Boycott eBay!

[Archae]

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Use eBay? Then you're supporting Jerry Falwell's favorite gay-hating presidential candidate, Republican Mitt Romney

by John in DC - 1/09/2007 03:46:00 PM

Meg Whitman, the president and CEO of eBay is one of Romney's biggest supporters. Creepy. Also creepy is the fact that uber-liberal, super-pro-gay, former Massachusetts governor William Weld is another big Romney supporter. The eBay woman is obviously a religious right loving Republican (and she deserves what's coming to her company now as a result of her embrace of such extremist, bigoted politics). But since when did William Weld sell his soul? Sad. Another "moderate" Republican proves that he hasn't the courage of his convictions.

From the AP:
Romney named several regional chairs of his finance committee: Meg Whitman, president and chief executive officer of eBay, California...

http://americablog.blogspot.com/2007/01/use-ebay-then-youre-supporting-jerry.html

[Buzz Clik]

1. LOL! I don't think so...

Everyone is entitled to their political opinions, and I won't boycott anyone simply because their opinions differ from mine.

[ronnykmarshall]

10. FREEPER!!

:sarcasm:

[HuffleClaw]

47. hehehehe

QUICK! put him on permanent ignore!

[npincus]

2. sorry, I LOVE eBay! They've furnished part of my home...

As for Whitman's politics-- I guess there's no accounting for taste.

[ronnykmarshall]

11. Pawn of KKKarl ROVE!

:sarcasm:

[npincus]

13. I'm a WHORE for a cheap carpet!

...and don't get me started on vintage watches!

:rofl:

[ronnykmarshall]

15. I'm same with vintage phones.

If I had a bigger house, I'd have a funky old phone in every room.

[npincus]

18. hee hee

I collect Borel skeleton-back cocktail watches (from the 60s) like these... the kaleidescope dial rotates... funky funky funky.... I haven't bought any in a long time... I have to watch the pennies... tee hee.

Good shopping to you!

[TexasLawyer]

37. vintage rhinestone Shriner fezes are my weakness

really!

[npincus]

40. Wow.

Way cool! I guess those turn up at estate sales (?).

I'll have to check the Shriner fez listings sometime!

[MADem]

3. Flip flopping Mitt...shows you how thin the GOP field is, when that asswipe is even thought of as a

remote contender. When Huckabee looks stronger than Mitt, and both look like they could do better than frigging Warmonger McCain, the GOP is in....well, disarray.

And Bill Weld is just middle aged crazy. He wanted to run for governor of NY after he moved back there and dumped his wife. He could well have early onset Altzheimers...it would explain his endorsement of a flipflopping fuck. Of course, maybe it's the carpetbagging aspect that gives him a warm feeling...!

[keepCAblue]

4. Happy to boycott...

Being gay and *married*, I for one will happily shun ebay for supporting a CEO with such bigotted proclivities. Mitt Romney is to gays what Hitler was to Jews.

[TZ]

16. massachussetts

How did someone like that get elected in such a liberal state? He must have done what the now former governor of my current state of residency, Maryland did to get elected. Election year lie and pretend that he is a liberal when the rest of the time his true conservative feelings rule (at least the smart people of MD finally wised up and got rid of that lying bastard):woohoo:

[yy4me]

21. He rode in on his success running the Salt Lake City Olympics.

It was a huge success, and of course, Mittens is aware of how to woo a crowd. He said just what everyone wanted to hear. He supported a lot of liberal positions 8 years ago and has just recently changed his position on many key issues such as Gay marriage, pro-choice. One wonders which is the real Romney, the 8 year ago Mitt or todays Mitt. Good Grief, what were we thinking when we elected him??? I'm so glad he is gone as Governor but now we have to listen to him on a national stage. Gives me heartburn.

[MADem]

48. I think they cheated with the e-vote but just around the margin of error

Especially in the western part of the state. Probably practicing for 04....And Shannon O'Brien ran a LOUSY campaign. She should have won it in a walk, but she didn't motivate the faithful to get out and vote. Her campaign workers were thin on the ground, her beancounters and strategy types were disorganized, and she didn't get much bang for her buck in the ad department at all. She did ok in the debates, but not ok enough.

The faithful knew he couldn't do much, owing to the legislature being D most of the way....so they didn't really care and get out in the good numbers in an off-year.

He ran to the left, way left. Did smarmy commercials, too--the one of him in front of the Cape Cod church was a total puker. He's a rat bastard, that guy.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

5. I haven't used E-bay for years

it's so 5-years-ago (back when it was cool)

[MoonRiver]

14. What's the alternative,

for buyers and sellers? I WOULD like to find something else, if not for eBay's politics, definitely for it's usury fees.

[Karenina]

20. Commerce is all!

CONSUME! :popcorn: Ye are no longer citizens! CONSUMER is your new handle!!!
But seriously, what would it really take to create another platform? :shrug:

[MoonRiver]

22. I've both bought and sold items on eBay.

I know that Yahoo has an auction, but it is not nearly as popular as eBay. There may be other online auctions I don't know about.

[Karenina]

23. My point is e-bay has become a ripoff

My question is if there is anyone ready, willing and able to offer an alternative.

[MoonRiver]

27. Let me know if you hear of something.

I have some rare coins and other stuff I'd like to sell, but eBay definitely IS a ripoff. After all the fees, packaging and shipping costs, it's hardly worth the pittance one has left.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

38. local Goodwill, Salvation Army...

If they don't have it, I probably don't need it. :)

For sellers you are probably right, there's nothing comparable. :(

[mtnsnake]

6. I'd rather boycott it for their latest lousy increase in commission from sellers

they're getting. Every year the rate goes up. Before long it'll cost so much to sell something that sellers will look for new avenues to sell their wares. Because of their never ending price increases I've limited the items I sell to only more expensive ones, and I never use the ebay-owned Paypal feature because it eats up so much of a seller's profit.

Anyway, yeah, Meg Whitman does lean towards the neocon side of things, but until someone comes up with a better way than hers of buying and selling online, nobody's gonna boycott ebay over a political difference of opinion.

[MADem]

17. I feel like the odd man out--I've never used it and have no idea how it works

How much commission does the seller have to pay? How much has it increased?

[mtnsnake]

24. It's actually still the cheapest way to sell items

You can probably figure that ebay will get at least 5-6 1/2% of what the item grosses. The actual commission is going up soon from 3% to 3.25% plus $1.31 on top of that if your item is $25 or over. Plus there are some other charges, such as an insertion fee which normally averages less than a dollar unless you start your item out with a high opening bid. Then there is a reserve auction fee, but that's only if you put a reserve price on your item. If you reserve something for $200, for example, I think it will now cost you an extra $3. Most times, I figure my items cost me around 5 or 6% to sell. It used to be much cheaper though. Everything is charged to your credit card automatically. I also use a picture hosting site that makes uploading pictures and doing the auctions much easier. They charge 1% of the gross price the item sells for.

As far as how ebay works, it's pretty easy. If you're buying it's a breeze. You can go to the site right now and register for free without any cost. Just go to the home page and they'll walk you through it. Once you register, you're ready to buy something. Selling is a little trickier because you have to learn how to upload your pictures of your item to the site and it takes a few minutes to learn how to go through the steps. Best way to learn how to sell is to go to a friend's house and have them show you how they do it, unless you're secretive like me and don't want your friends knowing what your ebay handle is.

[MADem]

31. Thanks for the demystification walkthrough! I was clueless!

I guess it isn't rocket science, but ya know how some people are a bit reluctant....well, there's me in that crowd! When it first started up, I honestly had no clue what people were talking about. Of course, I was working 18 hours a day at the time and was completely cut off from the latest trends and the popular culture...so I had some catching up to do! I've got a houseful of crap...wonder if anyone would buy it?

[mtnsnake]

34. No problem, MADem

Feel free to ask anytime.

I've got a houseful of crap...wonder if anyone would buy it?

Well, if you've got anything that's a little different, or anything old or vintage, it'll sell, especially if it's in good condition. You can even turn your used cameras, laptops, etc into decent money. Did you get a tacky Christmas gift you'll never use? Sell the sucker on ebay! Just don't get caught by the person who gave it to you, lol. The nice thing is that you there are buyers out there looking for that certain thing you might have. The more unusual or the harder to find items sell the best. If you have anything that's REALLY hard to find, such as an unusual piece of vintage clothing for example, it could take right off in price. The really common cheaper stuff is the slowest to move. Good pictures and a detailed description are a must if you wanna have an advantage over the other guys. Buyers all over the world are doing searches on ebay 24/7 for that "crap" you have. BTW, there are some good books out that you can find in any book store that are written with the beginning ebayer in mind. Also, ebay has discussion boards where you can ask the most basic of questions and people are more than happy to answer.

It really is fun to sell "crap" on ebay. Good luck!

[MADem]

41. I have vintage clothes from the 40's, magazines from that decade through the sixties,

record albums up the doggone ying yang, oddball ancient electronics (one of the earliest tv's ever made, a couple of "transistor" radios, a radio--still works--from the 1920s...I ain't selling that, though....) and that is just the tip of the iceberg. We are an enormous, multigenerational household (think "The Waltons" but suburban/urban, not on a mountain, and smartass/snarky) and we NEVER THROW ANYTHING OUT--it's a damned genetic defect or something...the old "Well, SOMEONE might be able to use that (fill in description of horseshit item)." I also have TONS of stuff from the far east, Europe, eastern Europe...from the moving around I did.

We have a family friend who has Lou Gehrig's disease. He's gonna die, it sucks, and the bills are just outrageous, pushing a hundred grand, and they (artsy fartsy types, no health insurance) can't get any help from the gubmint. Some of us have decided to take literally "every spare penny" and donate it to them (that's why I don't have my star here now--those are "spare pennies" and they went to our friends--and tax refunds will go that way, too). I hate the fact that Americans don't have health care.

This EBay thing might be a way of raising a bit more money....hmmmmmmmmm! I'll have to start looking into it...even if it is run by a GOP cranky asswipe.

[sandnsea]

42. For antiques, collectables

Look into tia.com and rubylane.com. They're straight sale sites, you set the prices. It might take a bit more time to get going, but I think you'd make more in the long run.

[MADem]

45. Say, thanks!

Maybe I'll get the youngsters to help me with this project...!!

[ChiciB1]

29. I Used It Once... Last Year! I Don't Have A Problem With A Boycott....

but unfortunately there are millions who use it and it probably won't hurt them.

[niyad]

7. thank you for the info--didn't like ebay much anyway--too many friends had too many problems-

one more reason not to use it!

[Patiod]

8. Involuntarily boycotting them

someone had hacked my account and must have used it to defraud someone, because they closed it on me after 10 years as a good citizen.

Every time I tried to get information on opening it back up, they send me an unintelligible email from customer service, which has been blatantly off-shored.

[WePurrsevere]

9. Please don't... eBay is not just Meg Whitman. eBay's made up of MANY small sellers

many of whom are struggling financially and using eBay in an effort to make ends meet or make a living in a very difficult job market.

Also Meg Whitman as a person might give to this idiot but eBay's founder and Chairman, Pierre_Omidyar, is very Dem.

Disclosure: I've been an occasional very small seller, buyer and was very active on a couple of online auction boards for about 8 years. As seller and activist I've fought eBay many times over rate increases, invasive rules, etc (Art For Protest). I have taught others, many whom are disabled, how to sell on eBay to help raise money and self esteem.

Goodness knows that eBay has done many things to get upset and protest over but Meg Whitman is not eBay... eBay is the people. :)

[ronnykmarshall]

12. And you call yourself a moderator????

How DARE you ????

:sarcasm:

[Last Stand]

25. Most companies are run by Repubs.

I wonder how much money and muscle ebay represents for Twit Romney. To me, THAT is the question. If the CEO's don't use the companies too strongly for political gain, then bid away. Twit Romney isn't going to the WH in this lifetime, anyway.

I don't go into Home Depot or Walmart for political reasons. I shop at Costco and Staples for their political stands.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

19. I'm a professional seller on eBay and this saddens me. I hate the idea of supporting

Romney through her, but this is my livelihood.

[Bluerthanblue]

26. I suspect there are many Dems, like you-

and like me, who benefit from E-bay.

I've saved a LOT of money getting things there over the years- (brand new snowboard boots w/bindings for my youngest son for $5.00 for Christmas one year).

I'm sure we 'support' many Repubs. in ways we can't easily avoid.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

33. I also buy extensively on eBay. From packaging supplies to personal goodies

and I feel very good about giving other vendors my business. This way I don't have to buy at large corporate conglomerate stores and I give small business people their livelihoods too.

[MADem]

32. Well, you could write to her and express you dismay, but if she's GOP, she'd probably "ratfuck" you

a la Karl Rove....

[sandnsea]

43. Some of my clients too

They use Ebay as a promotional tool for their web sites. It's tough to boycott some of these things, especially when there's nothing to indicate the owner is a bad business manager. I hate Google because I think they favor corporates, but nobody is going to jump on a boycott Google bandwagon over that. It's funny how people will rail against corporates, but when you ask them to consider the little guy on the internet, they don't do that either. Money and marketing works.

[Vinca]

28. That 'splains why ebay just raised their rates . . . again.

Unfortunately, some of us have to use the site in order to eke out an existence. None of the other auction sites that I've visited are worthwhile.

[Hamlette]

30. please, turning Romney into a Jerry Falwell look alike is not accurate

Romney is not a bad guy and he's destroying himself because like McCain he's trying to change his stripes.

He's more to be pittied than scorned.

I'll boycott ebay when you find me an alternative.

[MADem]

44. No, he IS a bad guy. He's awful. He is a flip flopper, who ran to the center and then did a hard

right, he's the bastard who sicced the STATE POLICE on undocumented laborers, while using these very border-crossers for years to do the lawn at the stupid Belmont home he never lives in; he's a the bum who lined out MILLIONS from the Big Dig "maintenance" budget, and then tried to blame OTHERS when the roof fell in and killed a (Hispanic, gee) woman because those bolts weren't tested (they would have been if he didn't CUT that budget, see?). When Lawrence and Lowell flooded, he wasn't even IN the state--his bitchy, race-baiting LT GOV showed up in a hard hat, had her picture taken.....and LEFT. The Red Cross and other charitable agencies were left to try to relocate hundreds who had been left homeless.

He IS a bad guy. He hates gay people, he hates the poor, he hates prochoice people, and he hates immigrants, both documented and undocumented. Or if he doesn't, he sure GOVERNS like he hates them.

He made much of his dough by raping companies--buying them, breaking them up, and selling off the detrius, leaving the workers unemployed. He's the king of doing stuff like that, ruining communities.

Mike Barnicle, who is a bullshitter, said one thing right when he was appearing on IMUS, when they were doing their New Hampshire show that they do every year. He noted that Mitt Romney spends more time up there than he ever did in Massachusetts....and not just for presidential reasons, the bastard owns a HOUSE up there, that he lives in more than he does his foolish Belmont home. He also owns one in Utah, and had been given a 'year round resident' tax cut on it the very year he filed to run for governor here. He is a carpetbagging asshole, and there is absolutely NOTHING to recommend the guy.

I realize you are tender hearted and a kind soul, you must be, if you can muster pity for the guy--but I can't pity a liar who is also a vicious opportunist. I just can't.

[Hamlette]

46. tender hearted towards mormon republicans? Hardly...but

I don't see him as that bad.

I'm not freaked out about the tax status for 2002. While I don't know if he was here much after February, he did save our butts with the Olympics and was spending a whole lot of time here before then.

I had some professional dealings with the guy and found him to be decent guy although I'm pretty disgusted that he seems to be changing his positions on social issues. He was lying then or now or he has to explain what changed.

But I don't expect to change your mind.

[mtnsnake]

35. Maybe you can convince this member to boycott ebay....

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback&userid=democraticunderground

I wonder who it is?

[mtnsnake]

36. But you won't convince this idiot to boycott it....

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback&userid=freerepublic

or this asshole:

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback&myWorld=true&userid=freeper

[Roland99]

39. Hey, you'll sink our economy. Remember, Dick Cheney said Ebay was a big part of the boom!

:rofl:

[zonkers]

49. And sacrifice the development of my classic pez dispenser collection? Fat chance!