I feel it is safe to say the Boycott is having an impact.

I say this because of a few factors. This is my opinion in broad and general terms, based upon my general observations. I have not the time nor interest in crunching all the numbers. Someone else out there somewhere can do all that.

Let us first have a look at the character of the curve of the charts at Medved
The sell-through charts at Medved show less than 50% STR across all 3 metrics too. For whatever reason, all I get at the moment for August 2008 is a broken image though.

Note that this is a fresh screencapture below, taken on the morning of August 10 2008, yet the image only shows data through the 5th. The daily charts all seem 'broken' since that day as well. Your mileage may vary.

Don't forget to checkout that 'special text' which was added on 06-23-2008 while you are there.

 

Followed by some pie charts from the quantcast.com site. Now, the rest of the figures over there not withstanding, what we see here is telling, because we can see that only 10% of the users compose (at this time) 61% of the site traffic

 

Now on to this curiosity... I see that our friends at BUY have now over 800 Thousand listings on ebay. (up from around 522K at the time I made this video, on +/- August 2nd 2008.) Wow!

Others, else where have crunched various numbers for BUY and found that their sell-through rate is as low as 2-5%/month on over 1 million items listed, without me going to specifically look it up. Folks more interested in that aspect should visit sellerdome.com, or look around, as others are on the case and posting the facts here and there.

One last peculiarity I do notice with regards to this BUY situation is that if you try to look at their completed items you get a "functionality not available" message. Hilarious! I suppose that must be a leftover 'glitch' from that embarrassing 'padded listings' blunder of late February-early March 2008.

screencap shows 813,432 items listed for seller BUY, on August 10, 2008. (time and date are at the bottom of image - 480 wide click to enlarge)

All this while news reports from the finance world show that institutional holders are bailing as well. (Keep in mind, I do not claim to be any financial whiz, nor do I have any interest in that aspect, other than to show the general flavor of things.)

For those of you with more interest in such matters, here are some links. Knock yourselves out.

The MMFAIS page for ebay Inc

Holdings Summary  (EBAY INC, EBAY) - CNBC.com

But to really get a picture of the mood of the mind of ebay users, one might consider visiting their community forums.

We must keep in mind the strong possibility that the 'community' over there, does have "fake persuaders" and/or shills, astroturfers etc., helping keep at least some of the comments and sentiments on a positive note, as well as to 'steer the conversations' and so on. (That practice is, and I state this in/as fact, an internet industry standard practice)

I would not be surprised to learn that such persons' "duties" did not end at the eb forums (snicker) I am scarcely alone in that opinion. We have seen blatant examples of corporate shilling and/or badgering of bloggers for example. There is no reason to presume is is not much more widespread.

Also we must bear in mind that censorship and obfuscation of subject matters and postings unflattering to eb are occurring regularly. This is evidenced by a quick visit to the very last pages of, for instance, the Seller Central Forum, and the Feedback Forum (both of which seem to be shrinking)

That is all really nothing though in comparison with page 1 of the PayPal forum.

There are some long-standing site access issues, and some very suspicious 'glitches' going on. Constantly for months now.

I wonder why? LOL

ZOMG!!! I have a hunch that site is in much greater trouble than anyone is really aware.

Yet.

http://budmalcolm.bravejournal.com/entry/27337

Online auction industry news leader AuctionBytes is reporting that "The E-Fencing Enforcement Act of 2008 was introduced into the House of Representatives last week, and if passed, would require online auction sites like eBay to retain information about high-volume sellers and provide that information to retailers and to law enforcement officials in cases where police reports have been filed." (Rest of that short report here)

Complete Bill available here:
Organized Retail Crime Act

Form letter with editable text here:
Organized Retail Crime Act of 2008

Write your representatives here:
Write Your Representative


Obviously this is a step in the right direction, and should be viewed as potentially a huge victory for both consumers, (both online and in the "Real World") as well as our retailers, whom, according the the "E-Fencing" video from msnbc,  lose huge amounts each and every day to organized shoplifting crime rings.
Their favored outlet, ebay, is widely known and recognized as  "The World's Largest Online Crime Ring"
It is stated in that msnbc video report that ebay is helping to fuel a 37 BILLION Dollar a year industry. (At the time that was aired... Guess who pays for all that?)

My question...
What does ebay do with their share?

BTW, That  full-length msnbc E-Fencing video used to be on the youtube, but was mysteriously made unavailable. There is a shorter version still available here.

I have that original  /- 10 minute report in my archives, and if anyone wishes to view that, I shall make it available for their personal viewing. Please leave a comment here below, or visit the CAPP forum, and send me a personal message

My sentiments...
If you support and condone organized crime, then use ebay.
If you are against such things, then Boycott ebay and PayPal!

Now stealing some wisdom from before my time and applying to this situation...

Don't need to be a weatherman to see which way the wind blows...

http://budmalcolm.bravejournal.com/entry/27254

Has Paypal been caught in a counterfeit scheme?
From: Paypalsgoindown

There is very little doubt that ebay has been caught in flagrante delicto in a scandal of major proportions!

This ugly situation first reared it's festered face back around April 2008, if not before. Questions and concerns about it were repeatedly ignored and/or deleted by ebay censors time & again. Finally auctionbytes and others picked up the story. The articles and comments are very telling. (links below)

  Also, it is very peculiar that when items were claimed to be merely SNAD, a police report was required by Paypal in order for the victim to obtain a refund, but as we see here, when the item was claimed, by the buyer, to be counterfeit, they were asked to quietly return said item(s) to the Texas outfit for "destruction"

I won't reproduce it all here since it is detailed quite well in the video, and elsewhere, but this is something for everyone to be aware of and to be very vocal about. This is hypocrisy (and tragi-comic irony) of the highest order!


Thanks to imageshack.us for free photohosting
link to specific post

Links to articles & threads dealing with this issue:
Where Do eBay Fakes Go to Die?

http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y08/m07/i02/s01

http://blog.auctionbytes.com/cgi-bin/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2008/7/1214969880.html

Anyone Up For A Little Investigating? This Could Be A Biggie!

One last thing... it seems that someone , somewhere must be in full blown panic mode over certain info being exposed. I strongly urge and advise everyone who reads this to reproduce this info in a s many places and ways as possible.  Word of mouth, your local news, on the internet etc. If you encounter any resistance or censorship, (as I have, and others have also reported) please do not stop  being vocal about it. Just redouble your resolve and efforts.

Furthermore, this entire thread at ebay is saved to disc, has been submitted to the authorities, and when & if it becomes deleted it will be posted in as many places as possible.

Such obvious misconduct should NOT EVER go unchallenged or ignored!

If you have encountered this situation yourself, please report it to the authorities. There is the official US Gov't Portal link over on the left menu area which should lead you to  the proper places to complain.

http://budmalcolm.bravejournal.com/entry/27068

 have a look here:
From relaventpc

When I see things like this, all it does is to reaffirm my feelings about certain online auction ogres, and redouble my efforts and determinations!

Please visit the above video, rate, comment, subscribe and show your support for freedom of speech, and the American Way. This sort of misbehavior and strongarm tactics from an obvious miscreant of unparalleled proportions should not go unchallenged, nor will it. Some strange things have occurred this morning, but I will find a new tact should such events reoccur. (wink wink, I smell pink! Pink, phishy, rotten Kommies!)

UPDATE: "This video has been removed by the user."

Funny how these things keep happening, yes? Fortunately we retain this in the mighty Cappnonymous archives for persons wishing to view this privately. Contact me if so. This was really a jawdropper!

Briefly, the person detailed how their website, and websites and/or accounts of everyone connected thereto were deleted, pulled down, etc, after he posted info which showed or told things unflattering to an online auction ogre widely known for strongarm, kommie & Orwellian tactics.

FWIW, I have had no contact with the poster to inquire as to why he pulled it, but I see he is still a member there.

http://budmalcolm.bravejournal.com/entry/27067

Scathing commentary of recent ebay changes
19:03 length

Here are a couple priceless quotes:
(speaking about ebay live, after calling it a 'ghost town')

"Senior ebay management tried to spin things in their presentations and keynote speeches to make everything look positive, but it didn't wash.... 
... It was so contrived it was embarrassing"

"14 year olds on crack could have done a better job!"

"I'd fire the entire PR deptartment, or maybe change their names to 'Painful Relations'

Episode #12 - eBay Special - Discover the 7 Crazy Changes Going on at eBay & Learn What to Do Now

Thanks to dan at the CAPP forum for the link