It’s happened before, but never with this much fanfare or attention.  eBay is feuding with its customers again.

I must admit, I have an interest in this fight.  It’s my wife.  She sells stuff on eBay.  But she’s not as hot as some of the “Power Sellers” who have called for a boycott of eBay February 18-25 to protest the online auction service’s new policies on rates, release of payment through PayPal and (most controversaly) significant changes to its rules on feedback left by sellers about buyers.

Now Money Magazine is wading into the fray with an article and a post on YouTube asking for disgruntled eBayers to contact them for interviews (note: the post requesting contact from disgruntled eBay sellers was removed overnight Sunday evening).

I’m not going to comment on the wisdom – or lack thereof – of eBay’s new policies.  I’m more interested in seeing how the seller community is trying to gel and take action.  This may be one of the first times we’ve seen an online consumer community start to move as a group and affect real change on an organization.

The protest videos on YouTube have already generated tens of thousands of views.  And you have all kinds of cranks putting videos up there.  It looks like this has the makings of a PR nightmare for eBay.

Yet, you don’t hear much – if anything – from the online giant.  As the boycott approaches, it will be interesting to see if eBay has been able to form and implement a crisis communications plan to limit the perceived damage to their brand’s credibility.  The extent of the damage a boycott of this kind could wreck on the eBay brand is unknown, but if eBay isn’t taking this threat seriously, they should.  Here’s why:

eBay is already being accused of abusing its seller community by the people calling for the boycott.  Not acknowledging there’s an issue will not only inflame the cranks, it will send a clear signal to those buyers and sellers who still value the service eBay has to offer but may feel some mild discomfort with the rate increases and new rules regarding feedback.  That signal: “We know we have dominant market share and we’ll do as we please.  If you don’t like it, tough.”

Consumers – and by this, I mean online consumers in particular – are starting to learn how to vote with their feet.  And opportunistic Internet entreprenuers are learning how to capitalize on it.  In addition to the boycott, some eBay power sellers are encouraging other sellers to contact Google and encourage that online behemoth to create an auction service that could serve as a new home for some of eBay’s biggest retailers.

Will Google bite? Who knows.  But one thing is for sure: if eBay doesn’t treat this boycott seriously, they’re exposing their brand to a flanking attack they could avoid with a little forethought and active communication.

This will be an interesting one to watch unfold.

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