User Authority Through Mediated Interaction

This article will attempt to outline the most significant implications posed by eBay to traditional relationships between producers and consumers. In several respects, eBay provides greater seller—buyer interactivity and inclusiveness than any other marketplace. The new forms of mediated interaction opened up by eBay seem to accommodate greater scope for what I call ‘user authority’ than have ever existed previously. This article will apply theories of productive consumption, consumer authority and mediated interactions to an empirical study of eBay-in-use, drawing on the author’s autobiographical experiences alongside those of a network of sellers of antique and collectable items.