posted on April 19, 2001 10:41:35 AM new
Here is one that throws me. I was surfing ebay and came across some sellers that were selling the exact same products, with the exact same descriptions, but THREE DIFFERENT seller ids.
I realize you can have more than one ID on ebay and as long as you don't bid on your own items or leave yourself feedback then you are not in violation. However what about selling the same things? The only ebay policy I could see violated here was the "No more than 10 identical items" rule, but if the sellers are different ids, does this still apply?
Any thoughts on this one? I could see WHY they do it, to flood the category with cheap listings. Far as I could tell they don't bid on each other items (shill) and they haven't padded any feedback.
posted on April 19, 2001 12:15:11 PM new
It's quite possible that other sellers have ripped off a seller's copyrighted product, description, ad title, pics, the whole nine yards.
I was browsing my category one day and found 3 other sellers selling one of my items, and using my pics and description almost word-for-word. I contacted safeharbor and they told me what I needed to do to join VERO. It still happens to me every once on a while but I just have the auctions ended and move on. One of these sellers (from Rochester, NY) would re-list just as soon as her auctions were canceled. The third time she did it she was NARU'd. She opened 3 new accounts and I had them all NARU'd within 2 days. She was PERSISTANT. I think she finally ran out of credit cards to register her freebie email addresses with because I haven't seen her for a while now.
posted on April 19, 2001 01:57:50 PM new
That is what I thought at first, however their e-mail addresses are the same domain, and their paypal account e-mail is the same also (they list it). So unless the ripper offers want payment to go to the seller, I believe it is the same seller or sellers.
I am not saying I disagree with them for having multiple accounts and certainly NOT going to report them. They are paying 3 times the fees for what they are doing.
I was just wondering if there was something in eBays TOS or unwritten rules even about multiple accounts selling the same product and description, witht the seller being the same. Seems to me this would be just a way to get around the "no more than 10 identical items" listing policy.
posted on April 19, 2001 02:05:13 PM new
Maybe they think it is better to keep a few ID's going in case one or two get trashed with a lot of negatives?
Or maybe friends or relatives that buy big lots and divide them up to sell?
posted on April 19, 2001 02:42:56 PM new
Now the family thing is one that always made me curious. What if you built a family business on ebay and used multiple ids? Certainly not the same person, but different sellers, but their ads could all be the same if they shared.
posted on April 19, 2001 02:54:28 PM new
I know they are doing it but is it within ebay rules? I'm really curious because I never thought of this as a way to get around the 10 items rule.
And if you had more than 10 of the item, what's the advantage/disadvantage of doing it like this as opposed to a dutch?
posted on April 19, 2001 02:58:08 PM new
I have seen businesses that are selling the same exact computer model and their locations are the same city. It is clear that it is the same person or company, but my guess is that they have multiple people listing auctions and as a result they have each person get a separate id. That way they can use the same photos and text, but use the same paypal and checking accounts for all orders. That way they can separate the duties between multiple people (or family members) so that the questions and sending of emails is divided between everybody.
I can seriously see a family having all of their relatives that live with them list the same items because they purchased bulk amounts of items and are trying to get around the 10 item limit but don't want to use dutch auctions because the dutch auctions are only one listing, but 10 items is 10 different listings.
In some cases, some companies pay their workers a commission for sales, but they all sell the same things, with the same ad copy and photos. The workers earn their commission for answering customer questions and dealing with problems.
posted on April 19, 2001 05:57:17 PM new
Yes, I can see the advantage to multiple ads. Dutch auctions are great, but they are just ONE listing in the vastness of ebay space. Whereas ONE item auctions in multiples of say 30 would give you a good chunk to get noticed.
Example: You have 50 items you want to sell. You could use 1 dutch auction with quantity 50. It then gets placed among hundreds of other items.
OR, you could list 50 items with quantity 1 and setup an island in the flow of listings. People who scroll, surf, browse, or SEARCH would have more of a chance noticing your auction, and if they wanted more than one item they could just bid on a couple of auctions.
One reason eBay limits a single user to 10 items of a particular item is to get you to pay the dutch auction fee and to limit you from overwhelming a category.
My question is still the same: Are we allowed to have multiple IDS on eBay and list up to 10 items per ID for one particular item?
Of course, eBay would have a harder time enforcing this rule if you changed the ads ever so slightly and had different information. I mean a lot of people sell the same items, and not every auction listing is an original piece of work.
posted on April 19, 2001 06:08:10 PM newOne reason eBay limits a single user to 10 items of a particular item is to get you to pay the dutch auction fee and to limit you from overwhelming a category.
There is no "dutch auction fee". The listing fee for a dutch auction is the same as the fee for a single item auction (multiplied by the number of items listed in the auction).
As a matter of fact, listing 50 items in a dutch action is WAAAAYYYY cheaper than listing 50 items in 50 individual auctions because the listing fee for dutch auctions is capped at $3.30, regardless of the number of items or the starting bid amount. Listing 50 items at 1¢ each in separate auctions would cost $15.00.
The reason for the 10 item cap is to prevent large sellers from monopolizing the categories (as you correctly pointed out).
posted on April 19, 2001 06:39:35 PM new
I noticed a competitor once selling under 2 different IDs so that he could sell 20 of the item at a time instead of 10. This was flooding the market, thus driving the price down, so I reported him to Safe Harbor. (I normally do not butt in to these matters, but I felt it directly affected my profits) They contacted him and he only sells under one ID now. So apparently, Ebay does not allow you to skirt the 10 at a time rule with multiple IDs. This person's ads were identical for both IDs, and their mailing address was right in the ad.
On the other hand, another one of my competitors obviously works with 2 IDs, but it appears to be a husband/wife team, or some other sort of partnership. If it is one person with 2 IDs, they have hidden it more carefully, with different ads, and different TOS, etc. These are both Power Sellers 1-2000 feedbacks, so they are obviously doing something right. For example, they have this one item in common, but the rest of their items are not identical. If anyone has complained about them/him, then Ebay has not been able to prove it was the same person. I doubt it is myself.
posted on April 19, 2001 06:42:13 PM new
One more thing about the dutch auction. Don't ask me why, but people that have tried to sell this particular item Dutch have had NO luck at all. I have watched dutch auctions sit there with no bids, while other auctions that started at 1 cent get bid up beyond the dutch starting price. It baffles me, but it happens all the time. Bidding frenzy, I guess. I'd love to hold a dutch auction and sell 20 of these widgets a day, but I think they'd sit there untouched.
