Petition against eBay

[oldironman]

I vote to make this a sticky until the effective date.
http://www.petitiononline.com/ebay0001/petition.html

[redblair]

People may jump on me but I don't care what E-bay does. If they don't want to have anything to do with guns fine. They are lots of other places that are gun specific that suit my needs. I just don't buy from that site or use paypal.

B

[oldironman]

That's your view and that is fine, too. No one can fault you if you don't join the protest. I just view it as part of the anti-gun movement, not a business move on their part. As such, I will treat them as I would an anti-gun group by alerting others and diverting my money to someone who isn't against gun owners, but I would also like to convince them to change that anti-gun policy. I don't think it will happen, though.

[FirstFreedom]

It's a bad link though.... Says "An error has occurred. The email address you entered is not valid" - wth? I didn't enter anything.....

[oldironman]

You have to enter an email address. You can click the button to keep it anonymous.

[FirstFreedom]

I don't think you understand - there's no place to enter the email address - you need to link to the page BEFORE that page.

Edit, here, fixed it:

http://www.petitiononline.com/ebay00...tion-sign.html

[Taxidermist]

we're going to need alot more than the 553 signatures. People love to bitch but they sure don't like to try to help and change things. Just sign it. It sure can't hurt.

[oldironman]

I corrected mine.
Thanks, FF

Y'all don't forget to email the link to everyone you know. Not only will we need thousands of signatures, but actually thousands of folks to curb their eBay usage.

[BerettaCougar]

OldIronMan, I just bought a Motorola bluetooth headset for $15.00 SHIPPED for my cellphone that costs $99.99 in the stores.

It may not allow gun sales, but I will not discontinue it's use, it is a private business and is allowed to make its own rules.

[oldironman]

It's your choice. Just remember, what they are doing is just one of those little bitty steps to chip away at our gun rights. It may not seem like it, but it does. Think about trying to find things like that elsewhere. I bought a bluetooth on there last yeat, but I had to pay $35 for mine, including shipping. I have spent quite a bit of money at eBay, and I hate to quit, but I have to try and persuade them somehow. I am (was) in the process of getting started reloading on there. Oh well. Gotta take the knocks sometimes. Boycotts work sometimes. I am just going to find other avenues. If I have to, I'll pay a little extra. But I won't support people who are actively anti-gun, and that is exactly what this new eBay rule is. They aren't being indifferent. They claim it is in the interest of safety, but continue to allow the sale of tobacco pipes, and cigarette papers, and alcohol/druggy related type stuff. Yes it is their right if they believe guns are more evil than tobacco and alcohol. I don't believe them, and I am going against them.

[Bruxley]

Let Ebay have the same sovereignty over how they want to run their business as would want running yours. A business isn't obligated to bend to the will of public sentiment or personal grudges, it bends to the will of the market and customer service.

[deadin]

You know, petitioning ebay is going to have about as much an effect as spitting in the ocean would have on raising sea level. The "Gun Parts" section currently has about 9300 listings. this is just a 1000 more listings than the "Camera Bag" section and a couple of thousand less that the 'Baby Feeding" section.
It may be a "big thing" to some out here in gun land, but in the greater scheme of things, it's nothing.
I doubt if they will even notice the "loss" of revenue.
But if it makes you feel better to get all upset over it, go for it.

[Pat H]

eBay's position with regard to firearms sales created two businesses at least, AuctionArms.com and Gunbroker.com. I've purchased at least five firearms through them, works great.

[O6nop]

To me, eBay should be able to make whatever policies they want. All I have to do is stop doing business with them. We can't make a business deal with what they don't want to deal with.
From here on out, as a gun owner, I will boycott any sales or purchases not related to gun parts. I won't buy coins or memorabilia or cars or land on eBay, but I may still buy and sell gun parts that they do allow. (I'm not really sure what that is but I'll work on finding out.) My efforts won't tip the scales, but maybe if everyone tried it...

[ravnew]

Signed it, don't really think it will do much good but it doesn't hurt to let them know how we feel.

[gcfennell]

Signed and publicized! #808

George

[KyJim]

I signed. While I agree that Ebay has the right to run its business the way it wants, customers have the right to pull their business. When concealed carry first came in here, a number of businesses put up signs saying no weapons were allowed. When people started boycotting, the signs came down. Will this happen with Ebay? Probably not, but it is worth the effort.

[skeeter1]

It may not allow gun sales, but I will not discontinue it's use,

Me neither. I've made some great deals, both buying and selling (including handgun grips) to just write it off over one issue. That's like not voting for a political candidate because you disagree with them over one issue (2nd ammendment excepted). When I want to search out a gun, that's when I look at gunbroker, auctionarms, et.al.

[Double Naught Spy]

I am sure a petition will just scare ebay into submission. As we know, petitions are more powerful than boycotts, but that we won't get the boycott momentum with the old lady trinkets lobby.

[applesanity]

Ebay is not a state-sponsored, state-funded, or state-controlled operation.

So long as they stay within legal limits, they're entitled to do whatever the heck they want.

[ATW525]

It's not just eBay... it's an epidemic. I went to all my local super markets, and guess what? No guns! At McDonalds I asked if they could substitute a box of 9mm for the french fries that came with my value meal and the girl behind the counter looked at me like I had two heads! It's crazy! I even called Dominoes and asked if they could deliver some Glock magazines, and do you know what those jerks did? They hung up on me! Can you believe that?? There are anti-RKBA bastards everywhere! Hopefully my local gunshop will start selling food soon, because I'm getting hungry...

[Wildalaska]

You recall from another thread I wrote Mr. Halpin.

Here is the response:

"Thank you for your recent email to Matt Halprin regarding the changes to
our Firearms, Weapons and Knives policy. He has asked that I respond on
his behalf.

At eBay we take the safety of our community and our marketplace very
seriously. We have a Trust and Safety team which consists of more than
2,000 experts in online security and safety who are located around the
globe. This team is dedicated to ensuring that our marketplace is a safe
and trusted place for buyers and sellers to engage in trade.

We value an open and transparent marketplace; if items are legal to buy
and sell in an unrestricted manner we allow them on our site. However,
there are some items that while legal, may not be safe for our
marketplace. In these instances, our applicable policies go beyond the
law to ensure that our marketplace is safe.

After careful consideration our executives and our Trust and Safety team
determined that while legal, any item required to fire a gun has no
place on eBay. All of our policies are under constant review. As the
internet and the way our communities use the internet evolves, our
policies and our marketplace must evolve with it. We have determined
that this policy change was in the best interest of promoting a safe
marketplace for all members.

Regards,

Mike Smith
Office of the President
eBay, Inc."

And my reply:

"Dear Mr. Smith:

As I said, you are entitled to do whatever you want on your site, however, it is laughable that you justify your decision by alleging "safety of your marketplace" when you allow the sale of just as legal drug paraphenalia and pornography, neither of which particularly annoy me by the way. I personally would rather have folks selling triggers for antique Winchesters rather than the latest version of Girls Gone Wild, but reasonable minds differ.

I would have respected your decision more if you had told us the truth, that is, in todays litigious society, your lawyers had determined that the loss of business you will suffer by this decision was outweighed by the potential losses to be derived from a lawsuit over a magazine, or even better, if you advised us that you just don't approve of guns.

Be that as it may, it's the bottom line that counts, and we, as well as countless others, won't be contributing to yours anymore.

Good luck. My broker is advising all of his clients to sell Ebay stock, not because he is a gun lover, but because he feels the backlash will affect your profitability. Us? We will just move ALL of our sales to Auction Arms.

Thanks for your reply."

WildloveandkissesAlaska

[sectshun8]

It's not just eBay... it's an epidemic...

Indeed, I mean come Jan1 2008, Wal*Mart is no longer selling guns/ammo or any firearm related items (cleaning kits, scope mounts etc). Or at least starting to phase them out in Q1.

[Al Norris]

Good for you, Ken.

Folks, it's just my opinion - so that counts for exactly nothing, but... Writing letters/emails to Mr. Halpin, telling him that you won't do business with them is more effective than some silly online petition.

It's a numbers game. If you write them, cancel your business with them, sell your EBay stock... it will begin to add up. Will it be enough to make them revisit this issue? Only the numbers will tell.

Real people, who conduct real business, and pull their business from EBay, will be much more effective than any number of people that sign a petition. When (if) the bean-counters see more loss of revenue than the attorneys project from lawsuits, the attorneys will be discounted.

[PAHOGHUNTER]

Did anyone else get a reply back from the letter they sent MR. HALPRIN. I did, as I figured out earlier we are wasting our time. They are doing all of this with the safety of our nation in mind.