eBay being sued over patent infringement

From: Mail List <mail.list_at_analog-and-digital-solutions.com>
Date: Wed Apr 23 23:07:01 2003

Doc,

Your's is an interesting perspective.

> the only reason the other online auction services aren't getting action
is that they suck.

They definitely do. But the reason they suck is that the others don't seem
to have much
variety or volume of interesting items for sale.

> eBay is the de facto Blue Book for used/surplus goods

Yet on this very same mailing list, many have said eBay prices are
"artificially" inflated,
etc. and that Michael's book is the more accurate guide to true market
value. It really
does still end up boiling down to each individuals perspective as eBay
buyer's, eBay
seller's, and hobbyist's goals vary quite widely.

> As far as I can tell, and I haven't heard even a rumor of eBay
leveraging their weight
> against the competition

I heard that with them being the Goliath that they are, they bought out and
absorbed
most of their potentially serious competitors.

> other than doing what they do VERY well, and marketing it well

Wouldn't that definition fit Microsoft as well. ( Being honest, and not
just bashing
Microsoft because it's the popular thing to do ). Yet Microsoft was brought
up on
anti-trust charges.

> The fact that an entity may be the only viable player on a given field
doesn't "warrant
anti-trust action."

If they were the only player that wanted to play, that would surely be so.
But if almost
no competition can make a dent in the market against such a Goliath, it
seemed to
me that was what the "anti-trust" laws were all about. But, IANAL, so I
might be way
off base in my thoughts on the matter.




At 09:56 PM 4/23/03 -0500, you wrote:
>On Wednesday, April 23, 2003, at 08:40 PM, Mail List wrote:
>
>>That's right here in the next town over. If it's an open courtroom I could
>>go over there and check it out.
>>
>>I don't know about eBay and patent infringement, but I think eBay
>>has a monopoly on the online auction market for private individuals
>>which might warrant anti-trust action. I don't think a private individual
>
> The fact that an entity may be the only viable player on a given field
> doesn't "warrant anti-trust action." If eBay is actively doing anything
> to hinder their competition, other than doing what they do VERY well, and
> marketing it well, *that* might warrant action.
>
>>would be able to sell many types of items anymore through a classified
>>ad, and if they tried to use another online auction service, would do so
>>poorly, that if they would like to do the best they can, just about have no
>
> I sell goods all the time on the austin.forsale newsgroup. As far as
> I'm concerned, eBay is an *asset* to that, not a detraction. eBay is the
> de facto Blue Book for used/surplus goods, allowing me to decide if my
> property is salable, whether it's worth more in cash than as a
> possession, and how to price it. It also shortstops lowballing by
> prospective customers. Naturally, it isn't the only resource I use, but
> it a very convenient and extremely well-organized asset for any seller,
> and for any buyer of either local or online goods.
>
>>choice but to list on eBay. Also, eBay has such power in this arena
>>these days, i.e. no other online auction service for the private individual
>>seems to be able to compete very well with them, that they got the
>>sellers by the "nads". They don't seem to be very interested in the
>>performance of their customers, i.e. the sellers. That's why I don't offer
>>anything for sale on eBay anymore. I only buy on eBay these days.
>
> As far as I can tell, and I haven't heard even a rumor of eBay
> leveraging their weight against the competition, the only reason the
> other online auction services aren't getting action is that they suck.
>
> Doc
Received on Wed Apr 23 2003 - 23:07:01 BST