Online auction discussion forums are buzzing about an eBay seller known as Parrothead88, a popular seller of shipping supplies. John Hannon, who registered on eBay in 1997, had made eBay history when he became the first "shooting star" PowerSeller in 1999 when he earned 10,000 feedback ratings. On Thursday, eBayers were shocked to see that with close to 75,000 unique feedback ratings, Parrothead88 had suddenly emptied his eBay Store and had no active listings on the eBay website.
In the last month, Parrothead88's trading partners have been leaving an unusual amount of negative ratings for the seller. Of the 36 negative ratings received in the last 12 months, 34 were received within the last month.
There is much speculation about Parrothead88. Some believe Hannon had sold his business to another company. Others speculate the seller may be having personal issues in his life. But everyone wants to know, what is happening with Parrothead88?
Parrothead88 is in fact the third eBay PowerSeller who has suddenly removed listings from eBay in the past 4 months. GlacierBayDVD closed its business abruptly in early February, and Sell2All Inc.'s Brandon Dupsky filed for bankruptcy in March. (Unlike GlacierBay DVD and Sell2All, Parrothead88 is not NARU and it's unknown if the cessation of sales is temporary or permanent.)
What dismays eBay sellers is why such high-profile and seemingly wildly successful sellers have abruptly ceased their eBay operations.
Randy Smythe operated on eBay using the ID GlacierBayDVD and had become eBay's number one feedback seller in June 2005 selling movie DVDs and soundtrack CDs. Smythe has never commented publicly on the demise of his eBay business.
Brandon Dupsky, who operated Sell2All on eBay, has not commented on his debt, which a Nebraska newspaper said totaled $1.49 million. But his colleague told the newspaper that Dupsky is committed to starting up another eBay business (http://digbig.com/4gtwt).
Two companies are associated with the eBay User ID Parrothead88: Bargains Galore (http://bargainsgalorestore.com), registered to John Hannon, and Mailers & More LLC (http://www.mailersandmore.com), operated by Michael and Tracy Kolman. Both are located in the Tampa Bay area of Florida and have the same phone number and email address listed on the websites. Phone messages left for Hannon and the Kolmans were not returned.
