David, the APS cannot force their will on eBay, and it would make sense for the APS to want stamp sales to take place under rules that are already familiar to them.
But remember, at the time when the alliance was formed, there were persistent bad sellers on eBay whose sales were allowed at the time - one Bad Boy in particular that the APS had battled in the past, and we're talking Power Sellers with significant (but disgusting) careers. The APS rules for selling through their StampStore were in place, and they even got eBay to include a reference to the APS Code of Ethics on the eBay page of rules for selling stamps, but on the topic of selling modern forgeries, eBay wouldn't budge.
By now, eBay should be seeing early results of the efforts to clean up the Stamps category, and it's reasonable to suggest that higher standards are not hurting their sales, the bottom line that matters to eBay.
Better days ahead, I would think, as eBay discovers that ethics are important and that the APS and the Stamps Community Watch committee are helpful partners whose knowledge is invaluable.
They are, however, failing to respect your frequent input, David, the biggest flaw in the system that I see right now, a very unfortunate circumstance. They really should be seeking you out for advice, and instead it almost seems like you are being shut out - if they (whoever "they" are) would just check your track record for accurate reporting of fraudulent auctions, they'd realize that you could be a very helpful partner.
As people cycle in and out of the SCW, I've been delighted to see who some of the earlier members were. David, maybe you'll be in there when they hit their peak!
-Dunc
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