some things I have been mulling over re the boycott
Some say they will boycott then don't.
some disagree with the boycott and will go out of their way to list more.
Some see the boycott as a way for them to cash in (lost their competitors for a week)
Out of the people who are aware of the boycott , a % will take part but this will have no impact on ebay. Very few are aware and not all will boycott.
Whenever there is a disagreement with a new ebay change, there ends up with thousands of posts on the boards with members complaining. Ebay admit that these members are a tiny tiny tiny fraction of the ebay community and choose to believe that the rest of the community will be in favour of the changes therefor they ignor those who voice their opinion on the boards.
the bad press that this boycott has given ebay may have more of an impact than the boycott itself. Of course ebay will never admit to any loss. I believe shares have dropped though.
I reckon, it will take a few months, but the impact of the feedback change will hit. Buyers, whether bad, ignorant or spiteful will enjoy a few months of irresponsible negging but then it won't be long before sellers leave or get suspended. Buyers can only buy if sellers are selling and ebay only make money from the sellers....
It may take a year but ebay will probably backtrack. they did to some extent over the visibility issue.
I won't have to go any further than my own ebaying to see if my gut feeling about these changes will be proved right. I have ebayed for years with a few thousand transactions - 100% pos. I won't be doing anything different regarding product or service, but what's the bet that I get blackmailed or negged pretty soon?