[Christien]

Reading that exchange was just hilarious. I completely sympathize with the guy, getting autobot responses. Ebay's help system is a complete joke - it makes dealing with the government seem painless and simple.

I too have recently sworn off ebay, though I've never been a huge user of it. I sold my 944 through ebay, and got completely raped with paypal and ebay fees. In the end I got $1750 for the car, and I'll end up paying probably over $250 in fees to actually get money. And that was after 2 auctions ended in flake bidders. What a joke.

The only way I see ebay as competition for Pelican is in used parts (i.e. ebay vs. Pelican classifieds), because I can often find the obscure used part I need faster on ebay then a WTB ad here. I would never look to ebay for new parts, because I don't want to go through the BS of waiting for an auction to end (if not a buy-it-now sale), paying through paypal, hoping the seller comes through, packages properly, etc. If I order through Pelican I know when it'll get shipped out, I know that will for sure happen, and I know it'll be packaged properly. So what if it's 5% or 10% expensive?

The only exception to this might be an ebay seller located in Canada, because it's so much cheaper and easier than shipping across the border. Even then, though, I'd probably try to locate and contact the seller outside ebay, so I don't have to deal with them.

I do wish there could be some way of Pelican having a Canadian distributor, so we could order directly from them and not deal with border delays, costs, added shipping expenses, etc.