The Windsor Lawsuit against eBay (EBAY) and Live Auctioneers is beginning to look like a road-map of sorts. Windsor Auctions filed a lawsuit against eBay in December 2007 alleging that eBay broke antitrust laws and various California laws. That lawsuit lumbered along at a snail's pace, as eBay filed numerous 12B6 Motions to Dismiss. Then one day, a new and improved version of the plaintiff's case was filed (along with another plaintiff) who alleged that they were also victims of eBay's willingness to allow a few preferred users on their eBay Live Auction platform to "game" the system to the tune of millions in revenues. As a side note, there are quite a lot of opinions posted online that Windsor's antitrust allegations were a long shot at best.

One slight problem with the addition of the new plaintiff. The newly added plaintiff was a registered Delaware corporation and as such, an "in your face" diversity issue arose and the action filed by Windsor had to be dismissed without prejudice against eBay.

The "buzz" this week is that on line auctions are falling to the wayside in favor of fixed priced venues. Is it possible that the CEO of eBay (EBAY) has access to a crystal ball (or medium), which told him that the future of on line auctions is not in eBay's future? Or, is all this "buzz" the result of eBay sellers simply being maneuvered to leave eBay on their own accord and/or adapt to a 100% fixed price format?

It would be unreasonable to think that eBay sellers would wake up today and find an eBay announcement proclaiming that eBay will no longer be an auction venue by the end of 2008. Then again, eBay recently made an announcement that eBay Live Auctions will close by the end of 2008 and while it's not known how much revenue eBay Live Auctions generated for eBay in 2007, their partner, Live Auctioneers, LLC reportedly earned $100M in 2007. If this number is true (as reported by Live Auctioneers, LLC) one has to wonder how much of Live Auctioneers revenues contributed to eBay's bottom line.

What's up with Bidz.com (BIDZ)? This was a question asked in late 2007 and at the head of 2008. Questions arose concerning Bidz.com and the hornets swarmed the nest for many months. In September 2007, blogs started springing up online and (for the most part) Bidz.com was receiving mixed reviews from those in both long and short positions. Allegations then flew in the face of exceptional earnings reports and those reports then fueled an air of disbelief.

Wow! Is it our imagination or is eBay (EBAY) showing their sellers the door? Anyone checking their feedback in the last twenty-four hours was in for a quick reality check. While the new changes to feedback increased overall feedback totals, feedback overall percentages (for many) went straight into the toilet. If you were a seller, who was on the cusp of surpassing that magic number (in total feedbacks) to achieve a new star rating, you might have just went from red to purple but, got double-slapped when you noticed that your overall feedback percentage took a whack as well.

eBay put out its earnings statement on Wednesday, which reflected a forward looking picture of improvement. In the wake of their earnings report, eBay also announced that they will close down the eBay Live Auctions platform at the end of this year. The big question would be why?

Jim Ambach, Vice President of Seller Experience stated, "As we work to improve the buying and selling experiences which you've heard our leaders talk about - including significant investments in Trust & Safety and customer support - we need to make sure our resources are aligned with our priorities. In the case of Live Auctions, maintaining and improving this platform falls outside our immediate focus, and will, therefore, be retired at the end of the year."

Can a little company like Windsor Auctions, Inc. take on a Fortune 500 company? As reported a few weeks ago, eBay (EBAY) had informed Windsor Auctions that their eBay user names would be suspended on April 6th.

April 6th came and went and Windsor was still in business. However, on April 8th, just before Windsor was to begin their 6:00 P.M. sale, eBay pulled the plug on their auctions, eBay stores and suspended all of their eBay user names.

If anyone can sort out the eBay (EBAY) mess and bring the people together it's Oprah! Oprah has a business acumen that could put all of eBay management to shame. While eBay is a four-letter word and easy to find on the net, Oprah could develop out a rival auction site and call it Harpo's Place.

Would sellers and buyer' flock to Harpo's Place or stick with eBay? I think people would take a liking to a site, which deals in a fair handed manner with ALL people - buyer's and seller's alike.

Windsor Auctions, Inc. and Jewelry Auctions, Inc. filed an unfair competition/antitrust action in December 2007 against eBay (EBAY). In response, attorneys representing eBay filed a motion to dismiss Windsor/Jewelry Auctions action. In filing their motion to dismiss, eBay’s attorneys have argued that eBay is not subject to the Robinson-Patman Antitrust Act, as they do not offer commodities. Interestingly enough, eBay may have opened the door to writing law, which may have its disadvantages for future litigations to come.

Does eBay Offer Commodities?

Sellers, who boycotted eBay (EBAY) last month, may be back in May for round two. The driving force behind "everything" eBay are eBay sellers who have simply had enough.

There was a time when eBay sellers were too afraid to speak out publicly against the auction giant. Those days appear to be over. The fear factor has been replaced by anger and sellers are devoting their time to speaking out against their venue partner. While those selling on eBay have also begun to search other venues in which to sell their wares, there is (no doubt) a bit of trepidation of leaving eBay completely.

Software and Information Industry [SIIA] has filed not one but, multiple lawsuits against eBay (EBAY) sellers for selling pirated software on the auction giant’s web site.

The total number of lawsuits filed against eBay sellers has climbed to twenty-five. While some of these lawsuits had been settled, it would appear as though SIIA is aggressively monitoring auction web sites and will continue to file lawsuits, as they identify sellers who pirate software and in turn offer up the product on sites such as eBay.

This article is a continuation of my piece from yesterday regarding eBay (EBAY) lawsuits.

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eBay (EBAY) now has its hands full with two lawsuits aimed at the eBay Live Auction platform. One eBay Live Auction seller is suing eBay for affording an unfair competitive advantage to another eBay Live Auction seller who's being sued (along with eBay in an unrelated lawsuit) for allegedly shill bidding on the platform.