Action for item location misrepresentation policy violations

soolin

It is worth noting the supposed action ebay appears to be taking against overseas sellers misrepresenting their location- something which I know has caused a lot of people issues on here.

This is a cut and paste of their recent (283/19) announcement:

Today we’re announcing new enforcement measures against listings and sellers who do not comply with our Item Location Misrepresentation policy. It’s important for sellers to accurately state the location of their items so that buyers can use eBay’s search filters to correctly select listings based on location. When this doesn’t happen, it creates an unfair marketplace for sellers and a disappointing experience for buyers.



We’re grateful for the feedback we’ve received from our seller community about Item Location Misrepresentation.



We’ve reviewed our policy and made some changes which should help prevent sellers from providing inaccurate information about the location of their items. They’re now required to select a postal option that matches the item’s location. From today (28 March 2019), sellers won’t be able to create new listings or revise listings where the item location and postal service don’t match.



We’ll also be reviewing any international sellers who state their item location is in the UK, but have excessively high dispatch times resulting in extended estimated delivery dates. Our teams overseas continue to work directly with international sellers on policy education and enforcement to ensure compliance.



eBay will continue to take further steps to enforce this policy, including removal of listings, restricting a seller’s trading activities and, in the case of repeated policy violations, account closure. We will keep this policy under review.



Read more about our Item Location Misrepresentation Policy.

dj1471

Can't see that making any difference, the Chinese sellers mostly offer free delivery and they can ship quickly when they want to. If their account is closed they'll just create a new one, some of them seem to have 10s of accounts anyway.

I generally leave neutral feedback when I'm a victim of this (with a 1 star rating for item description), perhaps I should switch to negative.

soolin

dj1471 wrote: »

Can't see that making any difference, the Chinese sellers mostly offer free delivery and they can ship quickly when they want to. If their account is closed they'll just create a new one, some of them seem to have 10s of accounts anyway.

I generally leave neutral feedback when I'm a victim of this (with a 1 star rating for item description), perhaps I should switch to negative.

If they ship quickly then i can't really see an issue from a buyers point of view- I think a lot of the issues are they compete on price but actually have a 30 day (for instance) dispatch which some buyers might miss when buying- which disadvantages UK sellers. So buyer seems 99p free postage from one seller high up in the Best match and the UK one is on the 2nd page at £1.99 with £1.25 postage and doesn't even get looked at, buyer then checks the purchase a week or so later, realises they have overlooked the lengthy delivery estimate- blames ebay and doesn't buy again- so UK sellers lose out both on the initial sale and on future business.

if this ruling means sellers showing a UK location but with a 30 day dispatch will be checked - then I think it's a good thing.

theoretica

soolin wrote: »

If they ship quickly then i can't really see an issue from a buyers point of view-

As a buyer I see several issues - starting with a distinct objection to dealing with someone who lies to me.

dj1471

soolin wrote: »

If they ship quickly then i can't really see an issue from a buyers point of view

Quickly when compared to other Chinese sellers who use the cheapest possible shipping method which takes 2 weeks+.

I will often pay more for an item located in the UK because I want it quickly, only to find that the item is actually shipped from China. e.g. I recently purchased an item from a Chinese seller, item location specified as UK (not unusual as many hold stock in the UK), other courier 3-day delivery, dispatch within 2 working days. eBay's new policy won't catch this type of listing, they need to make it possible for buyers to report this kind of issue.

I've never encountered a listing with a high dispatch time as described.

molerat

dj1471 wrote: »

Quickly when compared to other Chinese sellers who use the cheapest possible shipping method which takes 2 weeks+.

I will often pay more for an item located in the UK because I want it quickly, only to find that the item is actually shipped from China. e.g. I recently purchased an item from a Chinese seller, item location specified as UK (not unusual as many hold stock in the UK), other courier 3-day delivery, dispatch within 2 working days. eBay's new policy won't catch this type of listing, they need to make it possible for buyers to report this kind of issue.

I've never encountered a listing with a high dispatch time as described.

Just had the same, ordered Friday, UK stock, 2 day despatch, 3 day other courier. Despatch notification on Saturday then on Tuesday had a RM e-mail with tracking details showing it at the Atherstone International RDC. It actually arrived yesterday, a day before the due date but clearly via China Post.

Gary123456790

I can't see that "location misrepresentation" really matters to be honest. If they say it takes a week to get here and it gets here in a week, it doesn't matter whether it comes from Scotland or Hong Kong. What does matter is saying it will be here in 2 days and it takes longer, but any seller doing that would be killed on their stars anyway.

I've tried to re-order from some Chinese sellers i've been buying stock from for years, and now they are gone. For what i'm buying it appears that Singapore is the new Hong Kong...

dj1471

Gary123456790 wrote: »

I can't see that "location misrepresentation" really matters to be honest. If they say it takes a week to get here and it gets here in a week, it doesn't matter whether it comes from Scotland or Hong Kong.

It does if the value is high enough to attract import VAT and duty.

UK sellers will often quote a week but in reality I receive most purchases within 2-3 working days. It's much more likely that an international item will be delayed due to handling by multiple postal services, not to mention having to clear customs.

If I choose to pay more for an item located in the UK then I expect it to be in the UK. If I can afford to wait weeks for something I'll go and buy it much cheaper on AliExpress.

[Deleted User]

I don't mind when it actually comes quick or within the limit that they state.

My annoyance is when they actually have listed UK with quick delivery times and then you find out because its taking forever that they are not in the UK and then the horrendous messages you receive when you initiate communication.

twhitehousescat

return address to equal "london london UK" and not china

forgotmyname

Plenty of Chinese sellers with UK stock and fast delivery (well there were a lot more 3 months ago) .

I do tend to watch the delivery dates, UK seller with 10 day delivery its likely to be from China and at day 10 they will probably say give it a few more days in which its likely to arrive, average for my small packets is 14 days, although as quickly as 7 and as long as 93 once.

Its never seemed to bother Ebay before, been quite a few posts where people thought it was a UK item/seller and Ebay were not interested in the return address being China.

Agree with the same sellers having a LOT of accounts under different names though. Having bought somthing that didn't arrive i wanted to find a different seller and found all 7 listing the item to have links either by email, phone number, name or address.