@ebiz911 wrote:
Oh Man. eBay.au is most definitely in a position to stop the fraud. All they need to do is stop listing the seller on eBay.au. In the majority of cases, an AU buyer does not even know the seller is from China so this is 100% Ebay.au fault. The listing is presented to the buyer as a local seller with a local address... are you saying eBay is not participating in scamming the buyer, surely eBay know it is a Chinese seller but is cooperating by hiding this fact from the buyer.
I agree with you that some buyers don't realise a seller is located overseas. That is because that information isn't in the actual ad that you first open up. It will show item location and I think most buyers just assume the seller is located there too.
That pretty much was the case about 15 years ago but these days, you really do have to do an extra bit of checking.
In the ad that you open, you will see seller name and feedback score. If you click on eg feedback score, it will open another page where you can thn click on 'see all feedback' and check out any negs. It will also show you where the seller is registered.
The information is definitely not hidden by ebay but it does take an extra click or two to see it. I would like to see seller location also listed in the body of the ad but as it isn't, you do need to do that extra bit of checking to protect yourself. Well worth it.
Ebay can't do much about the chinese sellers because over there, it doesn't seem to be illegal to sell counterfeit copies. So the sellers there are not breaking any local law.
A seller located in Australia would be subject to different laws.
The problem with buying anything electrical etc direct from China is it has not had to pass any Australian standards. Imported items in shops, yes, they have to pass the standards test. Things slipping in via direct purchase, whether on ebay or elsewhere, you may not be getting something safe.
Ebay doesn't check out most ads, it doesn't take one person's word for it that something is counterfeit, but it does tend to take the buyer's side in a dispute and the buyer can usually get a refund if they open a claim.
Ebay isn't in the business of trying to dissuade you from buying. There are a heap of high volume sellers on ebay with feedback scores under the 99% mark (which is what a lot of boardies here classify as supporting bad sellers) and when you read the spiel about them, ebay itself often says " one of the most reputable sellers on ebay, delivers outstanding service' blah blah blah.
Unless that seller is doing something clearly illegal ebay won't do much.
I wouldn't say ebay is in the business of participating in scamming buyers, but you do need to take care, take those extra steps to check seller location and feedback before you commit to buy. Look after your own interests.
