eBay CEO calls on eBay community to support net neutrality.

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

In a very non coercive email, first time I remember getting any kind of call to contact legislators.

[Justice]

1. that is great, ebay has huge community

[htuttle]

2. The Telco's plans would cost them a MINT

Can you imagine what sort of additional fees eBay would have to pay? Almost as high as Google's would be.

[KyuzoGator]

3. I'd feel better if eBay weren't so damn sleazy. nt

[kaygore]

5. Sleazy????

[KyuzoGator]

6. Browse their Community Forums some time.

They intentionally make it as inconvenient as possible to not use PayPal (which they own).

[WePurrsevere]

10. eBay's Community Forums are teaming with "trolls", take what is said there

with a large cow lick of salt. If I wanted real info and opinions on eBay and/or PayPal those boards are the last place I'd look or ask.

As for PayPal.. I wouldn't blame ebay only, some of the "blame" goes to the consumers themselves, myself included. Long before eBay bought PayPal higher sales were often dependant on a seller accepting PayPal. A good friend of mine fought accepting PayPal for years but just before ebay bought them out broke down and signed up... his sales more then doubled because PayPal became so popular with buyers that many won't buy from a seller who doesn't accept it. (I personally accept PayPal and Money Orders and get paid in both although 8/10 auctions are paid with PayPal.)

Now with the International buyers having more expendable money, higher sales are often dependant on a seller accepting PayPal and International buyers and because of this many sellers are feeling forced into dealing with International buyers when they don't want the hassle of doing so. Over all I don't mind selling to Internationals but one of the problems that I have discovered is that PayPal's protections for sales to international buyers are very limited and to get proper protection you must use online trackable shipping so the cost to ship goes up quite a bit. Although this is one of my current major bug-a-boos, even in this instance logic tells me that although the pressure may feel like it comes from eBay but when I step back and look at it logically once again it's more consumer driven.

Yes, ebay promotes and pushes it... it's one of their products that makes them money and quite frankly they have a right to do so just as any other website has the right to (and often does) accept only Visa/Mastercard for payment (and more of those are now accepting PayPal as well).

Goodness knows I have gone nose to nose against eBay a time or five over the years selling there... :banghead: and there have been and still are plenty of issues to blame and get po'd at ebay and PayPal about (like site stabilty, stupid glitchancements that they throw up and try to fix on the fly, sticking other sellers auctions on our auction's page, etc, etc, etc). I understand and even empathize with the frustrations of buying and selling on ebay... I find myself taking long breaks from eBay now and then just to keep my blood pressure down.

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

13. eBay has been very good to me. ;) n/t

[WePurrsevere]

21. It hasn't been too bad for us either over all. There's just times when

I get so frustrated with some of the stuff and changes they pull because to me it occasionally crosses into it the realm of them messing with "my" business and they're "just a venue" (and one that should work smoothly).

[debbierlus]

17. Pay Pal is HORRIBLE

We had our account seized and didn't get our money back for SIX MONTHS. It was a nightmare. AND, WE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG.

I haven't had any trouble not taking it, or with shipping to international buyers.

[WePurrsevere]

22. Oh there's no doubt that PayPal can be horrible for some now & then.

I had a friend that had a go around over their locking up their account (that had a LOT of money in it) as well but over all for most folks most of the time they're okay if you follow their rules exactly.

Shipping to international buyers is more of a problem when you use PayPal under certain circumstances but it's more of a problem because of the way International shipments are done via USPS versus US shipments which are more easily traced via online and insured. The lesson we learned is that for items over an amount we can't handle losing the money on we'll only ship via Fed Exp or UPS. Up until recently we shipped all over the world via USPS without a problem the 2 problems we ran into recently cost us enough money to make us a lot more cautious now.

We sell antiques and collectibles as well as my art on eBay (have for 7 or 8 yrs now). I tried to do without PayPal for a couple of weeks last year and saw a significant drop in prices and sell through. As soon as I picked it up again all went back up. If there were a decent alternative I'd be happy to accept it. I tried with C2it when they were up and running but they really didn't have it set up and promoted enough so it failed.Hopefully Google will come up with something really great that can gohead to head... competition is GOOD. :D

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

12. That is not true in the least. I have sold professionally on eBay for

6yrs. I take Paypal, checks and money orders. There are some sellers that only take Paypal and those individuals, as all sellers are individuals, are at fault.

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

14. Me too. I accept all 3, with a stated preference of

money orders, cashiers's checks followed by personal check, followed by Paypal.

I have to offer Paypal due to some stuff I agreed to, which in turn helps me reduce my fees, or offset my fees.

eBay has thrived and changed with the times very well in the time I've been a part of it.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

15. I have been with Paypal from almost its inception. Frankly, I have to

thank them because they have increased my sales by giving me the ability to accept credit cards and echecks. People like expediency, and Paypal has made it possible for them to receive their auction wins in a matter of a few days. It also makes International sales easier for me. I do accept US currency in the forms of Int'l money orders, Bidpay, cash, and checks drawn on US banks, but most of my Int'l cusomters use Paypal too.

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

16. Yes, despite my stated preferences most people in fact do

pay with paypal. And almost all International buyers pay by paypal. I sell worldwide too.

Paypal also provides a wonderful history of all the transactions I choose to run through it, which for me is a lot.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

18. Yes, the transaction history is remarkable and also which is very cool,

downloadable.

Before I sold on eBay, I used to sell at music festivals, fairs and flea markets. I look at my eBay and Paypal fees as being part of the "rent" I used to pay for those spots and instead of just having a limited area to do business, I like you, literally have the world. What fun it is!

[kaygore]

4. God bless eBay!!!!

Now if all the other sites that would be affected by this would rally their constituents!

[WePurrsevere]

7. Good for Meg. (Hmm....I wonder why I haven't gotten this.)

Anyway, although it's good to have ebay on the side of Net Neutralily I'd be willing to bet that Meg is doig this only to protect ebay. From all I've heard I think it would be an accurate SWAG to to think that if there is no net neutrailty ebay would probably run into all kinds of trouble.

Could you perhaps post a copy of your email from here? I'd like to see what she has to say. B-) (TIA)

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

8. Let me know if you still haven't received a copy. n/t

[WePurrsevere]

9. Nothing yet & I'm surprised since I don't have ebay "junk" blocked on all,

just most, of my buying/selling accounts. I checked with my husband who never changed his defaults so gets the ebay stuff usually and nothing there either... we both even checked our spam filters. Perhaps Meg would have reached more ebayers if she had sent the letter out using the message function in "My eBay" like they do for their "specials".

Thanks for checking with me. B-)

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

11. I received it both in messages in My eBay and by

email.

Anyhow here it is:


"Dear eBay Community Member,

As you know, I almost never reach out to you personally with a request to get involved in a debate in the U.S. Congress. However, today I feel I must.

Right now, the telephone and cable companies in control of Internet access are trying to use their enormous political muscle to dramatically change the Internet. It might be hard to believe, but lawmakers in Washington are seriously debating whether consumers should be free to use the Internet as they want in the future.

The phone and cable companies now control more than 95% of all Internet access. These large corporations are spending millions of dollars to promote legislation that would divide the Internet into a two-tiered system.

The top tier would be a "Pay-to-Play" high-speed toll-road restricted to only the largest companies that can afford to pay high fees for preferential access to the Net.

The bottom tier -- the slow lane -- would be what is left for everyone else. If the fast lane is the information "super-highway," the slow lane will operate more like a dirt road.

Today's Internet is an incredible open marketplace for goods, services, information and ideas. We can't give that up. A two lane system will restrict innovation because start-ups and small companies -- the companies that can't afford the high fees -- will be unable to succeed, and we'll lose out on the jobs, creativity and inspiration that come with them.

The power belongs with Internet users, not the big phone and cable companies. Let's use that power to send as many messages as possible to our elected officials in Washington. Please join me by clicking here right now to send a message to your representatives in Congress before it is too late. You can make the difference.

Thank you for reading this note. I hope you'll make your voice heard today.

Sincerely,

Meg Whitman
President and CEO
eBay Inc.

P.S. If you have any questions about this issue, please contact us at [e-mail] "

[WePurrsevere]

19. Thank you... there's still nothing on the names I have... when I have

time I'm going to have to try and figure out why. I talked with a friend in AIM and they said everyone who has posted on a big auction board they're on got one... I feel so deprived now. ;)

I really am pleased to see Meg taking a strong stance and trying to rally the ebay community. Many may not understand or have heard about this issue and having her explain it as she did probably will help get folks to take notice and action.

[dalaigh lllama]

20. Here's a copy of the letter.

Net Neutrality and the eBay Community: A Call to Action

Dear

As you know, I almost never reach out to you personally with a request to get involved in a debate in the U.S. Congress. However, today I feel I must.

Right now, the telephone and cable companies in control of Internet access are trying to use their enormous political muscle to dramatically change the Internet. It might be hard to believe, but lawmakers in Washington are seriously debating whether consumers should be free to use the Internet as they want in the future.

The phone and cable companies now control more than 95% of all Internet access. These large corporations are spending millions of dollars to promote legislation that would divide the Internet into a two-tiered system.

The top tier would be a "Pay-to-Play" high-speed toll-road restricted to only the largest companies that can afford to pay high fees for preferential access to the Net.

The bottom tier -- the slow lane -- would be what is left for everyone else. If the fast lane is the information "super-highway," the slow lane will operate more like a dirt road.

Today's Internet is an incredible open marketplace for goods, services, information and ideas. We can't give that up. A two lane system will restrict innovation because start-ups and small companies -- the companies that can't afford the high fees -- will be unable to succeed, and we'll lose out on the jobs, creativity and inspiration that come with them.

The power belongs with Internet users, not the big phone and cable companies. Let's use that power to send as many messages as possible to our elected officials in Washington. Please join me by clicking here right now to send a message to your representatives in Congress before it is too late. You can make the difference.

Thank you for reading this note. I hope you'll make your voice heard today.

Sincerely,

Meg Whitman
President and CEO
eBay Inc.

P.S. If you have any questions about this issue, please contact us at [e-mail].

What's really cool about this to me: my husband never gets involved in political stuff (he leaves that to me). He fired off letters to both our senators -- a first!

[WePurrsevere]

23. Thank you :-) That's great that your husband is getting a bit more active.

B-)
n/t