eBay has stopped auctions that offer digital property, allowing digital goods meant sellers could put up as many auctions as they wanted, because they had an unlimited number of copies that could be delivered. eBay say this was choking up auction catagories with duplicate items,
In a policy update that went into effect on March 31, 2008, digital goods can no longer be listed or sold through the service’s traditional auction-style or fixed price formats. This new ban will affect “anything that is “shipped” to a customer via email or download link,” according to eBay, including eBooks, MP3 files, and PDF files. Instead, all digital downloadable goods must be listed using the Classified Ad listing format, which provides sellers with a fixed price 30-day ad.
“Digital goods are often reproduced at little to no cost to the seller. On eBay, this creates the potential for Feedback Manipulation (both real and perceived),” stated Brian Burke, eBay’s Director of global feedback policy in a recent general announcement. “To preserve the integrity of the Feedback system, effective March 31 all goods that can be digitally downloaded or transferred electronically must be listed using the Classified Ads format.”
