posted on June 7, 2001 08:06:43 PM
From ebay's announcement board:
***Terms & Conditions of Sale Update***
We recently received an increased number of inquiries from sellers regarding the eBay requirements for including the terms & conditions of the sale in the description of the item.
The User Agreement requires that the terms and conditions of sale be included in the description of the item on the View Item page. Although some sellers don't include terms and conditions as part of the description, we strongly suggest that a seller include the following information:
Shipping information - including how it will be calculated
Payment types accepted
Terms of payment - when payment is expected
Handling charges
Any taxes that may apply
Providing this information as part of the description provides potential buyers with important information. The above items are recommendations and sellers should include any and all information that applies to the sale of their particular listing.
Sellers that have extensive terms and conditions may link from the view item page to a separate page with their terms & conditions. However, the page may only contain the terms & conditions and the seller must include the items above in the description of the item.
posted on June 7, 2001 08:46:59 PM
Jeez...someone needs to teach Ebay's lawyers how the Internet works. SO it's ok to link to a page on MY site providing I obey what Ebay tells me I can and can not put/display/advertise on MY web page on MY web server?? Ok so say I only have the terms and conditions for THAT specific auction. Does Ebay prohibit me from having standard web site navigation and content features? Like say the "SHOP NOW" buttons on the left and at the bottom of MY page? Or perhaps MY banner in the footer advertising whatever the hell I want to including my e-store??
Methinks Ebay has stepped in really stinky pile of doodoo with this one.
posted on June 7, 2001 09:33:56 PM
Pretty clear to me! Geeeeesh!
As long as your links link to links, you can link to other links that link. However, as soon as your links turn into patties, you must order Jimmy Dean Pure Pork...
posted on June 8, 2001 05:46:29 AMSellers that have extensive terms and conditions may link from the view item page to a separate page with their terms & conditions. However, the page may only contain the terms & conditions and the seller must include the items above in the description of the item.
Oh, Brother..here we go again.
First all the terms & conditions must be on the view page, then they could be on your AboutMe page as well, now they can be completely off site.
And what's to prevent the seller from conveniently changing the terms & conditions at their whim? Bad ebay. Bad ebay.
posted on June 8, 2001 06:32:43 AM
From our experience, most buyers don't pay any attention to your "ID" even if it is your e-mail address, which ours has been for almost 6 years. I don’t see that changing our ID from our e-mail address which it has been for years, to the address of one of our sites will accomplish much of anything.
Most buyers, don't click through to our link which gives all the Shipping/Return Information, as we have had ours on a link for 2 or 3 years, so putting your web site on anything but the initial VIEW ITEM page is basically a waste of time.
We have kept counters on many of these pages, including our "ME" page, and discovered 99% of buyers, don't bother to look at these.
So, even with a "loop hole," it isn't an effective way to advertise your web site.
posted on June 8, 2001 08:02:07 AM
For me, linking to my website was an issue of giving the bidders a sense that I am a reliable business, not a fly-by-night ebay scam artist. For back-end sales to my ebay bidders, I do better with the catalog I include with the package than I do with website sales. That may be because I haven't put a lot of time into developing my website, too. It does irk me, however, that a lot of these "improvements" and policy changes from ebay saying they want to "level the playing field" just seem to make it easier for scam artists and fly-by-night types to rip people off, and more difficult for the stable entrepreneur to make ebay a profitiable segement of their business.
This is another change in ebay policy. They used to say that you had to
have all of your terms listed on the auction listing. Over the past couple
of weeks, I have gone to all of the big companies that list on ebay, and
sent ebay a notice telling them that these companies (such as Disney) have
links to their terms. Apparently, in order to make all these big companies
instantly in compliance with ebay policy, they changed their rules. Now,
you can have a generic page on your website with your terms, AND LINK TO IT
FROM YOUR AUCTION LISTING.
It is different from linking to a page with specific information about the
item your selling because this can be a generic page. There is no need to
make a specific page for every auction, which would have been too burdensome
to most ebay sellers.
Obviously ebay made this as a loophole to keep from taking down auction
listings from the big companies, such as the ones I was writing them about.
(I sent them several dozen e-mails about it). However, this is a loophole
that anybody can take advantage of now. I would suggest that anyone who
wants to link to their website from ebay auctions just create a page with
your terms, and link from your ebay auctions.
posted on June 8, 2001 08:18:42 AM
eventer- you have a point- YIKES!
I can appreciate the need to link to your web site- like Peter said, it is important for Joe Shopper to get a sense of who he is dealing with when he Ebays.
However, putting your TOS on a separate non-ebay page does NOT inspire confidence in paranoid shoppers like myself. I have enough trouble wading through many sellers complicated TOS, without having to worry that they could be changed without warning at any time.
It might be an OK strategy for Disney, who consumers trust overall...
posted on June 8, 2001 08:47:47 AM
Actually most customers wouldn't want to see long TOS on an auction listing page. That's why I would never want to use them. However, there are a vocal minority that want to see the small print. Thus, the good idea of keeping a separate page with this stuff.
Anyway, the first time I saw someone with their terms in a jpg file I know that the possiblity of changing off-site terms as opposed to what's in the listing itself is a non-issue.
posted on June 8, 2001 09:00:43 AM
If eBay is this confused about it, no surprise everyone else is. What a forlorn attempt at implementing wasted policy!
From their announcements message (their words, not mine):
"we strongly SUGGEST that a seller include the following information"
then shortly after that they say:
"The above items are RECOMMENDATIONS"
then they end with:
"the seller MUST include the items above in the description of the item"
So now, suggestions & recommendations are apparently eBay RULES.
You must comply, eBorg is here! You are about to be assimilated.
posted on June 8, 2001 09:32:34 AMFrom our experience, most buyers don't pay any attention to your "ID" even if it is your e-mail address, which ours has been for almost 6 years. I don’t see that changing our ID from our e-mail address which it has been for years, to the address of one of our sites will accomplish much of anything.
Everyone's experience is different. My web sales have increased dramatically since I changed my longtime userID from a nickname to my url. If I'd had an established e-mail userID, I probably would have simply set up a second account with my web url and held it in reserve.
The real point of my post, however, is that eBay almost certainly is doing this to accomodate the big dogs, who have lawyers who insist on long, wordy, small print terms & conditions.
