eBay has been a source of arguments between Clark and Christa for years. Clark has long felt that eBay should offer protection to buyers who get ripped off by sellers. Christa, meanwhile, has taken a more libertarian view. She believes they could offer protection if they wish, but it shouldn't be required.

They've both agreed that it would be great for sellers to have the option to get bonded by eBay after successfully completing a certain number of transactions. Buyers could then have confidence that they won't be ripped off with counterfeit goods.

Of course, there are crooked buyers out there too, but that's another story.

In response to softening transactions, eBay now is experimenting with a new policy in Australia that could eventually go worldwide. They'll back every transaction up to nearly $20K. eBay is basing its math on the belief that only a small fraction of transactions are crooked.

In the past, eBay had pseudo-protection through PayPal and through itself for fraud. But that was more of a marketing ploy than anything else. This, however, is apparently the real deal.

Sellers are already making a big fuss Down Under because the only method of payment allowed under this new plan is PayPal, which is owned by eBay. So is this move just intended to boost PayPal's business, or is it a real effort to boost the confidence of buyers?

There's no doubt that eBay is going through a rough adolescence with all the counterfeit goods and accompanying lawsuits. Regardless of the legal outcome, eBay has already lost buyer confidence. What people are willing to pay for branded goods has gone down dramatically as a result. Buyers automatically assume they're going to get a counterfeit. So the marketplace, in its own way, is already at work here.