The Burlingames

It’s been an amazingly long time since I’ve seen somebody do something stupid on the road. They seem to come in bunches, though. Yesterday, on my way to Fridley, some guy was weaving in and out of traffic, cutting off cars like crazy. At one point he moved from the far left lane of 694 through the middle lane and into the right lane in one quick motion. In doing so he cut off a minivan that, fortunately, saw it coming and braked. If he hadn’t, the guy would have hit him. What makes it more stupid is he only passed one or two cars and then quickly moved all the way back into the left lane.

Later I saw a woman driving with a completely flat tire. She was just rolling down the street, trying to destroy her rim. She was looking around like she knew it was flat (she had to know; her window was rolled down and it was making a lot of noise) and was looking for a good place to stop. Mind you, she was on a city street; any place is a good place to stop. She even drove past a couple big parking lots. Maybe she thought it would be less expensive to buy a new rim rather than pay for towing. Somehow, I doubt it.

It’s been an amazingly long time since I’ve seen somebody do something stupid on the road. They seem to come in bunches, though. Yesterday, on my way to Fridley, some guy was weaving in and out of traffic, cutting off cars like crazy. At one point he moved from the far left lane of 694 through the middle lane and into the right lane in one quick motion. In doing so he cut off a minivan that, fortunately, saw it coming and braked. If he hadn’t, the guy would have hit him. What makes it more stupid is he only passed one or two cars and then quickly moved all the way back into the left lane.

Later I saw a woman driving with a completely flat tire. She was just rolling down the street, trying to destroy her rim. She was looking around like she knew it was flat (she had to know; her window was rolled down and it was making a lot of noise) and was looking for a good place to stop. Mind you, she was on a city street; any place is a good place to stop. She even drove past a couple big parking lots. Maybe she thought it would be less expensive to buy a new rim rather than pay for towing. Somehow, I doubt it.

I have decided to show my support for my fellow eBay members fighting for fair treatment by participating in the forthcoming eBay boycott. I will refrain from buying and selling February 18-25. Please see my previous post for a short explanation of some of the issues created by eBay’s recent changes.

One of the main challenges we face is the lack of a true competitor for eBay. Some members are trying to organize a mass migration to a new site as voted upon by all those interested. My hope is that these steps will create enough commotion to force eBay to revisit their policy changes. As many have stated elsewhere, the purpose is not to destroy eBay, but merely make it a better marketplace.

eBay has changed their fee structure effective February 20th. Like any corporation worth its salt, they’ve tried to disguise a rate hike as a discount to sellers. What a screw.

They claim to have reduced the risk associated with selling by decreasing the insertion fees. To offset their loss, they’ve increased the final value fees. I calculated the break-even point of the new rates, which is $11.43. Any auctions ending below that price will be charged a fee that is slightly less than under the previous system; any about that price will be charged a higher fee. I made a chart to show some sample end prices and their associated fees, as well as the difference between the new and old system.

I’m guessing that eBay is going to come out ahead in this. A few pennies per auction might not seem like much, but, given the volume of auctions, those pennies are going to add up quick. I understand that companies up rates now and again, but I take offense when they try to disguise it as something that’s supposed to benefit me.

Some other changes are looming as well. One that I, as a seller, find particularly disturbing is that I will no longer be able to leave neutral or negative feedback for buyers: positive only. I assume it will be positive or nothing, but leaving no feedback seems like a pointless gesture as it doesn’t say anything about the buyer’s reliability, unless it somehow figures into their feedback rating (which I doubt is the case).

There are some positive changes as well, but they are outweighed by the negatives in my mind. Click here to see all the new stuff.

I started a new route yesterday at work. The guy I was filling in for (he was out with a back injury) came back. Hopefully this move is permanent as it takes awhile to learn a new route, and the thought of changing again right when I get things figured out is a bit annoying. We’ll see how it goes.