My Damn Opinion - Done with Ebay

So, a few months ago I tried to sell some things on Ebay. I've always had pretty good luck getting rid of things this way, and helping other people get rid of things this way, and it's a good way to make some money on the side. However, after spending an afternoon creating several listings, I tried to post my auctions and was told that I could not, that my account was frozen. This was news to me, as I had been repeatedly logging in and out of my account, looking for prices and whatnot. I had even gotten some auction notices.

When I dug a little deeper, I found that my Paypal account had been frozen too. I'm fairly certain there was no money on it, I never leave more than a dollar or two, but I was not able to get a response from Paypal or Ebay as to why I had suddenly been blocked and cut off. To this day, I have never gotten a response. Frustrating, but whatever.

Then I read this. If this is accurate, and I will freely admit that I have not delved deeply into the announcements to extract every piece of data, Ebay is attempting to ruin themselves by financially screwing over everyone who keep their business running: their sellers. I encourage you to  read it yourself and come to your own conclusions. However, my conclusion is this: I am done with selling or buying on Ebay. I know that I have had those "psycho sellers" the author writes about, and I have had negative and even neutral feedback left for me unfairly. (That's right jackass, it's not MY fault the postal service wrecked your shipment. I am NOT postmaster general, and leaving me negative feedback doesn't afftect the USPS at all.)

Over the years, Ebay and Paypal have screwed me royally. Mostly Paypal, I admit. The single biggest sale I ever did on Ebay was to the tune of about $600, and the money was transferred from my Paypal account to my bank account at the time. At least, it was in theory. In reality, the money disappeared from my Paypal account and never showed in my bank account. To this day, I have gotten no response from them regarding that money. But when money donated to charity for Hurricane Katrina victims vanished from Paypal as well, I felt at least a little vindicated - they really were stealing from people. When Paypal finally bought Ebay, I knew nothing good could come of it. And now we see the results.

I will not be partaking in the strike that the author is mentioning, but not because I don't support them. It's because I am going on to Ebay and deleting my account right now. There are a plethora of other auction sites, as well as standard retailers and even local frigging stores that can provide you with the wonderful things you seek. Ebay, however, has decided that their reputation is such that they can act any way they please, and the sheep will keep coming back.

As with every other corporation that has tried this tactic, the real effect is only this: the beginning of their death spiral. Farewell.

UPDATE: Funny....the link on Ebay labeled "Close my account".....is a 404. Seriously....this is kind of childish.

UPDATE AGAIN: Okay, so after some digging and following dead links, I found the real Ebay cancel page. I walked through about five steps asking me if I wanted to cancel my account. Taking a bit of artistic license, the conversation went something like this:

D: Cancel my account.
E: We're sorry to see you leave. Are you sure you want to quit?
D: Yes.
E: Are you sure?
D: Yes.
E: Are you really sure?
D: Yes.
E: Are you really super-secret-sugar-swear-sure?
D: YES.
E: Well, you can't. Not yet. You have to wait 180 days before we will cancel your account.
D: ...Six. Months. Why do I have to wait six months to cancel an account?
E: Because you might have auctions still up. Or maybe some bids out on something.
D: Your auctions last a maximum of seven days. That does not explain the six months.
E: You might have a balance on your account.
D: I don't. I can't sell anything on your site, so I couldn't have a balance. You have computers that can tell you this. In fact, they don't need to tell you, you are the computer.
E: You still have to wait six months. Would you like to know why?
D: Yes, please.
E: Here's an email explaining that you have to wait six months.
D: I already knew that, it doesn't explain why.
E: ....
D: Hello?
E: ....
D: Hellooooo?
E: ....
D: ....
E: We're sorry to see you leave. Are you sure you want to quit?

More than ever, fuckass. More than ever.