Ebay have launched a petition to prevent what they call unfair trade practises by big brands.  There are some brands that are increasingly particular about where their products are sold. Ebay hasn’t been in favour with many big name brands due to counterfeit goods being sold on their site (although Ebay claims it’s a tiny percentage) and their apparent lack of intervention in policing the situation.

Ebay claims the brands are blocking the sale of their items on theirs and other websites. The defense of the brands is that they are trying to prevent the sale of counterfeit items.  Ebay believes that the real reason behind it is to force out competition from  smaller retailers.

This could have a drastic effect on Ebay’s profits as well as the many traders who make a living or part living out of ebay ecommerce shops.  Just one big brand such as Nintendo or Diesel  blocking the sale of their products would lead to a big reduction in Ebays profits. It’s easy to see why brands would want this. Having luxury items such as diesel jeans on a bidding website can devalue the product in the eyes of consumers as well as provide more choice of price for the consumer.

Maybe these brands have been taking note of Apple’s itunes model where even after music is purchased it’s still tethered to Apple software and not resellable. It is one thing for a brand to pick and choose exclusively where to sell their products but once a product has been bought by a member of the public they should be able to resell it. Ebay are currently sending out their petition to it’s members.

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SEO and Internet Marketing