FAIR SHAKE

Below is a template that folks may find useful when writing their hometown newspapers. It's specifically intended to draw attention to the ongoing boycott's human(e) angle, with the ultimate goal of motivating local media outlets to pursue (and publish!) stories on the boycott. It's probably wise to include a list of select news hyperlinks, perhaps including the media clearinghouse at accknowl.com, with the letter. Journalists, like the rest of us, appreciate being pointed in the right direction. While I provided revisions and a dose of copyediting, samanthacat0, trainsuniqu2, and their neighbors are responsible for the underlying text and deserve full credit . . . Dion

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Dear Editor:

On January 29th of this year, eBay announced a series of policy and fee changes that have and will severely hurt tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of small online sellers and their customers. Many of them are the very people who have been hit hardest by this country's current economic woes.

They are disabled and retired people who have managed to make a little extra money on eBay. They are single mothers trying to feed their children and lower-income Americans trying to pay for food or prescription drugs, or hoping simply to make ends meet. They are America's veterans, the same men and women this country has already failed in so many ways. They are college students hoping to pay their way through school. They are people who rely on eBay for their entire incomes and people who have started small businesses by using eBay as a sales outlet.

In short, they are all of us, people who believe in the American dream, and until recently, eBay was their best hope for realizing that dream.

On February 18th, these small "mom and pop" merchants, as well as other buyers and sellers of every stripe and nationality, began banding together to boycott eBay until its policy and fee changes are rescinded or made right. These individuals believe sustained protest is their only hope of preventing eBay from putting them (and their own favorite sellers) out of business.

Sadly, it looks like eBay may destroy itself in the process. The buyers and sellers who built eBay are moving to other venues where they feel welcomed and valued as customers. And they are taking what eBay refers to as "IT" with them.

Estimates vary widely as to the effect of this ongoing boycott on eBay's listing counts and financial health, but the company's already shaky stock has not been helped by the uproar. It is now barely above its 52-week low, with a price-to-earnings ratio that is nearly double (i.e. half as lucrative as) that of Amazon.com--a company that many observers feel eBay is trying to emulate.

With deepest respect, we request that your staff further investigate the entire matter. The people affected by this travesty of corporate greed need your help. This situation is an ongoing and dramatic story; there are thousands upon thousands of people worldwide who are being affected or soon will be.

Sincerely;

This is obviously a heart-felt plea for attention to a most deserving matter. I think this letter gets at the heart of what is so terrible about what is happening.

It has a very human element, which is, after all, what makes this really all so terrible. It's NOT just about what is legal and what is GOOD FOR STOCKHOLDERS, and GOOD FOR BIG BUSINESS. So many have worked so hard to build something magnificent that is now crumbling.

cautrell-

This is such a great letter! Thank you for posting it and making it available for everyone to use.

Manor