Meg Whitman, eBay's CEO, said the store inventory format has "diluted the magic of eBay," and that, "We are trying to get back to the essence of eBay." Oh, please, Meg! If she would say that eBay has made a financial error in heavily promoting stores and it's not economically viable to continue down that path, I could respect that.

This is similar to a recent eBay ruling that they wouldn't allow eBay sellers to use the new "Google Checkout" payment system. Google Checkout is a payment system similar to PayPal, which is owned by eBay, of course. Google Checkout has been dangling economic incentives to lure e-commerce sellers to its payment system. eBay expressed concerns for "safety" as the basis for its refusal. This is hogwash! eBay is protecting its turf and has a perfect right to do so. I am not going to sell my competitors products on my web properties and neither would you. I can respect that reasoning, so just admit it. Don't assume we're stupid and gullible.

In addition, the entire purpose of eBay Express (EE) seems to be compromised. EE is supposed to be a shopping system that will allow buyers to purchase from multiple eBay Express merchants yet pay for everything — including shipping—in a single, secure payment using PayPal or a credit card. If auction listings are going to appear in EE - and above store listings - how is this going to be different from regular eBay? At this time, it's only auction listings that include Buy It Now, but if they're pressuring sellers to get "the magic" back, will regular auctions soon be included? Only time will tell.