ebay on Watchdog again

soolin

Yet another non story on Watchdog, I do wish they wouldn't go for the sensationalised stories and actually tackle something real instead.

This time they were all aghast at the fact that one could buy knives on ebay uk from non UK sellers that are probably illegal in the UK. Ebay have promised that the knives policy will now be extended so that nothing other than household cutlery can be sold.

Hmm, that accounts for the several thousand knives, many of which I suspect really are illegal in the UK, still being sold if you log in this evening. What really gets me though is that they are somehow suggesting that ebay is such a large entity that they alone are responsible for knife crime..odd though that a straight google search turns up thousands of offers to sell me knives that are almost certainly illegal. Ebay must love this publicity suggesting that no one ever buys anything except through them.

DCFC79

The guy did say that the knives would be instantly removed, is this a banned item, its a hunting knife so id say yes it is

soolin

DCFC79 wrote: »

The guy did say that the knives would be instantly removed, is this a banned item, its a hunting knife so id say yes it is

It definitely looks like the same sort as they had to padlock into a padded case on watchdog (nasty things knives, they are dangerous apparently just if you look at them..nothing to do with the violent people that choose to use them!).

So, ebay's 'instantly changed policy' obviously means 'at some point in the future, when we can be bothered if we can remember where the guy who can work the software programme lives...immediacy'.

I wonder how much increased traffic there will be on ebay tonight, people logging on to see if knives are still there and stopping to buy something else that catches their eye. Ebid must be livid, they have knives for sale on their site and don't get half the wonderful publicity that ebay gets. Call me cynical but ebay must love these stories, I bet it really helps their profits.

soolin

Ooh, there is a real announcement now!

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/uk/200902091834232.html

StaffsSW

In another astounding reactionary knee-jerk policy change in the face of sensationalist journalism, eBay have announced a blanket ban on Knives.

We wanted to inform you of a change to our policies regarding the sale of knives.

All knives except cutlery will be banned from sale on eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie.

This will impact UK, Irish and international sellers who currently list knives for sale to buyers on the eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie sites.

Over the last year we have made several changes to our policies regarding sales of knives and also Samurai swords to ensure that only legal knives are available on the UK and Irish sites. However, the criteria for what constitutes a legal knife are increasingly complex, and this step is necessary to help further protect our members and provide them with the highest safety standards.

We will be updating this AB post shortly to ensure that any sellers of knives have full notice, details and timings for the changes.

Thank you for your support in continuing to make eBay such a vibrant and trusted marketplace.

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/uk/200902091834232.html

This follows another "hard hitting expose" from the pinnacle of investigative journalism, BBC Watchdog

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/2009/02/illegal_knives_sold_on_ebay_2.html

In 'collectibles' we saw, teapots and autographs. But we also came across a less savoury item; a knife disguised as a pen. Further searches on the site uncovered more dangerous looking knives, including a dagger made of plastic that is as strong as steel and a flick knife, advertised under the category 'outdoor sports'.

All these knives were for sale on eBay's UK site, even though the sellers were in America. Many of the knives we found clearly looked illegal. So how easy would it be for us to get our hands on them?

...

In a statement eBay said the following:

"Trust is the engine of our business and it is our duty to provide a safe and secure marketplace for our members. The security measures we already have in place are designed to make sure that only legal knives have been offered for sale by UK and Irish sellers on our UK and Ireland sites and we are satisfied with how these measures have been working in both the UK and Ireland.

"We have a good track record of leading the online industry in going above and beyond what the law requires in a number of areas such as fighting counterfeits or banning the sale of ivory worldwide. Similarly, our policies on weapons and knives go above and beyond the legal requirements set out by the Home Office. However, the laws surrounding the sales of knives are extremely complex and so we have decided that the best way to protect our members and achieve the safety guarantees they have come to expect from us is {Ok - so someone does have a sense of humour} to remove and ban all knives, with the exception of cutlery knives, from our UK and Ireland sites.

"eBay's marketplace structure means that it will take time to work with our sellers to remove the knives currently for sale and prevent new listings from being posted. However, we are committed to achieving this as quickly as possible."

So this includes Swiss army knives along with camping & fishing knives. And martial arts training knives are going to be a thing of the past. No doubt genuine cutlery sellers will fall foul of the rule somewhere along the line.

I can understand that some of these knives in the article are very dubious in their nature, but surely it more highlights the lapses in active site policing. Instead we are relying on dogooders and untrained bots to sift out listings.

Nice work.

StaffsSW

Millionaire

I wouldn't call it a non story considering you could easily purchase illegal knives on ebay. Knife crime is on the up.

Im glad watchdog has brought it to light making ebay change their polices banning the sale of them.

soolin

Millionaire wrote: »

I wouldn't call it a non story considering you could easily purchase illegal knives on ebay. Knife crime is on the up.

Im glad watchdog has brought it to light making ebay change their polices banning the sale of them.

But why give all this publicity to ebay..why not tackle Google who seem to allow adverts for knives, bomb making equipment and hard core !!!!!! of the sort that is banned in the UK? This will not have done ebay one iota of harm, I still think this will push their sales up this evening, not down.

A google search for 'buy flick knife' returns 221,000 hits.
.

Millionaire

soolin wrote: »

But why give all this publicity to ebay..why not tackle Google who seem to allow adverts for knives, bomb making equipment and hard core !!!!!! of the sort that is banned in the UK? This will not have done ebay one iota of harm, I still think this will push their sales up this evening, not down.

.

Google is a search engine though, and provides results on searches across the web.

Ebay is a auction site/e-tailer that directly profits from sales of such items.

Im not bothered personally if their sales go up or down, I'm just glad that there's one less place where you can openly purchase such weapons.

StaffsSW

Craft knives, modelling knives, whittling blades, razors all now banned.

What next - cricket bats? Rope? Hammers?


And what about car dealers? 3000+ a year die in car accidents, will they be the next thing that is banned....

Brooker_Dave

stevew8975 wrote: »

Craft knives, modelling knives, whittling blades, razors all now banned.

What next - cricket bats? Rope? Hammers?


And what about car dealers? 3000+ a year die in car accidents, will they be the next thing that is banned....

Wait for the watchdog special about hammer attacks....

Does anyone else think that watchdog ignore the real issues to concentrate on the sensationalist ones?