eBay removing Bitcoin listings... - page 2.

mpfrank

sr. member

Activity: 247

Merit: 250

Cosmic Cubist

Thanks for all the insightful remarks. I decided to write a blog post inspired by my experience,
http://minetopics.blogspot.com/2011/06/paypal-ebay-and-bitcoin-proof-of.html .

The purpose of this post is twofold:

1) Show people why a Bitcoin proof-of-shipment is actually quite straightforward to provide,

2) Convince sites like eBay and PayPal that they ought to support Bitcoin transactions, instead of fighting them.

IMHO, PayPal needs to have a contingency plan for, what if Bitcoin takes over the world. They could reinvent themselves as a company that provides value-added payment services on top of a Bitcoin foundation. Cheesy

BCwinning

hero member

Activity: 770

Merit: 500

Quote from: tymothy on June 28, 2011, 07:44:31 PM

I see dozens of bitcoin listings now on Ebay...they don't seem to be too consistent in their crackdown.

Are they selling a certificate with the bitcoin? Some people are/were selling bitcoins on ebay with a "certificate" which is shipped
to the buyer.

finnthecelt

full member

Activity: 140

Merit: 101

So they cancel your listing and then ask you to narc on others? Classic.

tymothy

full member

Activity: 224

Merit: 100

I see dozens of bitcoin listings now on Ebay...they don't seem to be too consistent in their crackdown.

Trayber

sr. member

Activity: 337

Merit: 253

I haven't had any of my listings canceled so I doubt eBay is pursuing them dilligently. Likely another seller reported your listing to push you out of the market to keep the prices high on eBay. If you notice the ones that go to auction usually end up around market price so after fees you are losing money but if you put high buyitnows they sell no problem and fast. The thing with buyitnows is eBay charges a higher percentage and listing fee. They rake the hell out of you and paypal to. One guy is getting suckers to buy his at $50 a bitcoin.

fascistmuffin

newbie

Activity: 56

Merit: 0

Quote

With Bitcoin transfers, you *do* have proof of shipment, namely the transaction record on Block Explorer

You could say the same thing about World of Warcraft gold, but who is really going to take the time to try to verify all that.

With the transaction record, it still doesn't really prove if they got it. They could easily say that's not the address the supplied you and chat logs/emails aren't reliable proof, since text is quite easily altered with some programs, Notepad for example. There isn't a renowned company like UPS/FedEX/USPS that is verifying the shipment, so in the end, there's really no solid proof except for your word vs the buyers, which is never a winning situation since ebay is all about buyer protection.

spruce

full member

Activity: 140

Merit: 100

"This listing has been removed because you have listed a Bitcoin. We do not allow them to be given as bonus items either."

Sounds to me that if one's eBay item has "Bitcoin" anywhere in it then it will get cancelled. And trying the spammer trick of including B*tc0ins probably doesn't stand too much chance of working either.

bitfon

full member

Activity: 532

Merit: 102

Quote from: mpfrank on June 28, 2011, 07:13:22 PM

Quote

Because there are so many listings on our site, we can't immediately catch all listings that violate our policies.

Yeah, it's really hard to find all the bitcoin listings. Step 1 - type 'bitcoin' into the search box. Step 2 - press . They're really giving it the old college try, aren't they?

CurbsideProphet

hero member

Activity: 672

Merit: 500

Believe it or not, they really are trying to protect you. Had you sent your coins to the winning bidder and they filed a dispute with Paypal that the items were not received, you would lose every time.

Adam

full member

Activity: 224

Merit: 100

At least it sounds like they know what a bitcoin is. And it makes sense why they don't want you to be able to sell them. The chargeback issue is a nightmare when you are trying to demonstrate proof of shipment through block explorer to a CSR who has no idea WTF you are talking about (and you can't really expect them to). It's not some evil conspiracy to keep Bitcoin down, it's just bad for their business.

I think you could still sell a bitcoin wallet on a flash drive that is physically mailed, but I still don't know how the chargeback would work if the buyer did file a claim for item not as described instead of non delivery.

mpfrank

sr. member

Activity: 247

Merit: 250

Cosmic Cubist

Hello all, I recently tried to include a Bitcoin as a "bonus item" on eBay (attached to the sale of a penny), and they deleted my listing with the following explanation:

Quote

This listing has been removed because you have listed a Bitcoin. We do not allow them to be given as bonus items either. Bitcoins are only available in the virtual setting and therefore there is no product to ship to the winning bidder. We have this policy because as the seller, if a Buyer Protection claim is ever filed against you, you would not have proof of shipment and would not be able to appeal the case. Please do not list any additional items that will be electronically sent to the buyer.

Because there are so many listings on our site, we can't immediately catch all listings that violate our policies. So it's possible that there may be listings similar to yours that are currently on the site. If you come across any other Bitcoins on our site, we encourage you to file a report so we can review it. To report a listing, go to the listing and click the "Report item" link.

We don't let sellers list virtual products such as online game characters, accounts, currency, codes that can be redeemed for in-game items, or related software. This helps protect the people who originally created the products and own the rights to reproduce and sell them.

Of course, this stated justification for their policy is wrong on two points:
(1) With Bitcoin transfers, you *do* have proof of shipment, namely the transaction record on Block Explorer, and
(2) Bitcoins are not copyrighted and there is no such thing as "the people who originally created the products and own the rights to reproduce and sell them."

Unfortunately, eBay does not provide any easy way to contact them to contest their policies. Anyone know how I can give them a piece of my mind? I suppose I will bitch on Twitter...

Topic: eBay removing Bitcoin listings... - page 2. (Read 3244 times)