Ebay deletes thread on their website talking about the fake auction listings
stonej
mistake wouldn't you think
they would have posted something to that effect rather than let rumors
run rampant hurting
their reputation?. On the other hand if they really were fake.....
well you get the picture.
rjn
> Ebay deletes thread ...
Deletes the last of many threads. Was that the one that
had the "official" "test over" reply from eBay in it?
It was just a matter of time for the thread to vanish.
See my remarks in your YouTube thread about that.
eBay commonly disappears eBay Forum threads
with content embarrassing to eBay.
> If they really were "test" auctions or something that was done by
> mistake wouldn't you think they would have posted something
> to that effect ...
Since some real sellers were affected, I'd have expected
at least a notice in the System Status announcements.
Expect a headline in AuctionBytes on monday, and
probably the Inq and the Reg. This may even make it out
into the lamestream media.
> ... rather than let rumors run rampant hurting their
> reputation?. On the other hand if they really were fake.....
> well you get the picture.
eBay may not yet fully understand what happened here.
For example, some rogue programmer may have decided
to "do the company a favor" by cross-linking SDC items
to eBay during the strike/boycott. In any event, eBay is
facing some damage control. Legal consequences need
to be considered and handled before making any official
statements.
eBay traffic counts are now entirely unreliable until
further notice.
--
Regards, Bob Niland mailto:na...@ispname.tld
http://www.access-one.com/rjn email4rjn AT yahoo DOT com
NOT speaking for any employer, client or Internet Service Provider.
Mac
Pretty convenient timing for a "mistake."
Mac
Ignoramus32544
And the fact that they are attempting to cover up this "mistake" by
deleting threads, instead of being clear about it, makes it just very
slightly suspicious.
i
rjn
> Pretty convenient timing for a "mistake."
Maybe. If it was really only two days, it may have
missed most of the strike.
Here's AB's take on it (and their blog was following it):
"eBay Glitch Causes Consternation among Sellers"
<http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y08/m03/i03/s01>
I have seen this sort of thing happen. In a prior job I one
day noticed an entirely frivolous entry in the company's
on-line price list. It turned out that the division involved
was testing automated scheduling of new product
postings to the price list, and their test data escaped
the lab (but didn't make it out to the general public).
They were a bit embarassed by it.
The difference here is that there is potential material
impact on financials.
Anyone seen any other press reports?
Mac
eBay's explanation on this has changed.
On 3/1/08: eBay spokesperson Usher Lieberman
responded by email on Saturday, "This was a limited
test that has run its course." I appreciate the
update on a weekend and, if I learn more next week,
will update this post.
But, on 3/2/08: eBay posted on its Systems
Announcement board around 5:30 pm Eastern, "Some
Shopping.com listings appeared accidentally on
eBay.com over the past two days. This system issue
has been resolved. We apologize for any confusion or
inconvenience this may have caused."
So the first explanation was that it was a "limited
test" and then it was changed to an "accident."
This is smelling worse and worse!
Mac
rjn
> So the first explanation was that it was a "limited
> test" and then it was changed to an "accident."
Both could be true. It could have been a limited live
cross-link test that spun out of control, or it could have
been an internal-only simulation that accidentally
went live.
> This is smelling worse and worse!
No one but AuctionBytes and the eBay blogs and
forums (like AMOE) have picked up on the story.
At this point, I suspect eBay will just shut up and
hope it blows over.
The userbase who know about it, however, are
more contemptuous of eBay than ever, and it's
unlikely eBay will (as usual) do anything to address
that except exacerbate it with other site "improvements".
The opportunities for alternate eBay wannabees are
probably more promising now than they've been in
a decade (but I still wouldn't invest in one, and would
carefully consider using any).
R. Totale
wrote:
>Mac <m...@mac.mac> wrote:
>
>> So the first explanation was that it was a "limited
>> test" and then it was changed to an "accident."
>
>Both could be true. It could have been a limited live
>cross-link test that spun out of control, or it could have
>been an internal-only simulation that accidentally
>went live.
>
>> This is smelling worse and worse!
>
>No one but AuctionBytes and the eBay blogs and
>forums (like AMOE) have picked up on the story.
>At this point, I suspect eBay will just shut up and
>hope it blows over.
That's because there's no story to pick up on. No one with half a
brain thinks eBay would have to fake listings to make up for a week
long "boycott" by a handful of loudmouth morons, 99 44/100% of whom
who are all now back in the fold and sucking on the teat. The SEC has
a half a brain.
Pogonip
http://www2.ebay.com/aw/announce.shtml
> ***Resolved: Shopping.com listings on eBay***
>
> March 02, 2008 | 02:32PM PST/PT
>
>
> Some Shopping.com listings appeared accidentally on eBay.com over the past two days. This system issue has been resolved. We apologize for any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused.
>
--
Joanne
stitches @ singerlady.reno.nv.us.earth.milky-way.com
http://members.tripod.com/~bernardschopen/
Mac
> No one with half a
> brain thinks eBay would have to fake listings
But, those of us with a whole brain do.
Mac
Frank Provasek
especially since ebay reported to the business press that the boycott
was having no effect on the number of active
listings. Here the headline reads "Ebay says sellers boycott had no
effect on listings"