This week on Gearlog Radio, you won't hear regular hosts Dan Costa and Jen DeLeo: Carol Mangis and Brian Heater have staged a coup! (Not that we didn't miss them. Brian's untying them right now, in fact.)
Then Chloe fills us in on the latest eBay news. Did the seller boycott really hurt the site? They say yes, eBay says no. And what alternatives do sellers have to the online auction giant--if any?
We also feature what's possible the strangest Haiku Review yet, from the master--Tim Gideon. And Brian Heater speeds through the top blog news stories, in Hot Five in Five.
Do you really think that ebay is going to be honest about whether the boycott affected them??? LOL... "NOT"...
But the padded listings, which they at first called a test, and then recanted that statement and said that it was a computer glitch, to the tune of hundreds and thousands, which they say was only 5 thousand listings... (I saw one which had 70,000 listings and that was just 1 bogus seller)...
No, if it didn't affect them and is not continuing to affect them, then I can't add and subtract...
There are thousands of stores on ebay that closed even before the 1st boycot started... And people are still being alerted to the unscrupulous dealings of ebay and as they discover for themselves and actually read the details of the new rulings, they begin to either plan to leave by beginning to list on other sites or do like I did and just close my store...
1) The fact that I will no longer be able to warn other sellers of dishonest buyers...
2) The Fact that My ending fees will be determined by buyers who may be other than honest who will have the opportunity to neg me if I don't change my policy of shipping or whatever they are asking me to change. The fees will increase up to 67% I in turn will not be able to defend myself in any way.
3) The fact that Bidders id's are now being hidden and this is something that encourages shill bidding.
4) The fact of the new 21 day hold through paypal. Expecting the seller to trust the buyer to be honest and use the sellers own money to accomplish this.
5) The fact that some will be "forced" to use paypal because of lower final value scores...
6) The fact that my shipping score can be affected even if I ship for free... Allows for competition to damage me...
7) The fact that The search engine will favor the bigger sellers which pushes the small seller into the back.
8) Basically, I am no longer valued as ebays customer... This is a fact when you look at their new policys.
These are FACTS... I didn't create them, I just read them as they were brought to my attention...
I will share the FACTS with those who aren't aware...
If they believe that their new rulings will not cause more people to leave, then they are dilusional... And putting up a front that it didn't affect them, is as bogus as their misguided system of greed...
BOYCOTT EBAY FOREVER!!
Posted by:
Henry Ackerton March 11, 2008 1:21 PM
I can't believe you endorsed the My Beating Heart pillow on Gearlog Radio! I bought that product in good faith on your endorsement, for my little sister, believing it would be a great product! It worked, but the batteries have already run out! What a scam! The product details CLAIM that the batteries will last 6-12 months, but obviously that nonsense has no basis in truth! I demand a retraction!
Posted by:
carol m. March 11, 2008 4:04 PM
Hi Henry; I saw the pillow at Toy Fair, as I said, but didn't review one. Did you contact the company? I sure would. Its site is http://www.mybeatingheart.com/contact.html.
Posted by:
Derek Erb March 30, 2008 9:36 AM
Where has Gearlog Radio gone?
I haven't seen an episode update in weeks on iTunes.
I really miss my Gearlog fix. I can't go for more than 2 weeks without the Weird Hunter and Costa's spying on his stepson.
I, too, have missed my Gearlog fix. I enjoy all the podcasts the PCMagazine family puts out. I get the trades, but really don't have time to read them, so my news about PCs and the tech world comes from podcasts I listen to in my car while I'm going from one job to the next. My son also likes Gearlog.
So, where'dya go? Please produce more!
Canceled?!? Say it ain't so! Pleeeze!
So what happened to Gearlog Radio? In the latest PCMag Radio Podcast you still introduce some of the hosts on that podcast as also being hosts on Gearlog Radio, though there hasn't been a show in over a month? I hope Gearlog Radio doesn't stop like What's New Now did.
Posted by:
PhilipCohen July 14, 2008 2:13 PM
eBay introduces absolute anonymity for (shill) bidders
In Australia, the UK, Ireland and the Philippines, eBay has obscured auction bidding to the point that genuine bidders have got absolutely no chance of detecting and thereby protecting themselves from "shill" bidding (a criminal offence in most civilised countries) by unethical vendors. Notwithstanding eBay's statements to the contrary, this application of absolute anonymity (ie, Bidder 1, Bidder 2, etc) by eBay on these sites serves absolutely no purpose other than to deceive consumers by making even any otherwise obvious shill bidding undetectable; and the same criticism has always been applicable to eBay's other shill bidders' facility, "User ID kept private". Again, notwithstanding eBay's various pronouncements about shill bidding being banned on eBay, eBay is now effectively (and knowingly) "aiding and abetting" such shill bidders on these sites, at the expense of consumers. For those of you with a longer attention span, a lengthy critical analysis of this matter appears at: http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=6498345#6498345
I apologise in advance for the length of the above-linked "rant". If you are an unethical shill-bidding seller or a buyer who is not concerned that on the above-mentioned national sites eBay is effectively "aiding and abetting" such shill-bidding sellers to cheat you, read no further.
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March 8, 2008 10:22 AM
Do you really think that ebay is going to be honest about whether the boycott affected them??? LOL... "NOT"...
But the padded listings, which they at first called a test, and then recanted that statement and said that it was a computer glitch, to the tune of hundreds and thousands, which they say was only 5 thousand listings... (I saw one which had 70,000 listings and that was just 1 bogus seller)...
No, if it didn't affect them and is not continuing to affect them, then I can't add and subtract...
There are thousands of stores on ebay that closed even before the 1st boycot started... And people are still being alerted to the unscrupulous dealings of ebay and as they discover for themselves and actually read the details of the new rulings, they begin to either plan to leave by beginning to list on other sites or do like I did and just close my store...
1) The fact that I will no longer be able to warn other sellers of dishonest buyers...
2) The Fact that My ending fees will be determined by buyers who may be other than honest who will have the opportunity to neg me if I don't change my policy of shipping or whatever they are asking me to change. The fees will increase up to 67% I in turn will not be able to defend myself in any way.
3) The fact that Bidders id's are now being hidden and this is something that encourages shill bidding.
4) The fact of the new 21 day hold through paypal. Expecting the seller to trust the buyer to be honest and use the sellers own money to accomplish this.
5) The fact that some will be "forced" to use paypal because of lower final value scores...
6) The fact that my shipping score can be affected even if I ship for free... Allows for competition to damage me...
7) The fact that The search engine will favor the bigger sellers which pushes the small seller into the back.
8) Basically, I am no longer valued as ebays customer... This is a fact when you look at their new policys.
These are FACTS... I didn't create them, I just read them as they were brought to my attention...
I will share the FACTS with those who aren't aware...
If they believe that their new rulings will not cause more people to leave, then they are dilusional... And putting up a front that it didn't affect them, is as bogus as their misguided system of greed...
BOYCOTT EBAY FOREVER!!
March 11, 2008 1:21 PM
I can't believe you endorsed the My Beating Heart pillow on Gearlog Radio! I bought that product in good faith on your endorsement, for my little sister, believing it would be a great product! It worked, but the batteries have already run out! What a scam! The product details CLAIM that the batteries will last 6-12 months, but obviously that nonsense has no basis in truth! I demand a retraction!
March 11, 2008 4:04 PM
Hi Henry; I saw the pillow at Toy Fair, as I said, but didn't review one. Did you contact the company? I sure would. Its site is http://www.mybeatingheart.com/contact.html.
March 30, 2008 9:36 AM
Where has Gearlog Radio gone?
I haven't seen an episode update in weeks on iTunes.
I really miss my Gearlog fix. I can't go for more than 2 weeks without the Weird Hunter and Costa's spying on his stepson.
;-)
April 2, 2008 10:02 AM
I, too, have missed my Gearlog fix. I enjoy all the podcasts the PCMagazine family puts out. I get the trades, but really don't have time to read them, so my news about PCs and the tech world comes from podcasts I listen to in my car while I'm going from one job to the next. My son also likes Gearlog.
So, where'dya go? Please produce more!
Canceled?!? Say it ain't so! Pleeeze!
April 16, 2008 10:15 AM
So what happened to Gearlog Radio? In the latest PCMag Radio Podcast you still introduce some of the hosts on that podcast as also being hosts on Gearlog Radio, though there hasn't been a show in over a month? I hope Gearlog Radio doesn't stop like What's New Now did.
July 14, 2008 2:13 PM
eBay introduces absolute anonymity for (shill) bidders
In Australia, the UK, Ireland and the Philippines, eBay has obscured auction bidding to the point that genuine bidders have got absolutely no chance of detecting and thereby protecting themselves from "shill" bidding (a criminal offence in most civilised countries) by unethical vendors. Notwithstanding eBay's statements to the contrary, this application of absolute anonymity (ie, Bidder 1, Bidder 2, etc) by eBay on these sites serves absolutely no purpose other than to deceive consumers by making even any otherwise obvious shill bidding undetectable; and the same criticism has always been applicable to eBay's other shill bidders' facility, "User ID kept private". Again, notwithstanding eBay's various pronouncements about shill bidding being banned on eBay, eBay is now effectively (and knowingly) "aiding and abetting" such shill bidders on these sites, at the expense of consumers. For those of you with a longer attention span, a lengthy critical analysis of this matter appears at:
http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=6498345#6498345
I apologise in advance for the length of the above-linked "rant". If you are an unethical shill-bidding seller or a buyer who is not concerned that on the above-mentioned national sites eBay is effectively "aiding and abetting" such shill-bidding sellers to cheat you, read no further.