Can anything be done about competitor duplicating listings?

[touchups]

I have a competitor who owns 2 stores and duplicates about a dozen of the same items 5-7 times on each store. I also sell the same items. So when someones searches, they see 1 of mine to his 10-14. I have called ebay and they keep saying they will take action. It's been going on since july (7-8 months). I realize they may be doing "soft suspensions" or restrictions, but nothing changes. In 2019, new models came out, and he is doing the same thing with those. So he must not be getting warned too aggressively. 

Here is an example (store 1):

https://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_ssn=garagesale0ne&LH_PrefLoc=&_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=kat...

Store 2:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_ssn=classicautomotiveaccessories&LH_PrefLoc=&_from=R40&_trksid=m570...

Those are ALL the same item. It is so blatantly obvious that he just tweeks the title a little. This pattern spans over at least a dozen items on each store. Same pics, description, items specifics, etc.

Competition is fine and inevitable. According to eBay's rules, the platform is supposed to be a level playing field. At least that's what they keep telling me.

[hillbillymedia]

I agree. This type of search manipulation is what is one of my biggest beefs with searching on ebay. The listing examples you provided are in clear violation of ebays duplicate listing policy IMO and they don`t appear to do anything about it.

[tsme35]

Have the same problem with fishing lures too, except they don't even change one bit in the listing heading. Been calling on and reporting them for years, NOTHING! Even the reps say they'll report it and yet still listed. Ebay is too stupid to understand what "flooding the market" means

[luckythewinner]

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I have called ebay and they keep saying they will take action.

I'm surprised that they tell you they will take action. Did they tell you what action they would take? It doesn't seem very smart to commit to taking action against a seller based on a third party report. 

In most software companies I have worked for, customer-reported issues like this would get put into a queue and prioritized by the severity and the number of customers who reported it. An issue that was not deemed critical or which was only reported by a small number of customers would rarely make it to the top of the queue.

According to eBay's rules, the platform is supposed to be a level playing field. At least that's what they keep telling me.

eBay is not - and has never been - a level playing field. I'm surprised that they tell you this, too! 🙂

[castlemagicmemories]

It may be that Ebay sees you as a competitor trying to eliminate competition.  I'm not saying that I think that is what you are~I'm just saying that it has been said that Ebay takes a dim view of competitor reports. 

I hope this is resolved for you soon.

[myboardid]

Many buyers search by Lowest Price First.  Make sure you have the lowest price. 

If you are going to get results regarding duplicate listings you have to send in the item numbers of each dup.  Just a general request to look over his listings garners nothing.  Been there, learned the hard way. 

[dentalsales4u]

I have a competitor that does the same thing and has for years.
I reported multiple times from different accounts a while back.
Nothing ever happens and they are still doing it.
eBay does NOT enforce their own policies!

[monster-deals]

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@dentalsales4u wrote:

eBay does NOT enforce their own policies!

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How can they?

I mean this site has several hundred million users...on top of ebay not having any clear-cut policy for about anything.

[sweetpieces4you]

I have seen that many,many times when I navigate thru listings !! I have my own unique way of listing so I KNOW IMMEDIATELY that they are using my listing,item specifics and description !! PICTURES are different but the listing itself is not !! There are times that they change words in the description but not the item specifics or heading !! It looks like I'm looking at my own items until I see the pictures !!