Yes, it seems that this time eBay have gone too far by ignoring ruling issued by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

The competition watchdog decided that eBay’s decision to go PayPal only is in contradiction with the consumer’s rights and the new policy is anti-competitive.

The new policy was supposed to take effect 2 days ago – on June 17th. Nonetheless, eBay have just postponed it for another month – and the new date is set to July 15th 2008.

An e-mail has been sent to all eBay Australian sellers stressing that all listings offering other payment methods after July 15th will be canceled and it’s in the best eBay customers’ interests to stick with PayPal. However – and it’s the weirdest thing of all – eBay has never asked their customers what they really think.

They seem to perfectly know what’s best for their auction sellers and buyers. But in reality eBay customers are ignored and their voices just disappear in the vast corridors of eBay. At best they get the standard automated reply to their e-mails and they’re actually finding themselves utterly at eBay’s whim.

What is yet another very worrying fact – and it can’t be ignored – eBay Australian sales are dropping. Oztion and Gumtree – second largest Australian auction websites – are reporting ever growing sales figures.

Sellers are really annoyed and mad at such an ignorance – and we at SAT can only agree. By deciding instead of their customers eBay are showing once again that nothing is going to stop their plans.

But as you all know – Spicy Auction Templates work on any platform – be it eBay, Oztion or Gumtree. So even if you change your mind and quit eBay for good – we’re still at your disposal!