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eBay Bans Google Payments
whoever57 writes "eBay has added Google Checkout to the list of payment options banned on eBay. A recent update to the Accepted Payments Policy includes Google Checkout (click on 'Show' next to 'Some Examples' to reveal the list).
More comments on this action can be found at the eBay Strategies Blog."
Wow, I can't believe the amount of anti-trust garbage going around these days. How do companies think they will ever get away with things like this? Do they think we won't notice, or do they think that we don't care? Most of the time it's the latter. They know it will upset a lot of people, but a lot of people won't do anything about it. It's the internet generation that holds the most influence on the economy today. If everyone who was concerned actually sent an email, or wrote one letter, these companies would be so swamped in feedback that they'd have no choice but to react. I would recommend that anyone who is as angry about this as I am, email or otherwise file a customer complaint against eBay. I have already done it myself, in a calm and intelligent manner. Companies like eBay, which rely solely on online exposure and reputation to earn their money, take customer feedback very seriously. With enough commotion generated by its customers, I feel that this could be a disaster we could prevent ourselves.
Blerg.
It's important to note that in US law, being a monopoly is not, by itself, illegal. There are, however, laws against several types of anticompetitive behaviour, and having the power of a monopoly means that you are held to a higher standard regarding such behaviours.
So far as I know, no court has examined whether or not ebay is a monopoly. I personally would say they qualify (in light of the extremely strong network effects of the auction broker market), but I'm not a judge.
The sense in which ebay's policy would be most likely to be found illegal, especially as a monopoly, is "bundling": forcing customers to use your non-monopoly product to get access to your monopoly product. This is the way to extend your monopoly beyond its current bounds, which tends to be frowned upon.
No idea yet how that'll play out in this case, though. Even if it ever did come to a trial, resolution would probably be around a decade out. If there's anything that Microsoft has taught us, it's that the judicial system takes about three orders of magnitude too long to effectively stop such predatory practices.
How long till Google strike back ?
I have a suggestion for a name:
GBay
and if we are lucky, a shipping company will replace UPS and call itself PCKrs
auctions.google.com
Maybe it IS time for a real eBay competitor?
Moderation: Put your hand inside the puppet head!
Not even close.
There are dozens of auction web sites/companies, there are even more payment processing web sites. If you don't like their charges or business practices, then bugger off to one of the others. They'll be happy to have your business and you'll have done your bit to reduce eBay's market share.
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