22-rimfire
Member
At least half of my purchases on ebay have been firearm related. This is what happens when you get fat and lazy. Guess Auction Arms and GunBroker will be getting a lot more listings.
Wave bye bye to eBay
- Thread starter dust_101
- Start date
- Status
stormspotter
Member
I have had around a dozen firearms related purchases thru ebay and am cancelling my account with them. I also have never used Paypal and do not intend to start.
Cannonball888
Member
Man I have bought and sold a lot of gun parts on eBay and I still do. Those $#@!@$^&\ idiots! I hope this decision comes back to bite eBay's fat butt big time.
Ohen Cepel
Member
That's it for me also. I tried to look past some of the foolishness in the past but I've had my fill of it now.
Morons.
Morons.
Ohen Cepel
Member
Does anyone have an email address for them that we can write to complain about this policy? Or a phone number?
I looked around and didn't find one.
They should know why they're losing money. Also, I need to check my stocks and dump anything I own of them.
I looked around and didn't find one.
They should know why they're losing money. Also, I need to check my stocks and dump anything I own of them.
thexrayboy
Member
I can honestly and happily say I have never utilized either Ebay or PayPal.
Will miss neither.
Will miss neither.
Too bad just got a Jap type 38 floorplate last night. Need the follower and spring which closes tommorrow.
Guess i wouldn not be able to buy these thing next months.
How stupid.
Hope every gun parts seller moves to auction arms or gunbroker.
Ebay usually has hard to find parts, that other sites don't have.
Brion
Guess i wouldn not be able to buy these thing next months.
How stupid.
Hope every gun parts seller moves to auction arms or gunbroker.
Ebay usually has hard to find parts, that other sites don't have.
Brion
Fisherman_48768
Member
Ebay lost another
Just canceled my ebay account, I just do not understand why a company would cut their own business throat. They lost a lot of my business.
Just got this from Ebay, as if they really cared.
Just canceled my ebay account, I just do not understand why a company would cut their own business throat. They lost a lot of my business.
Just got this from Ebay, as if they really cared.
Screw E-Bay. I used to use it a lot. Now it's so full of fraud and scams that I never use it anymore. Just put something up for sale out there and see what happens. You will be contacted by half a dozen scam artists.
I hope they go under. They are useless in my book.
I hope they go under. They are useless in my book.
unrealtrip
Member
Who cares, gunbroker.com
GlowinPontiac
Member
ebay has been going downhill for a long time. it caters more to teenagers who want to buy pot pipes and people who want sex toys than anything else.
i havent purchased anything there in years and probably will never do so again.
i havent purchased anything there in years and probably will never do so again.
We must not give up on eBay.
I understand everyone's feelings and the impulse to say to hell with eBay and just forget about them, but I believe our goal should not be to just ignore eBay as another 'anti' company, but to get eBay to reverse their decision. I know a lot of peole here won't agree with me, or will say it is a waste of time to try, but I think given its influence (like it or not) on society, eBay is exactly the type of private mainstream company whose turnaround from the ignorance of anti-gun hoplophobia to the voice of reason is something that is worth fighting for. I have a four step plan I would like to propose.
**********************************************************************************************
FIRST STEP - As many people as possible send eBay a message making the following points:
A.) Why eBay's decision is logically wrong.
B.) That eBay's reason for making the decision is based on an illogical premise.
C.) The steps you intend to take in response to eBay's decision.
D.) The long term negative fiscal consequences of this decision for eBay.
E.) Propose a solution that will address eBay's concerns while pointing out the positive fiscal consequence of reversing their decision.
(more on the solution mentioned in part "E" later)
Everyone will of course gave their own ideas, these here are just my own thoughts on these points, which I will be including in my own message to eBay once I finish cleaning up the writing.
A.) Why eBay's decision is logically wrong:
I will point out to eBay that while trying to head off public lawsuits by changing business practices is not an unreasonable theory for any company to follow, in this case it makes no sense at all since they are limiting themselves (and their profits) from taking part in something that is perfectly legal. Also, that they do not apply this same logic to other auction item categories they could just as likely be sued over, like electronics and home appliances (buyer get toaster off eBay, electrocutes themselves, sues eBay), parts for cars or motor cycles (buyer got brake pads off eBay, has a wreck, sues e-Bay), alcohol (underage buyer gets collectible vodka bottle with vodka still inside because seller didn't bother to check their age or local alcohol sale regulations, underaged buyer gets buzzed, their parents sue e-Bay). Finally, that eBay actually ends up opening themselves up to lawsuits and a greater chance of losing lawsuits, because plaintiffs can claim in their "toaster-brake pad-collectible vodka bottle" lawsuit, that eBay knew beforehand that certain items shouldn'be be available for auction, as proven by eBay's earlier implementd policy of prohibiting the sale of firearms related items.
B.) That eBay's logic for making their decision is based on an incorrect premise:
I will tell eBay that I understand their decision was based on the idea, that whatever money they make from handling firearms related item auctions, won't be as much as they estimate they might have to spend in legal fees if someone decides to sue them for whatever reason related to said auctions, and so their overall profit margins will be reduced, but that this is a faulty premise. That instead their overall longterm profits will be lower because of the decision to no longer allow firearms related item auctions, because of all the business they will lose from gun-owers who also use eBay for non-firearm item related auctions and purchases, and who will either stop using eBay altogether for non-firearms related auctions and sales, or who will at least greatly reduce their use of eBay for such auctions and instead turn to eBay's competitors whenever possible.
C.) The steps you intend to take in response to eBay's decision:
I will tell eBay that first and foremost I will spread the word on their decision to gunowners through all available venues (internet forums, magazines, newspaper editorials, and of course gun rights groups like the NRA, GOA, JPFO, etc.), and that the message will be of course be to boycott eBay altogether, to turn to other sites if they want to buy or sell something through internet auction, and to continue these actions until eBay reverses its decision.
D.) The long term negative fiscal consequences of eBay's 'no firearms item auctions' decision to eBay:
I will remind eBay that their are tens of millions of gun owners in this country, and that it is safe to say that a substantial percentage likely have accounts with eBay, and they likely use eBay for both firearm and non-firearm related auctions and purchases. And while the initial dropoff of the loss of this gun owner business may not be high, these losses will continue to increase month by month and year by year as more and more leave eBay on moral grounds because of the 'no gun item auctions' policy, and so these gun owners will at the very least greatly reduce the business they do with eBay for non-firearms item auctions, or cease business with eBay altogether by turning to competitors. Furthermore, that this trend of increasing losses will only get worse, as eBay's competitors grow in size from the gun owners who come over to them for both firearm item and non-firearm item auctions, taking more and more non-firearm related auctions from of eBay. Also, the trend will be long term and will not reverse itself as a result of gun owners losing interest in keeping up the boycott, because unlike other demographic segments, gunowners have a long memory and patience, and will reliably avoid using eBay for as long as it takes for eBay to reverse their decision. I will point out as an example the successful decade long fight gun owners waged against the so called assault weapons ban of 1994-2004.
The main point here is to make clear that the total business eBay will lose in the coming months and years from gun owners no longer participating in non-firearms related auctions, will far outstrip any savings they might have thought they would gain on the few lawsuits they might have possibly avoided.
E.) Propose a solution that will address eBay's concerns while pointing out the positive fiscal consequence of reversing their decision:
In recognition of the fact that eBay, like any business, does have a legitimate right to minimize its perceived exposure to lawsuits, I will propose to eBay a solution that companies in virtually every business field all over the world have employed for decades. Create an independent spinoff company based in a friendlier state (like Florida rather than California) to handle the business that the parent company, for whatever reason, no longer wishes to deal directly with. This spinoff, for now we'll just call it 'eBay2', can be founded by legal agreement with parent eBay to only handle auctions eBay decides to pass on, and could handle not only firearms items, but complete firearms (like eBay used to do so long ago), and any other item auctions (like say car brake pads, collectible vodka bottles that still have vodka in them, toasters, etc.) that parent eBay decides to pass on due to perceived liability reasons.
Since gun owners would have an eBay2 for firearms related auctions, they will see no reason not to stay with eBay for their non-firearms related item auctions. So instead of losing all the non-firearm item auction business from gun owners, eBay will keep it, while independent eBay2 will be responsible for and handle whatever risk eBay seems to think comes with internet firearms auctions.
**********************************************************************************************
This "FIRST STEP" message can of course be sent by e-mail, but I think also mailing an old-fashioned paper letter to eBay would be good too.
**********************************************************************************************
SECOND STEP - Spread the word. Post on every internet forum you can, and of course call, e-mail, or mail every gun rights group you can, even if you are not a member, let them know. The NRA, GOA, and other gun rights groups through their member e-mail and mail lists can get the word out to the more casual gun owners who rarely check internet forums. And those gun magazines we love to complain about so much as being shills for the gun companies, contact them too. A single letter to the editor in Guns & Ammo or Shooting Times will spread the word to more gun owners faster, even if it doesn't get published till next month, than internet postings.
**********************************************************************************************
**********************************************************************************************
THIRD STEP - We have to run this boycott so its force is maximized, not implemented piecemeal, so eBay feels it as much as possible. Obviously how to go about doing this is something that all interested members of this board (and all the interested members of all the other gun boards, and hopefully the whole gun owning community in general) will want to iron out in the following days. But to get the discussion going on how best to proceed with the boycott, I would like to start by saying that I am not entirely sure a general 'effective immediately' boycott would be as god as a boycott that is scheduled to start on a specific date.
eBay just posted their 'no more gun item auctions' announcement yesterday, and it will take time for word of it to spread nationwide to the greater (i.e. casual) gun owning populace. Rather than having a trickle of people e-mailing eBay over the coming weeks and months, having a bunch of people e-mail eBay starting on the same day, in say 6 weeks from now, is I think more likely to cause the eBay honchos to sit up and notice. I am guestimating starting the official boycott in 6 weeks, because I figure it will take at least a month before word of eBay's decision really becomes common knowledge among the majority of gun owners (particularly among casual gun owners) nationwide. Also, the boycott start date should be a long enough period after the knowledge becomes common (say 2 weeks later), to make sure everyone can get organized in time to know what day to start sending eBay our boycott announcement e-mails.
Finally, don't stop after you send your first e-mail to eBay. Send eBay an e-mail at least once a week for every week after we start the official boycott. Specifically, I was thinking each person taking part in the boycott would search eBay's current auctions at least once each week, find something they might have considered bidding on before, and e-mail eBay that this is another thing you would have bid on in the past, but won't now because of their new firearms item policy. Referencing a specific auction you won't be bidding on, rather than just sending a generic weekly e-mail telling eBay you are boycotting, should be more effective, since this will give eBay more of a hard reference for all the potential business they are losing.
Again, I am just putting my ideas out here, and much more discussion is obviously going to be needed before any particular strategy is settled on.
**********************************************************************************************
FOURTH STEP - We must be patient. It took Martin Luther King and his supporters well over a year, with an organized sustained boycott, to end bus segregation in Montgomery, and it was a decade before we finally saw the so called assault weapons ban of 1994-2004 go into the dustbin of history. Whether convincing eBay of their folly takes months or years, I believe we must keep at it, because in the end if we don't keep pushing the enemies of gun rights back, they will just keep pushing forward.
**********************************************************************************************
I apologize for this very long post, and any grammatical or syntax errors that might be present. It is well past midnight here and I can barely keep my eyes open. I will look for and edit out any mistakes tomorrow. Of course everyone please feel free to voice their critiques and opinions. That is what this board is all about.
Molon Labe
Sonic
I understand everyone's feelings and the impulse to say to hell with eBay and just forget about them, but I believe our goal should not be to just ignore eBay as another 'anti' company, but to get eBay to reverse their decision. I know a lot of peole here won't agree with me, or will say it is a waste of time to try, but I think given its influence (like it or not) on society, eBay is exactly the type of private mainstream company whose turnaround from the ignorance of anti-gun hoplophobia to the voice of reason is something that is worth fighting for. I have a four step plan I would like to propose.
**********************************************************************************************
FIRST STEP - As many people as possible send eBay a message making the following points:
A.) Why eBay's decision is logically wrong.
B.) That eBay's reason for making the decision is based on an illogical premise.
C.) The steps you intend to take in response to eBay's decision.
D.) The long term negative fiscal consequences of this decision for eBay.
E.) Propose a solution that will address eBay's concerns while pointing out the positive fiscal consequence of reversing their decision.
(more on the solution mentioned in part "E" later)
Everyone will of course gave their own ideas, these here are just my own thoughts on these points, which I will be including in my own message to eBay once I finish cleaning up the writing.
A.) Why eBay's decision is logically wrong:
I will point out to eBay that while trying to head off public lawsuits by changing business practices is not an unreasonable theory for any company to follow, in this case it makes no sense at all since they are limiting themselves (and their profits) from taking part in something that is perfectly legal. Also, that they do not apply this same logic to other auction item categories they could just as likely be sued over, like electronics and home appliances (buyer get toaster off eBay, electrocutes themselves, sues eBay), parts for cars or motor cycles (buyer got brake pads off eBay, has a wreck, sues e-Bay), alcohol (underage buyer gets collectible vodka bottle with vodka still inside because seller didn't bother to check their age or local alcohol sale regulations, underaged buyer gets buzzed, their parents sue e-Bay). Finally, that eBay actually ends up opening themselves up to lawsuits and a greater chance of losing lawsuits, because plaintiffs can claim in their "toaster-brake pad-collectible vodka bottle" lawsuit, that eBay knew beforehand that certain items shouldn'be be available for auction, as proven by eBay's earlier implementd policy of prohibiting the sale of firearms related items.
B.) That eBay's logic for making their decision is based on an incorrect premise:
I will tell eBay that I understand their decision was based on the idea, that whatever money they make from handling firearms related item auctions, won't be as much as they estimate they might have to spend in legal fees if someone decides to sue them for whatever reason related to said auctions, and so their overall profit margins will be reduced, but that this is a faulty premise. That instead their overall longterm profits will be lower because of the decision to no longer allow firearms related item auctions, because of all the business they will lose from gun-owers who also use eBay for non-firearm item related auctions and purchases, and who will either stop using eBay altogether for non-firearms related auctions and sales, or who will at least greatly reduce their use of eBay for such auctions and instead turn to eBay's competitors whenever possible.
C.) The steps you intend to take in response to eBay's decision:
I will tell eBay that first and foremost I will spread the word on their decision to gunowners through all available venues (internet forums, magazines, newspaper editorials, and of course gun rights groups like the NRA, GOA, JPFO, etc.), and that the message will be of course be to boycott eBay altogether, to turn to other sites if they want to buy or sell something through internet auction, and to continue these actions until eBay reverses its decision.
D.) The long term negative fiscal consequences of eBay's 'no firearms item auctions' decision to eBay:
I will remind eBay that their are tens of millions of gun owners in this country, and that it is safe to say that a substantial percentage likely have accounts with eBay, and they likely use eBay for both firearm and non-firearm related auctions and purchases. And while the initial dropoff of the loss of this gun owner business may not be high, these losses will continue to increase month by month and year by year as more and more leave eBay on moral grounds because of the 'no gun item auctions' policy, and so these gun owners will at the very least greatly reduce the business they do with eBay for non-firearms item auctions, or cease business with eBay altogether by turning to competitors. Furthermore, that this trend of increasing losses will only get worse, as eBay's competitors grow in size from the gun owners who come over to them for both firearm item and non-firearm item auctions, taking more and more non-firearm related auctions from of eBay. Also, the trend will be long term and will not reverse itself as a result of gun owners losing interest in keeping up the boycott, because unlike other demographic segments, gunowners have a long memory and patience, and will reliably avoid using eBay for as long as it takes for eBay to reverse their decision. I will point out as an example the successful decade long fight gun owners waged against the so called assault weapons ban of 1994-2004.
The main point here is to make clear that the total business eBay will lose in the coming months and years from gun owners no longer participating in non-firearms related auctions, will far outstrip any savings they might have thought they would gain on the few lawsuits they might have possibly avoided.
E.) Propose a solution that will address eBay's concerns while pointing out the positive fiscal consequence of reversing their decision:
In recognition of the fact that eBay, like any business, does have a legitimate right to minimize its perceived exposure to lawsuits, I will propose to eBay a solution that companies in virtually every business field all over the world have employed for decades. Create an independent spinoff company based in a friendlier state (like Florida rather than California) to handle the business that the parent company, for whatever reason, no longer wishes to deal directly with. This spinoff, for now we'll just call it 'eBay2', can be founded by legal agreement with parent eBay to only handle auctions eBay decides to pass on, and could handle not only firearms items, but complete firearms (like eBay used to do so long ago), and any other item auctions (like say car brake pads, collectible vodka bottles that still have vodka in them, toasters, etc.) that parent eBay decides to pass on due to perceived liability reasons.
Since gun owners would have an eBay2 for firearms related auctions, they will see no reason not to stay with eBay for their non-firearms related item auctions. So instead of losing all the non-firearm item auction business from gun owners, eBay will keep it, while independent eBay2 will be responsible for and handle whatever risk eBay seems to think comes with internet firearms auctions.
**********************************************************************************************
This "FIRST STEP" message can of course be sent by e-mail, but I think also mailing an old-fashioned paper letter to eBay would be good too.
**********************************************************************************************
SECOND STEP - Spread the word. Post on every internet forum you can, and of course call, e-mail, or mail every gun rights group you can, even if you are not a member, let them know. The NRA, GOA, and other gun rights groups through their member e-mail and mail lists can get the word out to the more casual gun owners who rarely check internet forums. And those gun magazines we love to complain about so much as being shills for the gun companies, contact them too. A single letter to the editor in Guns & Ammo or Shooting Times will spread the word to more gun owners faster, even if it doesn't get published till next month, than internet postings.
**********************************************************************************************
**********************************************************************************************
THIRD STEP - We have to run this boycott so its force is maximized, not implemented piecemeal, so eBay feels it as much as possible. Obviously how to go about doing this is something that all interested members of this board (and all the interested members of all the other gun boards, and hopefully the whole gun owning community in general) will want to iron out in the following days. But to get the discussion going on how best to proceed with the boycott, I would like to start by saying that I am not entirely sure a general 'effective immediately' boycott would be as god as a boycott that is scheduled to start on a specific date.
eBay just posted their 'no more gun item auctions' announcement yesterday, and it will take time for word of it to spread nationwide to the greater (i.e. casual) gun owning populace. Rather than having a trickle of people e-mailing eBay over the coming weeks and months, having a bunch of people e-mail eBay starting on the same day, in say 6 weeks from now, is I think more likely to cause the eBay honchos to sit up and notice. I am guestimating starting the official boycott in 6 weeks, because I figure it will take at least a month before word of eBay's decision really becomes common knowledge among the majority of gun owners (particularly among casual gun owners) nationwide. Also, the boycott start date should be a long enough period after the knowledge becomes common (say 2 weeks later), to make sure everyone can get organized in time to know what day to start sending eBay our boycott announcement e-mails.
Finally, don't stop after you send your first e-mail to eBay. Send eBay an e-mail at least once a week for every week after we start the official boycott. Specifically, I was thinking each person taking part in the boycott would search eBay's current auctions at least once each week, find something they might have considered bidding on before, and e-mail eBay that this is another thing you would have bid on in the past, but won't now because of their new firearms item policy. Referencing a specific auction you won't be bidding on, rather than just sending a generic weekly e-mail telling eBay you are boycotting, should be more effective, since this will give eBay more of a hard reference for all the potential business they are losing.
Again, I am just putting my ideas out here, and much more discussion is obviously going to be needed before any particular strategy is settled on.
**********************************************************************************************
FOURTH STEP - We must be patient. It took Martin Luther King and his supporters well over a year, with an organized sustained boycott, to end bus segregation in Montgomery, and it was a decade before we finally saw the so called assault weapons ban of 1994-2004 go into the dustbin of history. Whether convincing eBay of their folly takes months or years, I believe we must keep at it, because in the end if we don't keep pushing the enemies of gun rights back, they will just keep pushing forward.
**********************************************************************************************
I apologize for this very long post, and any grammatical or syntax errors that might be present. It is well past midnight here and I can barely keep my eyes open. I will look for and edit out any mistakes tomorrow. Of course everyone please feel free to voice their critiques and opinions. That is what this board is all about.
Molon Labe
Sonic
Sonic is correct. We should attempt to get ebay to reverse their position with a combination of logical argument and financial pressure.
We don't want to discard them, we want them to show gunparts that are perfectly legal to sell anywhere in the U.S. are just as normal as replacement crystal or power tools. That helps our cause more than just taking our ball and going home.
We don't want to discard them, we want them to show gunparts that are perfectly legal to sell anywhere in the U.S. are just as normal as replacement crystal or power tools. That helps our cause more than just taking our ball and going home.
USMC - Retired
Member
Well IF the lunatic got items he used in the Virginia Tech shootings on EBay he must have used a computer to order them. Does anyone know when EBay is set to ban all computer related sales?
AirForceShooter
Member
Don't forget to cancel your PayPal account too.
AFS
AFS
Ala Dan
Member in memoriam
Ebay can ride off into the wild, wicked forrest of NEVERLAND as far as I'm
concerned. I haven't visited their web site in many, many moons~!
concerned. I haven't visited their web site in many, many moons~!
Big Calhoun
Member
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2006
- Messages
- 554
I wouldn't even worry about E-Bay as their decision is not grounded in logic and is more pandering to the anti crowd. Fact is the people that run E-Bay are boneheads. They will not allow firearm related items but you can still easily get burglary tools (lock picks, slim jims, 'key guns'), security bits, magnetic strip encoders and decoders, and a host of other things that are 'borderline'. With some good wordsmithing, most of these ads pass thrugh unnoticed unless a user happens to flag that particular auction. E-Bay made a knee-jerk reaction and should suffer for it with the loss of business.
Harley Quinn
Member
To bad to read this about E-Bay.
I purchased many a good item at that location. Pistol related. Glock mostly. Slides, springs, and magazines. Oh well. Such a deal, they are just marketering and you have to figure those that leave will be replaced by those who think it is a good thing.
Gun related folks are not in the high percentage of sales I would figure, just the right timing for them to get rid of a headache, looks like
I purchased many a good item at that location. Pistol related. Glock mostly. Slides, springs, and magazines. Oh well. Such a deal, they are just marketering and you have to figure those that leave will be replaced by those who think it is a good thing.
Gun related folks are not in the high percentage of sales I would figure, just the right timing for them to get rid of a headache, looks like
Being a liberal-run organization they will most certainly not respond to logic as someone suggested. As far as "financial pressure", I'm sure firearms parts are a very miniscule percentage of the fees obtained by Ebay. Funny, all of the liberal-run orgs like Ebay, Craigslist, et al are adamant anti-gunners, but allow pornographic items to be sold
blackwinch
Member
Firearms parts mean nothing to ebay...
Just remember that Ebay is the largest pawnshop in the world for stolen merchandise. I'm sure they are real concerned with the fact that they earn their money through the sales of stolen items... Yeah right! As far as I'm concerned they should be imprisoned for complicity in the crimes that are committed to get the items online.
Just remember that Ebay is the largest pawnshop in the world for stolen merchandise. I'm sure they are real concerned with the fact that they earn their money through the sales of stolen items... Yeah right! As far as I'm concerned they should be imprisoned for complicity in the crimes that are committed to get the items online.
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