April 15, 2008 7:08 PM PDT
Report: eBay to end Live Auctions business
eBay said Tuesday it will shut down its Live Auctions business at the end of the year as part of restructuring efforts, according to a Reuters report.
The company's little-known service enables members to participate remotely in real-world auctions, whether in a physical place or online. Reuters cited the comments of a company executive who posted them on eBay's announcement board: "Maintaining and improving this platform falls outside our immediate focus, and will, therefore, be retired at the end of the year."
Anne Dujmovic is an associate editor at CNET News. After working more than a dozen years in newspapers, including a seven-year stint at the San Jose Mercury News, Anne migrated north to Portland, Ore. There, she honed her pastry-making skills as an apprentice. Although she's returned to journalism, she still misses the free pastries. E-mail Anne. 
Instead eBay is forcing sellers to either put up a store or put up with ridiculous rules (like wait 22 days for payment). And since eBay owns a percent of Craigslist, and Yahoo Auctions is gone, are we to bear a monopoly in personal sales to them? Oh and as a new buyer, you are forced to have a PayPal account to make "purchasing" easier and safer.
Seeing LiveAuctions move on is a relief since eBay really never wanted them around for their plans.
Its too bad as eBay had a good thing with one flaw: failure to secure the seller/buyer at a venue.
Back to my yard sale...