eBay calls for end to bans on brand name sales
By John Lister
EBay is asking customers to sign a petition calling on the European Union to take legal action to protect the rights of users to sell used goods. It says manufacturers of brand name goods are trying to restrict competition by exaggerating the risks of counterfeiting to block such sales.
The firm says EU officials should uphold the general principle that anyone from a country that is part of the union should be allowed to sell goods to people in other member countries without restrictions.
According to eBay, manufacturers are either trying to block sales of their products altogether, or imposing harsh restrictions such as insisting sellers have a physical offline store. While manufacturers may argue this is necessary to prevent counterfeiting, eBay insists that’s a minor problem, with only around 0.15 percent of listings on the site even suspected of being bogus. (Of course, that adds up to tens of thousands of items at any one time.)
The dispute is not so much about new goods, with eBay acknowledging that “brand owners should be able to determine, within limits, how their products are initially sold.” But the site maintains people who’ve bought a product should then have a legal right to sell it second-hand without restriction.
Customers across Europe are now starting to receive a request to sign a petition which asks the European Union to change its competition law to both ban “excessive limitations on internet selling” and to force manufacturers to publish details of any agreements they have which may restrict how their goods are sold.
The petition notes the problem is not limited to luxury goods, but includes “everyday items” such as toys. It also accuses manufacturers of attempting to use restrictions to boost their own profits by limiting competition.
It’s not the first time eBay has done battle with manufacturers. Last year it prevailed in a four-year battle with jeweler Tiffany & Co which unsuccessfully argued the auction firm should pre-vet all sales of its trademarked goods to make sure they were not counterfeits.
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July 7th, 2009
Such a stupid ban like this could ONLY happen in the EU. Geez you guys have some head up their arse politicians!
July 7th, 2009
Unfortunately I agree with the Manufactuers. I had a message from ebay asking me to sign a petition. (which i will not be doing). I’m not against the sale of “second Hand” goods on the site, what I detest about Ebay is they allow sellers to sell hard to buy new goods at sometimes more than double the retail price. My example is Games Consoles. When a new console comes out, sellers are buying as many consoles as they can with the sole purpose of selling them on ebay. Because these sellers (many of whom have no interest whatsoever in gaming) bleed the market dry means gamers like myself have no choice but to look at sites like ebay.
Ebay does nothing to stop this so why shouldn’t the manufacturers. Ebay has got a lot to answer for in my opinion
July 7th, 2009
Oh yes thats a good idea. Because people buy up the Games Consoles let come up with a law to ban people selling variouse brands on ebay. Thats like saying because some people are criminals let lock everyone up just to make sure we get the right ones. Maybe you have the makings of a politician.