eBay

olbier0 · ‎03-01-2019

Like the title says, I'm not sure about the eBay rules. I understand that you absolutely can't sell an item for a different value than the BIN price outside of eBay. I know someone who got his account suspended for doing that a few years ago.

But does eBay allow you to list the same items on Craigslist and Kijiji if you also list them on eBay? I've Googled this and come up with some mixed results. I'm not sure if it counts as illegally negotiating/selling items outside of the eBay BIN system.

Hopefully it's not like Amazon where you must always have your Amazon price lower than any other listing.

reallynicestamps · ‎03-01-2019

EBay doesn't like it, but it's not actually illegal.

It can be tricky. We've gotten a neg or two over the decades when an item sold in our B&M shop and wasn't removed from eBay before someone bought it again.

If you do list on more than one site, you have to monitor very very carefully that when something sells you remove all the other listings for it -- before you ship.

Cancelling an eBay sale as Out of Stock gets you a Defect, and you really really don't want one of those.

Selling off-eBay , which means your customer found you through this site, but you avoided eBay fees by completing the transaction without paying eBay fees is very bad. Like stiffing the taxi driver that took you to a fancy restaurant.

Price doesn't come into it. There are sites (like AZ) where the higher cost of selling means you have to charge more than listing here on eBay. There are sites where some items will sell faster at higher prices and some where the lowest price is what moves the item.

And there are specialty sites where there are few shoppers, but they are willing to pay through the nose and both ears for that special thing.

slippinjimmy · ‎03-01-2019

eBay doesn't have any exclusivity policy, of course you can't link to a non-eBay site FROM your eBay listings.

As long as you act fast when selling a one of a kind item elsewhere and end the eBay listing immediately, avoiding any out of stock issues and you are fine.

One bit of advice, if somebody contacts you through eBay about a specific listing be careful how you respond, it could look suspicious if you suddenly ended that listing. So in messages don't say or do anything that could be misconstrued and if a potential buyer was to offer any of their contact info in a message either don't respond at all or respond indicating that any communication or transaction must be done on eBay.

There are huge numbers of sellers who offer their items on multiple platforms.

inhawaii · ‎03-01-2019

Yes. The 2 have nothing to do with each other.

Smoke From A Distant Fire - Sanford Townsend Band

nobody*s_perfect · ‎03-01-2019

@slippinjimmy wrote: ... if somebody contacts you through eBay about a specific listing be careful how you respond, it could look suspicious if you suddenly ended that listing. So in messages don't say or do anything that could be misconstrued ...

Yes, this is a greater risk than actually listing the item somewhere else.

eBay can't forbid you from listing elsewhere, but they can penalize you heavily for having an "Out of stock" transaction cancellation. And there's a penalty fee for ending an auction early after it has received bids, equal to what the final value fee would have been if you sold to the high bidder.

spittser · ‎03-01-2019

Everything I sell is listed on 5 different sites. It can be tricky at times and you have to stay on top of it but if you have that high powered computer in your pocket at all times, it's doable. Just make sure you remove the item from all other sites immediately when it sells on one. When I use auctions, I remove it from the other sites as soon as it gets a bid. There's always that chance an item will sell on 2 sites at the exact moment, that's my biggest concern, but it hasn't happened yet and I will address it if it ever does. Selling off eBay is only against the rules if you are selling to someone who got in contact with you on eBay. Remember, you own the merchandise and you can do what you want with it, within the rules of course. I've never heard about any type of pricing regulation, what you want to charge is no one's business but yours'.

fern*wood · ‎03-01-2019

I used to offer all my pick up only items on CL at the same time. I know of no problem with them being different prices. My prices were almost always different because of the fees.

My problem arose when a potential buyer contacted me about possible pick up locations via email on ebay. I responded with info (problem right there I now realize) about where I was willing to meet them. They didn't buy. Fast forward three weeks and another buyer from a different part of the state bought on CL. I then ended my ebay listing and quickly got a warning and put on probation about off site sales.

I no longer list my pick up only items on ebay.