Numerous individuals bought baseball bats, trading cards and jerseys bearing forged signatures of famous players. The group collectively sued eBay for around $10 million, basing their class action on a Californian law that requires sellers of sports memorabilia to provide certificates of authenticity with the items. They also argued that by including items in a category called “Sports: Autographs,” the company was indicating that the items were authentic.
Judge Linda B. Quinn wrote in her decision: “A category label is not a description of a specific collectible… it is the web site user who decides which category he or she will assign to her item.”
A lawyer for the unsuccessful group said an appeal will be lodged. He argued that the current ruling means that the public has no protection against fraud carried out on internet auctions, even if the sites are negligent in some way. He pointed out that the ruling means that eBay has to meet lesser standards than traditional auctioneers like Christie’s and Sotheby’s.
An eBay spokesmen said that less than 0.1% of eBay’s sales are confirmed as fraudulent. He added, “eBay can’t be held responsible if a third party misuses or abuses the site.”
Bucking the trend of dot.com gloom, eBay yesterday announced that it earned $23.9 million in the fourth quarter of last year, up from $3.9 million in the same period in 1999, a rise of 600%.
In the three month period, the value of goods traded on its site was $1.6 billion, up 79% on 1999’s fourth quarter. eBay expects revenues for 2001 to reach $665 million, up from $431.4 million in 2000.