topic Re: sexually explicit items E Bay Australia in Selling

sexually explicit items E Bay Australia

site120 — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 07:11:43 GMT

Can anyone out there shed a little light on an issue I have had running with E Bay Australia for a while now, Adult Only material is forbidden on E Bay Australia, here is a quick run down on their guidelines regarding Adult Only item:

Anything designed for use in sexual or adult activities may not be listed on eBay. At our discretion we may remove items including, but not limited to:

Adult-orientated domain names
Anatomically-accurate sex dolls
Any item which, because of their nature or because of the item description, appear to be designed for use in sexual/adult activity
Netsuke (miniature Japanese sculpture) that contains nudity or explicit sexual content may not be listed
Nude playing cards or trading cards
Sex toys

Now this is the policy on these items, why are there literally thousands of adult only listings on E Bay Australia from Australian sellers, besides the obvious(money), how does E Bay keep getting away with continually listing items and hosting online stores filled with adult items if it's in breach of their own policies???, complaining to E Bay does absolutely nothing, the ACCC won't touch it, can anyone point me in the right direction on this matter and which organisation I can make a complaint to, it's the fact that kids under the age of 18yrs have full access to E Bay and there is an abudance of very explicit material on E Bay Australia, there are also no warnings of adult material present on E Bay Australia on their home page or splash screens...thank you

Re: sexually explicit items E Bay Australia

*crikey*mate* — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 07:29:25 GMT

If the items fall under health and beauty, then they are ok. There is a special list from some recognized body floating around that allows some items top be classified under health and beauty.

forget what it is though, but if you can't find it (been posted a few times) someone else will know where it is

Re: sexually explicit items E Bay Australia

*crikey*mate* — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 07:33:23 GMT

plus some of it is only restricted - look at the other info in the link where you got that from.

Re: sexually explicit items E Bay Australia

kopenhagen5 — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 07:55:11 GMT

ebay are not listing these. Members list items.

The site is for members on a trust basis and to comply with the rules.

ebay cannot vet listings and rely on reporting by members.

Children don't have access to ebay as every member needs to be 18 or over.

If children do access ebay, it will be because they have fraudulently opened an account or an adult has given a child permission against ebay rules.

Unfortunately it is always the few that spoil it for the rest.

Similarly I have pointed out to public libraries the type of sites children are able to access, far worse than ebay.

But since there is little filtering when it comes to the internet, most institutions are doing the best with what they have.

Upon the arrival of the internet in the late 80's, I advocated the problems it would cause in opening the door to an unregulated media. Not just immediate problems but the flow on effect and the changes that would happen within society decades later.

I still feel the only solution is to regulate and disallow certain content on the internet. Otherwise the internet remains unsafe for children.

Re: sexually explicit items E Bay Australia

thecatspjs — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 08:59:29 GMT

To view items you don't have to be over 18, it is only to join that you need to be over 18. Ebay listings are not private they are in the public domain.

Re: sexually explicit items E Bay Australia

kopenhagen5 — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 09:21:40 GMT

Thanks cats, yes you are right. I forgot about viewing as a guest.

Once again it comes down to what content should be available on the internet.

Re: sexually explicit items E Bay Australia

*crikey*mate* — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 09:27:05 GMT

You're spot on Kopes.

However, the OP seems only to be concerned with what is on eBay Australia.

One site out of many.

Re: sexually explicit items E Bay Australia

phorum_junkie* — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 10:30:48 GMT

I am unsure why the OP is so concerned about adult items on ebay Australia, if it is because children may see them then she is kidding herself if she thinks those children cannot access and view sites which sell many more 'adult' items than you will ever see on ebay even on most other sites where adult content is allowed.

Re: sexually explicit items E Bay Australia

ajarnjenny — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 11:28:35 GMT

Even if there were warnings, who would they be for? Do you think those warnings would deter kids who were looking for that kind of stuff?

Quite the contrary, I would think.

The best safeguard is not allowing children unfettered and unsupervised access to the Internet. Do children really need personal devices with Internet access?

Re: sexually explicit items E Bay Australia

thecatspjs — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 13:20:20 GMT

I think the OP is concerned because it is an offence not to have the required warnings in place.

I am always concerned when eBay activity may breach Australian legislation - for whatever reason. I think it reflects poorly on the brand and our trading place.

It does nothing to increase buyer or seller confidence that eBay trust and safety are active.

Re: sexually explicit items E Bay Australia

ejholden1963 — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 17:50:03 GMT

And then something like this happens ....

eBay Sellers Get the Shaft from eBay Sponsored Links

Re: sexually explicit items E Bay Australia

amber-eyed-girl — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 18:10:57 GMT

http://search-au.funnelback.com/s/search.html?collection=tga-artg

I think this is the link.

Australian register of Therapeutic Goods, which can be supplied in Australia.

it includes sexually explicit items.

But classified as "therapeutic" so under health

Re: sexually explicit items E Bay Australia

thecatspjs — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 01:02:27 GMT

IMO the issue raised is not about supply of therapeutic goods within Australia.

The issue raised in the OP are about the promotion of restricted content.

Therapeutic goods codes and guidelines offer additional consumer protections.

Re: sexually explicit items E Bay Australia

thecatspjs — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 01:23:11 GMT

@site120 wrote:
Can anyone out there shed a little light on an issue I have had running with E Bay Australia for a while now, Adult Only material is forbidden on E Bay Australia, here is a quick run down on their guidelines regarding Adult Only item:
Anything designed for use in sexual or adult activities may not be listed on eBay. At our discretion we may remove items including, but not limited to:
Adult-orientated domain names
Anatomically-accurate sex dolls
Any item which, because of their nature or because of the item description, appear to be designed for use in sexual/adult activity
Netsuke (miniature Japanese sculpture) that contains nudity or explicit sexual content may not be listed
Nude playing cards or trading cards
Sex toys

Now this is the policy on these items, why are there literally thousands of adult only listings on E Bay Australia from Australian sellers, besides the obvious(money), how does E Bay keep getting away with continually listing items and hosting online stores filled with adult items if it's in breach of their own policies???, complaining to E Bay does absolutely nothing, the ACCC won't touch it, can anyone point me in the right direction on this matter and which organisation I can make a complaint to, it's the fact that kids under the age of 18yrs have full access to E Bay and there is an abudance of very explicit material on E Bay Australia, there are also no warnings of adult material present on E Bay Australia on their home page or splash screens...thank you
The regulator of this area is the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

Link to report offensive content is http://www.acma.gov.au/Citizen/Take-action/Complaints/Internet-content-complaints/online-content-complaints

Re: sexually explicit items E Bay Australia

amber-eyed-girl — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 07:08:26 GMT

Hi cats 🙂

if you look, I was replying to Crikey's post, to provide her with the link she was after. I believe she was originally given that source by eBay, as to what could be sold here without problems. When she was surprised as to some of the items on sale here.

few months ago now. As eBay was referring to items for sale under Health and Beauty. Where this covers health.

Which, would appear to allow sale of otherwise "restricted content" items...but as Crikey spoke with them, not me, that is all I can go on regarding the link I provided 🙂

Regardless, clearly eBay should be following their own policies and removing reported items that breach them.

Re: sexually explicit items E Bay Australia

amber-eyed-girl — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 07:14:59 GMT

So, if certain items appeared under Health and Beauty, and on that register, a seller could argue that gave them the right to sell them here. But I would hope eBay would consider this platform and its policies when making decisions as to yes or no.

which is relevant to the OP, where they ask why eBay allows content in breach of their own policies.

should they? No. But maybe this is a loophole for sellers.

Re: sexually explicit items E Bay Australia

amxsuperstores — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 07:27:32 GMT

OP: While I totally agree and having a young kid at home I do worry about these sorts of things, but unfortunately anyone with any internet access anywhere can type in any search keyword and be confronted with all kinds of racist/sexually explicit/hate-filled/violent/illegal images and videos at the touch of a button, INSTANTLY. I think them coming across an adult toy image is probably the least of our worries, unfortunately.

My son is 16 months old and I wonder what sort of access to everything he is going to have in the future, I think it more comes down to us staying on top of family education and answering questions truthfully and tactfully, so the children would be both less likely to be curious, and more likely to use better judgement.

Re: sexually explicit items E Bay Australia

thecatspjs — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 07:59:55 GMT

@amber-eyed-girl wrote:
So, if certain items appeared under Health and Beauty, and on that register, a seller could argue that gave them the right to sell them here. But I would hope eBay would consider this platform and its policies when making decisions as to yes or no.

which is relevant to the OP, where they ask why eBay allows content in breach of their own policies.

should they? No. But maybe this is a loophole for sellers.

eBay policy is pretty clear, as outlined in the OP.

The law on the protections that need to be in place to publish Adult R+ images on the internet is also clear and I have no doubt that eBay is aware of that too.

The only doubt or loopholes about whether these should be removed are the furphys others seem to try and create.

Re: sexually explicit items E Bay Australia

amber-eyed-girl — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 08:07:07 GMT

Clearly, eBay should be abiding by its own policies.

if fhat means they can have adult material on public view without warning, then they need to fix up the "loopholes" or post a warning that there is adult content...in answer to the OP, all we can do as members, is

report any items which look in breach of policy

tell eBay what "we think"

but that, unfortunately, is it..unless there are items so flagrantly flouting the law that it can be taken further.

cats, no, there should not be loopholes and the ability to misinterpret policy, its up to eBay to follow the law and design policy that fits the law. Then there can be no grey areas.

no furphys, cats, that link is provided by eBay to explain why this stuff is on sale here.

Sellers happily stay on eBay for years selling explicit items. They are obviously getting past policy somehow.

so, OP, just report anything you think does not meet guidelines here or the law.

Re: sexually explicit items E Bay Australia

thecatspjs — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 08:13:23 GMT

Purely to gauge if eBay does act quickly to remove in response to reports of these goods, I reported five listings earlier to today. They have all been removed.

BUT the same seller has several other similar items listed that are still live.

Not good enough as a number of these even include sex toys in the title.

Reporting to eBay is one action members can take.

In addition reporting it to the Australian watch dog is another.