posted on June 17, 2001 03:13:48 PM
"Invalid Item
The item you requested ( 1156855648 ) is invalid or no longer in our database. Please check the number and try again. If this message persists, the item has expired and is no longer available."
Currently $1,125.00 First bid $0.01
Quantity 1 # of bids 133 bid history
Time left 8 days, 22 hours +
Location Roy, UT
Country USA
Started Jun-16-01 11:23:38 PDT mail this auction to a friend
Ends Jun-26-01 11:23:38 PDT watch this item
Seller (Rating) xxxxxxx(12880)
Seller 's Store xxx xxxxxx Stamps and Postcards | Visit my eBay Store!
view comments in seller's Feedback Profile | ask seller a question
About this eBay Shooting Star Jacket:
Only 64 of these jackets exist - one for each of the folks whose thousands of dollars in eBay fees and outstanding customer service have earned them the coveted Shooting Star for 10,000 unique positive feedbacks. They cost so much (I understand over $140.00 each) that future Shooting Stars aren't going to get them so this may well be your only chance to have one - assuming you really want to be a walking billboard for a company which learned everything it knows about honesty, decency and ethics from Bill Clinton.
It came with a letter from Meg Whitman saying how much she and eBay appreciated all the effort that went into getting the Shooting Star. Of course, since this is eBay we are talking about, a mere $100,000 in eBay fees isn't enough to get an original computer-generated letter - this one was a smudged photocopy. No - you don't get the letter. I tossed it into the garbage where it belongs.
The box arrived the same day that eBay made it perfectly clear that they would listen to the two nitwits and the halfwit who make up their marketing department and ignore the anguished screams of all the folks who made them the success that they are. This quarters numbers matter much more then the lives of the people who built eBay and whose fees are used to pay the birdbrains who came up with the "recommended" emails which are carefully designed to ensure that no volume seller can ever buy a supply of anything intending to sell it over time - eBay will tell all his customers where they can buy it now instead. No seller who has invested tens of thousands of dollars building an inventory can ever hope to make it back - eBay will be stealing all his customers away.
The jacket is of much higher quality than the company and is size 3X - big enough for a pro football lineman. Very heavy and obviously quite warm, it has never been worn (I only spit on the box and not the jacket) and will be shipped only to a domestic US address for a UPS fee of $10.00. No foreign bidders, please. It is much too heavy to ship internationally.
It was my intention to put it to its proper use of lining the Kitty Box but I thought there might be someone who wants it so here it is.
The starting bid is not my idea of its value - eBay does not allow a starting bid of a negative amount - so I have to set it at a penny. Please pay very careful attention to the special terms of sale which apply only to this one auction. They are in full agreement with eBay's new policy of screwing the folks who built them.
We reserve the right to change, abolish, reword, revoke or ignore any and all terms of sale anytime we feel like it. Any complaints will be ignored since we know best. We may cancel any or all bids for any (or no) reason and close the auction early if we feel like it. For that matter, we can do anything else we want just because we feel like it. If you don't like it, go eat grass - we are eBay and you will be assimilated.
Should you be outbid, we will inundate you with unsolicited commercial email (a.k.a. spam) recommending that you go elsewhere and bid on something else we, in our infinite wisdom, think you want. We will use the following priorities in selecting such auctions for you to bid on.
1. Top priority will be given to bottom-fishing scum-sucking thieves who don't have the item, can't get it and have no intention of doing anything except stealing your money the same way they stole the auction description, scan and title. If they have cumulative negative feedback, it will be a bonus. After they take your money and don't ship, should you be foolish enough to complain, we will ignore you for a week and then tell you, "We are only a venue. Tough luck."
2. Since the Title of this auction is "eBay Shooting Star Suede Jacket", we will select other items we, again in our infinite wisdom, know you want like Star Wars trading cards, cameras for shooting movies, suede gloves and recordings by Full Metal Jacket. We know you will be delighted to have your emailbox filled with such trash but, if for some inexplicable reason, you don't want to receive it, we will give you an opt-out link buried nine levels deep and impossible to find. We will then constantly ask you to change back so that we can spam you some more. Even if you never do, we will change your preferences on a regular basis and blame it on "a computer error" so that we can spam you over and over again.
If you are so stupid as pay us a very large amount of money, we will dump manure on your head, insult you, ignore anything you say and rely upon our in-house birdbrains (none of whom have ever sold a thing so them must know better then anyone who only runs 10,000 auctions a month) who will rig questionnaires and "survey" a selected group whose input will be ignored unless it agrees with their own views.
If you have a problem with our generous terms and conditions, you can just suffer. After all, we have 29 million eyeballs (sure, we count as unique users all those folks with 30, 40 or more userIDs but what's a little lying and faking among friends) and 83% of the market. Names like WordStar, WordPerfect, Lotus, Wang and others who had similar market shares before going into bankruptcy, out of business or being swallowed because they, too, ignored their users, their customers and the folks who used their products and relied only upon their superior home-grown staff of inexperienced wunderkids mean nothing to us. We are eBay - the 600 pound gorilla and we will run this company into the ground and destroy it because we have egos almost as big as Meg's bonus.
Bid early and bid often as eBay needs the money. It wouldn't do to disappoint Wall Street. Why that would be almost as terrible an idea as actually listening to the people who use the service. And we all know that eBay would never do such a silly thing.
posted on June 17, 2001 03:32:22 PM
I know of nothing in ebaY's stated TOS which justifies ending this auction. Perhaps bobmill should sue for them to make good on his $43,000,100.00 sale.
posted on June 17, 2001 04:05:14 PM
Since I plan on writing an online article about ebay to explain to my customers why I will no longer be posting on ebay, I took a "snapshot" of the auction to show them how even shooting stars sellers feel. You can view the auction here ebay jacket auction
Moderators: there is nothing at that URL except the ebay auction page, so please check before you decide to delete this post.
posted on June 17, 2001 04:16:42 PM
Maybe they used 'keyword spamming' for closure? Star Wars, Full Metal Jacket.
Since the Title of this auction is "eBay Shooting Star Suede Jacket", we will select other items we, again in our infinite wisdom, know you want like Star Wars trading cards, cameras for shooting movies, suede gloves and recordings by Full Metal Jacket.
posted on June 17, 2001 05:05:29 PM
>>Well, at least they did not NARU him. <<
Ebay hasn't NARUd sellers with 20% bad feedback and hundreds of complaints. Why should they NARU a guy who brings in so much business? Despite their claim of being "just a venue," they are very selective of who they NARU and it has to do with how much money they make off that seller.
>>Izzy, you should edit out the "visit my store" link in your screen shot, as it is a clickable link. <<
And if someone actually clicks on that link and gives the guy some business, he deserves it for having the guts to put up that auction. Why should I stop it? I'm not ebay.
posted on June 17, 2001 05:19:43 PM
The reasons for the bid retractions were great, did anyone capture that. I'm sorry it was ended, but not surprised.
posted on June 17, 2001 05:30:12 PM
The retractions were messages of support and little jokes at eBay's expense. Very hilarious.
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posted on June 17, 2001 05:39:57 PM
Bob gave permisson to a friend to post the notice he got from eBay ending his auction on DNF. It is still there and hasn't scolled off yet.
According to eBay they *do* have rules about this type of auction, and they invoked the imperative to end the aution.
posted on June 17, 2001 06:11:33 PM
Here is the letter posted on the DNF board:
[b]Posted by pinkhamr:
I just received this re: Bob's Jacket Auction.....he said to feel free to ditribute it[/b]
"Here is the notice from [email protected] - feel free to distribute it. Your listing(s) contained several statements that are considered gratuitous in nature. We realize that you may not be aware of this policy, but auction listings are not the appropriate forum for voicing personal opinions, or including contact information about other members. eBay provides discussion opportunities elsewhere on the site, but the content of auction listings is limited to describing the item being offered. Therefore, we have ended the auction, and all listing fees will be refunded to your account. Our User Agreement also states, in part: "5.1 Listing Description. You must be legally able to sell the item(s) you list for sale on our Site. You must describe your item and all terms of sale on the listing page of our Site. Your listings may include text descriptions, graphics, pictures and other content relevant to the sale of that item..." Please view our guideline page for a better understanding of our auction guidelines and how they affect the way you list your items: http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-list.html For information on infringing or illegal items or for information on other eBay listing guidelines, please view the following URL: http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-items.html For more information on why eBay has ended an auction, please visit: http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-endauction.html We value you as a member of our community and wish to continue our relationship, so we respectfully ask that you refrain from any violations of the Listing Policies or User Agreement in the future. As stated in previous attempts to contact you today, we will be happy to address any of your personal concerns. We thank you in advance for your cooperation. Regards, Conrad (VeRO Program) ([email protected]) eBay"
[ edited by nefish on Jun 17, 2001 06:12 PM ]
posted on June 17, 2001 06:14:47 PM
Explanation: Well done, Bob. Check my ME page.
Retracted because I learned that ebay already went through the pockets!
Star is facing wrong way, bad karma.....
Only bid to show my support! But sure would love to spit on it and a few faces!
Wrong bid amount,I thought this was 4 all 64 jackets,not just 1
Lost my email address. Couldn't contact myself via eBay. Must retract bid!
Hubby forbids. Sez Ebay logo poor example for our kiddies ethics/morals.
Shooting Stars are NOW only given 2 eBay-invested sellers - So I cant own it
Thought the damn thing came with a keychain. Very disappointed.
No reason, just cuz I can. I'm a deadbeat and eBay won't do a thing to stop me.
This was Father's day gift. He said he didn't want NO STINKING eBay Jackets
Found out I could not use my Skippy Bucks here either.
bid too much.. and besides I really wanted an ebay pen instead
Was told eBay ink pens not included! I really wanted those pens
I support you brother. Way to go.
Bid to show my support! We built eBay & they could care less about sellers!
Truer words have never been spoken, Bob. We support you. The Old Barn
Bad investment. NO PROFIT IN IT! Thank you for making my fathers day great!
Sorry, just noticed "No foreign bidders, please." and doesn't take BILLPOINT???
I'm giving Meg the opportunity to win and send it to next shooting star seller!
Sorry We had to pay are ebay Fees
This jacket really should go to the Smithsonian instead of to me
Too many other bid retractions....I actually wanted the jacket...to BURN!
Had to take a 2nd mortgage to pay my Ebay fees
SORRY. I DIDN'T NOTICE IT HAS AN EBAY LOGO ON IT .
Wrong size. Was size 3X. Now Small. (On "eBay Diet Plan": No profit. No food.)
Sorry, thought it was Meg's. Would be too big for my britches
IT'S NICE TO GET THE CHANCE TO WHACK BACK! THANKS BOB!
Showing my support! hope noone is seriously trying to buy this crap
zipper has lots of "functionality" problems
I thought Ebay was gonna pay for it for me & Give me a matching T shirt! WTG Bob
I fear the shooting star, like lawn darts might be illegal to purchase off eBay.
Oooops! eBay, you say??? E-bay B-idders A-re Y-awping!!!
I Give up bidding & went to EBAY ANONYMOUS
Had to move to bidville, ebay wanted the gold in my teeth!
Ebay asskissers get to keep their auctions up while others get theirs taken down Bid
C'mon Ebay get those hamsters workin in the office so they can make the bucks
wanted e-mail about Star Wars stuff, then thought, nahhhhh I'll just search ...
no $-have been forced by eBay changes to switch from WebTV to puter
Sorry, I though it said OBie Shooting Star. I was taught to read by phonics...
Just a reminder that under normal circumstances, links to auctions and identifying info is not permitted to be posted. We allowed the original link to remain because it was a pretty exceptional auction and I am prepared to make a similar exception for the protest auction and the relist link.
It's not a change in policy (so don't go thinking you can post links all over the EO ) but an acknowledgement that this is an important issue to many of you.
ther Advertising
emails which are carefully designed to ensure that no volume seller can ever buy a supply of anything intending to sell it over time - eBay will tell all his customers where they can buy it now instead. No seller who has invested tens of thousands of dollars building an inventory can ever hope to make it back - eBay will be stealing all his customers away.
