Is eBay Practicing Unethical & Illegal Discrimination?

[zenpowerstore]

eBay appears to administer accounts unfairly, where some sellers can sell near anything, while other sellers are suspended without stated reason.  If eBay allows sellers on one hand, but not others, for similar services and products then this is discriminatory.  It's no longer a matter of any policy, but a violation of business ethics and even the law.

Such discriminatory actions can be in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Equality Act 2010.  As eBay is located in California, even more laws can apply on this matter.  How do others feel about unfair discriminatory actions?  What can be done about it?

[1tuna]

thats a good example.ebay stated last March that regular  sellers with a pattern and history of selling cleaning products woud be allowed to continue while the squeeze was put on newer sellers trying to jump on the bandwagon

restricting new clorox sellers made a lot of sense if you ask me.

ebay wants a flowing market on hot items..............

take PS5 for example along with high end grapics cards

you need to really let ebay know that you can deliver product instead of just listing it

ebay does not like folks buying a hot item for 1000 and asking sellers where it is if the seller cant get it delivered to dozens of buyers

[bmgamblin]

I AGREE

[downunder-61]

As you are in Japan, it might be best to post on your own board and see what other Japanese sellers feel about this discrimination.

Basically, eBay owns the site, and if they choose to suspend or cancel a sellers account they have a legal right to do so as it is outlined in the T&C's we all read and agree to when joining.

[stainlessenginecovers]

"Discrimination" is not the correct term to use here. The definition is: the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of ethnicity, age, sex, or disability.

A business making a decision to only allow a certain group to do something based on that groups previous proven business acumen is NOT Discrimination. 

It is simply good business practice.  

[terrycece62]

Have you talked with a lawyer  regarding your concerns ?

[luckythewinner]

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@dugoldstuff wrote:

The ACLU is no longer an anti-discrimination advocate.

They are all about woke values now, fully embracing cancel culture.

If you speech isn't of the political slant they now like, they don't give a fig.

The Wall Street Journal : "The ACLU Retreats from Free Expression"

    (among other articles that Google hasn't gotten around to censoring yet)

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The purpose of my comment was to suggest that no one with any legal experience would agree with the OP.

I tried to make that point via a lighthearted joke. Apparently that failed.

[dugoldstuff]

AGREE

Thank you.

Believe it or not, I used to contribute to the ACLU, but then I saw the light.

[dugoldstuff]

For me, said it was bone.

Yet many items listed with "bone" in title, and in some categories, it's an item specific.

I even called eBay on one to mention this.

As well, I mentioned, on the antique items, that since they were antique, no currently endangered animal was killed to make them.

The CSR said I needed to go to an antique dealer locally and get a letter that the item was a antique. Also said I could go "somewhere" (not sure where) to have someone test the item and say what kind of bone it was and if was not endangered (even though it's antique and lone dead), forward the info to eBay so it could be relisted.

THIS IS TRUE. If this is not ridiculous, I don't know WHAT is.

Yet, again, "bone" is in many listed titles, and an item specific in some categories.

Your explanation, please?

[luckythewinner]

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@dugoldstuff wrote:

For me, said it was bone.

Yet many items listed with "bone" in title, and in some categories, it's an item specific.

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What kind of animal did the bone come from? Did you state this in your listing?

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@dugoldstuff wrote:

As well, I mentioned, on the antique items, that since they were antique, no currently endangered animal was killed to make them.

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The fact that the animal was not endangered at the time it was killed has nothing to do with eBay policy.

[zenpowerstore]

This is exactly correct.  If say 4 sellers are selling a similar service and product and eBay decides to ban 2 of the sellers for life with no explanation whatsoever, but allows the other 2 to sell the same or very similar product (and have been doing so for years), then that can point to discriminatory practices.

Why were 2 sellers allowed to sell that service or product, but the other 2 were banned for life?  This can be considered doing harm by selectively depriving people of opportunity and being unfair in how policy is applied.   

Even if eBay tries to keep the explanation secret (to hide such discriminatory behavior), the outcome of such unethical and bad business practices are obvious, and at the very least a public relations blunder.  As (in the example) those "privileged sellers" are allowed to continue doing what they do.

[downunder-61]

Banned for life doesn't sound like it was just one thing, did you get warnings about not listing and ignore them ? eBay get's dirty when sellers do that, or attempt to open another account when one has already been suspended.

As to the other sellers, they will get reported and if they adhere to the rules and remove the offending listing, they will be fine, if they don't they will also join the ranks of the banned.

No discrimination - warning - fix it - sell on       or   warning - ignore it - re list - banned

[1tuna]

one of the other posters pointed out the meaning of discrimination..It does not really match up with what ebay has been doing

its easier just to say that ebay practices favoritism.

I was one of the approved ebay listers of Tiffany back in the 90`s

I have never been in the store.I sold 43mm Tiffany New York pocket watch movements for lots of money back in the day..............its was quite the ego boost.my stuff was all genuine and none of it was being copied.

I still rember when it was illegal to sell watches to China on ebay.........they were off limits

ebay did not want China to copy stuff at the time and they were having difficulty with Tiffany fakes back then

[48hrs-clothing]

eBay can be selective towards who is allowed to sell what item and this in itself is not discriminatory.

eBay as a platform reserve the right to be selective towards sellers and buyers and they do.

eBay's criteria of selection or enforcements of their policies is not shared with buyers and sellers.

This selection may seem discriminatory and whilst it is always possible I personally do not believe that artificial intelligence used to determine selection is programmed to discriminate according to region and gender, colour , religion.

eBay like every other business only makes decisions or applies policies  that benefit eBay and these must be legal as attorneys and governments all over the world are ready to pounce on any violation. 

[katzrul15]

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@downunder-61 wrote:

Banned for life doesn't sound like it was just one thing, did you get warnings about not listing and ignore them ? eBay get's dirty when sellers do that, or attempt to open another account when one has already been suspended.

As to the other sellers, they will get reported and if they adhere to the rules and remove the offending listing, they will be fine, if they don't they will also join the ranks of the banned.

No discrimination - warning - fix it - sell on       or   warning - ignore it - re list - banned

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Exactly.

There is no nefarious scheme here.  Always more to these broad-brush generalized statements as e-Bay doesn't ban discriminately as OP alleges in a banned for life scenario.

And, e-Bay is very clear in their emails to a Seller exactly what the issue is.   Banned for life is not on a whim or discrimination tear by e-Bay.

[pikabo-icu]

I just have a couple of points of perspective:

Why is it that only one side of this pro/con eBay thing are personal attacks being lobbied?

I see the name calling but it's always one sided..

If I disagree with somebody that doesn't like eBay, I don't hurl personal attacks at them, yet I see this from the other side day after day.. 

I'm curious why that is... 

For the record; Most members here aren't happy-happy-joy-joy with everything eBay does and all of it's policies but we do try to operate within them. We try to help others understand them.

Understanding rules & policies and abiding by them does NOT mean we agree with them in their entirety.. 

And Yeah, the ACLU SUCKS!  They were a necessary entity and protector of freedom & civil rights at one point.. Not anymore.. They have their own agenda- 

To the OP: Favoritism is not discrimination in a legal sense.   Further, some sellers may have received permission from eBay that required applications & other documents. We have no way of knowing.  Sellers from China seem to get away with darn near anything-  

Just focus on your own account and your own wallet..