Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: I can sue Ebay for a unjust suspension?

I don't know whether this has gone to court, but I am familiar with the situation, having had it happen to a high-feedback-percentage seller that I was trying to buy from, and then researching and answering a previous LawGuru question addressing the same issue.

What's happening is eBay is taking action against sellers who violate its rules about use of shills. In old auction parlance, shills are agents of the seller or auctioneer that place phony bids to create excitement and try to drive up the price without any obligation or risk to themselves.

eBay has found that some members are using their second accounts, their wives, or other accomplices to place bids for the sole purpose of pushing up the hammer price. In traditional auctions, this is illegal in almost every state.

Most sellers that eBay has suspended have been reinstated after an investigation into the independence of the bids was corroborated. A few who were guilty of placing bids through shills have been permanently stripped of their eBay access.

As far as I know, all the suspensions are fully in accord with eBay rules that are contained in the contract between eBay and the seller. Thus, an attempt to sue eBay isn't going anywhere. They have a bunch of very competent lawyers who write the rules and counsel the company on what they may and may not do to enforce them.

I'm not saying they are saints, or that they never make a mistake or overstep their bounds. Nevertheless, these suspensions seem in most cases at least to be a fair exercise by eBay of its right to investigate and limit possible breaches of its rules.

eBay is not a public utility like the bus line or the water company, and they don't have to do business with everyone and they don't have to make rules that are fair. The rules can be tough and self-serving, and when you sign the contract, you accept them.