Photo: Rev. Xanatos Satanicos Bombasticos (ClintJCL)
Haunted gypsy rings, a portal to the realm of the immortals and creepy 󈧬s dolls that promise to “come alive” will soon have to uncover a new property, along with almost 100,000 other items, following eBay announced it would be banning the sale of items classed as metaphysical.
The online auction home announced the changes as portion of a routine cleanup that will also see recipe and dieting advice lots stricken from the website. The selection, it says, is down to “a huge quantity of misclassified products and eBay policy violations” that usually lead to “issues that can be tough to resolve.” Presumably a couple of angry buyers unable to get a enjoy spell working have induced eBay strife over the years. One seller, magickandmysticism, promises to “offer my services not just for the compensation, but for the knowledge of mystical co-creation shared amongst two folks — that is a thing that never gets old.” With a sales pitch like that, all the terms and conditions in the globe can’t shield some men and women from the disappointment that goes hand in hand with magickandmysticism’s curse turning out to be a dud.
Amongst the things that will be taken down and prohibited from August 30, 2012, are “advice spells curses hexing conjuring magic prayers blessing solutions magic potions healing sessions operate from house corporations and info wholesale lists, and drop shop lists.”
Potions and tarot readings will also take a hit, and a community of purchasers is up in arms at the prospect. A petition, “Don’t ban our psychics on eBay” was published on August 11, 2012 and has so far gained 1,009 signatures. The premise of the petition is that eBay’s perception of what tends to make an “intangible,” and for that reason unviable product, could not be the same for an whole neighborhood of folks who routinely pick up charms and blessings on the site.
“What is alarming now is that the blanket term of ‘intangible item’ is getting employed to ban actual products,” the petition organizer says in a letter. “What concerns me is your purposed selective enforcement of what you (eBay) terms ‘intangible’. It seems you only have targeted those sellers who supply products of a certain occult or esoteric nature — for instance, pagan beliefs and witchcraft.”
Although the petition does not use the word discrimination, it does point out that the sales of products reflecting other belief systems that stay unproven are not in dispute. Most significantly, it singles out “rosaries, crucifixes or religious medals, all of which have perceived ‘intangible’ abilities and energies related with them,” and goes on to say that feng shui items, such as crystals, and magnetic therapy jewellery could also be seen to offer you “intangible positive aspects”.
eBay spokeswoman Johnna Hoff has cleared this matter up, even so, explaining that “items that have a tangible worth for the item itself and may possibly also be utilised in metaphysical rites and practices (for instance, jewellery, crystals, incense, candles, and books) are permitted in most situations”.
eBay’s subjectivity, the petition goes on nonetheless, also relates to monetary value. According to the auction property, rates connected to the products in question can’t reflect added worth. Even though as the petition points out, “the market determines the price and folks will spend the value or they won’t” — value is completely subjective, and often has been. It’s how eBay functions.
According to a short scan of the seller feedback final results on eBay, it appears quite a couple of clients are pleased with their items. Magickandmysticism, who is currently promoting “Vampire Mistress Sex Spirit… Haunted Succubus Nymph Wife Girlfriend… Julianna the Vampire Mistress” for a bargain £80 (plus free of charge shipping), has 100 percent positive feedback from almost 100 buyers with one particular noting, “incredible energy output from spirit. Palpable. Unbelievably Awesome. Thank you,” and yet another excitedly proclaiming, “Instead of a Pokémon collector. I really feel like I’m a spirit collector”. For the skeptics out there, seductive succubus’ aside, zero negative feedback looks a tiny suspect on eBay. And when it comes to selling stated succubus nymph on eBay, we’re confident absolutely everyone is thinking the identical thing — the auction property must by no means have been enabling slavery and prostitution in the first location.
Sellers may well be capable to get about the ban by adapting the wording used to promote products or, alternatively, they could head to Craigslist where professor Kaye is cost-free to continue promoting lost love spells.
In the meantime, we will be pondering eBay forum poster stinky*felix’s philosophical query: “I assume it is presumptuous to state that anybody whose communication may transcend our abilities is a liar. Right after all, wouldn’t Moses and the prophets fit in that category?”
