The elephant in the eBay auction room

By Davey Winder
Tuesday, 21 October 2008 15:18

Technology

When it comes to there being an elephant in the room as far as eBay is concerned, then it would have to be the subject of trading in illegal items. According to one eBay insider, the company is about to chop up that elephant and throw some of it off the auction floor.

eBay Ink calls itself an "official source for information, opinion and perspective on eBay Inc" and takes the form of a first year employee who chronicles the conversations that happen inside, and sometimes outside of, eBay.

As such, it can often produce some highly interesting insights into the corporate mind of the biggest auction business on the planet.

I mean, who would have thought that eBay executives would discuss a cornflake shaped like the state of Illinois at great length, but apparently they did just that.

Recently they have been discussing something a little more serious than novelty breakfast cereals. eBay has been having a discussion about the sale of ivory.

Apparently a team inside eBay has been investigating the issue for some time, and consulting with a number of 'stakeholders' as the blog puts it. By which I guess it means people making a nice living from selling the stuff, as well as organisations interested in animal welfare.

With elephants, both African and Asian, being protected species as a result of the ivory trade which involves the brutal slaying of these giants of the jungle, it should come as no surprise to learn that global trading is strictly regulated.

Some 171 countries signed up to the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species a decade ago, prohibiting the international trade in both endangered animals and products derived from them. The United States, for example, has the 1973 Endangered Species Act prohibiting import and export of ivory.

So what has eBay been doing about this elephant in the room, and what will change from January 1st 2009? More on page 2...

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