Ebay Sellers Who List And Sell Same Items Elsewhere.

For some time I've been aware of ebay sellers who list and sell elsewhere the same material they have listed on ebay. Is this a violation of any ebay rules or contract, and if not, why not? It does explain why, from time to time, I "bid" to purchase a "buy it now" item only to be informed that the item is no longer available. At the very least, this seems to me to be unethical. Am I wrong to feel that way? I do know I get ticked off when I spend a lot of time sorting through various purchase options for something I'm looking at, pay for it through Paypal, only to have my money refunded because the item "cannot be found" or is no longer available.

Basil

Basil: I got a feeling that is going to come to a near end on ebay. ebay is going to start the new "Defect Rate" system on August 20th. If an item is no longer available that will count as a strike towards the seller's defect rate. Enough strikes and the seller can lose TRS status as well as have their listings not shown as much as others.

I too noticed the same item by the same seller on different sites. I have mixed feelings. I can't say it is unethical unless explicitly prohibited. I see it as similar to a car dealer advertising the same vehicle in various publications. Sooner or later, two or more people reading different publications will contact the seller at approximately the same time maybe within a few minutes or possibly seconds. Then imagine that the one who makes the contact first, buys the vehicle. A short time later another calls to buy it. The dealer may well say "The vehicle is no longer available, it was sold." Bottom line is that a seller cannot immediately delete the ad. I know as a fact that this happens; my father was a car dealer and it happened several times to him. It has happened to me as a would be buyer for an advertised vehicle. BTW, it is fair to say nearly all vehicle sales are equivalent to "BIN" stamp sales.

There comes a point when too much regulation is detrimental to running a business. The seller needs a period of time to cancel a car or any item for that matter. I would be willing to say however, if a dealer does not delete a sold item in a reasonable amount of time, a "Defect Rate" would be deserved. Fortunately the internet makes it relatively easy and quick to delete an item. Unfortunately, not everyone has the same perspective on "reasonable amount of time".

Not unusual at all. There are plenty of sellers who sell on ebay and Bidstart simultaneously, and in fact Bidstart has a mechanism to not only import ebay listings, but synchronize listings between the two venues. Other sellers sell both on ebay and via their own websites.

This is no different from major show dealers that sell both online and at shows. You place an order online only to find that the item(s) were sold in person at the previous show.

Nothing at all wrong with it; it's just the hazard of the trade. Sellers rightfully try to maximize the exposure of their wares.

I am one of those sellers that lists the same items on multiple internet venues. As revenuecollector states, ebay and Bidstart have a synchronizing mechanism. If the item is sold or closed on either venue, it will within a short time (typically less than one minute) remove the listing from the other venue.

Regarding sold items, I have never experienced a conflict between the two sites with it being sold on one and remaining listed on the other. I have not had an item sold on one venue and also sold on another and paid, leaving one person requiring a refund. The synchronizing mechanism minimizes that problem.

The only conflict I have experienced is if an item receives a "best offer" from both that overlapped. When that happened, I notified the person that offered a bid *later* than the other bidder that there was already a pending offer previous to their offer that I needed to disposition prior to their offer. Communication is key if/when there is a coincidence or conflict.

As a seller, we try to get as much exposure as possible. I have never sold and been paid for the same item from multiple sites. I don't see this as unethical either. Many retailers advertise the same item in multiple formats. Auto dealers usually list there use cars on 4-5 different websites and often with different pricing or conditions. However, that being said - I would prefer not to be compared to a car dealer!

As a shopper I would be annoyed to be presented with the exact same items on BidSart that I already saw on ebay as it would ve a complete waste of my time.

I appreciate the responses, especially from a seller's point of view. I had not considered the analogy to other kinds of items with multiple listings.

The ebay combined with bidStart system should be fine. When an item is sold on one system and taken off the other quickly that should be okay. However as stated before, sellers on ebay who sell an item they no longer have will get slapped with a penalty which could mean they lose their TRS status or worse. Those sellers will have to be very careful.

For a time I listed items on both ebay and Bidstart. I ended the dual listings not out of any conflict but because the Bidstart listings never seemed to get any attention, much less sell.

That said, I don't see an issue. It is just maximizing market reach.

I have seen this as a shopper. I was never annoyed. I just figured the seller was trying to maximize the marketing. I think as long as a sold item can be removed - as per orstampman's explanation above - that it is fine.

As a buyer, I don't have any problem with the activity, assuming it's not happening too often. Many times you can purchase something from a larger retailer only to find out it's "back ordered" or "out of stock." As long as there is good communication it's going to happen.

As a seller I would prefer to sell from listings on bidStart. The fees are lower. However, most buyers look on ebay first and some never look at bidStart. If the listing sells on bidStart, the ebay listing is immediately removed. If it sells on ebay, it may take an hour or two for the listing to end on bidStart. Not having a bidStart item doesn't count against the ebay defect rate and the probability of the same item selling on both venues within a couple of hours is very, very low.

The real danger is selling an item at a show and failing to note the inventory number for removal prior to releasing ebay listings hidden by setting the store on vacation. Unfortunately, bidStart listings stay visible even when the seller is away. But again, not being able to fulfill a bidStart order doesn't count on the ebay defect rate.

It would seem that ebay must be aware of the bidStart ebay Sync feature. They seem to tolerate it because they will get most of the business anyway, as it now stands. Maybe something will change in the future.

Clark
clarkphilatelics

I often encounter items listed on BidStart that turn out to have been also listed on ebay. The seller disposes of it on ebay and doesn't bother to close the Bid Start auction. One large auction firm in the Midwest does this all the time.

In my experience, the bidStart ebay Sync feature is quite reliable. If an listing sells on bidStart, it is gone from ebay almost instantaneously. If a listing sells or is ended on ebay, it may take up to four hours for it to disappear from bidStart. For a double sale to occur, the item would have to be sold on ebay first and then bidStart. Failing to fulfill a bidStart order will not create an ebay defect but could still cause some bad feelings. However, the likelihood of near simultaneous sales is very low and the ratio of ebay to bidStart sales is greater than 10 to 1.

I also have access to desktop software that will manage allocation and would end a listing on ebay or bidStart if a sale occurs on the other site. That software has a potential window of up to thirty minutes where an item could be sold on ebay after it was sold on bidStart. Again, the probability is low, and it is still possible to choose the successful order and respectfully decline the other. Apparently the seller mentioned in the quote is not using bidStart or third party software like the SixBit ecommerce Solution.

Clark

I wanted two of a certain stamp and found one on ebay and bought it.
I found the identical stamp on Bidstart and also bought it.

I ended up getting a refund from the Bidstart seller because he could not locate the stamp and said may have been previously sold.

Later I found out it was the same person in both transactions.