Links to their website in EVERY SINGLE LISTING

giantmutantbroccoli

Sorry guys, this is a bit of a rant. I've been helping my parents out, putting up some extra listings, trying to drum up interest elsewhere on t'internet, that sort of thing. Their eBay business recently took a bit of a dive but hey, it's a recession I guess that's only to be expected. VAT has gone up, fees have gone up - currently they're paying 20% VAT plus 13.5% eBay+Paypal fees on everything they sell. Life would be a lot easier if we didn't have to pay that, right? But we do. Them's the rules - you list on eBay, you pay the fees on what you sell.

Unless you're this particular Seller, of course! They came up with the genius plan of putting links to their website in every listing they do, and encouraging customers to buy OUTSIDE EBAY. So they don't have to pay the crippling fees that the rest of us put up with/complain about/write angry letters about. No, they're above all that! I'm sure you can see where this is going - I reported their listings, on account of me being petty and vindictive and, tbh, pretty damn angry that they were getting away with it.

I'm guessing a lot more of us could make good money out of eBay if we didn't have to pay the fees. I reported them last week, and nothing has happened. Nothing. They still have links on every ad and on their shop, links that take you directly to pages where you can buy their sofas without so much as a sniff of ebay regs. I'm fed up and angry, but most of all I really do not understand. What the heck do eBay gain out of letting this guy circumvent their rules? All he sells on his eBay site are leather swatches for ~99p each, they're making no money off him! He's using their bandwidth etc to advertise his own website and they haven't so much as taken down a listing. And when I say he has ads in all his listings, I do mean all.

Anyone got any suggestions? Should I carry on reporting them and hope eBay actually do something? Or have eBay abandoned their rules about such things, in which case we should all be doing it because hey, free advertising!

Crowqueen

Presumably if they sell a lot of those swatches they are using eBay as a loss leader, and if they are correctly registered as a business seller they will get 10p per listing from them at least, plus probably another ~10p per item sold.

I agree though. eBay could be a lot tougher. The only possible defence is that there are so many listings out there that violate one rule or another that they may take a while to get round to booting them. Keep trying.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Not on topic but as you mention it in the OP, if you are VAT registered you can give your VAT number to eBay and get charged their fees minus 15% VAT (Luxembourg rate). If you take more than 1500 a month via Paypal you can apply for their merchant rate which reduces the fees slightly depending upon volume, I only pay 20p plus 1.9%.

The seller does have their web address on the listing but their email address includes the web address which is allowed as far as I know, so even if they were made to remove the direct link they can still advertise the web address in their email address.

giantmutantbroccoli

Wow, thanks ludovico, I did not know that! That should save them a bit! I am suprised, nay shocked, that eBay don't publicize that one

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

No worries, I also believe if you send in the VAT registration certificate they will back date this to the date of registration and issue a credit against the account (my understanding is as eBay are based in Luxembourg you can't claim the VAT back on your VAT return).

The Paypal merchant rate only applies from the date you request it though, it should be detailed in the help section on Paypal's site on the fees table help page.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Sorry just to add, if you are on the flat rate scheme you shouldn't have VAT exclusive fees on eBay, not sure about the margin scheme so I would advise to check with the VAT helpline if applicable.

terra_ferma

I understand you are a bit pixxed off, but it's not like they are the worst scammers of the hearth, they've tried wrecking your account, or stolen your listings etc etc

What they are doing is wrong, but not worth wasting so much energy on (there's so much happening on ebay, life's too short..)

PS anyone can open a website, it's very easy to do, and can be done for free to start with (just have to be careful about things like owning their domain name).
Also Paypal is very competitive compared to any other merchant accounts (taking cards etc), and ebay VERY VERY competitive compared to a brick and mortar shop (or even having to do your own SEO, marketing etc).

mynewusername25

Hardly worth worrying about. They're not likely making much from the links anyway. It's really quite difficult to get people to buy from a relatively little known website.

People would much rather pay a little extra for the security of buying on ebay.

Look at improving your work, reducing your costs etc instead of worrying about some links.

A small percentage of viewers will click the listing, even smaller percentage will click the link, and almost none will buy from the website, unless it's somewhere very well known like amazon.

bluejake

Remember this is a moneysaving site for consumers not a site for Ebay shareholders. If a seller is managing to to avoid ebay fees and make more money and/or sell items for less so buyers benefit as well by avoiding paying 13.5% eBay+Paypal fees then that is something that should be encouraged. It is exactly what this site has always been about. It isn't against the law, it is something positive and it should be encouraged here.

Disgruntled competitors trying to stop others saving money is not something that should be encouraged here. Remember folks this is primarily a consumer moneysaving site.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

bluejake wrote: »

Remember this is a moneysaving site for consumers not a site for Ebay shareholders. If a seller is managing to to avoid ebay fees and make more money and/or sell items for less so buyers benefit as well by avoiding paying 13.5% eBay+Paypal fees then that is something that should be encouraged. It is exactly what this site has always been about. It isn't against the law, it is something positive and it should be encouraged here.

Disgruntled competitors trying to stop others saving money is not something that should be encouraged here. Remember folks this is primarily a consumer moneysaving site.

I couldn't disagree with you more, you are suggesting it doesn't matter what a company does as long it's cheaper for the consumer.

If the aim here is to save money the advise shouldn't be that eBay seller's can do whatever they like, it should be to shop around before making a purchase.

grintricha

bluejake wrote: »

Remember this is a moneysaving site for consumers not a site for Ebay shareholders. If a seller is managing to to avoid ebay fees and make more money and/or sell items for less so buyers benefit as well by avoiding paying 13.5% eBay+Paypal fees then that is something that should be encouraged. It is exactly what this site has always been about. It isn't against the law, it is something positive and it should be encouraged here.

Disgruntled competitors trying to stop others saving money is not something that should be encouraged here. Remember folks this is primarily a consumer moneysaving site.

no, no, no, so very wrong, I expect vendors to have a moral compass and to behave on the side of right, if that means consumers pay more then so be it

for instance if you put a low price but high postage to save on ebay fees expect low stars from me, even if it does save me a few pence