TulipTools Internet Business Owners and Online Sellers Community

Quote:Michael Ewert filed a class-action lawsuit against eBay in April for allegedly failing to give him the full duration for his auction listings. The complaint states that eBay represents that customers can select an eBay auction to last for a specific period of time and that the auction will begin when submitted, but alleges that in reality, "customers routinely receive less auction time than they paid and selected."

Attorney David Fish wrote about it on his blog, reporting that the lawsuit alleges eBay violated a number of laws, including the California Auction Act by making misrepresentations in conducting its auctioneering business. Fish writes, "The lawsuit seeks a number of remedies, including a "$1,000 per Class member civil penalty", which comes out to over 1 billion dollars in damages if one does the math. -that's a lot, even for Ebay."...

full article: http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m07/i24/s02
more here: http://fishlawfirm.com/blog/2007/07/04/b...s-sellers/
copy of the complaint: http://fishlawfirm.com/blog/wp-content/u...plaint.pdf

Another lawsuit filed over auction durations:

Quote:An Illinois-based eBay merchant that sells bathroom fixtures filed a class action lawsuit against eBay in late August. The Missing Link Inc. alleges that eBay "intentionally and falsely represents to sellers,...that listings of various types begin immediately and that listings are in effect for the entire duration selected," and that "eBay also fails to extend the listing period for unsold items past the originally stated expiration time, for a duration commensurate with the delay in posting, to compensate sellers for the delay in posting."...

full article: http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m09/i11/s03

A copy of the lawsuit (.pdf format): http://fishlawfirm.com/blog/wp-content/u...awsuit.pdf

That pisses me off as well so I hope they win.

I don't think they will win.  eBay covered their ass on auction start times in the fine print of their 500+ pages of rules...

Quote:the lawsuit alleges eBay violated a number of laws, including the California Auction Act by making misrepresentations in conducting its auctioneering business.

That claim doesn't stand a chance because eBay has spent a decade saying it's only a venue and isn't engaged in auctioneering (and the courts have agreed with them)--plus all attempts to regulate online auctions in the California legislature have focused on regulating the sellers not eBay.

[quote author=amy link=topic=15080.msg64806#msg64806 date=1189611157]

Quote:the lawsuit alleges eBay violated a number of laws, including the California Auction Act by making misrepresentations in conducting its auctioneering business.

That claim doesn't stand a chance because eBay has spent a decade saying it's only a venue and isn't engaged in auctioneering (and the courts have agreed with them)--plus all attempts to regulate online auctions in the California legislature have focused on regulating the sellers not eBay.
[/quote]

There are a lot of manufacturers and buyers who wish some judge would rule that eBay is an auctioneer but I don't see it happening in this country...maybe in Europe but not here.