Steiners/ecommercebytes revive eBay harassment suit
From today's Boston Globe:
The revised lawsuit included a bevy of evidence that emerged during the sentencings, including an eBay Powerpoint presentation to the US Attorneys Office conceding that actions of its former employees were “clearly criminal†and that former chief executive Devin Wenig’s “tone was improper and unacceptable.†The presentation also said the company did not find evidence that Wenig “directed or knew that criminal acts would occur.â€
Baugh, during his sentencing, admitted to concocting the plot, saying he was a former covert operative for the CIA and FBI, where he learned to lie about his work. Baugh apologized for his actions and said he was “completely out of control†due to alcohol abuse....
The revised lawsuit added Wendy Jones, eBay’s former senior vice president of operations and Baugh’s direct supervisor, as a defendant. Jones asked Baugh to deal with complaints about the Steiners’ website and comments on the site, according to the lawsuit, and her failure to properly oversee Baugh was a “proximate cause†of the harassment.
227 comments
chapeau-noir
·3 years agoeCommercebytes is informative, and has acted before to enact positive change on behalf of sellers (the ridiculous returns language eBay tried for a while is one example). Many of their articles just state facts and that's it.
But the comments section is where all the negativity is - I think they should just ditch it, just as many news outlets have already done. It's just the same old hacks whining about the same old things, just like the news outlets had the same old wingnuts melting down about who knows what in their comments section. As far as I can tell, it adds very little.
joliztoyco
·3 years agoBut the lawsuit filed against Ebay by their OWN insurance company is pretty entertaining.
They're not about to pay for the criminal behavior of Ebay's management.
And they're using Ebay's own Powerpoint presentation to the DOJ to nail them:
carolynnq
·3 years agoI don't think eCommerce Bytes has a vendetta about eBay. They report changes and news about eBay (and Amazon and other sites). When they add user comments into the stories, those comments are often negative, just as they are here after eBay announces a change. Just as with newspapers and other general media news, when things are running smoothly, it's not news.
mam98031
·3 years agoI would disagree with this somewhat. There are posters on that site that basically say the same thing about Ebay no matter what the article is about. Even when the Ebay member made a mistake, the regular posters just blame Ebay for everything. They could care less if it is true. They just have a need to trash Ebay as often as they can. Some of the posters don't even sell on the site, but they are so upset with Ebay they will post on that site because so many other posters feel the same way they do.
ekmadonna
·3 years agoThe OP you are responding to said THEY DON'T THINK eCOMMERCBYTES has a vendetta against EBAY to which you disagree? Yet you are talking about the Individual POSTERS on their boards like yourself. The Posters have NOTHING to do with eCOMMERCBYTES. They are individuals who post on the eCOMMERCBYTES boards just like on these boards. So, what exactly are you disagreeing with? She or He is talking about the Steiners' website and NOT the PEOPLE who VISIT their Site.
mam98031
·3 years agoYou may need to revisit my post as I never said that. While sometimes the articles have titles or content in them that seem to me to enflame when not necessary. IMHO the site offers great information and usually great articles.
Sometimes the opinions of the posters on that site get confused with what the Site [or Steiner's] believe. The two are likely not to be even close.
Most of the posters on that site have a vendetta against Ebay which is clearly represented by what they post. But it is important to be able to tell the difference. I don't believe that these posters represent the opinions or position of the Site. It is just some found an outlet to vent their anger towards Ebay. Some are still active sellers on Ebay and some are not. But they feel passionately about how they feel, so they continue to post their positions on each article. Even if the article isn't about Ebay, some will often turn it to be about Ebay.
The Steiner's were put through something that caused sheer terror due to the actions of a few ex-Ebay employees. They have every right to be compensated for what transpired. It was so incomprehensible as to some of the things done I have a hard time wrapping my head around it. Which is why those people are in prison now, as they should be.
mam98031
·3 years agoJuly of 2021 is when the Stiener's filed their Civil Suit. The offenses happened in late summer 2019.
valueaddedresource
·3 years ago@mam98031 you're right, but not sure what that has to do with anything? I was talking about the criminal case and then said they brought the civil case a year later....meaning a year after the criminal case was filed, not when the offenses were committed.
The first criminal charges were revealed publicly on June 15, 2020.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/six-former-ebay-employees-charged-aggressive-cyberstalking-campaign-targeting-natick
The Steiners filed their civil lawsuit on July 21, 2021.
I think my statement of a year was close enough but if you'd like to quibble over a month and a few days, I guess you've got me.
mam98031
·3 years agoWhile the information may not have any value to you, it may to others. Especially since someone thought they had filed long before that. It was a simple statement of fact. Nothing more and I'm unsure as to why it was important to you to correct or try to dismiss what I said.. With the exception, I did think the bad actors started later in the summer, thank you for that correction again.
broto_64
·3 years agoBut yes...
Wenig resigned from eBay in September 2019 with a $57 million exit package.
The real issue here with me is that most of us could live out the rest of our lives with that kind of exit package.
To these CEO's it's just a bonus, well deserved spare pocket change.
And then comes another fee raise, because God forbid should the CEO have to give up anything for the people who are doing all the actual work.
mam98031
·3 years agoNot so sure he resigned as much as he was told he had to leave and they would accept his resignation. Remember it happened really fast. Sept. of 2019. Typically when a CEO resigns there is a lead time so they can try to find a replacement.
broto_64
·3 years agoIn all fairness the Steiners have always sounded like they had some sort of personal vendetta with ebay, hardly a single positive article ever was published on ecommercebytes... I stopped reading because all they ever had to say was always negative, I realize it is wrong if ebay responded the way it is being alleged however none of it surprises me much... That the CEO him or herself was involved would be shocking, but with the Steiner's I am never too sure what to believe as they do have a tendency to be dramatic when it comes to ebay. There has been no story ever published in these regards that came from a source other than steiner's / ecommercebytes and in a few cases ebay. Seems to me ebay was mostly quiet all the years they were constantly bashed and attacked on ecommercebytes which seemed to me came without provocation, what kind of thing did ebay ever do to them to deserve such bad publicity and again I'm not entirely sure if what transpired in this particular case is entirely the way the Steiner's claim.
valueaddedresource
·3 years ago@broto_64 Google is your friend - plenty of sources on this topic, including mainstream media, and also plenty of documents from the criminal and civil cases that are a matter of public record and show actual emails and text messages from eBay employees involved, including the CEO and Chief Communications Officer.
broto_64
·3 years agoHard to know what to believe after so many years of all the same old and it may have been wrong but those two were the only ones who ever went to those lengths in ways of negative publicity towards ebay, piece of me thinks they finally got what they worked for so hard all those years...
Criminal and civil cases all by and from the Steiner's, most of the articles are by and from as well, Wikipedia page was created by them, CBS is the only source I see covering the story, everything else is a copy of the same so again it's all one side of the story.
The CEO resigned, and got a $57 million exit package ...
Fifty seven million dollars...
For leaving...
Heck, again my only criticism is how much they pay these disconnected top level individuals.
valueaddedresource
·3 years ago@broto_64 look a little harder - CBS is definitely not the only one who has covered it.
You also seem to be confused how the court system in the US works. Criminal cases are not brought by the victims, they are brought by the state or whatever authority has jurisdiction over the matter.
Victims (or witnesses) report crimes to appropriate law enforcement authorities, who investigate. Depending on the outcome of the investigation, the appropriate legal authorities decide whether there is enough evidence or probable cause to move forward with prosecution....sometimes without any participation or cooperation from the victims.
Victims may choose to cooperate and may even testify in the case or give impact statements at sentencing, but make no mistake, in criminal courts they are not the ones "bringing the case" and do not even have to be the ones to have reported anything or cooperate in any way - if law enforcement and prosecutors are in possession of evidence a crime was committed or have enough probable cause to bring charges, it is in their power and discretion to do so, not the victim's.
In the criminal side of this case, the victims reported the harassment and stalking they experienced to their local police who after investigating got the FBI involved due to the nature of the crimes. The FBI then took over the investigation and collected enough information and evidence for Federal prosecutors to bring multiple felony charges against 7 eBay employees - all of whom eventually pleaded guilty, which means they admitted to what they did and there is no dispute as to whether or not the harassment and stalking alleged in those cases actually took place.
The only parts the victims played in that were reporting crimes that were committed against them (when they didn't even know who was responsible), cooperating with the investigation as it was ongoing and giving statements at sentencing as to how those criminal acts affected them.
The civil case was brought by the Steiners, a year later, based on information that was revealed from the criminal cases....which they have every right to do if they believe they have suffered provable harm and have sufficient evidence to hold those named in their suit liable for damages.
mam98031
·3 years ago@broto_64
It isn't "alleged", 5 or six people are in prison because of their actions in this matter.
It isn't so much the articles on their site that are negative. It is the comments. Most of which are people that have been banned from the Ebay community years ago for one reason or another.
broto_64
·3 years agoThat is certainly very, very interesting.
However I have not found their articles to be terribly flattering either, they are generally critical and it is only ebay... I am pretty sure in terms of marketplaces ebay isn't necessarily the best, I am also sure other marketplaces aren't much better, yet the steiners have chosen to write non-flattering article after article on ebay and ebay only, again as if they had a personal vendetta.
mam98031
·3 years agoThat does not mean that what the people currently in prison did to them was warranted. There was no excuse for their behavior and it was criminal. Which is why they are in prison.
They do write other articles on other Marketplaces as well. But it is mostly Ebay, likely because of the number of sellers on the site.
farmalljr
·3 years agoThat's simply another untrue statement you have made again. Every news letter that goes out also include amazon AND Esty. On occasion other sites like Mercari are covered. There has never been a time I have received a news letter that has never covered the main three, EQUALLY.
mam98031
·3 years agoI used the word "Mostly" because most articles are about Ebay in one way shape or form. Your post changed my word to "Every", which is NOT what I said. Every article is not about Ebay. Before attacking, consider what was actually said.
farmalljr
·3 years agoMaybe look in the mirror and heed your own advice. The articles cover the 3 major platforms pretty equally. and they also have the same tone, for all platforms.
When a platform does something negative to sellers, it reported. When a platform does something helpful, it's reported. Disagreeing is not "attacking". Again, you make another statement that articles "mostly" cover only ebay. Again, it's just not true, even though you may choose to perceive it that way. All three platforms are covered equally. I get the newsletter, and I actually read the articles. I am not obessing over one platform and focusing my angst with a blog because I don't like what they report.
ekmadonna
·3 years agoIt is not ONLY EBAY, Try ETSY and AMAZON as well. Please state facts.
toomuchstuffagain35
·3 years agoYou apparently don't actually read the site.
They have had several very critical pieces on both Etsy and Amazon of late.
gamersbaystore
·3 years agoGood, I hope they bankrupt this platform and its greedy executives.
mam98031
·3 years ago@gamersbaystore
You realize you are wishing for financial harm on millions of sellers because of your personal opinion, right?!?!?!?!
It is fine if you don't like the site. No one is forcing you to sell here, you have a choice.
albertabrightalberta
·3 years agoIn case anyone is interested, 60 Minutes will be airing an interview with the Natick (Mass) Police Department and their involvement and assistance in the investigation that ultimately led to the arrests. (They haven't announced the date of the show.)
https://www.facebook.com/NatickPolice/posts/pfbid0Yh7rA2erdrAFzgFnSYqqNKsZyq27qEKtt23P2qqM8JwZqLuQYi1Qgi6TBRWrDqCtl
vintagecraze50
·3 years agoOh that is just peachy. Great press for ebay. As a seller on here, that is NOT a good thing. I hope it gets little attention.
albertabrightalberta
·3 years agoI have to disagree you @vintagecraze50 . I hope 60 Minutes, ebay and the story get a LOT of attention!
As a seller also, it ticks me off that TPTB on "my site" would even consider such horrific acts. My hope is that future employees everywhere and in all companies will think twice before doing such vengeful acts. If that happens, it should make the site safer for everyone.
What those top execs did reflects poorly on all of us and perhaps in bringing to light that it's not done under a shroud of anonymity can teach a lesson we all learn from.
itsjustasprain
·3 years agoUm... I fail to see how anything those idiots did could be either my fault or yours.
mam98031
·3 years agoNot the fault of individual sellers. But we could all be damaged by this if we lose more buyers because the story goes national.
chapeau-noir
·3 years agoI don't see that happening any faster than it already is because of this story. The dirty corporate culture isn't news to most people and some time has already passed from this incident - it's not like Eloon Musk with his real-time corporate destruction.
mam98031
·3 years agoI would disagree. I think this story is something that most don't even know about. This story is not the average bad act or acts by some corporate people. This story is way beyond that and is more like things movies are made of.
monroe67
·3 years ago"I don't see that happening any faster than it already is because of this story. The dirty corporate culture isn't news to most people and some time has already passed from this incident - it's not like Eloon Musk with his real-time corporate destruction."
Gotta agree with this statement as well!
Let's hope that the 60 Minutes story is very clear about certain points: (1) this first happened a good four years ago, or more; (2) it happened only to the Steiners (though I admit I don't know this to be a true fact) ; (3) the Steiners are not getting any more harassing insects or funeral floral arrangements delivered to their home; (4) the people who did this are now former eBay employees; and (5) at least one of them has been sentenced to serve time in prison.
I want to have faith and trust in the common sense of the American people. Yes, I'm a die-hard in that. But I see evidence every day of just how lacking in common sense too many people are.
I wonder, though -- if eBay folds because of this situation and lawsuit -- would that invalidate the User Agreement? Would we sellers be able to start a class action against eBay for removing the platform on which we sell (or try to sell) our stuff? (BTW, I'm only about 5% serious with that question.)
zamo-zuan
·3 years agoThat's certainly true, any bad press wouldn't be great for eBay, and it seems each time this story is brought up more and more people are becoming aware.
Hopefully eBay could use this as an opportunity to regain trust and get their name out there. People love a "comeback story" and it truly could be a good time to better connect with the public. If they actually connected with the publications that cover eBay, rather than treat them like a threat, it would go a very far way.
It would also show they learned some lessons from what went down if they take steps to ensure the same thing wouldn't happen again. I can only speak for myself I've personally been concerned by what I've experienced in some situations with eBay (they had some very suspicious demands for information from us which none of the other top sellers needed to do in our category, and they refused to list our items in the catalog until we provided sensitive private information about our manufacturing, they promised explanations and never gave it, I know they were reading my private messages on here, and the list goes on). It would go a long way with me if they took steps to regain trust.
But if that's just from my own experience. I can't even imagine how it must feel to run a publication that covers eBay and have your name and personal information out there knowing what has happened in the past.
I've seen some of the traffic patterns out there from eBay as well. Could you imagine how it feels to bring up news covering something that has happened at eBay, and then within hours you have eBay IP's tracking all on to your site, followed by Thomson Reuters IP's? (For those that aren't aware, Thomson Reuters are not only Wenig's past job where he was a CEO, they're also a company that is so involved in the legal world that they literally print the books used by lawyers to reference the types of case law in states).
The real problem here is that they've created an environment where it's scary to tell the truth, and that should just never happen. Yet it's still happening, even if it's not escalating to harassment.
mam98031
·3 years agoUnfortunately many would see this as a current problem not one that happened four years ago.
How they tell the 60 minute story is extremely important. Do they only concentrate on the Steiners and do they show the lengths Ebay went through back then to get these people out of the company fast and what they have done since then to make sure it never happens again.
Hopefully it will be a two sided story.
monroe67
·3 years ago"Um... I fail to see how anything those idiots did could be either my fault or yours."
Thank You !! Exactly my opinion, also!
Three or four very, very bad, rotten people in the upper echelons of eBay "management" conspired to do and in fact did very, very bad things out of spite, because their little feelings were hurt. To repeat something from one of my former posts, one of those people admitted he was a lying drunk and the chemicals in the alcohol made him lose sight of better ways to behave. All those people are now former eBay executives/employees.
And none of these disgusting events had anything to do with a Sale or a Purchase on eBay! Those idiots formerly employed by eBay decided to lash out at negative comments about eBay made by M/M Steiner on a blog. Sticks and Stones -- does anybody remember that old saying?
retro_entertainment_collectibles
·3 years agoBe careful what ya' ask for might just get it. Now that's not to say "Horrific acts" need be unchallenged as Amastone, Starbucks and undoubtedly many more have had environment issues with employee's and external of said op's. Believe or not, same exists in many many our public schools at literally all levels.
But here's the "thang" there's a whole whole whole GIANT slew of business, legal and governmental Op's want media to focus on Internet points of sale. Its NOT just Social Media or online gaming like Twitter, forums, blogs, XBox Live or League of Legends. Oh no no no. Said this before, in the USA alone in 2021 the FTC claim three million consumers complaints totaling a whopping $6+ billion dollars of fraud against consumers. 2022's number are 2.6 million and an EVER SO WHOPPING $8.8 billion. No, all of that is not eCommerce by any means it's the "Shebang!" of scams and more.
Now that said and done how much resource atop that is expended trying pursue it? Mind you we've not even delved into US State authorities, courts on and on costs more or less an entire world.
If anyone and I do mean anyone thinks that those kind's of numbers are going to continue being ignored by the US Government or other nations welp... I've a bridge made of Bagels to sell you.
Thumbscrews in many areas of the world were well underway for Social Media when Covid struck putting everything on slow motion. Gaming companies like Microsoft X-Box Live, Sony etc all were quaking in their boots even to point of the CEO's saying publicly, "Our platforms are not those of free speech."
Moral of all this is "The powers that be" want mass media attention getting it all out in front of the voting and non-voting global public to regulate all of it. In the case of third party commerce not only do that want that out front, they've the support of corporate all over the globe who don't want compete against privateers.
One of the entities spearheading change is Walmart. Walmart's online support of Brick & Mortar US small businesses is to say the least remarkable and incredibly effective. They've went from "Oh Walmart online, like Target online" to the second place in all eCommerce and word has it they are ramping up bigtime this year.
If anyone think seeing such matters on 60 minutes not impact consumers who watch or shop here, well, keep dreaming. Is it going to change how other corporations pursue things? Oh no way, at least until they come on the radar. There are moral people who will say, "Thats incredible Joe/sephine! We're not ever going there again" and there ya' have it for right or wrong. Blame the corporation now for bad actors back when that now face what they face in their actions.
I guess a takeaway might be, "Look around at how absolutely imperfect and absurd human beings can be to one another all in the name of money and/or power in all its forms be they wealthy or not."
partfinds
·3 years agoI received notification of someone liking my response and when I click link to take me to the post that was liked it is not doing it. Why?
pburn
·3 years agoCan you post a screenshot/snippet of where it takes you when you click on the link to the post?
It should be taking you here:
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Steiners-ecommercebytes-revive-eBay-harassment-suit/m-p/33598766/highlight/true#M2173532
To this post, where your comment was "Nailed it."
simply-the-best-for-you
·3 years agoThose aren't employees. They are Khoros Mods.
chapeau-noir
·3 years agoAnd now my comment looks lame up there lol. It's a conspiracy to make my comments look lame!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't need the help.
shipscript
·3 years ago@chapeau-noir
Ask the mods to remove it because it was in response to a post that was later removed.
simply-the-best-for-you
·3 years agoI must have missed it, I posted & ran and didn't get back on last night.
chapeau-noir
·3 years agoThe same poster was posting his grievance on several threads but it got taken down because it was against board rules.
craft-stash
·3 years agoLame IS Lame!
sugarnspice777
·3 years agoAnd if anyone doesn't think that employees don't come in here to shut people down, hahahahahhah
chapeau-noir
·3 years agoYou're taking that way too hard.
retro_entertainment_collectibles
·3 years agoOf course nobody mention average median cost of a home in San Jose is in excess of a million dollars, perhaps incomprehensible but true. Average cost of living for a fam of four is over $4,000 a month before paying any rent or mortgage. Stock options is stock options, relative back in the day worked out in California and was worth near 8 million until the market came apart, then said relative was bankrupt walking away with $10,000 in his pocket and his truck.
Perhaps stranger, the house he'd bought had two orange tree's on the land which required he pay someone to care for them, required. He'd inground pool also had to be "cared" for professionally because of two trees, required. Code. Cut the tree's down... Nope can't do that! He renovated the insides, then had a large window like almost the whole front wall of living room put in. Next thing he know code enforcement telling him guess what? "Need put on a completely different roof." I mean the works, rafters and all! Them's got tremors earthquakes out them's way.
As to outlandish salaries, not really that outlandish albeit to us middle class folk its "Meow ow! Ow!"
Our local school Superintendent is a $170,000 a year job. The highest administrative salary in our school district, $262,000. Median household income for the county is $32,000... So.... Umm....
vintagecraze50
·3 years agoYou know the worst thing about this whole thing that continues to be a saga and drama is that people who may want to come here and shop may think twice with all this bad press. That hurts all of us here. Who can I sue for that. LOL!
vintagecraze50
·3 years agoMakes me wish ebay would just get this over with with them and be done with them, and get this bad press gone.
harafkac0
·3 years agoSadly we only get the Steiners/ecommercebytes side of the story.
It may well be true, but I'd sure like to hear the other side.
mam98031
·3 years agoIt is going through the court system and that always takes time.
chapeau-noir
·3 years agoI don't see that happening - most people know that many huge corporations have bad actors in them, most are probably not even following this.
vintagecraze50
·3 years agoWell that’s good.
retro_entertainment_collectibles
·3 years agoSo true and we live in the days of what I like to call, "The Media Orgy."
But as Mamma Gump used to say, "Forest... Theres a silver lining in every brown stripe." 🤣
chapeau-noir
·3 years agoWhy does anyone care about the commenters on Ina's blog? They're just opinions - I'm not sure why they even bother having the comment section as most news organisations have been getting rid of them as they're basically just filled with tr0lls and nut cases.
shipscript
·3 years agoTwenty years ago, I initially found an exciting and robust community, with all sorts of helpful and friendly, or nasty and biting, characters, and a scattering of fully engaged eBay employees (pinks) taking feedback to eBay for improvements. While learning how eBay worked, I was immediately sucked into the technical forums where I could hide from the raging forum personalities.
I found features missing on eBay's platform and wrote my own programs to fill them, and dozens of those tools are freely available to sellers. My eBay philosophy was to empower the disabled and the stay-at-home moms by helping them find some independence through eBay.
But what drove my forum participation was my desire to write programs and learn web programming. That was the unseen personal reward, to which some posters are alluding with false suggestions of paychecks, kickbacks, listing visibility, shills, and trolls. Spoiler alert: despite what Sri Lanka posters have been told on self-help videos, there is no association between forum participation and site visibility.
In 2008, John Donahoe brought a downer to this so-called noisy rabble of whiners, minimizing resources and staff participation in the forums. At the same time, eBay was changing the corporate strategy from a family of small sellers, who were recycling treasures from America's closets and attics, to a big box operation, where buyers would no longer give a hoot about feedback.
The community limped along. I lost hope that stay-at-home-moms could survive the Donahoe eBay with the influx of big box and Chinese warehouses, accompanied by a much stricter set of seller rules. But I may have been wrong about that, as the burgeoning home-based sellers (jettisoned from businesses) are now able to drop-ship new Chinese junk, or empty their own closets.
When Devin Wenig came along in 2011, he redirected focus back our community roots. From 2015, under his commitment, new life was brought back to the community. New funds were made available, community staff was re-established (blues), and the community was overhauled on the Lithium platform, with Lithium-contracted moderators (Lithium later became Khoros).
I met Wenig one time in 2015, at the 20th anniversary, and was encouraged that he might bring eBay back to its core foundation. At the same time, community launched the new Mentor program (volunteers who, without compensation, are willing to help other buyers and sellers succeed on the platform), which is touted as one step between offshore Customer Support and the open community forums of active buyers and sellers.
Over the years, I have also been contacted many times by Ina Steiner for input on eBay. As far as I am aware, her blog only knows what readers send in, or what has been available on the open forums or other news sources. I have seen, in some of the comments to her blogs, that many people have no clue what is going on and simply vent (same as here on the eBay forums). While we have a working relationship, I report only what I know or have directly experienced, so she only gets facts from me, from my own testing, or a corroboration of the trends I see playing out on the forums.
Since Ina covers the forums regularly, she will most likely be reading this thread.
Oh, I should also add that there was a 12-month period, from the initial involvement of the FBI, where a gag order was placed on all parties while the FBI investigated. So, when eBay reported the incident 12 months later, it did so when the gag order was released. I do recall some posters raising eyebrows that eBay waited so long to mention it, but that was a legal requirement.
wastingtime101
·3 years ago60 Minutes is putting together a segment.
https://www.facebook.com/NatickPolice/posts/568736341954035
mam98031
·3 years agoLet us know if you see them post a date it is to air please. @wastingtime101
pburn
·3 years agoWhile not a faithful, daily reader of EcommerceBytes, I do enjoy visiting the site on occasion. I agree that it's an opinion blog (not "journalism") as most blogs are, and I often find the Steiners have selected to feature a thread/post by someone who isn't really the most reliable, trustworthy participant in the community. Oftentimes, it's a topic posted by a participant who is recognized by frequent board participants as one who rarely gets things right and is, in fact, well known for getting things wrong--and I'm referring to actual, literal policies and/or procedures, not opinions on recent changes or how algorithms work. It's not unusual to read stories they've posted based on threads/posts from less-than-reliable sources.
If the Steiners spent more time reading the discussion boards, they'd probably think twice about some of the members to whom they've given more exposure--and credit--than would ordinarily be due had they been aware of those members' history in regard to their reliability as a source of accurate information.
That said, I happen to be of the opinion that everyone involved in this case has deserved whatever they've gotten and that a few more people and the company (in whatever iteration) also merit a harder look. I hope this revived/revised lawsuit is successful within the confines of the law--or whatever other caveat is appropriate.
mam98031
·3 years agoJust related to the posters on Ecommercebytes. Some are active sellers on Ebay, some are not. Some can still access the Community, some or can not. I don't know the actual percentages, but many of the posters have shared that they were booted from the Ebay Community a long time ago.
vintagecraze50
·3 years agoBack in the day that all this was happening there were numerous replies in those blogs from a large percentage of disgruntled ebay folks. Yeah, some of them really had an axe to grind.
mam98031
·3 years agoSome still do. Ecommercebytes is full of Ebay sellers that have been banned for one reason or another from this community. Most still sell on Ebay, some don't yet they still can't resist doing what they can to downgrade Ebay.
partfinds
·3 years agoI sometimes agree with you @mam98031 snd sometimes I don’t like with anyone at community.
when speech is shut people go and look for places where they can express their opinion and dissatisfacyion freely.
people complain to Persident hoping he will make changes for better. I don’t understand why would anyone want to shut complaints and criticism?
mam98031
·3 years agoYou are assuming they are doing this. I see complaints and criticism daily all over the community. But again there is two sides to everything. Not everything that people complain about or criticize are correct. Often it comes for a misunderstanding or a lack of knowledge on any given subject. Other complaints and criticisms are well placed and should be worked to correct whatever the issue is.
joliztoyco
·3 years agoI think eBay is doing a great job "downgrading" themselves.
I'm not going to pile on.
I just put up auctions, grab some popcorn, watch, and laugh.
Higher fees for US Sellers while eBay Germany removes all their FVF's? What is that insanity?
Even better are the Sellers on here completely ignoring the efforts of a certain "Party" to pass a National Sales Tax?
Which will DECIMATE eBay's buying and selling community. Crush it.
I ran out of popcorn. Time for a refill.
mam98031
·3 years ago@joliztoyco
I'm sure you are aware that it is buyers that pay sales tax, not the sellers. I actually like the idea of a National Sales tax as long as it is reasonable and it satisfies state requirements too. Not sure why it would be the end of the Ebay community. Most states charge sales tax that buyers have to pay already. What is the difference if they pay it to the Federal government or their state. Again if it is a reasonable tax.
joliztoyco
·3 years agoAs I am sure you are "aware" the number being discussed is 30%.
And a national retail sales tax is a "consumption" tax collected as a flat-rate tax on all sales from business to households.
For example, the sale of a newly constructed home to a family that will occupy it? That will be taxed.
But a business buys it to rent it out? Tax free.
Yeah...that's fair.
It fundamentally shifts the tax base from "Income" to consumption. So while our paltry eBay sales are tax free, that guy across town that cleared 11 million last year? His are too.
And I got news for ya...he can afford to pay that 30% consumption tax all day on anything he wants. Without even blinking.
The rest of us?
Not so much.
Basically the rates would be flat. NO goods or services would be exempt. Right now, many states exempt groceries. Not allowed under a national sales tax. Or prescription drugs. And just wait until you buy a new car. A base model car that costs 27,000.? That people can barely afford? Goes to 35,100!! Without title and license.
Maybe you try and do some research on it......
pburn
·3 years agoTo clarify, my post didn't reference the posters on EcommerceBytes; i.e., the people who post replies to the EcommerceBytes stories on that site. I know nothing about those people and have no opinion one way or the other regarding their replies. My reference was to the people who post threads or posts on the eBay community discussion board platform from which the Steiners draw information for the basis of their stories--not to the EcommerceBytes participants who respond to those stories with comments.
Previous posters mentioned the EcommerceBytes comment section posters/posts. Perhaps you meant to reply to one of those posts instead of mine?
albertabrightalberta
·3 years agoJust a minor correction: AFAIK, if a member is "on vacation" or otherwise banned from the community, they cannot access the community if logged in to their ebay account. But they are able to read if they're not logged in.
somanypostcards
·3 years agoMost people believe the Steiners' harassment was caused by negative comments about eBay in EcommerceBytes. I still think the harassment was caused by Ina Steiners' article, "eBay CEO Devin Wenig Earns 143 Times His Employees," which appeared in the April 8, 2018 EcommerceBytes blog. Top executives do NOT want their excessive salaries publicly disclosed and/or discussed. And their earnings continue to increase at a notably higher rate that their employees.
mam98031
·3 years ago@somanypostcards
Ebay is a publicly owned company and therefore their financials are public knowledge, just as the salaries of the top execs are publicly known then and now, so it is unlikely this had anything to do with anything. A simple Google search will get you this info.
simply-the-best-for-you
·3 years ago@mam98031 beat me to it, but this information is in every single annual report eBay puts out. The salaries of all executives in any public company are published at least yearly in the annual report, they are not secret. Private co's are a different story.
mam98031
·3 years ago@nobody*s_perfect
Had me concerned as your title said "Revive" and I didn't know it had died. But then your post says "revised", so good to know they just had some updates they wanted on record.
Harassment doesn't even come close to accurately describe what this couple was put through !!!
donsdetour
·3 years agoMake dem Steiners and their lawyers very rich eBay has or will shortly........
simply-the-best-for-you
·3 years agoAnd it will still be 1000x less than what they deserve, for what they endured.
donsdetour
·3 years agoWell they be easier to get along with than I am.
ceat4614
·3 years agoAfter reviewing many of the policies on Ebay for sellers, eBay is opening themselves up for another lawsuit.
Examples would be l not answering any of the complaints about buyers, but charging extra fees due to the ratings received by these buyers?
This is an unlawful trade practice.
In addition, I am incredibly surprised that the market keeps going up on the stock of eBay.
Last year they had a 12% decrease in Salers, even though I have now been forced now to start exploring and to open other stores, on other channels, due to not answering nor receiving a return email.
If they work out, I will be leaving eBay for good.
They do not answer any of their emails, they ignore their sellers, they give unfair practices to their own business over top of the sellers.
These are issues that they need to address, or they are going to find themselves one day in a very precarious situation. but if the CEO continues to ignore these, they are running towards a wall, and the issue will not be handled until they hit the wall and then it will be too late, they will have lost their credibility not only in the secondary market of sellers, but also among those on Wall Street, it is only now a matter of time. It is really sad to see such a decline starting to happen, there's still time for them to turn it around but I doubt they will.
partfinds
·3 years agoJustifying acts of crime with alcoholism is like Murdoch justify murder with drug addiction. Don’t he still have high prifile influential jobs despite that terrible addiction? Gross
spark-chaser1
·3 years agoI'd like to add to my last statement. Not only do I not receive compensation for volunteering ( nor do I deserve any), it may be just the opposite. Sometimes volunteers take abuse or fight through tense reactions to help people work through problems they are having here.
To say that volunteers have an ulterior motive, or are receiving some sort of payment or back- door deals is just not correct. Hopefully no one believing this will dirty their hands asking us for simple help with an issue.
retro_entertainment_collectibles
·3 years agoI read eSeller365.com and find it reasonably reasonable and interesting at times.