Judge Certifies Class|Action Against eBay

SAN JOSE, Calif. (CN) - A federal judge certified a class action accusing eBay of stiffing sellers on the duration of their online auction time.

U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel ruled that Jeffrey Marks of The Missing Link Inc. and Michael Ewert can proceed with their claim that eBay misrepresented on its "Sell Your Item" form that their items would go on sale immediately after sellers submitted the form. Instead, eBay allegedly delayed listing the items, and sellers "did not receive the full duration requested for their listings."

Marks and Ewert say eBay also failed to inform them of the delays and refused to compensate them by extending the listing period.

Fogel said the sellers "need not establish a lack of knowledge by individual class members" regarding eBay's allegedly fraudulent conduct to recover for false advertising and unfair competition.

He also ruled that the sellers have shown sufficient data to estimate damages on a class-wide basis without consulting every individual seller.

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