eBay sues Amazon for systematically poaching sellers

They don't call it "ruthless capitalism" for nothing!

Ebay has filed a lawsuit against fellow online retail giant Amazon, reports the Wall Street Journal. The charge? Amazon used EBay's internal messaging system — intended for use between EBay merchants and customers — to poach sellers and bring them over to Amazon.

The scheme occurred both internationally and within the U.S., and the tactics cited in the lawsuit are pretty blatant. Many of the poachers use boilerplate language from one solicitation to another. And they even discuss their activities within the platform itself.

EBay seems to have very strong evidence that this was going on. The question is whether it was actually illegal, or just shady behavior. EBay is suing on the grounds of "intentional interference with contractual relations and economic relations," according to theWall Street Journalreport. And, "fraud and violation of the California penal and business and professions codes."

EBay sent a cease and desist letter to Amazon on October 1. But, since it has now filed the suit, apparently the seller seduction is ongoing.

It's a billion dollar business eat billion dollar business world out there, folks.