The biggest boycott by eBay sellers concludes Monday, capping a week of acrimony after the online-auction site raised fees and changed its feedback policy. Auction listings on eBay.com dropped some 13% since the strike started Feb. 18 to about 13 million items, according to third-party tracking sites such as dealscart.com and medved.net. The boycott, amid slowing growth and intensifying competition from Amazon and Google, could presage a challenging year for John Donahoe, eBay's incoming CEO, say analysts. Like dozens of other boycotts against eBay the past few years, this protest is largely over pricing changes. Though many previous boycotts have fizzled after a few days, the most recent gained more attention through protest-related actions on YouTube and MySpace. "If (eBay's listings total) falls below 12 million, we've made a pretty good impact," said Nancy Baughman, an eBay PowerSeller who deals antiques and collectibles. She is also co-author of a book on online auctions. Donahoe, who becomes eBay's CEO in March, recently announced changes to the fees eBay charges. The cost to list items will be cut 25% to 50%, but the commission that eBay charges for completed sales increased, starting last Wednesday. As of May, sellers will no longer be able to leave negative feedback comments for buyers.http://www.usatoday.com/tech/techinvestor/corporatenews/2008-02-24-ebay-strike_N.htm
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