Taking Ebay to court 3 October 2022 at 6:04PM in Ebay, auctions, car boot sales, post & parcels 26 replies 1.4K views

martindow

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

martindow said:

Assuming an English court did go in the OP's favour and Ebay disregarded the judgment, you would have a problem trying to enforce the claim with a company based in another country.

• If you reside in the United Kingdom, you are entering into a contract with eBay (UK) Limited, 1 More London Place, London, SE1 2AF, United Kingdom, VAT number GB 365 6085 76.

Company filings suggest they have a fair amount of fixed assets although their registered address may be a plaque on a wall type of place (not sure on that point). 

Thanks.  It looks like Ernst and Young's offices, so they may be Ebay's auditors and acting as a registered address for them.

RFW

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

sourcrates said:

Ebay is based in Luxembourg, you are based in the UK.

If you want to take legal action against them, you must do so in their country of origin, you can`t do it from the UK.

English courts have no jurisdiction abroad, even if a reciprocal agreement exists, it will cost you a whole lot of money to do this, most likely many 1000`s of pounds.

16. Legal Disputes

If a dispute arises between you and eBay, we strongly encourage you to first contact us directly to seek a resolution by contacting Customer Support. eBay Customer Service is available free of charge for every user to submit complaints and other inquiries. We will consider reasonable requests to resolve the dispute through alternative dispute resolution procedures, such as mediation or arbitration, as alternatives to litigation. Any claim, dispute or matter arising under or in connection with this User Agreement shall be governed and construed in all respects by the laws of England and Wales. You and eBay both agree to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

In simple terms, "non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts" means that if you were able to bring a claim arising from or in connection with this User Agreement against us in court, an acceptable court would be a court located in England, but you may also elect to bring a claim in the court of another country instead. English law will apply in all cases.

I agree and Ebay does have a UK office liable for UK issues. https://corporate-office.co.uk/ebay-head-office-uk/

I do have a caveat in this case that the OP changed their registered address to one in Italy, so the issue causing the problem may continue to cause them.

My advice here is a bit out there but worth a go, try one of the newspaper financial help sites or prior to that get in touch with Ebay media team and let them know that you're going to do this.

After that I'd try and find a local solicitor that has a free drop in/consultation and see how they think you should proceed.

Buster_Danog

RFW said:

I agree and Ebay does have a UK office liable for UK issues. https://corporate-office.co.uk/ebay-head-office-uk

The Richmond office is one I read about and they seem to be as skilled at ignoring people and leaving them in the lurch as the other office / firm, which is mentioned above.

I wish the OP all the luck in the world, but ebay just doesn't seem to have a good reputation if their rules are somehow "technically" broken. And trust me you don't need to do much wrong in order to get on the wrong side of their automated system. It is a trap in many ways.

soolin

I wish the OP well and hope they get their money soon, but the rules were not ‘technically ‘ broken, they were broken. Item and user location has been an issue for years with both buyers and sellers insisting eBay do something about it. OP incorrectly located herself and item in Italy and that raises all sorts of problems. EBay have tried to set up systems that do exactly what users have demanded, end the fake location issues, and u fortunately OP is now suffering because of that. 

However as has been said this has now moved on to a computer and system error. EBay are not refusing to release the money, they are releasing it from what they were told was an Italian located user, Nationwide disagree and say their customer is on the UK, hence this mess. 

Buster_Danog

soolin said:

I wish the OP well and hope they get their money soon, but the rules were not ‘technically ‘ broken, they were broken. Item and user location has been an issue for years with both buyers and sellers insisting eBay do something about it.

I take your point and I don't want to steer the thread entirely towards my own experiences. However, when ebay charged me import duty on an item that was sold by a UK seller simply because he had left his registration address as another country ebay didn't care that his location was incorrect or if he was "technically" breaking the rules. They were simply concerned with keeping my money.

I even spoke to a manager and had the most bizarre conversation where he conceded the seller must be in the UK but tried to come up with reasons why I should pay import duty.  I can only say their customer service is awful and lacks any common sense or a consistent policy.

subjecttocontract

I came to the same conclusion not long ago and now use EBay far less frequently than in the past due to a combination of : 
* High total fees of around 14%
* Poor customer service.
* Difficult to use web site.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

subjecttocontract said:

I came to the same conclusion not long ago and now use EBay far less frequently than in the past due to a combination of : 
* High total fees of around 14%
* Poor customer service.
* Difficult to use web site.

Genuine question, what's the alternative?

I know for some stuff there might be niche sites but as a place to sell "everything" for decluttering it does tick most the boxes.  

subjecttocontract

I have been happy with my sales on Gumtree. Obviously a seller is only likely to attract local buyers but I find generally thats a 20 mile radius. 
* No fees.
* No customer service required from Gumtree.
* Simple to use website that isn't redesigned every few months.
So lots of advantages over Ebay.
It won't suit everyone......but it suits me and what I sell.

Buster_Danog

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

I know for some stuff there might be niche sites but as a place to sell "everything" for decluttering it does tick most the boxes.  

Nothing compares in my experience. There is another thread about alternative sites, but from the ones I have tried it's impossible to get the same amount of sales or as high a price. Even on Vinted which is good for clothing I can't sell things which would have gone on ebay within a couple of weeks.

soolin

Buster_Danog said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

I know for some stuff there might be niche sites but as a place to sell "everything" for decluttering it does tick most the boxes.  

Nothing compares in my experience. There is another thread about alternative sites, but from the ones I have tried it's impossible to get the same amount of sales or as high a price. Even on Vinted which is good for clothing I can't sell things which would have gone on ebay within a couple of weeks.

I’ve been selling online since the 1990s and IMHO there is no comparison for good general straight sales than eBay, most things sell if researched and priced properly . I do use other sites, I’ve become rather obsessed with Vinted but you need to be very realistic about pricing, and I tend to use it more for stuff that just isn’t going to sell easily on eBay. I do quite well on several specialist forums I have joined, I know exactly what will sell and again am careful with my research and pricing . I find facebook marketplace hit and miss, sometimes it will just fly and I can barely list quickly enough to keep up, other times I get disheartened and stop listing after yet another ‘no show’ or someone who is always going to send payment by PayPal ‘tomorrow’.