Chinese Sellers with UK addresses?

[richardsuperstar]

how come there is at present so many Chinese sellers on here who are allowed to put their despatch location as here in the UK?

I've found loads of items which are undercutting most UK sellers and they all show their location as in the UK but then have their registered company address details as in Hong Kong.

its pretty clear that these sellers dont have offices in the uk and are just putting this to stop them being filtered out when someone clicks on show uk only.

surely there should be some check done by ebay to ensure that if a company claims to be in a country the address needs to be verified..

[elmo7676]

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@oneofakind19792012 wrote:

An inside source told me Ebay Uk is under new ownership and is now owned by the Chinese. I don’t know if this is true and searching google comes up with nothing but it has had me thinking as I’ve noticed a few things on here recently that suggest it’s now owned by China. Just some of the wording I’ve seen changed in several help articles etc come across like someone from China as wrote them up. 

It wouldnt change much where Uk is concerned as nothing is 100% British in uk anymore as nearly everything is owned or manufactured by another country.

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Absolute nonsense. Ebay is a publicly listed company in the USA. You, I or anyone else can buy as many shares as are available at any time.

As for the UK? That's irrelevant as ebay was never a UK company. If only someone could invent search engines, so such information could be found with a minimum of effort.

[oneofakind19792012]

Hi,

i spoke to eBay customer services on the phone and they told me it is still a USA company but same as you said that anyone can buy shares. Regarding the Chinese sellers that are flooding the search results in every category I started to look through my previous purchases where the sellers turned out to be in China. I found not only do these sellers have multiple business accounts which they use to keep their sales above uk sellers items but they also use these accounts to inflate their own feedback on each account a dozen times a day. Which is completely deceiving buyers and deceiving me as I only ever want to trade with uk sellers!!!

I have to spend long periods refining search results down filtering through Chinese sellers with their cheap imitations and junk as the top search results 👎 

I’ve been reporting these Chinese sellers for policy breaches and strange activity on their accounts “repeatedly” and nothing gets done. Customer services tell me they will look into it but then turn a blind eye to whatever they see. 

The last seller I just traded with sent me a postage label to return a bulky item that was badly broken and unusable and the return postage label was more than the item cost?! 

As for Chinese sellers listing with a uk location I found this as being the address for several  http://www.technology-house.com/virtual-offices/ 

A “virtual” office space in Salford Manchester from just £35 a month.... 

[true1_4diamondz]

keep their sales above uk sellers items but they also use these accounts to inflate their own feedback on each account a dozen times a day. Which is completely deceiving buyers and deceiving me as I only ever want to trade with uk sellers!!!

For me its not about race, by the lack of moral practice, when it comes to bussines & other peoples money, Thiers little trust, and on average Ebay, if comments are anything to go off?..eBay seem to have a very slack unsupportive attitude.

It's about making money! Regardless. Things like this cannot be tolerated or last for long, Thiers only soo much before it will fall apart, due to this cannabalisim.

[oneofakind19792012]

When buyers refine search results to “uk” only it’s because they want the original brand or product.  They want to be able to communicate with a English speaking seller without language barriers and who’s residence is here in the uk with the same time zone.  The Electrical items they sell aren’t tested under uk regulations for safety.

If I or anyone was seriously injured by one of their products how would a business who’s company head office is in China be held to account when it comes to liability? 

Trading standards are in the uk and don’t get involved with companies overseas.. or do they? 🤔

I have no idea half of the time if the brand I’ve just bought in the uk will be authentic until it comes through my letter box. Then the writing on the packet in Chinese tells me it’s fake!

I used to buy a lot of products on eBay but now after another week of trading with sellers in China who have committed fraud and deception against me time and again I want eBay to explain to me how I can have a hassle free shopping experience??? 😕

[personalisedgifts2suit]

I have contacted ebay again about this matter and this is the reply I got:

When it comes to sellers trading on eBay and selling to the UK market, they have to follow the VAT policies set in place by ourselves and the HMRC.

If a seller is hitting the VAT threshold and does not have a UK VAT number, we will restrict their account until they register for one.

If an account is in another country but is making sales to UK customers, they too will need a UK VAT number when they hit a certain threshold.

Meaning, a Chinese seller who is making money by selling to UK customers will have to register for a UK VAT number when those sales hit a certain value.

We have a dedicated VAT team who is monitoring accounts to make sure that sellers are not getting away with not paying VAT.

Obviously they missed the point completely, so I think we are all banging our heads against a very large brick wall!!

[retro-watches-harrogate]

Ebay are just a middleman taking advantage of a market. They want the fees and not to lose the business to AliExpress and co.

Question should be how come the Chinese can ship an item from Guangzhou for free yet it costs me nearly £5 to send an item down the road to Leeds (1st class signed for).

How come there’s no customs charges for low value items or safety checks for electrical items coming into the uk??

Ebay only got serious about vat after HMRC worked out how much they were losing and made Ebay liable for future cases.

Factory direct e-commerce is terrible for British retailers but the reality is much of the British public are too skint to care.

On a more positive note I see some people who make their own products doing very well.

[oneofakind19792012]

They just have issues enforcing the uk laws and the policies they make up as they go along where other countries are concerned?? 

When a company gets too big they don’t care.  They lose their value over time. The only time things change is when there’s a big movement. The Ebay founder Pierre who still has full control of the company although he owns just 10% needs to take a closer look where the company is heading... Erm where’s Tommy Robinson when he’s needed? 😂😂

[elmo7676]

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@oneofakind19792012 wrote:

They just have issues enforcing the uk laws and the policies they make up as they go along where other countries are concerned?? 

When a company gets too big they don’t care.  They lose their value over time. The only time things change is when there’s a big movement. The Ebay founder Pierre who still has full control of the company although he owns just 10% needs to take a closer look where the company is heading... Erm where’s Tommy Robinson when he’s needed? 😂😂

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And where exactly did you find this nugget?

[preciousjewellerygifts01]

from what i can work out these sellers are the  amazon like sellers for ebay, they store the asian sellers goods in a warehouse, then they get sent here to another warehouse and then goes out from the uk when it has finally got here, and that is why they can use a uk address  even though its gone all round the houses to arrive at that address!!

[elmo7676]

A large number of these sellers are involved in retail arbitrage. They believe the goods are to be dispatched from the UK but, as they don't actually hold any stock, they're at the mercy of whomever they can buy from as orders come in.

The same goes for all these listings that people keep claiming are from the same seller using multiple accounts. These are all different sellers trying to leverage a few % by scraping details from other sellers' listings.

I think a large part of what causes concern/problems for many UK sellers are the result of not understanding exactly how ecommerce often works in this day and age. I'm not condoning many of these practices, but think it's important that sellers understand what it is they're now faced with, rather than simply ranting about stuff they have little hope of changing.

This isn't aimed at you @daisys-jewellery-gift-ideas - it just happened that yours was the last post.

[oneofakind19792012]

I think it was this website https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/03726028/officers If not I’ll find it 👍

[oneofakind19792012]

I think it was on here https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/03726028/officers 

[oneofakind19792012]

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@elmo7676 wrote:

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@oneofakind19792012 wrote:

They just have issues enforcing the uk laws and the policies they make up as they go along where other countries are concerned?? 

When a company gets too big they don’t care.  They lose their value over time. The only time things change is when there’s a big movement. The Ebay founder Pierre who still has full control of the company although he owns just 10% needs to take a closer look where the company is heading... Erm where’s Tommy Robinson when he’s needed? 😂😂

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And where exactly did you find this nugget?

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I’ve posted a reply to this three times and it keeps disappearing! 😳 I’ll try again I read here he owns around 10%  https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/pierre-omidyar-the-reclusive-ebay-founder-will-ba...  but just noticed the article was written in 2013 sorry it’s probaby wrong and I read here persons with “significant” control https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/03726028/persons-with-significant-control but nowhere does it say his name so I really must check before posting haha 👍

[oneofakind19792012]

@elmo7676 wrote:

@oneofakind19792012 wrote:

They just have issues enforcing the uk laws and the policies they make up as they go along where other countries are concerned?? 

When a company gets too big they don’t care.  They lose their value over time. The only time things change is when there’s a big movement. The Ebay founder Pierre who still has full control of the company although he owns just 10% needs to take a closer look where the company is heading... Erm where’s Tommy Robinson when he’s needed? 😂😂

And where exactly did you find this nugget?

I’ve posted a reply to this three times and it keeps disappearing! 😳 I’ll try again I read here he owns around 10%  https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/pierre-omidyar-the-reclusive-ebay-founder-will-ba...  but just noticed the article was written in 2013 sorry it’s probaby wrong and I read here persons with “significant” control https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/03726028/persons-with-significant-control but nowhere does it say his name so I really must check before posting haha 👍

[oneofakind19792012]

They are removing my posts and marking them as spam!! 😳

[oneofakind19792012]

I noticed one Chinese seller with the same China based residence in “legal information” as two other sellers. So that is three sellers with the same name and address in China. Also the one I last bought from sent the parcel from a unit in Leicester but the return label said RMA then the address of another unit somewhere? The sellers company address is China. Also I’m a buyer I don’t sell and I’m not happy with the quality of the items I’m buying. I know many of my friends have stopped using eBay due to thinking they are buying from a uk trader but the seller is in China it’s just the item that is in the uk. 

[personalisedgifts2suit]

I completely agree, we are a UK trader and we are having a real problem competing with the Chinese at the moment. We added a union jack to our listings so customers know they are buying from England, but that made no difference they did the same! They have even copied some of my pictures to fool buyers into thinking they are buying from us. Ebay removed the listing, then the seller re-listed it! Its a nightmare trying to compete at the moment, they have reduced their prices to 1/3 of ours and the postage is next to nothing because of the agreement they have with the Royal Mail, its forcing us out of business!!!.........

[oneofakind19792012]

I used to sell on another account but not as a business. I would only list about 8-10 items and add more as they sold. I did have several returning customers but I closed the account due to Royal Mail prices to send a parcel and with eBay paypal fees on top it wasn’t worth the time I made for little profit. I’m from a family that own their own businesses and i helped with those while at college. I intend to start my own business in next year or two and I won’t be using eBay for marketing. I’m still working on how I’m going to go about it and exactly what It is I want to do but I’ve been looking at moving overseas but then with brexit I’m still undecided. 

[4_bathrooms]

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@personalisedgifts2suit wrote:

I have contacted ebay again about this matter and this is the reply I got:

When it comes to sellers trading on eBay and selling to the UK market, they have to follow the VAT policies set in place by ourselves and the HMRC.

If a seller is hitting the VAT threshold and does not have a UK VAT number, we will restrict their account until they register for one.

If an account is in another country but is making sales to UK customers, they too will need a UK VAT number when they hit a certain threshold.

Meaning, a Chinese seller who is making money by selling to UK customers will have to register for a UK VAT number when those sales hit a certain value.

We have a dedicated VAT team who is monitoring accounts to make sure that sellers are not getting away with not paying VAT.

Obviously they missed the point completely, so I think we are all banging our heads against a very large brick wall!!

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What you have been told is not entirely correct.

If a non-EU seller fulfills their orders from stock held in the UK there is no VAT registration threshold; the seller must register for VAT regardless of their UK turnover. HMRC now hold online marketplaces liable for the VAT obligations of their sellers. Therefore, if a seller is registered outside the EU but states their items are located in the UK eBay are obliged to obtain a VAT number from them. 

Chinese sellers will be very aware that many UK buyers filter their results to only show items located in the UK. This means that in order to show up in those results they must be registered for VAT in the UK which means providing a VAT number to eBay. This leaves the Chinese sellers with a choice:

Their first option is to ship goods in bulk to a warehouse in the UK that they will have to pay some form of lease on and then pay UK postage from the warehouse to the customer.

Their second option is to send the item directly from China to the customer but claim the item is located in the UK. Under UPU postage rates bulk Chinese senders can ship 1kg of mail to the UK for $1 - Royal Mail picks up the tab for domestic delivery. So postage is effectively free and there is no lease to pay for warehousing in the UK. The only downside is that they have to add VAT to the selling price but they would have to do this anyway if the stock was located in the UK.

Now, if you wanted to be top of the search results when they are filtered to only show items located in the UK and sorted by price, which of the two above options would you choose if you were a Chinese seller?  

[oneofakind19792012]

One seller again I bought from appears to have stock in uk and in Malaysia but every item is listed as under uk for location. I bought two items where one will take 10 days the other will arrive by 19th December. They are not vat registered either. Yes I’ve reported this but it’s still showing as UK. The electrical items are meant to be tested with a sticker on the plug to be sold in uk. They are not tested. I bought a laptop charger sent from China but posted from a UK warehouse it blew up and blown the fuse board of my laptop. It tripped the electric switch which is a good thing where my safety is concerned or it could have started a fire.