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..

[tara*teller]

So long as they have a drop shipping place in the UK then it's perfectly ok.

The 'warehouse' could be anything from an actual warehouse to a room in a mates flat but as long as they are shipping the items from the UK then they don't breach eBay rules.

If you are not happy to buy from overseas sellers then check their contact details before buying, this will always have the 'head office' listed.

[richardsuperstar]

that's what I mean. these uk warehouses should be verified as i'd wager that most of these sellers don't have anywhere here in the uk.

if they did surely the contact details would list the regional office and not the china one.

[richardsuperstar]

the point i'm trying to make is that it seems unfair that sellers in china can fake their location.

yes everyone knows they can undercut anyone one else when it comes to selling things.

but to give sellers in the uk a fair chance the chinese sellers should have to disclose their correct location so that when a buyer is browsing they know where the item is coming from and then might select a uk seller instead due to shipping times and local support.

[richard7502]

When I phoned customer support up about one that I bought some items from and they had dispatch from the UK, yet 4 weeks later when I emailed the seller they said they posted from China and could take 6 weeks, ebay reply was they do it so they show up on UK only searches..... well thank you for that information, this is why customers are leaving by the bus load...

[bind2go]

I have no issue buying from overseas if I know that is the case. The dispatch time must be realistic. Say I ordered something that cannot be obtained from UK seller and I know I have to wait for 4 weeks for it. Then that is fine. However if I bought something that I thought I am going to get in 4 days time and it turned out to be 4 weeks even thought the seller location is UK; I will be really annoyed.

Until HMRC do something about VAT on sales in UK from outside of EU; there is not a lot we could do. We have to start jumping through hoops with EU VAT on retail sales now and think of how much more money that is going to generate for HMRC if the threshold is much lower for non-EU business selling in UK. Besides I think I do get more business because I stated that I am a UK VAT business and on the items I sell, some buyers do require a VAT invoice. They are happier to buy from one that they can claim VAT back.

[retro-watches-harrogate]

This started killing off UK sellers in 2013 - why I started selling pre owned luxury watches rather than the imported fashion watches I was selling 5-10 a day online

The chinese import to UK warehouses then sell in volume at cost price plus a dollar or two appearing to be uk businesses

ebay love them because they generate fees and offer low prices, hence why they hide the business location way down in the seller details but the listing presents only the item location - as uk based.  

Its not illegal but it is frustrating for sellers who import goods to sell at a profit when they can sell from here for so cheap. 

Last year HMRC were going to crack down on chinese sellers doing this and not paying VAT (if the item is in the UK then VAT must be paid on turnover over 80k ish) but nothing changes because money talks and UK sellers dont matter to ebay.

[richardsuperstar]

thing is i'm not sure thats the case with most of them.

with such little profit would they be able to afford the rent and rates on a warehouse here in uk plus wages for someone to post out.

it just seems unfair ebay are allowing, without checking, foreign sellers to state location in the uk.

as per the comment about... and its surely annoying for most buyers when real postage dates are realised with the possible sting of import duty as well

[prettyflowerseed]

If you cant beat them join them.

I have 37,000 feedback and never lost a case  , last year every item was delivered 

Defect rate is virtually non existant.

Any chinese sellers wishing to use my warehouse can contact me.

I have 60,000 cubic feet storage space and can accept containers.

[richardsuperstar]

just some tipical feedback from these supposidly uk based sellers...

AVOID LIAR chinese seller,not UK.Copy paste answers!Read bad feedbacks,All true

Item NOT as described,sellr does NOT speak English&does NOT respond to messages!

Not update, long long time to delivery, 10 days, Says in 4 days.

I my screen was broke and it took extra time to arrive never ordering from here

Took forever to arrive (not from UK) and sent unchecked/incomplete, disappointed

Bought 3 weeks ago and still hadn't shipped products

VERY poor fit and NOT uk seller! Took 2 weeks as it came from china! AVOID!!!!

[robbosgems]

It's a well known issue. Chinese government did a secret deal with Royal Mail,most probably approved by some tory toff on the take to get their  products into the uk and delivered for less than you can buy postage for a letter or large letter here posted uk address-uk address . This is what happpens in the big bad world of finance.

Uk warehousing circumventing is only a smokescreen 90% of them don't have one here, but it seems to appease ebay lords..

[richardsuperstar]

surely with all the jumping through hoops uk sellers have to do to please ebay in regards to postage it would be fair and right that they check for a registered uk address before a foreign seller can state its location as being here.

it doesn't seem logical when these sellers have such bad feedback mostly because of this that they are allowed to carry on.

sounds about right though that our government would put the interest of another country before its own.

[robbosgems]

They don't care. The hoops will get narrower as time goes on.The fees they get from this C lot per year is more than you or I's  turnover i would assume. 

[richardsuperstar]

there must be some very short sighted people working for ebay then as this kind of bias will lead to more buyer dissatisfaction and the site will be known just as the place to buy cheap items from china if you dont mind the wait.

be interesting to know if for these chinese sellers pretending to be in the uk if they have to meet the same delivery criteria for their acocunts as they are stating 2 day delivery but is taking 2 weeks.

[bind2go]

their stock is in the UK but whether custom and VAT has been paid when it should is the question. Some has got good customer service and do send purchases out quickly.

[c_c5692]

Is there any way to search for sellers whose accounts are registered in the UK,  rather than where they dispatch from?

[bind2go]

not really but those business sellers will have VAT/company No on display if trading in such capacity. getting VAT registered is quite a lot of hassle and you do have to pay up promptly to HMRC or you be in real trouble. So I will first look for those sellers and will even pay more for it as I can then reclaim VAT back.

[innofinity-worldwide]

They also do not pay any VAT. Ebay need to stop this 

[padanpcparts]

Probably the biggest issue with E-bay currently. Puts off buyers, drives out honest sellers, makes the platform look culpable, makes the government look mroe closely at whats going on, and gives the BBC something to do. 

[richardsuperstar]

Just got an email to say this thread had new replies... I'm soooooo glad I don't sell on here anymore and feel sorry for anyone left who is.

My advice is to stop. You'll sleep so much better