core to donoahoe's strategy, ebay change its fee structure, search-engine algorithm, and feedback rating system in ways that favored highly rated sellers, fixed-price listings, and sellers offering free shipping. donahoe claimed that all these tactics helped align ebay's interests with those of its best sellers. but the moves also created tension amongst two groups of sellers that had been growing apart for years. the traditional ebay seller sold typical flea market wares including used, vintage, antique, and homemade items. these sellers typically included mom and pop operations that dealt in low to moderate volumes. these merchants gave ebay its start and continued to be a sizable portion of ebay's business. such sellers were a sharp con trast to ebay's high-volume powersellers. these sellers were often major operations employing dozens if not hunderds of people. they most often sold new, refurbished, or overstock items in bulk. high volume sellers sold tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and millions of items on ebay every year