False and misleading advertising?

[tcrenhartofohpwa_9]

Why do advertisers say they are an " AU" seller  or an Australian seller, when they're clearly not?? They're from overseas. 

Also " item locations "  they state , are also false.  

I ordered " X'  items from a supposedly "Australian seller".....in Dampier Western Australia ? Alarm bells went off. 

It took so much longer than estimated to arrive, so when I inquired , the response was 'goobledegookenglish'  and less than reassuring . 

 When it arrived, it clearly had an overseas  postal service lable on it , that explains the lengthy delivery time. Definitely not  from Dampier WA  !!!!!!

I do hope that Ebay cracks down on this nonsense .

If the item comes from O/S ,the seller should say so and not pretend to be " Aussie"  and  not put " Australian seller"  on their ads. 

[countessalmirena]

Hello, tcrenhartofohpwa_9,

Unfortunately eBay will not take action; the majority of the offending sellers doing this are actually members of eBay.cn (eBay China).

As you're probably aware, law concerning copyright and seller behaviour differ very markedly in China in comparison with Australian law.

It is annoying, but we who are eBay buyers must simply take a little care when making purchases... Click onto the seller's details to see where the seller is based, for instance, and check the negative feedback to see whether there are several comments talking about the seller's location (and item location) not being in Australia, but rather in China.

[tcrenhartofohpwa_9]

thank you for your reply, and yes, its bloody annoying !!!!!!!!!

In that case, Ebay Australia  could come up with some sort of ID  for genuine Australian  sellers, or a logo that identifies  the seller as a genuine Australian ,   but that ID  can  then only be issued by Ebay  Australia and no-one else   and cant be  copied,  cut, pasted, faked  etc.  There are  algorithms that prevent that I'm sure . 

The same could be applied to other  Ebay countries. 

That way, if the seller says they are an Australian seller,.........they really are?? 

I appreciate this may take additional resources for Ebay  , but for those like me that prefer , ' buy Australian First'  , it would be really helpful. It would save a lot of confusion....and frustration. 

However,  this is just a suggestion . 

[gutterpunkz05]

---

@tcrenhartofohpwa_9 wrote:

thank you for your reply, and yes, its bloody annoying !!!!!!!!!

In that case, Ebay Australia  could come up with some sort of ID  for genuine Australian  sellers, or a logo that identifies  the seller as a genuine Australian ,   but that ID  can  then only be issued by Ebay  Australia and no-one else   and cant be  copied,  cut, pasted, faked  etc.  There are  algorithms that prevent that I'm sure . 

The same could be applied to other  Ebay countries. 

That way, if the seller says they are an Australian seller,.........they really are?? 

I appreciate this may take additional resources for Ebay  , but for those like me that prefer , ' buy Australian First'  , it would be really helpful. It would save a lot of confusion....and frustration. 

However,  this is just a suggestion . 

---

Can't see that making any difference.  Many Australian sellers do, and will continue to, drop ship from  international suppliers

[digital*ghost]

The only way I can see this really being stamped out as much as possible is if eBay made items shipped from locations different to what's in the listing eligible for not as described cases, but aside from the obvious issues with that, it would be difficult to prove when the sellers use Aus Post via UBI, though they would obviously have late lodgement dates.

[negron18]

it's happening more and more unfortuantely. Buyers just need to ask as much questions as possible and ask whether they use australia post or a courrier from here. 

Asking if they offer next day express post via aus post might also help determining whether its an overseas seller or just a local seller who drop ships from china/overseas.

[tcrenhartofohpwa_9]

G'day, 

I should also have mentioned in my first post that  the " so called tracking numbers"  the seller provided for my ' X' parcel'  were also false.  

"Numbers" ...plural.  There was more than one " tracking number".

There were 3. One international (??) which wasn't much help , and the other  two confusing set of  numbers were seemingly put together to form one loooooong number. It took me a while to figure that out and  separate them. It was  like two Aus. Post Tracking numbers put together ?, one said : 

" its on its  way"  , (and never went any further) , and the other said it had  "been delivered" ( at an address....other than mine ) .   Wha ??? Go figure ????  

I'm sure Aust Post would have something to say about that  ....maybe ? 

I wonder if they've picked up on that ?  Misuse of their tracking services ? 

[padi*0409]

If you take the tracking numbers into your post office they can bring it up and get more info on it than you can with their tracking site.

[davidc4430]

---

@digital*ghost wrote:
The only way I can see this really being stamped out as much as possible is if eBay made items shipped from locations different to what's in the listing eligible for not as described cases, but aside from the obvious issues with that, it would be difficult to prove when the sellers use Aus Post via UBI, though they would obviously have late lodgement dates.

---

this is not a new complaint, buyers have been posting complaints on the boards about chinese sellers saying they ship from within australia when they do not for a very long time.

i'm pretty sure ebay know its going on and are happy with it continuing, nothing will change.

buyers venting on the boards sure wont make any difference.

all buyers can do is 'homework' when buying, usually the first clue is right there on the item description page.

no, not item location, but feedback score. usually these sellers have lousy feedback scores. so read the feedback, read the negs they will usually have some saying 'they ship from china not australia'

it doesnt take long, but we often hit 'buy it now' before we do the homework dont we.

[tcrenhartofohpwa_9]

Yep , I have to agree, and I'm guilty of doing just that , hitting the " buy it now" button without doing my homework......but I will now. 

I'd rather pay a bit more and buy the item here in Oz , if its available, at least I have an increased  chance of it arriving on time. .  Also knowing that I have ACL to turn to   if things  really go pearshaped helps , but  if it isn't available.....too bad. I'll go without . Unless its essential.

  And yes, the feedback can pretty scathing at times. But  hopefully,  and sooner rather than  later, Ebay will get so sick & tired of the mounting complaints  about this **bleep**, they will have no choice but to do something about it, but we can only dream eh?