Buyer Beware, They are back again, eBay sellers selling Amazon

plumface

campdave wrote: »

Two wrongs don't make a right.

Ebay also haven't taken subsidies from the same government they don't pay tax to to help build their distribution centres.

No, but it makes your argument a bit weaker.

campdave

Maybe, but winning an 'argument' doesn't interest me in the slightest.

plumface

campdave wrote: »

Maybe, but winning an 'argument' doesn't interest me in the slightest.

I am not inferring that at all.
Your main point against Amazon is their non tax paying.
Ebay do exactly the same yet this is ok in your eyes because they do not take extra subsidies like Amazon.
I do not see how you can differentiate between the two and make Amazon a criminal and ebay totally ok to trade with.

ballisticbrian

If you cannot be bothered to research prices for the item you want then more
fool you.

So let's get this straight; we're on a consumer site designed to help buyers and you blame the buyers of this operation (if we can call it that) stating that they are the fools? Can you not see that the seller does not provide a service of any value whatsoever?

plumface

ballisticbrian wrote: »

So let's get this straight; we're on a consumer site designed to help buyers and you blame the buyers of this operation (if we can call it that) stating that they are the fools? Can you not see that the seller does not provide a service of any value whatsoever?

Might not have been any value to the buyer, but they paid their money and took their choice.
Dont moan after the event about being able to have got it cheaper, if the buyer had done any amount of research they could almost certainly have found the item at a cheaper price than what they had paid. (seeing as Amazon and ebay dominate search results).
I think the word 'fools' is quite apt in this instance.
Why is it a "rip off" and why is it a "scam?"

RFW

campdave wrote: »

Two wrongs don't make a right.

Ebay also haven't taken subsidies from the same government they don't pay tax to to help build their distribution centres.

Ebay's tax policies are no better than Amazon's and if you're boycotting one on those grounds it is a bit hypocritical to not boycott the other. Amazon actually paid double the amount in tax in the UK that Ebay did in the last recorded year.

I think boycotting any company because of their tax practices puts you on sticky ground. Direct taxation isn't the only way companies contribute to the economy, employing people, VAT, national insurance, business rates are all contributing factors. It would be interesting to calculate the net loss to the British economy if you remove Amazon. That's not to say their tax policy is right just that it may be looked at as not a bad deal.

ballisticbrian

Why is it a "rip off" and why is it a "scam?"

Maybe you just don't get it. The seller is taking the customer's order and maybe using an automated system, or some other method, puts the details into another retailers ordering system, breaking several laws such as data protection act. They are also in breach of the eBay user agreement. What about breaching the buyers trust and operating in good faith... do you want me to go on while you try to defend the indefensible?

campdave

RFW wrote: »

Amazon actually paid double the amount in tax in the UK that Ebay did in the last recorded year.

I doubt Ebay's profits where anything like Amazon's as they don't sell any items directly. I'm prepared to be corrected.

RFW wrote: »

Direct taxation isn't the only way companies contribute to the economy, employing people, VAT, national insurance, business rates are all contributing factors. It would be interesting to calculate the net loss to the British economy if you remove Amazon.

A relevant comment, but if they paid tax based on the sales they make in this country, they would contribute more. How much tax has been lost from small sellers they have driven out of business?

As you say, neither are perfect. however, Ebay provide a service that could be hosted anywhere, effectively I'm dealing with a foreign company who pay local taxes, much as I pay US taxes on the web host I use to host my website.

If I buy an item from Amazon, it is picked from a UK distribution centre and shipped to me. It likely is sent to that distribution centre from a UK supplier. I pay tax on the items I sell and ship within the UK, whereas Amazon use creative account to say they shouldn't pay tax on a transaction conducted in exactly the same way.

Fell free to call me a hypocrite.

RFW

campdave wrote: »

Fell free to call me a hypocrite.

I agree with most of your comments, if you pick one company to boycott over another then there will always be accusations of hypocrisy. By boycotting any we're essentially following trial by media, I doubt we'd ever have known about any tax avoidance schemes by some companies if their advertising budgets in certain newspapers would have been higher. I also think you'll struggle to walk down any high street and find a retailer that doesn't have some kind of accounting that could be called a 'tax avoidance scheme'.

plumface

ballisticbrian wrote: »

Maybe you just don't get it. The seller is taking the customer's order and maybe using an automated system, or some other method, puts the details into another retailers ordering system, breaking several laws such as data protection act.
Are you honestly saying that dropshipping is illegal?
They are also in breach of the eBay user agreement.
Yes maybe, but hardly a crime is it?
What about breaching the buyers trust and operating in good faith...What are you on about? do you want me to go on while you try to defend the indefensible?

Yes, please go on with your answer but, somewhere within that answer will you please say which part is a rip off and which part is a scam.
If someone orders and pays for something and they then receive the item they paid for, i fail to see the rip off or scam.