Ebay petition against trade barriers

[angi]

I received this email from ebay this morning:

Fighting for your right to buy and sell online- sign our petition.

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]eBay was built on a simple idea - that we could empower people by building a global trading platform where practically anyone could buy or sell practically anything. But that idea is now under threat from certain brand owners and manufacturers who are trying to turn back the clock and block the sale of their products on online marketplaces and other websites across the EU. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Ultimately, what is at stake is the right of sellers to compete [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]fairly[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] in the wider online marketplace, and the right of buyers [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]to be able to access the best possible deals from the widest [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]possible selection of goods.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Some of these brand owners argue that their objective is to prevent the sale of counterfeits on eBay. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]But thanks to our work with 31,000 other rights owners, only 0.15% of listings last year were detected or [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]reported as potentially counterfeit. The real aim of these brands is to block the sale of all their products on our site - regardless of whether such items are new or second-hand, genuine or fake. It's not just luxury items that are affected, but also everyday items like children's toys, electronic equipment, lawnmowers and pushchairs. And if we want to prevent other brand owners from following suit, we need to act now.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]We are therefore calling on European policymakers to amend EU competition law to stop these unfair [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]trade practices. But we need your help to persuade them to take action. If you would like to join our [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]campaign against online trade barriers, please sign our petition.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Regards,[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Your eBay Team[/FONT]

My first thought was great, one less site for brand counterfeiters, and as such I haven't signed the petition. But then I got to thinking about the impact this would have on the genuine sellers, that often find it very difficult to sell on ebay because of restrictions, even though their items are genuine!

I also felt a bit of anger at the figures that ebay put forward. While I find it believable that only 0.15% of listings were reported counterfeit I don't believe that this is an accurate representation of the number of counterfeits that are on ebay, if I had more hours in the day, I'm sure I could prove this to them. Also, some brands are obviously more targeted for counterfeit items, and therefore a brand breakdown may give a fairer representation.

I believe that some brands may be justified in trade blocking, but what about the impact on the genuine sellers?

Any thoughts, is this a good move on the part of brands, seeing as ebay don't seem to police their own site for counterfeits

? Or will this do nothing (I'm thinking of the MACs loophole here), and just further cripple genuine sellers?

 

[innocent]

I think that e bay should have stronger policy on counterfeit items and sellers.
Although I'm not completely informed about what they do and don't, since I don't buy so much MAC on e bay, and usually hear that such cases are proceeded in buyer's favor.

But trying to stop selling of products on e bay seems very unfair and unjust, and I agree it's a kind of attack on freedom of the market.
Today is MAC, tomorrow will be everyone and e bay will be there only for low quality items.

So, I'll go sign

I also don't like that many sellers just refuse to ship to some countries.

 

[Peachess]

Oh boy does this take me back...I have been through this kind of thing before.

In the late 80's - early 90's I was part of a group that was fighting the release of Pro Only Item's that were cropping up on store shelves. Paul Mitchell, Sebas, Gram Webb, OPI, China Glaze...etc. Those of us with License's felt it was wrong for these item's to be sold any place but Pro Stores & Salons...after all we all worked damn hard for our Pro License & have to pay to keep it current & all the continuing Education...etc. We thought we had the support of all the Product Companies too...they seemed to not want this either. Sadly, that all became a huge joke, they were behind us...when they thought it would reduce gross sales as we buy from Pro Stores in bulk...however, when they figured out that they could still sell to the Pro Stores at our discounted rates & sell to the public for an inflated rate...we were dead in the water! The Companies started having distributors flood the retail market & our fight was over. Now, you can buy just about any Pro product anywhere.

I only see companies such as MAC not wanting open market sales for one reason...the profits...seriously think about it. We now can buy MAC at macy's, bloomies, norstrom's...etc but, at the retail price...used to be you could only get MAC at their own stores or the Pro Stores...they allow counter sales now because they set the price. open market pricing is out of their control & we all know ppl selling on eBay, I-offer...etc set their own prices...& can set them higher then MAC's price...which alot of sellers online do we have all seen e/s selling for double the price + s&h...they are making profits that MAC isn't getting & they are not happy about it. I'll be the first to admit I buy from eBay...if it is a bargain...I will not pay retail or inflated prices...what is the point I'll just buy it from MAC directly or from CCO but, there are ppl who will & do pay the ridiculous over inflated prices.

MAC & other companies who want to "ban" from internet sales other than their own controled sites won't win...& I honestly believe in the future you will see MAC in places like Sephora & Ulta...after all the name of the game is money & bottom line...MAC will follow the path of those before them & go after the larger profits by selling to a larger base of ppl.

 

[BellaItalia1969]

Quote:

Originally Posted by innocent I think that e bay should have stronger policy on counterfeit items and sellers. Although I'm not completely informed about what they do and don't, since I don't buy so much MAC on e bay, and usually hear that such cases are proceeded in buyer's favor. But trying to stop selling of products on e bay seems very unfair and unjust, and I agree it's a kind of attack on freedom of the market. Today is MAC, tomorrow will be everyone and e bay will be there only for low quality items. So, I'll go sign I also don't like that many sellers just refuse to ship to some countries.

I do agree with Angi,some of ebay's policys are not fair on sellers of genuine MAC ,Prada etc.... Innocent the reason some sellers do not ship to certain countries is to do with that particular country trademark laws and customs.For example you are not allowed to ship to Germany any samples,testers or uncapped items.I personally even though im half italian,do not post to Italy,due to italian postal system being notoriously slow and apt at losing stuff

I forgot to add that ebay,should concentrate more on their security checks with regards to scammers,sellers of fakes ,opening new ebay accounts and selling same crappy,counterfeits which previously been cancelled by ebay!!

Example seller:JackieK2674,AlanK1808,same person,selling same 12 colour eyeshadows palettes,now created new ID:jacker0101.Sold already 3 of these !MAC EYESHADOW PALLET on eBay (end time 13-Jul-09 17:30:55 BST)

Genuine sellers cannot compete with sellers of these fakes and will always lose out

 

[innocent]

Yes, of course, I understand policy toward Germany, it's their 'fault', not eBay's.
Regarding the Italy, I'm not so sure, there is an insurance option, so it could be used, I don't know....

But I live in Croatia and we don't have any of above mentioned problems.

Also, another thing are ridiculously high shipping/handling prices by some sellers

....

Yes, I think that eBay has a lot of work to do, but it's still one of the best places to trade on web.