »

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