Now, isn’t this interesting? eBay, whose PayPal arm has been difficult for some independent e-book stores to deal with, is now asking that e-books and other digital items be sold in a special digital download program. Will an e-book store be next? And if so, will this be a conflict of interest? Or is there even one already? Is there any connection with eBookAd‘s woes, given that eBay, like eBookAd, is a marketplace-enabler? Please confine comments to the eBookAd-related discussion area. Keep in mind that (1) eBookAd has emphatically said it enjoys has good relations with PayPal, but that (2) Dustin Revin and crew need to remain on good terms with PayPal in public, so I don’t know what to think.
Whatever’s happening, some publishers and writers are still complaining about lack of payment. I’d really like eBookAd, whose efficient business model offers major advantages for publishers and authors, to get this crisis behind it.
In fairness to eBay: The company indeed has had a problem with pirated editions of, say, Harry Potter. In fact, the trouble persists. See screenshot taken tonight. In other words, I can think of some very legitimate reasons for eBay treating digital items in a special way to reduce risks from copyright law. So I’m truly writing this post as a question, rather than saying, “Hey, eBay is acting nefariously.”
Actually, this is a good thing, because (in theory) it should mean that all the auctions for “information on how to get a free (insert consumer electronics item here)” should get moved to this new section. I despise such auctions because not only are they traps for the unwary but they also make it difficult for people searching for legitimate items.
I wonder if this could be a boon to self-published authors; I could envision someone auctioning off their own book on ebay rather than deal with conventional publishing.
I think this is handy, I’m pretty sure, those acclaimed authors have their books in different pen names here, especially those exclusive publisher’s authors. I can’t say they can find anything they want here but they can surely find something they would like. Thanks.