Bad news for people who've made a small business out of selling goods on eBay. While for years stay-at-home moms and flea market junkies have managed to carve out a living by auctioning goods on eBay, that may come to a fast and grinding halt with the announcement today that eBay has struck a deal with Buy.com. This partnership means that Buy.com will start selling millions of goods like books and furniture for a fixed price on eBay, a la Amazon. They've also negotiated special sellers' fees with eBay, and it's unclear whether they're paying as much as, say, Average Joe from Sheboygan who lists an item for sale on the site.

That's got eBay's mom-and-pop sellers—those who said they helped make the company what it is today—pissed.

Obviously small sellers have the right to be irked by eBay's decision. But should they really have been surprised by it? It's no secret that online auctions have been declining in popularity, and that eBay has been struggling with growth. And, let's face it, eBay's Golden Era—where people could sell just about anything on the site including jars of fingernails—has long since passed. So shouldn't small sellers have recognized that things were going to have to change and started developing some sort of contingency plan for their small businesses on eBay? Screaming "sell out" at eBay just seems like a cop out... What do you think?