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The impact of the eBay seller boycott comes down to a they said/they said kind of argument. Sellers claim a multi-million listing downturn during the boycott week, while the company claims it had no effect.

At one point, sellers boycotting eBay due to an increase in Final Value fees claimed a drop to 12 million listings would represent a victory. One third party count at DealsCart found a low of some 13.5 million listings on one day last week.

eBay shrugged off the boycott without comment, other than to claim the action had no effect. We don’t see that as being completely true, since thanks to the Internet this boycott received significant attention leading into its run.

Ultimately it played out in the way we believed it would. EBay isn’t going to shift out of a volume-driven model it wants to engage, by rewarding bigger sellers with generous fee discounts.

There could be a Wal-Mart way of thinking in place at eBay’s San Jose HQ. The world’s largest retailer makes a lot of money in volume at its brick and mortar stores. For eBay to gain a similar bottom line, they have to scale upwards.

Many of our readers generously commented on our earlier thoughts about the start of the boycott. One commenter claimed the boycott had the desired outcome:

I’m technically not in the boycott, because even if eBay changes the rules, I’m not coming back. I have abandoned the account and when the 180 mandnatory waiting days have passed, it will dissappear. That’s $50-$80 per month they’ve lost out on and I wasn’t that active of a seller. To our boycott delight, many of the sellers that are leaving eBay are the kilobuck powersellers. THAT is what will hurt eBay the most.

Another commenter embraced those departures:

Goodbye boycotters, and good riddance. I’ll enjoy taking your customers.

And yet another commenter suggested the fee increase would go toward offsetting outgoing CEO Meg Whitman’s ill-fated purchase of Skype. Zing!

We were impressed at the number of people who cited how they bootstrapped their ecommerce sites after departing eBay, not to mention the number of suggestions for online auction alternatives. They voted with their feet and substantial action in response to conditions at eBay they found less than desirable.

Boycotts come and go whenever eBay makes a change. We said it before and we’ll say it again: eBay saw minimal impact from the latest one. Faced with another boycott, eBay dropped its listing fees with a one-day special in advance.

Think about that for a second. Boycotters threatened to deprive eBay of business. EBay responded by giving up fee income on top of whatever impact the boycott could generate. If that didn’t reinforce the message of eBay’s shift in strategy, nothing else will.

An eBay discount on listing fees coupled with management sticking by changes to its policies left the situation between sellers and eBay as it was before the strike.

Depending on the source, eBay either witnessed listings fall to the range of 13 million, as USA Today reported (via DealsCart), or had no change, according to an eBay spokesperson.

Unfortunately for the protesters, eBay behaved as predicted and kept the hotly-disputed fee increases in place. Sellers believe these punish people who sell in small lots, even as eBay courts higher volume dealers.

That summarizes eBay’s strategy for growth. They have targeted volume and are willing to give up some discounts in exchange for receiving more listings. In other words, eBay settled for a smaller piece of the pie, but they want a much larger pie on the table.

The end of the protest leaves small sellers with the need to take a hard look at what they want to do next. If eBay’s fees make selling on the site an unwelcome proposition, places like Amazon.com or Overstock may represent a welcoming alternative.

In August 2006, a smaller scale UK-based protest called for Google to create an auction alternative. That has yet to happen, although Google has the pieces in place to put something together between its Base and Checkout products.

Fee changes coming into effect at eBay have the potential to impact smaller sellers, as eBay appears ready to court high-volume sellers much more heavily in 2008.

The hue and cry for attention from eBay has been heard, at least. Sellers called for a boycott of eBay this week over fee changes that include increases to the final value fees they pay to eBay upon completion of a transaction.

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Fortune Small Business noted the change takes place on Wednesday. They also cited a tactic eBay used last week, in promoting a one-day discount on listing fees

Listings made on February 13th could run as long as ten days. A spike in listings made that day may offset whatever small gains the boycotters may have hoped to make.

eBay has been standing firm with its changes. We think they may see the protesting sellers as a less-profitable nuisance eBay would not mind seeing depart, especially if they plan to be more friendly to higher volume sellers.

With that likely being the case, we think eBay sellers who are truly dissatisfied with the online marketplace should measure the merits of staying with eBay versus permanently stepping away. Other sites like Amazon offer auction services, and plenty of options exist for more active sellers to create and operate ecommerce sites.