How to report sellers over inflating prices

[mj_v2.0]

Is there a way to report sellers that are selling items at up to 2 sometimes 3 x the price for example a cat litter tray that’s at the most in store $80 seller is charging $183, and an item called no vac for carpets, $10 in shops seller is advertising $44.95 and the best seller wants $192 for cat litter. How is this allowed?

[countessalmirena · Accepted solution]

@mj_v2.0

It can be frustrating and baffling when you see items listed for sale at a price which you think is unrealistic, well over retail price, considerably more than any similar item listed, and so on.

But a seller may have reasons that you haven't considered for listing the item at that price. For example:

• the seller has determined that this is a fair price as far he/she is concerned (irrespective of what you believe is a fair price);
• the seller is waiting for new stock but doesn't want to lose sales history, thus he/she increases the listing price to keep the item's position in the search without risking much likelikhood of a buyer purchasing their item;
• the seller is prepared to post to places where other sellers possibly do not, so the item has the potential to be purchased by someone in any of those areas;
• the seller has made an error - by using a comma instead of a decimal point as the decimal separator, or simply a keying error when entering the price.

I'm sure there are other reasons that I've not included in the above list.

Of course, it is also possible that the seller's reason is something along the lines of 'That's the price I want, and I'm not selling until I get it, and I don't care what everyone else's price is; someone, somewhere, will pay me this price, one day'.

Whatever the reason, though, it's in a sense irrelevant. It is not illegal to have an item for sale at a higher price than the consumer thinks is right or fair. (Excluding price fixing/price collusion which doesn't apply to this sort of situation, or selling life-saving medicine at grossly inflated prices - e.g., Martin Shkreli - and even in that situation in the US, I understand it's going to take Congress stepping in to have any hope of fixing this, because even though it's unconscionable, there is nothing preventing such people and such companies as his from raising prices in this way).

Getting away from those side issues (collusion and price of medicine), in b&m stores (bricks and mortar - that is, shops, supermarkets, etc.), having items for sale at inflated prices, when those items are available elsewhere at a much lower price, would be business suicide! The news would get around; that business would end up largely buyerless... unless there were something about that b&m store that outweighed considerations of price, such as its being in a remote or isolated location where there weren't any or many other choices. (Think about cinema popcorn.)

Online sellers have considerations beyond b&m stores because of the very fact that they are online. Anyone in the world with internet access can see their items, can purchase their items, as long as the seller sends/delivers to the buyer's address. The buying field is much wider. The high-priced item selling for more than you may think is its intrinsic worth could actually sell.

But at the heart of this is one simple fact: the item belongs to the seller, and he or she can list the item for sale at whatever price they want. It's another matter entirely about whether they'll actually sell the item, but that's between them and their potential future buyer.

Not only is it not illegal to list items at a higher price than you may think is fair, but eBay does not have a rule against this. You cannot report the sellers in question. They are doing nothing illegal and nothing against eBay rules.