August 14, 2006

Some eBay sellers have launched a discussion on Google Groups to press the Mountain View company to consider opening a new auction site that would directly compete against eBay.

This comes right after eBay announced a sharp fee increase for Store inventory listings, in an effort to what eBay has termed "rebalancing the marketplace" toward a core platform (Non-Store listings).

The discussion group, called "Google We Need an Auction Site," was created on August 3rd and had only 17 members. The Group now has grown to 80 members as/of August 9.

One poster wrote, "I am a small time eBay seller, who wanted to "ramp up" my sales, and was just gearing up to do so when ebay decided to "rebalance" their market place. I was squeezed out. There is no way I could keep my little store open. HELP ME GOOGLE!"

And a user with the ID "eBaySlaveWorker" wrote a post called, "Please Google! Get this 800 pound gorilla monopoly off our backs."

A Canadian seller wrote, "From north of the border I can verify that Canadian sellers would love to hear the news that you are starting up an auction platform. I'd lead the pack to your door! Many long-standing sellers, carrying great feedback and a loyal following of customers woul love the news that Google is ready to enter the online auction markets. We'd all be there in a nanosecond with our honest work ethics intact and our customers following us soon after. Please consider our plea."

eBay Storeowners have two weeks left to adjust to the fee hikes, which go into effect on August 22.

Source: Auction Bytes.com