Readers may remember the class action lawsuit against eBay over its Featured Plus optional listing upgrade, though if you’re having trouble keeping track of seller versus marketplace lawsuits, it’s understandable. But some sellers were pleasantly reminded this week when they received credits or checks this week as part of the settlement.
This settlement is not to be confused with the $6.4 million class settlement with eBay we just wrote about last week involving “Good ‘Til Cancelled” listings.
Rather, the emails and checks received this week were a result of a lawsuit filed by Custom LED LLC in 2012 over Featured Plus, a premium feature that buyers could purchase for up to $39.95 per listing to boost their visibility.
Custom LED, which sold on the eBay Motors channel, had alleged that eBay promised Featured Plus listings would appear at the top of search results on eBay’s core site as well as the stores section. “eBay charges a high price for Featured Plus listings because it knows sellers value listing priority in search results,” according to the complaint.
eBay agreed to settle the lawsuit for $4.75 million.
One seller told EcommerceBytes he was pleasantly surprised after getting his check, having only been expecting to receive $5 – but it came nowhere near the thousands of dollars he had spent on the eBay Featured Plus fees.
Note that not all class members will be receiving checks – many sellers will receive their settlement amount in the form of a credit that will be automatically applied to their eBay account. eBay notified sellers it would be reflected on their statement as “Featured Plus! Settlement Credit.”
The notice to sellers explained that they had been identified as having paid Featured Plus fees for eBay listings in the U.S. between January 23, 2008 and February 4, 2013.
An update on the administrator website reads, “The Settlement has been finalized. Ebay account credits and checks were issued to eligible class members on February 26, 2015.”
