Is eBay Worse Than Early Sears Catalogs?

prostoalex writes "The New York Times claims eBay can learn a lot from the early Sears catalogs, which promised unconditional returns (postage paid by Sears) in case there is any dissatisfaction with the product even if the product behaves exactly as described. Apparently eBay is doing something right, but with no buyer protection, no seller authentication, and no desire to participate in seller-buyer conflicts, no return policy, can the business model be sustained?"

Comments

Not if someone better comes along

[ValourX]

Well if another auction site comes along that doesn't use the borderline-fraud service that is PayPal and offers superior customer service, decades of business history dictates that eBay will surrender to it.

The hard part, as Slashdot proves every day with its uncensored comment system, is making people accountable for what they do online.

-Jem

you would have to be insane to use PayPal

[linux_author]

- my take on ebay? never gamble more than you're willing to lose... - my days are over w/ebay and paypal... the preset limit allowed by paypal for credit card purchases was fine while it lasted, but after you hit the limit, you must allow paypal to link to one of your bank accounts... - you'd have to be insane to allow any company to link into your bank account! - until true credit card protection is provided for ebay purchases, the ebay/paypal method is doomed, as THERE IS NO PROTECTION AGAINST FRAUD!