eBay's Lorrie Norrington, President, Marketplace Operations today weighed in on the deluge of comments readers have posted on the eBayInk by Richard Brewer-Hay. In an attempt to dispell the loud cries of "foul" by the small and casual sellers, Lorrie stated

"Let me be clear: eBay has always believed that small and casual sellers — “the little guys” — are eBay’s most important competitive advantage … These sellers created our community, bring a human touch to the marketplace, and continue to make eBay a truly one-of-a-kind shopping experience."

Sadly, I really think she and many of the other top eBay executives truly believe this. The very unfortunate reality is that recent policy changes and those to come belie their statements. I honestly think that Lorrie and John and all those involved may actually think that buyers coming to the site to purchase items from the likes of the Buy.com's in the world will stick around while they are there and buy from "the little guys". To date no evidence has been provided by eBay or anyone else to give credibility to this.

Certainly eBay must do what is best for it's survival in the very competitve ecommerce marketplace. Regrettably eBay has allowed itself to become embroiled in a marketplace that is heavily weighted to "big box" marketers which will totally destroy "the little guy" much the same way B/M big box entities have affected the Mom & Pop businesses this country and world was built upon.