imported post
This is the email thread I had with ebay:
I understand your statements. You still sell cars and knives. Interesting since they kill several time the number of people than do guns. Since kitchen knives are one of the most common weapons used in assaults and murders (more than guns) I expect to see them banned as well. If not then this has nothing to do with "safety" but rather political.
Please let me know when kitchen knives will be banned so that I can inform others that eBay is not just anti-gun but also actually interested in "safety".
Thanks you for responding,
Ken Kirkham
On 8/6/07, Office of the President <csme@ebay.com> wrote:
Hello Ken Kirkham,
Thank you for your recent email to Matt Halprin in regard to changes to our Firearms, Weapons and Knives policy. He has asked that I review your email and respond on his behalf. Let me start by saying that I understand that this is a very frustrating situation. Before choosing to discontinue use of your eBay account I hope that you would allow me the opportunity to explain why we have chosen to amend our policy.
s
At eBay we take the safety of our community and our marketplace very seriously. We have a Trust and Safety team which consists of more than 2,000 experts in online security and safety who are located around the globe. This team is dedicated to ensuring that our marketplace is a safe and trusted place for buyers and sellers to engage in trade.
We value an open and transparent marketplace; if items are legal to buy and sell in an unrestricted manner we allow them on our site. However, there are some items that while legal, may not be safe for our marketplace. In these instances, our applicable policies go beyond the law to ensure that our marketplace is safe.
Currently we do not allow actual firearms on the site. After careful consideration our executives and our Trust and Safety team determined that any item required to fire a gun has no place on eBay. All of our policies are under constant review. As the Internet and the way our communities use the Internet evolves, our policies and our marketplace must evolve with it. We determined that this policy change was in the best interest of promoting a safe marketplace for all members.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Nathan Gilbert
Office of the President
Original Message Follows:
-------------------------
From: Ken Kirkham
Sent: Sunday, August 05, 2007 10:00 AM
To: Halprin, Matt
Subject: ebay anti-firearms policy
I have been using ebay since 1998 and will miss the great variety of items. I cannot however continue to use ebay due to the new firearms policy. As anyone who has any understanding of criminal activity knows, your policy does nothing to stop any crime. It is sad that your organization has chosen to stop honest people from using your site for legal business that is not regulated in any way similar to your restriction.
Although there are firearms sites we have been ok with your restriction of firearms. The problem is that you are now restricting things like hunting vest, and any item remotely related to guns.
I know losing a single customer is nothing to you but to me it is very important so I will be removing you ebay account and my paypal account. I will really miss the convenience but I can simply no longer support your service.
Sincerely,
Ken Kirkham
