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eBay Looking for Allies Against Google

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the man-the-gates-bring-around-the-cannon dept.

Vitaly Friedman writes "A report in the Wall Street Journal today talks about how eBay is looking for partners to defend against the growing threat of Google. Specifically, Google Base and the payment system in the works in Mountain View are seen as possible dangers to eBay's auctions and PayPal payment operations, says the report. Google Talk just throws some salt in the wounds by looking for a toehold in Skype's turf."

11 of 216 comments (clear)

  1. Whose wounds? by slofstra · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Salt in the wounds". Whose wounds? Competition is a good thing for most of us.

  2. I hope Google shit on ebay by Idimmu+Xul · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm sick of essentially being blackmailed by people I buy stuff off who refuse to give me feedback until I've given them feedback, even though I've just paid them £100 for an item they are yet to post.

    And fucking the Katrina victims out of Something Awful's donations was the straw that broke the donkey's back.

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    1. Re:I hope Google shit on ebay by LunaticTippy · · Score: 3, Insightful
      That is an increasing problem. I've had an even worse variant of it:

      Seller sends defective product, drags replacing it out past the 30 day mark (so I can't get my money back no matter what) and then stops dealing with me. I checked the seller feedback and they had lots of mutual retractions, and every negative feedback they received (over a legitimate problem such as mine) was retaliated against with improper negative feedback.

      I decided to leave no feedback, didn't want the strike on my record.

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    2. Re:I hope Google shit on ebay by damiangerous · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Just never use your seller account to buy. No one cares about negative feedback for a buyer, so you're free to leave whatever feedback is appropriate without fear of retaliation.

    3. Re:I hope Google shit on ebay by LunaticTippy · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Fuck their terms of service. They change constantly, every time I've had a problem (buyer or seller) it seems tilted against me, they have inserted so many fees over the years, they ruined half.com, and as soon as there is a viable alternative I'm gone.

      ebay would love for me to sell myself stuff. They get $.25 + 3% + 1.25% + 4% of every transaction. I get 2 feedback points that they generate for free. Heck, if everyone did this ebay'd make a trillion dollars.

      And as for breaking rules, every time something rubs me wrong I think of ways around it. They stop irritating me, I'll stop seeking a less painful path.

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  3. Interesting... by cp.tar · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So, eBay is afraid of Google.

    I've heard many complaints so far about both eBay and PayPal - could it be that they feel Google's service will be beta^Hter?

    So see if I care... they can get all the partners they want, but if Google rolls out a superior service, they can either adapt or go sulk in the corner.

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  4. God forbid eBay would clean up its own act by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    a. How about bringing back a real archive of auction results. Not the crummy 2 week limit in place now.
    b. Penalize bulk category flooders. Some categories are filled with sellers listing the same item over and over again. They should be forced to use the bulk option.
    c. 0 rated sellers should not be allowed to list without verified bank account/address info.
    d. Allow sellers to set feedback threshold restrictions on buyers.
    e. Finally, ebay should stop spamming its own users with "deals" and credit card offers.

    1. Re:God forbid eBay would clean up its own act by djmurdoch · · Score: 3, Insightful

      f. And they should try offering "Customer Service" in response to questions/complaints.

      I received a "free listing for new sellers" offer, listed an item at too high a price, and it didn't sell. After the auction, someone who had been asking questions during the auction wrote to me to ask if I would re-list it at a lower price. E-bay would not let me respond to the question, because I had "exceeded my daily limit of messages". I never did get a straight answer about what the limit was, just that I could raise it by giving them my credit card information. I had a "conversation" with 5 or 6 different monkeys passing me boilerplate FAQ answers, but never any answers to the questions I actually asked.

  5. Well... by voice_of_all_reason · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Maybe if Paypal didn't confiscate its customers' money at will, they wouldn't have this problem.

  6. Paypal alternative? by heresyoftruth · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I would jump on a paypal alternative. I juat want to use my online payment service to buy adult goods along with the non adult goods. I hate that Paypal makes a distinction, and doesn't allow that. The alternatives for payment for adult goods just aren't widespread enough to use, in my opinion.

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  7. Re:Google, Destoryer of Dreams by sfjoe · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Here in Silicon Valley, the most often spoken line is now "We would fund your company, it's brilliant, but Google would just copy it, so no."

    The fact of the matter is that there are more startups being funded now than any time in the past 5 years.
    http://money.cnn.com/2006/03/03/technology/busines s2_nextpanel0303/index.htm
    Maybe your idea just sucked?

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