EBay Sellers Lose Some Bite to Fraud Allegations

Friday, April 27, 2012

Last Update: 11:00 AM PT

 SAN JOSE (CN) - A federal judge dismissed most of a class action alleging that eBay should not have applied a new charge every month that it renewed listings for products posted by sellers.
     

  EBay introduced the Good 'Til Canceled feature in September 2008, a policy that automatically renewed an unsold product listing unless the seller canceled the post or sold the item. But every month that eBay renewed the listing, it charged a 35 cent "insertion" fee, and recharged for any of the extras that the seller initially chose when posting the item.
     

  Lead plaintiff Richard Noll sued eBay in September 2011 claiming that website did not make these recurring fees known when sellers signed up.
     

  Rather, it allegedly advertised the Good 'Til Canceled feature at "no extra cost."
     

  U.S. District Judge Edward Davila on Monday tossed Noll's claims for fraud, unfair competition, false advertising and consumer legal remedies.
     

  The judge declined, however, to dismiss Noll's claims for breach of contract, unjust enrichment and declaratory judgment.
     

  At this stage, it is still unclear whether eBay incorporated its 2008 listing update into sellers' contracts, according to the decision.