Response to Ebay banning gun related items

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My mail to eBay

My mail:

Good day,

I'd like to start out by saying that I have no interest in an automated reply of any sort, as many of my friends have been receiving after sending you their personal reflections upon your (your, referring to eBay
's) new policy concerning the sale of firearms and their accessories.

You've heard it all before by now, and I won't bother you with the ethical details of my opinion, I'd just like to point out that by altering your policy into it's current form, you are at risk of alienating a group of people who are essentially
a financial superpower. The recent tragedies, all of which are too often cited and too little mourned, have been a fertile soil for legislation an policy which has been observed to be ineffective in large portions of the world. This has caused the vast community
of law-abiding gun owners to cling together in defense of what we believe to be our rights.
Admitting that you will not exactly suffer a financially crippling blow by our withdrawal from your site, I'd like you to think about something:
How many people have applauded your change in policy? Will these people be spending more time and money on your site?
And: how long until that mob has long forgotten about your -in my best effort not to belittle your good intentions- witless actions?


I don't believe that your company will get any gain, financial, ethical or otherwise, from the course you have taken to.

Sincerely and without grudge
Mokothar,
Son to a competitive marksman.



I'm not really angry with them, they're excercizing their right not to sell things, though it bothers me that they don't provide a logical explanation as to why ... oh well, taking the business elsewhere.
 
I got the standard response. Then I got what they said was a "random" survey to see how I liked my customer service experience. I responded even though I am no longer a customer. There was a selection in the survey about whether I disagreed with any of ebay's policies and I even got to fill in an explanation of why I didn't like their feel-good, extra-legal, politically correct rule. I haven't seen anything in the thread that indicates the survey is an automatic response to everyone, maybe it will actually be read by a human.
 
I've already said my piece to eBay concerning their new policy, but I did come up with another argument to be presented to them, if anybody would like to add this to their rant mails to eBay.

I was talking to a local police officer last week, and he told me that the department issues Glocks to all of the officers, but if the officer chose to use another sidearm, or a rifle or riot gun, the officer has to fund that him/herself. I would think there are policies like that in place in many law enforcement agencies nationwide, in addition to military personel, security guards, bodyguards, etc. How many of THESE customers did eBay just put in a world of hurt because of the new policy?

Just one of the things that made me say "hmmmmmmmmmm".........
 
I'm quite certain they are prepared to "handle" us but wouldn't it be nice if they were to find they underestimated the situation??

Yes, it would be really awesome if we had that kind of solidarity that would prevent any more ebay sales from happening throughout the gun user/supporter community. I'd love to see that happen.

I was talking to a local police officer last week, and he told me that the department issues Glocks to all of the officers, but if the officer chose to use another sidearm, or a rifle or riot gun, the officer has to fund that him/herself. I would think there are policies like that in place in many law enforcement agencies nationwide, in addition to military personel, security guards, bodyguards, etc. How many of THESE customers did eBay just put in a world of hurt because of the new policy?
Wow. Given the average starting wage of a LEO, that's ridiculous, but I guess it explains why most new cops have the McAuto on their side instead of something else. Maybe Auction Arms or GunBroker will kick in a subsidy for LEOs... 10% off or something.

:mad:
 
done

I wrote my own letter (a damn good one, too :) ) and sent it this afternoon. It'll be interesting to see if I get a form letter or one as personal as mine.
 
Did you ask them if or when they were banning the sale of all that filthy porn they sell on their site now?

CHLThumbs.gif
 
Are there any equivalent sites to Ebay?
There are plenty of online auction sites. Auction sites just link potential buyers and sellers. There's nothing special about auction sites; it's just that seller reputation and the integrity of transactions is their capital and Ebay is by far the biggest. They likely also have the most reliable servers and support. I bought a holster from a site that goes by the unfortunate name www.iwantdeal.com. Unlike Ebay listings there are completely free. They even have a category called "firearms and parts". Fine transaction, but as of this afternoon there are absolutely no items for sale on the site. None. No traffic makes things difficult to sell.
 
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Somewhere in the early pages of this thread there was a letter that mentioned using Craigslist over eBay.

Just so you know, Craigslist is partially owned by eBay.
 
Mokothar:

Interesting, thoughtful letter.

Would you be so kind as to publish anything in the way of a REAL response that you might possibly, though not likely get from E/Bay?

Thanks.

Alan
 
I closed my ebay account also. been a member for 9 years. 100% feedback rating. I let them know why I was leaving... but got the same form letters that everyone else gets.

Will close my paypal account also.
 
ubid.com has been around for 10 years, I think they got wind of the backlash against ebay's ban of :

Firearms
Knives
Animals skins

and now they doing a media blitz, I've 4 or 5 commercials in the past 2 days.

I am going to sign up with ubid.com because I typed in "knives" and there were a dozen results instantly

just my $.02
 
Regarding several posts here indicating closure of E/bay accounts, the writing of letters to E/bay management and the receipt of "canned form letters in "response", respecting a mob the size of E/bay, did you realistically expect anything else?

Mind, this is NOT to say that I agree with E/bay's action, however that is their choice to make, and they obviously have made it, likely having analyzed data and having decided that the amount of business their action would cost them is NOT SIGNIFICANT. The only way that they are likely to change their position is to have the error of their ways driven home in an unmistakably clear manner, which translates to a significant drop in business along with the concomitant effect on E/bay's BOTTOM LINE.

I suspect that they would be rather sensitive to that sort of thing, and also submit that that is about the only thing that would sway the decision makers there. If we, members of The Gun Culture can achieve this, that is to hit E/bay in the pocketbook and hit tem hard, change will come. Absent our ability to so do, and the relevant action, forget E/bay, and do business elsewhere. Aside from the antics of E/bay, we have other cats to skin, more important cats, or so it seems to me.
 
I just closed my eBay account-took me a while haven't used it in a few months due to political reasons. I had been selling on eBay for 8 years. Now when will the rest of firearm owners stop using paypal? It's really annoying selling stuff and having a fellow gun owner get angry with you because you don't use paypal.
 
I posted the reply weeks ago and got the canned response. I have also got a few emails from sellers that I have bought components off of. Most seem to be going to Gunbroker. I hope Gunbroker picks up the ball, seems like a opportunity for them. I also mentioned the Law Enforcement Public in my email, did not matter. Accounts closed, maybe won't matter but gotta take a stand sometime. Bill
 
Thoughtful, impassioned, heartfelt, rational letter sent. Form letter received. Ebay and PayPal clearly do not value my business.

:fire:
 
Canceled my Ebay and PayPal accounts when the announcement broke. Last week their stock finally climbed to $36.50 and I dumped several thousand worth. It hasn't gotten back up there since and I hope it doesn't. Any of you out there with mutual funds, look to see if you are invested in Ebay in your fund and direct your manager to divest immediately, if enough of us do that it will further depress the value of Ebay and perhaps "follow the dollar" mentality will force the management of Ebay to consider what they have done.
 
mpmarty:

As I mentioned in an earlier post (#115), hitting them in their bottom line is likely the one and only thing that could cause a "revaluation of policy".

Of course, one question remains more or less unanswered, actually two questions.

1. Are there enough people in The Gun Culture, for want of a better term, to have the desired effect, that is withholding business from E/bay?
I suspect that E/bay's evaluation of that question would be NO.

2. Will gun owners, once again, turn out to be "their own worst enemies", or will they somehow manage to get their act topgether, thereby perhaps generating the force necessary to cause E/bay and or like entities to think again?

Only time will tell.
 
I just closed my paypal account. Included a nice memo of why I was doing it. Closed my ebay account last week, also with an explanation why.

I notice that paypal says they have 'over 100 million accounts"... So I guess a few hundred gun owners closing their accounts would be extremely insignificant to put it lightly.

Hopefully ebay will feel it more.
 
I am sure they will feel something. There were quite a few knife stores, high volume as well as holster and gun part stores. Cheaper than dirt sold products on Ebay. We are talking about more than just guns, everything gun related is going, that adds up to alot of goods. Ebay and Paypal got a piece of every transaction. They essentially shut down quite a few small businesses, they will see a reduction in income just do to this. Bill
 
wcwhitey writes:

I am sure they will feel something. There were quite a few knife stores, high volume as well as holster and gun part stores. Cheaper than dirt sold products on Ebay. We are talking about more than just guns, everything gun related is going, that adds up to alot of goods. Ebay and Paypal got a piece of every transaction. They essentially shut down quite a few small businesses, they will see a reduction in income just do to this. Bill

-----------------

E/bay, re this "new" policy of theirs would likely claim to have taken "the high road", no pun intended. Personally speaking, I put no stock in any such claims, as I believe they are simply pandering to the screamers.

In the last analysis, we shall see what happens, both with E/bay and PayPal, which E/bay owns, and the high moral tone they seem to have adopted. Personally speaking, and I can offer nothing concrete to support the following conclusion other than a gut feeling, I suspect that if push came to shove, and their bottom line were to be seriously/adversley effected, that the above mentioned hight moral tone would turn out to have feet of clay, to use a fairly polite form of expression. Of course, I could be wrong.
 
Food for thought. When you tell a store: ''I will never shop here again'' they no longer worry about providing you with customer service.
 
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