Today some eBay sellers are officially kicking off — or renewing their vows to continue - the latest worldwide boycott against the auction company. As we reported in January (see Miffed eBayers Mobilize for May Break Up), the sellers behind this strike have very clear grievances with eBay regarding feedback changes. The new policy prevents sellers from leaving negative feedback for a buyer. Other initiatives boycotters are unhappy about include fee increases and the integration of Detailed Seller Ratings (DSR) into eBay search results.

PayPal is also rankling sellers for its new policy taking effect today. Under the new plan, PayPal can hold a seller's funds for up to 21 days on items it deems at high-risk for fraud. In the eBay forums, some sellers say their money was being held as early as April 19.

This a part of a new Safe Payments policy eBay created that gives PayPal the right to hold a seller's payment until the buyer has left a positive feedback, or for 21 days if no dispute, claim, chargeback or reversal was filed on that transaction. An early FAQ posted on eBay suggested that when a buyer did leave feedback for these so-called risky transactions, the funds would be released to the seller in these circumstances within three days, but sellers who have been affected by the hold say this is not how the system works.

One eBay seller, Timmyt77, reported that five days after positive feedback was left by the buyer, the funds on his transactions over $100 were still not cleared by PayPal. In contrast, the transactions under $20 that were held were released by PayPal within three days from when the buyer left feedback. The eBay Hold Item policy clearly states "PayPal may release the hold earlier". Obviously sellers are just not happy with shipping an item before receiving a cleared payment.

PayPal issues are also irking Australian eBayers. They were told earlier this month that the Aussie PayPal system will become the only payment clearing system for transactions on the site.

Meanwhile, it remains to be seen how much eBay will be affected by this latest effort — sellers and analysts are still divided over how successful the February boycott was, though everyone agrees it was at least unprecedented in the amount of media coverage it garnered.

Nonetheless, there are some indications that boycotters are rallying, with active forums and blogs dedicated to the movement. Some examples include the following: this MySpace blog, the boycott Delphi forums, with more than 10,000 posted messages and videos posted on YouTube (such as this one).

Some merchants say they stopped selling on eBay in February when news first came out about the policy changes, and have pledged to stay off eBay until their issues are addressed.

Industry watchers are waiting to see how this latest work-stop movement will fare, and no one knows for sure how much seller dissatisfaction is affecting eBay's bottom line, but one thing is for certain - eBay is turning sellers away. As eBay reshuffles its policies to appease buyers under the lead of John Donahoe, at least some sellers are looking to alternative marketplaces. Until eBay formally addresses these concerns directly with its sellers by opening some lines of communication instead of rolling out one policy change after another, we don't anticipate the boycott movement slowing down.

Sound Off: Reader Feedback
While covering eBay issues this year, we've had many sellers — those boycotting and those who will conduct business as usual today — write in to give us their own perspective and views on the policy changes and resulting boycott movement.

Reader Comments: It's About Money, Not Customers
I am a PowerSeller and have been on eBay since 1998 with a 100 percent positive feedback rating. Unless they change things, especially with the uneven playing field as far as the negative feedback is concerned, I will no longer stay with eBay. It is a shame since it was providing extra income for me as my husband is now retired.  eBay has become like so many other corporations; they cannot be trusted. It is all about money and stock numbers and not taking care of the customer, be it buyer or seller.

I cannot tell you how many times I have written them with a question and either received a wrong answer or no answer at all. They are the king of the form letter. Some of the problems they have are of their own making. They will spend the time to take off auctions that shouldn't be taken off and then refuse to take off bad sellers when they should.  I once listed a 1930s Dick and Jane first-grade reader, teachers' edition. It was taken off eBay. When I contacted customer service (I actually was a Silver Power Seller and could have a free phone call), I was told that teacher's editions were no longer allowed on eBay because someone might get the answers. Let's have some common sense here, please.

EBay needs to be more concerned about the buyers and sellers and less concerned about what they are going to invest in next. The only reason they can get away with some of the things they are doing now is because they are a monopoly. It seems that this time eBay has really pushed the limits and they have upset too many sellers. I hope the May boycott is successful. The one in February, in my opinion, was successful despite the corruption on eBay and their padding the listings by "accidentally" putting on shop.com listings. Just a few comments to let you know the frustration many of us are feeling.

Sincerely,
Jenny

Reader Comments: Support of the New Policies
I'm a regular reader who is very glad to see you covering this story to its conclusion — and even more glad you are asking for feedback. As both a small-time buyer and seller on eBay, as Freedomwillcome, I'd like to take a stand for the small guy and say that I am with eBay management in supporting the company's new policies. Big-time sellers on eBay act just like, or worse than, behemoth semi-monopolistic companies have acted throughout history. ATT, Microsoft, Verizon, Citibank, these companies don't care about Individuals — they care about money.

My case in point: I once bought a pair of shoes from a seller on eBay from member Snugglesandwhiskers and, unhappy with the item I got, left negative feedback. The shoes had been worn and then machine washed so they were faded and shrunk. They were then wrapped up in a 12-pack beer case holder, not a box. Yuck. So what do I get for opening my mouth? Not an offer to correct the situation or compensation for the dissatisfaction. No, I get retaliation in the form of negative feedback. That cuts my credibility vis-a`-vis to the people I sell to, and, being a very small-time seller, it will take me a much longer time to recover from the seller's retaliation in terms of repairing my feedback rating.

All of my buyers had been happy with the products and service they got from me, because I care about more than money, and now this one seller ruins it. Meanwhile, the seller, with a feedback score of over 900 (6 of which are negatives) continues selling as if nothing happened. At that point, I pretty much called it quits with eBay, cutting my annual purchases down to 1 or 2 at most and not selling anything.

The current system is grossly unfair to small-time buyers and sellers. I am sure many people do not leave negatives when they should just because they are afraid of retaliation like I got. So the whole rating system becomes distorted and unreliable. The big guys need to be put in their place and I am glad eBay is finally doing something about it. I for one will come back to eBay as a customer on May 1 (and will support small sellers).

Thanks again for the great reporting and keep up the good work,
Brett Lyon

Reader Comments: Less Stress when avoiding eBay
I use the seller and buyer name of 1_straightdeal on eBay. I have been using eBay since it was free in 1994 and continued through the fee movement in 1995, 96, 97. After moving to Ohio, I started selling again and have sold as much as $4,000 in one month just to get rid of stuff I had. In 2006, I became ill, and was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

When I got an e-mail from eBay with these proposed changes to take effect May 1 2008, I had to quit selling. The fees are already too high, and my time is worth more to me than what I can make on eBay, now. I was doing okay selling as I made enough to pay for my alternative therapy drugs as they were not covered by insurance.  Now, I can't even afford that, and instead I live on what social security has to offer.  Letting the buyers give negative feedback knowing the sellers won't be able to do the same? I am here to say that the buyers often misunderstand just what is being sold or they misinterpret the meaning of the star rating and end up rating the postal service and not the seller. I use actual postage, no hidden fees, and yet I had buyers give me a less than 5 star rating, and I ship immediately. Its' a system that isn't fair and it isn't working. It's just less stress for me to avoid dealing with eBay now.

Respectfully,
Judy Dowell