Ina Steiner EcommerceBytes Blog
News and insight focusing on ecommerce.
by Ina Steiner, Editor of EcommerceBytes.com
Fri Feb 27 2015 17:51:28

eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement

By: Ina Steiner

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eBay sellers received an important legal notice via email on Friday about a "Good 'Til Cancelled" class action settlement. Sellers had filed lawsuits against eBay arguing it did not adequately explain that GTC listings incurred fees every 30 days.

The court preliminarily approved a settlement between the parties in the case of Richard Noll and Rhythm Motor Sports, LLC v. eBay Inc. in January, and Claims Administrators are now giving notice to members of the class.

Sellers can participate in the settlement and receive a credit ("If you have closed your eBay account, or if your contact information with eBay is not current, eBay may not have your address and you MUST follow the instructions at the website by no later than June 1, 2015 to receive a check.").

Sellers also have the choice of opting out or objecting to the settlement. 

Sellers can find more information on the website set up by the administrator, including more information about the lawsuit.

Did eBay hide the GTC recurring fees in the fine print? The court said the plaintiffs failed to provide evidence of fraud - what do you think? And did a lack of detail in eBay invoices contribute to the confusion? 

Interestingly, the lawsuit states, "The invoices Noll has ordinarily received simply contain a monthly total, rather than any details on items and fees." Many a seller has complained about difficulty in reconciling invoices. 

While eBay set up a $6.4 million settlement fund, typically most individual sellers don't receive big payoffs in such cases. 

Let us know what you think and what questions you have.



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Perminate Link for eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement   eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement

by: This a joke, right? This user has validated their user name.

Fri Feb 27 18:28:03 2015

I think I got $8 in the last class action settlement

Perminate Link for eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement   eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement

by: aim04744 This user has validated their user name.

Fri Feb 27 18:57:38 2015

I wont hold my breath while waiting for my windfall.  

Perminate Link for eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement   eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement

This user has validated their user name. by: Ric

Fri Feb 27 21:02:19 2015

In the 2011 suit involving eBay Motors, I received a check for $0.05!!

I never cashed it.  It is framed and hangs in my office.

Perminate Link for eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement   eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement

This user has validated their user name. by: Philip Cohen

Fri Feb 27 21:30:23 2015

$6.4 million is peanuts to eBay, even given that the business is obviously on its way down the toilet; they gave the chief headless turkey, Johnny Ho, $23 million, supposedly, just to hang around (and cause even more damage) until PreyPal is "spun off"; what a joke ...

The eBay executive suite—where the incompetent mingle with the disingenuous, the malevolent and the outright criminal, and the just plain stupid ... http://bit.ly/11F2eas

Perminate Link for eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement   eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement

by: Ebay Seller-Ebay Buyer This user has validated their user name.

Fri Feb 27 23:04:33 2015

It looks like Ebay sellers do not have to do anything if their account is still open and they have all the same info. I'm guessing this will be a very small credit to the account. I had store with 1,000's of items in those years, but I doubt I'd receive more than $10.

Perminate Link for eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement   eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement

This user has validated their user name. by: windsorbear

Sat Feb 28 00:25:40 2015

Somewhere, I still have the last eBay settlement check I received.  It was for 1 cent.  I was too embarrassed to walk into my bank to cash it.

Perminate Link for eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement   eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement

This user has validated their user name. by: Bill

Sat Feb 28 01:38:57 2015

I also had a store, sold a lot and was a silver PS almost to gold before the bottom fell out.
Got the email today and saved it. I would be surprised if I get much of anything.

Perminate Link for eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement   eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement

by: Massachusets Howler This user has validated their user name.

Sat Feb 28 04:27:48 2015

.87 cents last time.
sitting in my drawer here, I show it to my friends.
mh

Perminate Link for eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement   eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement

by: RCL This user has validated their user name.

Sat Feb 28 06:09:30 2015

A worse thing about GTC is that renewed listings did not ''get cycled'' again with new listings. I ALWAYS search Buy It Now and never saw my items! You would think that would ring a bell, but NOOoooooo. Then, to change from GTC to 30 days, the only way to make THAT ''bulk'' edit was manually. I ended over 600 listings and relisted some at 30 days. Now I SEE my items when they relist. eBay will get theirs eventually. And worst of all? I KNEW I was repaying every month!!!

Perminate Link for eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement   eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement

by: sasikat9 This user has validated their user name.

Sat Feb 28 08:18:09 2015

The courts are making the lawyers richer again.

Most Ebay sellers will get a dime and the lawyers will get millions. Not worth the time it takes to even think about filling out a form.

Perminate Link for eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement   eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement

This user has validated their user name. by: The End

Sat Feb 28 08:30:22 2015

Ya, it's a mess. I thought I may resume selling on Ebay after stopping cold in 2008 (Donahoe).
But the final value fees are  over 2%, and they don't have the STRIPE GATEWAY option.
Ebay, as it is, is a complete waste of binary code.
All that energy burned for stupid servers....that are "Serving" no one.

Perminate Link for eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement   eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement

This user has validated their user name. by: Al G

Sat Feb 28 10:15:15 2015

I framed my $0.01 cheque from the last class action.

They lawyers framed their Rothkos....

Perminate Link for eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement   eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement

This user has validated their user name. by: iheartjacksparrow

Sat Feb 28 10:39:46 2015

Everyone knows, or should know, that the only people who get rich in a class action suit is the attorneys. They are billing probably $250 to $500 per hour, and their fees are going to come off of the top. So whatever is left is divided up between the tens, or hundreds, of thousands of people who filed a claim. Whatever you get probably won't be enough to buy you an item off the $1 Menu at fast food restaurant.

Perminate Link for eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement   eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement

This user has validated their user name. by: Philip Cohen

Sat Feb 28 12:51:03 2015

Still, the thought of someone, anyone, taking a hunk of money off eBay brings a smile to my face ...

The eBay executive suite—where the incompetent mingle with the disingenuous, the malevolent and the outright criminal, and the just plain stupid ... http://bit.ly/11F2eas

Perminate Link for eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement   eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement

by: Volvo351 This user has validated their user name.

Sat Feb 28 14:33:50 2015

It's a good thing anytime a greedy corp - and fleaBay is among the worst - is held to account but this is a mere slap on the wrist.  The corrupt B oD wasted $23MM to "retain" the Bozo responsible for this and dozens of other customer rip-off's.  JD is laughing all the way to the bank.

Perminate Link for eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement   eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement

This user has validated their user name. by: bitbybit

Sat Feb 28 16:16:29 2015

The 23M is probably hush money. You never know what an out of touch CEO may do or say. Better for the BoD to keep him around so they can keep a better eye on him.

Perminate Link for eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement   eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement

by: Massachusets Howler This user has validated their user name.

Sun Mar 1 13:53:21 2015

The really sad thing is, is that when plantiffs take these "settlements" ebay just pays and admits no culpability- and there is NO CHANGE for sellers.
The need is for plantiffs NOT TO SETTLE and to go to court so ebay is found GUILTY, and has to change its policies.
mh

Perminate Link for eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement   eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement

by: pace306 This user has validated their user name.

Sun Mar 1 17:27:01 2015

I am/was the person who sent this tidbit into Ina - and I thank her for posting it.

#1) yes eBay is a den of thieves
#2) No JDs departure wont change anything
#3) the 23 million is because JD knows "where the bodies are buried" (DUH) (why would you pay to retain a man who's done to you what JD did?)
#4) this is important because eBay has to pay out, to make it go away. I dont anticipate getting 1 thin dime - but if its less that eBay has to spend on nefarious seller hating activities then "I've won" (even if its only symbolic).
#5) :P to all the eBay cheerleaders (no specific people being named here at all) as YOUR company has to take it in the shorts and pay out "'cause you know being in business is all about taking losses" (so says the mighty JD)

Perminate Link for eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement   eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement

by: cash4clothesbozeman This user has validated their user name.

Mon Mar 2 00:36:25 2015

I do not understand if I am automatically in the game or not.  I am a volume seller and may benefit a little here. I did not get a notice, nor did I find one on the cloud for gmail.  my ship bill is 50k a year and eBay take 12% of that.  its a tough world in here.  Thanks  Bruce Wendt  

Perminate Link for eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement   eBay Sellers Notified of $6.4 Million Lawsuit Settlement

by: pfft!! This user has validated their user name.

Mon Mar 2 01:28:21 2015

I can think of a zillion things ebay does that is deceptive and deserving of a multi million dollar lawsuit.  And sinking listings in search or just hiding them altogether would be a GREAT place to start.
That said.........this has to be the dumbest one to actually win ANYTHING in the courts.  What kind of MORON doesn't realize that GTC listings automatically roll over every 30 days?   It's ebay 101.

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