Fake Australian sellers

[osf2005]

Maybe it's just me, but when are eBay going to do something about sellers in Asia claiming to be in Australia! If I want to be something directly from China I'll do it, but when I put the Australia only filter on and I have to check every sellers details to see if they are really Australian it's frustrating! Fraudulent and about time eBay steps up and does something...

[cezm]

I think the Australia only refers to items sold only to Australia not from Australia. I have seen some users saying they select a postcode in the middle of Australia and search 2000+kms from there. Sorry, I don't recall the postcode or the kms but  a search of the discussion forums could find it.

[osf2005]

Nope I just checked. The filter says "item location: Australia only"

[ircinic-7]

What on earth is a ' Fake Australian Seller ' ????????????????????????????????????

[digital*ghost]

eBay reps have responded to these kinds of issues by stating that eBay AU can't sanction Chinese sellers, due to in-house policies, that they "say" they're working on changing. 

To me, that's a bit like a smoker going "I'm working on finding a way to quit, but I don't know how to stop the tobacco companies from selling me cigarettes, so there's nothing I can do at the moment." 

[osf2005]

Sellers that they are Australian but in reality typically post from Hong Kong or China. eBay should put a stop to it.

[lyndal1838]

Ebay don't know unless the listings are reported.   Have you reported any of the listings in question?

[malleewest]

There are at least 9 in a couple of categories I look in frequently, but I would say it is only ONE seller because they are all "supposedly" in Darwin, but judging by the Neg & Neut comments all the items come from China.

[lyndal1838]

A lot of Chinese sellers list their location as Darwin....you cannot decide they are all the same seller based on that.

The only way ebay will do anything at all is if the listings are reported.....every one of them.  Ebay will not cross reference just one listing to see what other listings the seller has and their location.

The problem is that a lot of Chinese sellers do have warehouse facilities in Australia and until you actually have an item delivered from China which was listed as in Australia, ebay will not do anything.

[hcr2010]

I am so sick of sellers claiming the stock is in Australia when its not.
The vast majority of them claim to be in Darwin, but they arrive late with chinese shipping details.

There are also SERIOUS LEGAL IMPLICATIONS related to this and I am amazed that Ebay is allowing this to continue.

If you buy anything on Ebay to resell - if it comes from overseas, then you are, as the importer,  legally liable for that product - so if, it catches fire, explodes, kills someone, etc, then you are legally liable for that.

As an example, say you buy a cheap aftermarket laptop power supply from China. You sell it to your customer. They take it home, during the night it catches fire and burns their house down. They, or their insurance company will sue you. You may be able to countersue the company you purchased it from overseas, but good luck with that.

Now, if you buy something that is listed as located in Australia, but it arrives from overseas, then it gets a lot murkier legally.
I suspect that Ebay would have liability for failing to police and enforce sellers to state the correct location....
Perhaps a lawyer could provide their thoughts on the implications for Ebay themselves, and the buyer.

Anyway...

Three ways I use to check is:
1. See how much they charge for express shipping, if its a lot higher (say $25-35) for a small item, then its coming from overseas.

2. Add a filter to your search based on how far they are away from your postcode. I'm in Hobart, so I select 2000Kms - the largest option. It does however rule out Perth and Cairns sellers as well.

3. My new, prefered method, is essentially the same as 2, but instead of your own postcode, use the south australian post code 5717 (remote south australia), and set distance to within 2000KM.
That will exclude any Darwin seller, but will include Perth sellers. Unfortunately, Cairns sellers just miss out.
Perhaps someone can find a postcode where Cairns and Perth are both within 2000KM, but Darwin is not.

Ebay seemed to be experimenting with an option to go aussie sellers only, but it seems to have disappeared since xmas, and it didnt seem to come up with every search.

I really wish that Ebay will make the option to search for aussie sellers only permanently available.
Ebay would probably make more money from it, as I always happy to pay a little bit extra to get it from an australian seller, as refunds, returns are easier, communication is usually easier, and I don't have the same legal liabilities.

Sorry by the way to any legitimate sellers from Darwin. 😞
All I can suggest is complain to Ebay.