It has been widely reported that eBay will be banning the sale of magic spells and the like from August 30th. Banned listings will now include tarot readings, magic spells, curses and psychic consultations. Piff paff poof. Good riddance.
Here is eBay’s rationale: “We want customers to have great experiences on eBay, and we regularly review categories and update policies to deliver the best shopping and selling experience possible. Based on our long-standing policy restricting the sale of intangible items on eBay, we are discontinuing a small number of categories within the Metaphysical category, as transactions in these categories can be difficult to verify and resolve. We believe this update will enhance the experience on eBay and benefit our customers.”
There was an interesting discussion on Tuesday with Paddy O’Connell on Radio 2 including input from a tarot reader bemoaning the policy change. Click the link here to listen (it will be available for the next week or so in the UK only, according to my runes). The chat starts at 1:31.07
What do you think? I’m rather at a loss that these mystics are complaining. Didn’t they see the policy change coming?
5 Responses
While I’m aware none of these things are real I am going to miss seeing these sorts of things on eBay. I remember several years ago reading about how one of these sellers was a scam artist ripping people off on eBay. It wasn’t because it didn’t work it was because the Djinni that the person sold was not the type of Djinni promised and she could tell because it was the wrong color. You can’t make this stuff up.
It’s natural for those who do not understand to mock.
Anyway, whether you believe in this kind of service or not is irrellavant. The fact is that it is a “service” as opposed to physical goods, and as far as I am aware there is no scope to sell a service on ebay ?
I take it that this only applies when no physical item is delivered to the customer.
If a printed copy of the spell is sent to the customer would that count? Would a pdf version be acceptable?
If ebay was to stop listings where there is no evidence for the function of the product then they would have to ban a lot more items.
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I find it more sad/alarming that people are buying these products thinking they will work.
What about that American graduate bloke who became quite famous for selling his advice on eBay? Would he be banned as well?