Buying Items on Ebay?

[FenrisWulf]

I actually have no moral issue with the sale of items on eBay in general. True, people are not playing the game to its full extent...then again, who am I to dictate how they should play the game? It affects me only on the same level as if they had actually MFed for the item they purchased and were using it; instead of contributing their time to the game, they contributed their money, which is a somewhat strange but relatively fair trade-off. Though I don't like the practice, I can't take the moral high ground in the same way as I can against hacks and duping (as well as the fact that it exploits no facet of the game).

What does get me about eBay and item sale in general is that it is, undoubtedly, one of the main impetuses for both duping and hacking. If there were not the option to convert "godly" items into physical currency, then I fervently believe that there would not exist the persistent cycles of duping to make a quick buck, and then hacking to fill the void of prized items, left by the now devalued duped items. If you couldn't profit from duping and hacking...why even bother? Yes, I can understand that there could still be duping, to trade for what you want, and hacking, to get the edge over the common folk of BNet, but not driven to such frenzied heights that they completely destroy the economy that they exist within. After all, what's the point of trading item for item, when every item is worth nothing? Why would you sell off a hacked item, when there's nothing else around that could compare, by far?

I know that this thesis needs a bit of refining, but it feels right to me. When this issue is removed from the picture, as was done in your premise, then I feel that eBay item sale is a completely acceptable enterprise, as despicable as it may seem.

EDIT: Hm, this is a very similar point of view to that presented by Brista. Eh, it's good enough to repeat. :)