Posted on 08/26/2006 10:22:51 PM PDT by jdm
OK, I think they're doing this primarily to keep students from buying copies of the teachers manuals and having the answers. I don't think it's designed to target home schoolers at all. Home schoolers have always been a big clientele of eBay and if you note in the original story, it says they're trying to work something out, I seriously doubt they want to use that revenue. My guess is that some educators have fussed at them and caused them to do this, again to keep kids from getting the answers. And if you think kids aren't resourceful and sneaky enough to do this, you don't know today's kids. I know teenagers who have eBay accounts and buy stuff all the time. And these home school books don't exactly sell for huge prices.
Thanks. Please disregard my FReepmail. Great to see the thread back!
Ridiculous bureaucracy. I don't see how publishers would care since these transactions do not involve new books. I cannot think of a good reason for this. Pissing off your users/customers isn't such a great idea and EBAY/Paypal goes further down that path every single day.
You must buy NEW books!
Reckon I'll boycot eBay. We currently make eBay purchases 4-5 times a week. Are there any alternatives on the WWW?
Just one more reason to add to the myriad others as to why I don't even LOOK at eBAy.
This reeks of NEA shenanigans. Follow the money.
I wonder if Amazon.com has blocked teacher's editions from the used book storefront?
The price of textbooks is a real crime. No wonder the publishers want to retain control (and full retail pricing) whenever possible. Seems like monopolistic behavior, no?
Do teachers secretly fear students will have the correc tanswers and point out their errors? :)
E-Bay sucks! The only part of the bubble that didn't burst when it should have. They made their growth capital on the backs of Beanie Babies, and their father smells of elderberries!!!
Well. how difficult would it be for those concerned to bypass e-bay and set up their own materials swap/exchange information service? If the numbers justify it, one could think that the publishers might show some interest.
It would be great if the HSLDA created its own home school book auction web site, not just to sell the teacher books but also the student books. Let eBay pound sand, and let HSLDA get a bit more financial muscle.
Sounds like a job for craigs list.
"What eBay needs to do is set up a system of certifying home school parents and certified teachers, and then limiting the bidding for such items to those users.
Then again, the cost of setting up such a system would be more than the fees generated, probably."
Sorry, but I have to laugh! eBay would NEVER get homeschools to agree to that. As a homeschool parent/teacher for 18 years and having graduated 3 students already, I have enough state and county regulations to satisfy without having to "prove my homeschool's authenticity" to eBay. I would keep my books or sell them somewhere else beside eBay if it ever came to that.
Irritating? I guess. Outrageoous? Christ, it's a private company, and they had to make a decision on whether they want to be in the business of making "answer key" books widely available, and they made it.
If your business made a decision not to carry a particular product or provide a particular service for any reason you chose, I'm sure you'd want the right to do that too. Folks that don't like it can shop elsewhere or set up a co-op.
Uh, we sort of have this "thing" about being certified, registered, or any other means of "keeping track" of us. The day I would count being certified by Ebay as a good thing is the day I would accept a teaching degree from our garbage man!
There are tons of other sites online where people can buy the materials they need for homeschooling. Happily, almost all are free, and include discussion. Phooey on Ebay!
Precisely! And since publishers are in the business of selling new books, why not clamp down on the resale market?
Remember when the newspapers were full of advertisements like "male, USAir flt nnn on the 30th of Feb, Hoboken to Newark, $75 OBO?" Airlines took advantage of the "ID required to fly regulation" to clamp down on the ticket resale market in a heartbeat. Probably a record for fastest adoption of a federal regulation by an industry in history.
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