anyone dealt with irish11965 on ebay

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Leon

I care but I wouldn't put in more time to recoup the hundred than it would take for me to make the money back. But if that is your MO you may be my guest. While you are scrambling for the hundred (that was already determined not to be doable) I will make two hundred. To each their own.... I do my best not to concentrate on negativity, even if it means I lose a few bucks, in the long run, it works for me.

Yeah yeah yeah.

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Of 41 analysts who follow ebay not one rates it a sell or an underperform. But I guess Bill knows stuff they don't.

Nope, Peter. You got me. Ebay is profitable right now, absolutely. And that may continue for some time. However, the number of complaints stemming from how Ebay treats their sellers are growing, and if Ebay doesn't take steps to placate these users, then the company will experience problems. And somebody out there is going to create a viable alternative to Ebay that will cut into its market share. That's guaranteed. It happens in every business model. Ask RIMM about how their market share has fallen off a cliff. Ask somebody who worked in research and development for Palm, Inc. Ask somebody who works for Microsoft in internet browser development about the good ol' days, when Internet Explorer reigned supreme, with Netscape Navigator and a select few fighting for the scraps from Microsoft's table.

I'm seeing in Ebay a company that is completely inflexible. They are incapable of responding to very legitimate customer complaints. And as they continue alienating their customers, and word of mouth continues to spread, more and more people will leave them behind. And they will fall flat on their faces. It may not happen this year, or in three years, or five. But it will happen.

People working for Enron, and Bear Stearns, and Lehman Brothers, and AIG, never thought their companies would collapse. But they did. Ebay had better be very careful, regardless of whatever these analysts are saying.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Set up straw man knock down straw man. I never suggested large companies could not go out of business. Committing massive financial fraud or getting out-innovated on a core product is hardly the same thing as some anecdotal customer dissatisfaction. But by all means, go short the stock, put your money where your mouth is.

[RGold]

What's straw got to do, got to do with it.

[the 'stache]

No need to get defensive, Peter. Not all the companies I listed fell by the wayside because of unethical business practices, or technological advancements.

Ebay is biting many of the hands that have made it the largest online auction site in the world. And eventually, either that, or a competitor, is going to cause the relative monopoly they hold to slip. I don't know when it will happen, but it will. And it won't require some technology innovation. If Bill Gates paid somebody millions to develop a competing site offering the identical services that Ebay currently does, that could really hurt Ebay. If all users (not just sellers) were required to display an accurate feedback score, if they undercut Ebay's fee structures, and didn't virtually require payment be handled by Paypal, they could make a huge splash. Ebay would either have to make changes, or they'd go the way of the dodo bird. And invariably, at some point in the future, somebody with money, and a good deal of business acumen, is going to spot the opportunity, and create that alternative.

Am I going to short their stock to prove my point? No. I happen to think trading on margin is dumb, and I have no need to engage in riskier option trades. Therefore, I don't have margin approval on my account. And without margin approval, I can't short stocks. But even if I could, I wouldn't. Short selling goes against everything I believe in as a broker. It is making money off of a company's downturn, and I choose not to make money off of other people's suffering.