This could be a major problem for eBay sellers. if AOL and Yahoo start charging for delivery of the mail, how will contact & payment information ever get to the through eBay?
Ebay sure isn't going to pay for it, and I don't see how we sellers can pay for it secondhand either.
Yes, the article says you will still be able to send for free, but will have to go through special SPAM filters. How much do you wanna bet those are going to be yet another problems?
I suspect this is really BAD news for all of us.
Dr. Arcane, revelator of mystical secrets http://www.drarcane.com
Got questions about the secrets of the universe?
posted on February 4, 2006 05:35:38 PM
People have been talking about this for a long time. The cost would be minimal, which wouldn't materially affect anyone legit, but it would kill spammers, who can send 100 million emails for free now.
posted on February 4, 2006 06:29:20 PM
I've been hoping that something would show up like this. Say the charge is a penny for each 10 emails. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that I send 1000 emails per month (I probably send far fewer). That would cost me $1 per month, and ultimately would mean that I no longer get those damned solicitations to buy Viagra, look at naked teenage girls, make millions by following some investment scheme, buy Photoshop for $50, etc. It would be well worth it if the scumbucket spammers were put out of business (it would be even better if NOBODY ever responded to spam, but all that it takes is a few per million emails, and the spammers have made a profit).
posted on February 4, 2006 06:48:12 PM
Yes, I know it's been an urban legend for years. But the urban legend was about some kind of givernment regulation. This time we're talking about AOL and YAHOO actually doing it. And if you notice the link, this is the New York Times, not some generic rumor site.
I'm fine with the penny per email, but how would that work with a company like eBay? Those end-of-auction mails, etc are gonna have to be paid for by SOMEBODY.
I already have trouble with AOL buyers not getting my instructions.
Dr. Arcane, revelator of mystical secrets http://www.drarcane.com
Got questions about the secrets of the universe?
posted on February 4, 2006 07:15:26 PM
If they want to bypass the spam filters, they'll have to pay it. Once implemented, it will soon be followed by Hotmail, Msn and a couple other large email providers. In less than a month, it could easily account for more than half of Ebay's users. They can't ignore numbers like that.
The other possibility is that Ebay can eliminate most email to it's users and use their internal messaging system for all communications.
If Murphy's law is correct, everything East of the San Andreas Fault will slide into the Atlantic
posted on February 4, 2006 10:55:40 PM
After a nightmare virus, I have resorted to an automatic email reply : Contact me through eBays messaging system or you will be ignored. It has cost me .1% in feedback but I think it is worth it, my life is much simpler checking eBay messages only.
