eBay has almost always been a seller-centric forum. You could equate them with a flea market. Think about it - eBay makes their money off the sellers, not the buyers. So, in a way, they are right to say 'deal with the seller, not with us.'
However, I agree with with you that they do need to enforce their rules equally. The sellers hold almost too much power on eBay for this to be considered a 'free' marketplace. If eBay really wanted to make a difference for the buyers, do away with the 'feedback' process and institute a 'review' process, similar to ePinions or BizRate. If I'm a seller, am I really going to care if a buyer was 'pushy', or am I going to care if he actually came through and paid me without the check bouncing.
Don't get me wrong; I do business on eBay all the time. I've just become a great deal more selective *whom* I do business with because of past burns.
Slashdot Mirror
eBay has almost always been a seller-centric forum. You could equate them with a flea market. Think about it - eBay makes their money off the sellers, not the buyers. So, in a way, they are right to say 'deal with the seller, not with us.' However, I agree with with you that they do need to enforce their rules equally. The sellers hold almost too much power on eBay for this to be considered a 'free' marketplace. If eBay really wanted to make a difference for the buyers, do away with the 'feedback' process and institute a 'review' process, similar to ePinions or BizRate. If I'm a seller, am I really going to care if a buyer was 'pushy', or am I going to care if he actually came through and paid me without the check bouncing. Don't get me wrong; I do business on eBay all the time. I've just become a great deal more selective *whom* I do business with because of past burns.