12 Feb 2008, 01:03
What they're doing is promoting transactions, regardless of satisfaction. Because in the end eBay gets their money. They don't care about doing what is right.
This is a classic example of a rising monopoly. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Nobody can touch the eBay brand... it's way too prominent. At least for now. In time, their unfair practices will erode customer confidence and then someone else will pick up the ball. I just hope it happens sooner than later.
It's kind of funny... the physical world doesn't map very well to the on-line world. I'd expect that there would be multiple websites in each business area with a handful of websites near the top of the activity levels, each vying for a bigger piece of the business. Yet it doesn't seem to work that way... There's something about the way the World Wide Web is facilitated that seems to get people interested in only one place for one thing. On-line auctions? eBay. Consumer supplied videos? YouTube. Retail products? Amazon. Weather information? Weather.com. There are other players in each category, but so far off the mark that always leaves just one the clear winner.