Believe it or not, this isn’t at all the random move it might appear to be.  World of Good has been around for five years and boasts ties to 85 countries, so it’s not some haphazard hippie project.  Also, eBay and World of Good have actually been working together for two years, developing WorldofGood.com by eBay.

So Robert Chatwani, Director of eBay Global Citizenship, stated in response to the latest move, "We look forward to this next step in our commitment to building an integrated, sustainable shopping experience within the eBay marketplace and are dedicated to applying our reach, resources and business model to create a positive impact for people, the planet and communities throughout the world."

World of Good cofounder and CEO Priya Haji agreed, "We are excited about the opportunity to scale the World of Good mission to an unprecedented degree through eBay."

Unfortunately, the terms of this transaction haven’t been disclosed, so World of Good’s price and integration-related target dates remain unknown.

In its current state, WorldofGood.com is presented as "an eBay community."  Sometime this summer, it will turn into a full-fledged fair trade marketplace, according to Stefanie Olsen.

 WorldofGood.com In May
(Photo Credit: eBay)

Olsen writes that Robert Chatwani, eBay’s general manager of the project, "[H]elped conceive of the idea for the WorldofGood.com marketplace three years ago while traveling to India with fellow eBay employees.  There, they found some sustainably made artisan products they believed would sell online, and could give some money back to the creator.  They tested the idea and it worked."

Then, "[eBay] teamed up with World of Good, a group designed to alleviate poverty in third worlds by helping sell local artists’ goods globally."

No one’s suggesting this development will outweigh eBay’s less admired actions; Mike Sachoff’s recent article titled "eBay To Move To PayPal Only In Australia" generated 80 comments, and a February one by David Utter ("Seller Boycott Fails To Impress eBay") resulted in 187 remarks.

Still, in spite of everything else that’s going on, eBay deserves credit for making an effort.  Some interesting products should become available through the World of Good website, and even fair trade opponents have to admit that it’s based on a nice idea.