Seller with multiple accounts selling same items

[nextnutrition]

Hi All,

I am aware of a seller who is spreading his listings (identical) across 2 x seller accounts.

I assume the reason is obviously to avoid exceeding selling limits and thus avoid paying fees.

What is the best way to report this, there's nothing specific in the Report item option. (that I can see).

Thank you.

[2106greencat]

I don't think there is anything you could report them for. A lot of sellers have 2 or more selling id's, they are not shirking fee's, they will pay fvf as normal on each account. They may be taking advantage of the 30 free listings a month, but that is just good sense. Sorry if you mean something different, but just having two different selling id's is not an infringement of any policy,

[lyndal1838]

There is nothing specific in the Report Item options because no rules are being broken.

[***super_nova***]

how do you know it is the same seller?  There are plenty of sellers who sell the same junk with the same stock photos, but that does not mean they are the same person/company.

[digital*ghost]

The same seller listing identical items via different accounts is actually a violation under eBay's duplicate listing policy, but I don't see much evidence of that being upheld; and funnily enough eBay actively encourage using multiple accounts in order to avoid fees thanks to the 30 free listings available to non-power seller accounts. 

Personally, I don't feel this particular practice is of great concern, except perhaps if someone is swamping categories with multiple (and therefore ultimately redundant) listings, i.e. hogging the search results, and as mentioned if you feel strongly enough about it to report, I would want to have no doubts at all it's the same seller (some people do copy listings, right down to the description word for word).

[nextnutrition]

Thanks. This is exactly the case. Identical items over multiple accounts, swamping categories and for the trifecta, charging ridiculous amounts of postage.

Kind of makes a mockery of becoming a powerseller, copping the listing fees (no free 30) and 'doing the right thing'.

Perhaps I should just do the same, if you cant beat them, join them !

[austeam]

If they are auctions then the seller is only hurting himself by swamping the category.  If they are BIN and the seller is taking advantage of the free listings then each ID can only list the item once (or risk having them removed under duplicate listings).

There are companies that outsource the listing to eBay sellers and effectively dropship.  Each ID is a different seller even though their listings are identical.  The seller gets a commission. The items are shipped from the same location so it might appear as though they are the same seller, but they are not, so you would want to be absolutely sure before reporting them as it is within eBay rules to do this.

[handmadeshop]

Hi, 

I do see the same seller with multiple listings and swamp the whole marketplace, if I search by keywords and all of their listings will appear which is very unfair for other sellers in the same category. They use 2 similar ID and have their website posted on photos and descriptions so I believe they are the same.

Is this a violation of ebay rule and if you report them, will ebay take any actions? or you just do like what they do 😄

Thank you.

[papermoon.lady]

This thread is over 9 years old and will most probably soon be locked, but nothing has changed. No rules are broken, as people are allowed to have multiple accounts apart from when they are trying to circumvent blocking or suspensions, so you cannot report them. You can try to change your settings to "Australia only", as I sometimes do.