the rix mix

New York Times: Seeing Fakes, Angry Traders Confront EBay.
It's about costume jewelry. eBay claims it has no responsibility, & trumpets this on the site. But eBay needs to be pulled down a few pegs. The eBay "business model" created an eBay professional sellers business model. The parking lot flea market quality of eBay is long gone, amateurs marginalized or driven away by large sellers, higher fees, & complicated set up process. I thought smaller, simpler alternative auction sites would spring up in competition. eBay has become an arrogant monolith spanning the globe. I haven't bought CDs there in over a year, the place is jammed up with "Buy it now" catalogue businesses using eBay as a display window & front door. It's still OK for LPs, but I don't go for vinyl. I searched mostly for individuals trading in shorter lists of interesting music. eBay is now more comparable to a slick superdupermall, the largest mall in the world. It's one thing to put disclaimers on the stuff sold by someone emptying out the garage & basement or getting rid of an older PC that may or may not be all glitched up, & quite another to host organized rings of professional counterfeiters operating with virtual anonymity among huge discount "warehouses" you wouldn't stop to browse even if you saw them next to the highway. eBay is perfect example of the George W. Bush Era: the richer you are, the less you need to give shit about anyone else.