An Illinois-based eBay merchant that sells bathroom fixtures filed a class action lawsuit against eBay in late August. The Missing Link Inc. alleges that eBay "intentionally and falsely represents to sellers,...that listings of various types begin immediately and that listings are in effect for the entire duration selected," and that "eBay also fails to extend the listing period for unsold items past the originally stated expiration time, for a duration commensurate with the delay in posting, to compensate sellers for the delay in posting."

The lawsuit also addresses the fee increases eBay imposed on eBay Stores last year, and alleges that "eBay chose to apply the fee and rate hike to "Good 'Til Cancelled" store listings purchased before eBay announced the new fee and rate increases on July 19, 2006." The insertion fees for Good Til Cancelled (GTC) listings went from 2 cents for a 30-day listing to up to 10 cents for a 30-day listing. eBay also raised the commission fees, called Final Value Fees, on eBay Store items as well (http://pages.ebay.com/sell/announcement200607/overview/fees.html).

In a somewhat similar case, Michael Ewert filed a class-action lawsuit against eBay in April for allegedly failing to give him the full duration for his auction listings (http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m07/i24/s02). Others have filed antitrust lawsuits against eBay over its payments policies (http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m05/i04/s02).

Markun Zusman & Compton LLP of San Francisco and Pacific Palisades are representing The Missing Link Inc., dba Bath Plus Inc.

Attorney David Fish links to the complaint on his blog (the following links directly to a PDF file).
http://tinyurl.com/2mvkhz