Flaming Poo-Pal

Come join us at OLA! Only $8 a month.

This quote is a reply to a post about ebay using geographical throttling and the argument for tortious interference being used. I do believe the lady in question left the group shortly thereafter...

I'm done here, you people really are so weird. I'm "warmed" via messages by a crazy guy that I'll be banned for asking why you don't use real terms for companies and instead use third grade name-calling techniques, and now I explain why eBay took out listing fees and changed their user agreement to try to stay ahead of court cases (I didn't even get into the arbitration clause) and instead of acknowledging the facts I'm scolded for discussing it. Good luck moving forward with your issues in such an unprofessional manner.

I agree with what she said about the name-calling. The poo-pal, and e-prey, etc names give the discussions a juvenile tone to them. I myself have used evilbay, because I was trying to stay shy of search engines that might find me, but I just revert to calling it what it is these days.

She also shortly beforehand pointed out that you're not being "ripped off" fees if you didn't pay them to begin with, which I agree with and have said before. It sucks that they are hiding listings and it's wrong but if they're not taking a fee, then I guess that's their right.

I am saddened that a place I chose to go to to get away from a Gestapo-like environment has become one. A few nutcases are chasing off perfectly sane and reasonable people that would be helping the cause, which is to nail ebay to a wall for unethical practices used towards their sellers.

Here's my beef with the group. A certain few people get together and flame the hell out of someone if you do any of the following:

You are not allowed to call people out on the juvenile name-calling.
You are not allowed to direct people in how to create a stealth account, even if they ask.
You are not allowed to point out that other sites have no traffic.
You cannot point out that if the listings are free, then you're not necessarily being robbed.
If someone whines that they got banned from ebay for "no reason", you're not allowed to question that their defect rate might not have been 100% pristine. They may not have the rose-smelling shit they're claiming to have.
If you still sell on ebay, and admit it, you get called names like "scumbag" by a certain asshole that blocked me. (he doesn't realize I have more than one account and I can still see his nutty rantings which are driving the sane people away).
Then you get the Jehovah's Witnesses of the board...aka OLA shoved up your candy ass whether you like it or not.

Now I joined the group because I did get banned for little-no reason. I hate the way ebay is run with the burning intensity of 1,000,000 suns, however, I still need it to take care of my family. My husband has been out of commission healthwise for 4 years now, my daughter has college, and my son is 5. They need a roof over their heads and heat and food. My $25-$50 a month on Etsy and Bonanza isn't going to cut it, and Facebook is a band-aid I use when I have a slow week.

My biggest beef with ebay is that they put all the power over my finances into the hands of a buyer that might be 3 sandwiches short of a picnic...much like the flamers of the group I belong to.