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Is eBay Putting You Out of Business? 
By: Brett Smith
The reasoning in use by Brian Burke of eBay simply boggles the mind. To quote Mr. Burke, "Digital goods are often reproduced at little to no cost to the seller. On eBay, this creates the potential for Feedback Manipulation (both real and perceived)". We'll get back to the question of feedback manipulation in a moment.
As for the costs of reproduction concerned in creating a digital product, think of the example of drug companies - millions upon millions may be spent on the product research and development phase, but the manufacture of the product itself once perfected is incredibly cheap. The millions have still been invested in this product, regardless of how inexpensive it may be to make and distribute.
The question may also be asked: just what does the cost of producing a product have to do with a product or service being able to survive in the free market? Just like any other product out there, the development process is not free. Why should a digital product be treated differently? Just because the form is electronic, that makes it no less valuable or worthless in and of itself. I've paid very little for digital products which I felt were worth far more than what I paid. To Mr. Burke, the expense and time involved in the creation of a digital product is worth nothing at all.
eBay makes a claim which is absurd on its face - I was somehow harmed by purchasing a quality product for a low price! Did eBay's own developers not develop the digital delivery enabled listings on their site in the first place? And were these not discussed with the users of eBay beforehand?
Getting back to feedback manipulation, you can receive bad feedback even from as little as a single sale for a penny! Personally, I have left a bad review for a product I paid only a dollar for (even at a dollar, I still felt cheated). It is doubtful that the seller in this case was happy to receive this feedback. This is just to illustrate my point here. I have paid far more for digitally delivered products - occasionally they were not worth what I paid for them either. No matter how you pay and regardless of the nature of the product, you can still end up feeling you haven't got your money's worth.
eBay's listing aren't free. The seller still has to pay to list his products.
I still cannot understand what eBay has to gain from damaging an entire industry due to an issue with a simple solution. eBay prides itself on being the provider of a service which they claim to be an easy way of selling products and service, and promoting those same products and services at a minimal cost to the seller. Apparently, eBay has now decided that they are being somehow exploited by the very entrepreneurs who make up so large a part of the eBay community.
A easily implemented solution to the issue eBay cites is to simply discount, or to ignore altogether, feedback relating to items whose sale price falls below a certain threshold.
I do think eBay will come to their senses and adjust this policy so it can filter out all of the policy violators without destroying lives and businesses. I have seen some negative posts about this ebook and that ebook ruining the industry because they don't like the content or some other reason. The fact is, one man's junk is another man's treasure and just because one individual can look at an ebook and think it is beneath him/her does not mean someone else does not derive a great benefit from it.
Let's work to get Ebay to be realistic, humane, and simply use good business sense and straighten this out.
My 2 cents worth,
Article Source: http://www.uberarticles.com/articles
Brett Smith has helped 100's of home businesses promote their products and make more money online. Discover how to increase your sales, get better cashflow and increase your customer base with targeted effective search engine marketing Pay Per Click
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