In a move that highlights the conflicted relationship eBay has with many of its top sellers, the Professional eBay Sellers Alliance (PESA) released a position paper on Wednesday that chastised eBay management for increasing Final Value Fees, implementing a flawed DSR seller rating system, and running competitive ads on the site.

PESA sent its letter criticizing eBay and complaining of "deteriorating market conditions" yesterday - the very day eBay, a frequent sponsor of PESA's events, was set to speak at the group's summit in San Francisco. PESA has published several critical position papers in the past, with similar themes.

In fact, the last time PESA so publicly criticized eBay was during the June 2007 eBay Live conference, when it demanded a search algorithm that favored the best sellers and a system that differentiated merchants with high feedback, a return policy, or speed in shipping.

But, despite having pushed for special treatment for large sellers, on Wednesday, PESA decried the move by eBay that favor sellers even bigger than themselves:

"We would like to highlight eBay's recent move to allow big box retailers free access to eBay, at a competitive advantage to its existing seller base, as an example of a decision that exacerbates the situation by threatening the diverse supply of merchandise that shoppers expect on eBay."

eBay's new Diamond PowerSeller program gives favorable fees for the largest sellers that are negotiated on a case-by-case basis.

So what does this parrying between eBay and PESA illustrate?

Perhaps it's a sign of eBay's diminished standing in the marketplace when a group that has consistently accepted sponsorship from the auction site feels emboldened to chastise it publicly.

Perhaps it's a sign that by promoting special treatment for high-volume sellers from the very beginning of their existence, and shutting out smaller merchants from its organization until recently, PESA itself has played a major role in "unleveling the playing field" on eBay.

Or perhaps it's a sign that while nobody thought eBay was listening, in reality, they were listening all too closely - to a small group of PowerSellers who didn't represent the selling community at large. After all, in PESA's paper, just substitute "PESA members" for "big box retailers" and "advantaged" for "free," and PESA suddenly finds itself as disadvantaged as the thousands of smaller eBay merchants who have been feeling that way for years.

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