The main problem I have with this coupon concept of eBay's (aside from the overpricing of the packing materials) is eBay's manipulative use of buyers and sellers for its own ends.
It might be fair enough to offer us coupons for free merchandise (of our choice) on eBay as a soother for the 25% store fee hike, but some clever CEO at eBay thought: why not kill two or three birds with one stone?
I can see the boardroom brainstorming session now -- how can we appear to mitigate the sting of a 25% fee increase by offering coupons for merchandise, but restrict that merchandise to something that will serve our purposes specifically, not the store owner's own purposes. Of course! EBay branded shipping supplies! Make buyers (and sometimes sellers) pay to ship our brand everywhere sellers ship. What could be better than free worldwide marketing?
I must admit the scheme is brilliant. And exploitative. But, well, this is eBay. I've come to expect such thinking.
Let me be clearer: had eBay offered coupons for generic shipping supplies, or a free choice of merchandise on their site, I might have been less cynical. Had eBay offered coupons for customized store branding (for example, supplies stamped with a store owner's own logo or store name, perhaps even in conjunction with the eBay logo), I would have applauded them, even if I still considered the 25% fee hike outrageous.
Frankly, if they expect us or our buyers (through shipping costs) to pay for their corporate marketing, they should be giving this packing stuff away. What good does it do an individual seller to pay for branded supplies that don't include his or her own brand? So the recipient of a parcel, or the postie who handles it, may come to eBay, what of it? What's the chance they'll actually visit that seller's store and buy from it as a result? That's not what this branding concept is targeting.
Once again, shame on eBay. They've made a habit of pulling the wool over our eyes.
And no -- I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth. What gift? Sellers should think clearly about this before praising eBay for its generosity and support. At the very least sellers using these coupons should do so in the cold knowledge that their customers (or they) are paying to distribute eBay's corporate brand. How much would eBay have to pay bulk postal mailing services to do the same thing worldwide? Many sellers may have no qualms about that. However, it doesn't make the supplies any more useful for your own store marketing purposes.
EBay is of course doubtless also making some profit on the shipping supplies themselves, so they are double-dipping on the backs of sellers' own buyers (via shipping costs) or sellers themselves (wherever sellers are paying partly or wholly for shipping).
As I said, a brilliant scheme. These coupons are most definitely not "freebies". I am incensed that eBay is touting them as some sort of seller candy, and sellers are happily eating it up. I'm not biting. 
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