rampant fraudulent title / Descriptions

[iaindb]

Sorry if that has already been posted, while I found multiple "wrong title" posts, nothing that I found compared that with options and descriptions in this manner:

It seems to be standard practise for many large sellers now to list their item at a great prices (e.g. iPhone lightning cable, $1), however when you open the item, the actual item from the description is 2-3x the price.

The item that IS $1 is a completely different item (e.g. an iPhone 4 30-pin cable).

While these items are similar, they are not the same, and it is abuse of the "item options".  I assume item options are for adding to or customising, but not changing, the base item. e.g. colour, length, quantity, but not a different item.

This is not an item option, otherwise every single phone cable, or for that matter every single cable in the universe could be called an option for the $0.02 1cm long 0.1mm diameter single core unshielded piece of lead!  Oh, that shielded CAT6 you wanted for $0.02 is an option for my piece of dog hair, but it will cost you $50 extra.

Sorry for the rant, but it is fraud: "a person or thing intended to deceive others, typically by unjustifiably claiming or being credited with accomplishments or qualities".  To say that a lightning cable is an option for a completely different cable is deceiving by unjustifiably claiming the qualities of the lightning cable.

Now the ebay policies at http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/policies/item-description.html state:

Allowed:

• Describing only the item you're selling in the listing and the terms of the sale
• Providing complete and accurate details
• Specifying the condition of the item
• Describing any defects or flaws in the item

Not Allowed:

• Including conflicting product information in a listing, such as saying you have a 16G MP3 player in your title, but 8G in the description
• (and others)

How can this be stopped? Do I have to lodge a conflicting item title report for every item I come across? I started doing so today.

[lyndal1838]

What you are referring to are multiple listings and they are not illegal.

A lot of Chinese sellers carry them to extremes by listing say a dress for $1 but on opening the listing you will find that the $1 refers to a belt.

You can report all you like but it is unlikely that ebay will do anything about it.

[iaindb]

Not illegal yet.  And we're not talking law, only terms and conditions, which is in the spirit of a good community.  Things change because enough people do something about it.

Do you remember when you couldn't sort results by price + postage?  Sellers would list items for dirt cheap, and add massive postage & handling costs.  There were numerous complaints about that over time, and the official response (for a while) was "check the postage costs before buying".  It eventually changed.

I again refer to eBay official spin: "eBay's policies help to create a safer, fair and enjoyable trading experience for all eBay members".  While it is safe, there's no arguing "fair and enjoyable", both of which this tactic isn't, for the buyer.

I still think it's rampant and fraudulent, but thanks for taking the time to read my thoughts.

[lyndal1838]

My apologies, I should have added that multiple listings are not against ebay policy, terms and conditions either.  If they were then ebay would not provide the facilities for sellers to set them up.

Judging by the number of Chinese sellers who use this form of listing ebay will not be doing anything about it any time soon, no matter how many complaints are received from us Colonial Hicks.

No. I dont remember when you could not search by price + postage, but then, I am a relative newbie to ebay....only 9 years.  I have always searched by price + postage, lowest first.   And as far as I am aware the advice is still to check the postage costs before buying, so no change that I can see.

If you think the current system is fraudulent then maybe ebay buying is not for you.

[iaindb]

Check the wayback machine: http://web.archive.org/  Once upon a time (I feel old now) there was just the sale price.  Of course I check the postage costs but that's not the point, the point is it made money for sellers but was annoying to buyers, and it was changed.

This is user centric design. The problem here is that there are different types of users.  To the seller it gets people looking at your page if you can "trick" them into thinking you have a cheaper product, and so they take advantage of it.  To the buyer, this is annoying.

With such a huge machine that ebay is, these things can be changed but they will just take time.  The first step is awareness of the problem.

To leave ebay completely would be a drastic and defeatest attitude.  Attempting to change it may appear futile, but it's better than doing nothing!

thanks 🙂