Another reason buyers will leave the platform?

[555njp]

Evening all, 
I was researching a new Dyson vacuum cleaner, just to compare pricing across platforms and B&M stores.

First thing I came across having filtered by “model”, “New” and “lowest price first” was that the first 6 items were being sold by “private” sellers, clearly running a business…!
Yeah I know that’s now the norm on eBay 🤨 but anyway……...I opened the cheapest listing to find that having been listed as “Brand New” on reading the description I find it states:

“As new, boxed, ONLY USED TWICE!!”
Sorry, that isn’t even “new other”, that is USED. They are also advertising a 2yr warranty (and that’s definitely not transferable on a used product from a private seller!).

So, I decide to report the listing only to get the standard “we looked into your report and could find nothing wrong, your report was looked at by a customer service agent”…! Seriously?

Surely this is blatant mis-selling?

I’m on the cusp of closing both my accounts because of the latest changes to this platform which collectively are making running a business impossible and even selling off you old stuff a real chore. Sales have virtually dried up anyway so this could be the final step.

I’m thinking if someone buys this without reading the full description (I.e. on the app or on their phone), they are going to have a poor buying experience, tell everyone they know and never come back.

What do others think? I would PM Marco, Dave or Kate the listing number but I’ve been blocked from sending at the moment (responded to 3 messages after last weeks chat and apparently that’s too many).

[exponential_developments]

I would say you are wasting your time, get on with other more productive things in life.

As for sales, i've stopped buying on here all together, i like to look, but then buy elsewhere were it seems to be cheaper.

[555njp]

Yep, same conclusion I came to.

Its only because it’s so dead on here that I’ve had time to investigate & report but having seen the crazy answers given in the weekly chats and watched the latest load of destructive changes annoy a lot of sellers I really think this platform has had its day.

Thankfully I’m retired, only continued trading to keep the grey matter occupied, so maybe it’s time to crack on with the home improvements that I keep putting off, at least for a while anyway. It’s so frustrating though to watch what was once a great platform going down the pan.

[pillarboxred]

The misrepresentation you are describing might fall foul of public laws if not eBay rules. Report it. If the authorities can't be bothered to listen to you, write to your MP: make them work.

[forestfeline62]

You will be wasting your time ,look on youtube at ebay problems on there for buyers and sellers ,you will soon see from other peoples stories on there that no one will listen to you  . Ebay are blinkered and stuck in a rut all singing from the same song sheet that says NO NO NO NO .................  You can't get them to listen because they have been programmed one way and there is no changing that . 

[555njp]

Thanks for the response.

If you do a search for pretty much anything you’ll quickly get to similar listings that fall foul of either consumer rights, distance selling regs, blatant illegal trading on private account, GPSR etc. etc.

The fact it’s on a private account will mean trading standards etc won’t care and will just say “buyer beware”.

EBay have allegedly looked at it (lol) and say it doesn’t fall foul of their listing policies. They’ll also say that if a customer doesn’t receive exactly what they ordered they can get their money back anyway, so that’s why they won’t act.

There are plenty of ‘genuine’ business resellers on here offering warranties that don’t exist and I’ve seen plenty of buyers complain a few months down the line when something breaks.
Not yet seen anyone come back having gone though trading standards or citizens advice and won their case though.

[strangestash]

On the subject of your first point, I've actually found eBay are prioritising private sellers with MORE EXPENSIVE listings when you sort by lowest price. I appreciate it's likely just an oversight rather than something misleading on eBay's part, but it's really frustrating - this shouldn't have made it through testing. I'd advise any other business sellers to raise this issue with support, as currently they are stating it is 'not a bug' and are just taking 'feedback'. See more info below:

https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Business-Seller-Board/Private-listings-are-getting-listing-sort-orde...

Example below (look at the cheapest, purple, listing - which happens to be mine)

[555njp]

Yes I know, was just a rant. It’s not just YouTube btw it’s all over the net at the moment.
Unfortunately it’s become like everything else in society, there is no deterrent or punishment for breaking rules/laws or allowing bad practice, so people do what they want and get away with it.

The only saving grace with eBay is the cast iron money back guarantee if you do buy something not quite right.

Anyway, I won’t bother reporting again, as you say it’s a complete waste of time and effort.

As an individual complaining, eBay will do nothing.
Only if an organisation such as trading standards took a dim view would they tighten things up, but that won’t happen.

[angel_in_disguize247]

I feel your pain.. I was looking for sketchers, and 3 listings clearly said sketchers in the title, but looking at the description they clearly were NOT sketchers. So I decided to report all 3, and guess what, got the same reply as the OP “we looked into your report and could find nothing wrong, your report was looked at by a customer service agent” 🙄🤔

Total codswallop, no way did a customer service agent look at any of these unless they were blind. I used to love ebay so much, but if I want anything at all online, I will ONLY buy from ebay IF I cant find it cheaper elsewhere.

Ebay obviously dont care!!! All they care about is the fees, but the “we looked into your report and could find nothing wrong, your report was looked at by a customer service agent” is insulting our intelligence, and treating us like fools 🤔😡 lies upon lies!!! I would love to sell my items on ebay, but after reading these boards regularly, if they spent more time mending things that are broken, instead of messing up this that DO actually work I probably would sell on here.. at the moment.. absoloutly NO WAY would I want to sell on this disfunctional platform any more!!

[555njp]

Funny enough I noticed the same thing on the Dyson search yesterday.

The below list is sorted price low to high, well supposed to be!
The first one I reported as it isn’t new.
The second is private but more expensive than the third which is also private?

The fourth is the first business seller who is actually cheaper than second listing?

An example of eBay search manipulation I suspect. Probably the second item is promoted or paying more somewhere along the line so they want you to see that first?

[555njp]

Thanks, and yes I couldn’t agree with you more.
Hard to believe it’s got so bad in a relatively short timeframe.

Seems to be what happens when corporations get rid of people and replace them with AI 🤔

[papso22]

The thing is that it's wrong of ebay CS to rely on the MBG, especially for items such as this which should come with a warranty and are actually subject to the longer cover provided by the CRA 2015.  The problem with that is that as you don't have the seller's details you can't deal with them outside of ebay after the MBG expires, if something goes wrong.

So allowing businesses to trade on private accounts is detrimental to buyer's rights and the MBG is not the ultimate sticking plaster for the problem.

[555njp]

I know that, you know that, and I’d venture the majority of people reading will too.

But eBay? They seem immune and just carry on as usual, hiding behind the Ts & Cs which basically state the seller is liable for content and accuracy of the listing including compliance with relevant laws etc.

When a breach of said laws is brought to their attention via a report, they do nothing.

Everyone knows it’s going on and to be fair, most buyers really don’t care.

But nothing is being done to rectify it.
The recent changes introduced by eBay have just alienated genuine Private sellers and riled businesses further.

To be honest, the particular listing in question appears to be a genuine private seller.
The mention of warranty is probably their misconception that it’s transferable.

The important bit though is it’s listed as brand new but when you read the description it says used twice so therefore used and now devoid of said warranty if sold.

The listing should have been either pulled by CS or they should ask the seller to revise it.

[bojangled]

Etsy has got into trouble with this AI and incorrect search results. However the seller didn’t get any support:

https://www.valueaddedresource.net/etsy-ai-search-consumer-harm-liability/
Jo

[papso22]

Wow, that took me down a number of interesting avenues!

[bojangled]

@papso22 YEs, It’s not all sweetness and light on eBay atm, but every platform has issues.

As a side note I found the Temu, Shein Amazon EU responsibility article interesting too.

Jo

[555njp]

I liked this bit:

“While that "just a venue" stance is no longer true for eBay, it hasn't stopped them from forwarding that argument to defend themselves against a lawsuit brought by the US Department of Justice on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency , seeking to hold the company liable for illegal chemicals, pesticides and emissions control cheat devices sold on the platform.

U.S. District Judge Orelia Merchant agreed with eBay, dismissing the case in a ruling stating that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 protects eBay from liability for items sold by 3rd parties on their site.”

As I said above, they still hide behind that statement and will continue to do so until they can’t get away with it in a court of law.

[strangestash]

Just a request for any business accounts to flag this with eBay support if possible, we're still getting bumped below more expensive private listings - and it's not on their list of 'bugs'

[555njp]

Agree, I’d ask myself but I’m not around this afternoon for the session unfortunately (plus I think Marco’s had enough of my questions!).

[vintique*violet]

It seems companies are intent on pushing the " internet of things" and pushing A.I... which is not reliable  and can not replace a human being "decisions"... plus if companies such as eBay are hiding behind the stance of  " A.I. cannot be held responsible for any harm caused" or words to that effect - then where do we, as customers/consumers stand with any company ( let alone an online marketplace)  which are investing and using A.I. more and more including the NHS , Government, Corporates etc etc.. It is a get out clause and it appears that human rights are being trampled over by a " bot?"... Not acceptable in any shape or form and not intelligent whatsoever.