A San Diego court yesterday ruled that eBay is not liable for the
sale of fake sports memorabilia on its web site. Also yesterday,
the company reported a significant increase in profits on revenues
of $431.4 million in 2000.
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.
