Is this a listing violation?

[inhawaii]

A competitor of mine has 2 listings for the same item. The only difference is 1 listing is for a quantity of 1.  The other listing is for the same item but for a quantity of 2. 

Is that a listing violation?

Should i report his butt?

Do you think anything will be done?

[nobody*s_perfect]

Maybe. No. No.

[inhawaii]

Maybe? What do i pay you guys for?  😉

[valuestore]

I dont believe it is, as the sku number for a single bottle of coke and a 6 pack are different. 

[wastingtime101]

I don't think it's a violation.

[luckythewinner]

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@inhawaii wrote:

Maybe? What do i pay you guys for?  😉

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The reason you got a "maybe" is because you did not provide enough information for a definitive answer.  

There are situations where what you describe would be a violation, and there are situations where it would not be a violation. 

When you say the "only difference" is the quantity, do you mean that literally? In other words ... aside from quanitity, every single aspect (title, description, condition, item specifics, format, etc.) is *absolutely* identical?

P.S. It would also really, really help if you stated specifically what the item is. 

[upgradedendmills]

Not a violation of any rule. Sometimes when I have 15 of the same item, I will list it as 5 separate listings with quantities of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.  This allows me to reflect a savings to my customers depending on how many they need at the moment. I think it is good business practice. When I have a large quantity of the same tool that has been resharpened and varies even .001" or .002" in diameter, I list them individually. Sometimes a minor difference can be critical to a sale. Try it sometime and don't worry about what the competitors are doing. Emulate what works!

[upgradedendmills]

If you want respect, I want a raise!!!!!!!

[mam98031]

Is one an auction and one a GTC?

[fuzzface50]

I  agree with Upgrade that it is not a violation.  I do something similar with an item I sell but in bigger numbers than 1 and 2.  I have a product that I list as a single sleeve that contains 1 hundred of the items in and then I have another listing that shows 5 sleeves giving that auction 500 units and then I list a box of them that contains 10 sleeves making that one for 1,000 pieces.  I don't have it setup for 1 times the money versus 5 times the money or ten times the money but do offer discounts on the larger quantity lots to entice them to buy them.  seems that schools and restaurants will buy them in box lots but individual sounding names tend to buy the single sleeves.  I rarely sell them in the 5 count even though I offer it this way in a mid range price. 

I run 3 listings and they are usually back to back on the search page.  I could do it in one listings and give them a discount on multiples but I chose to do it the other way and so far ebay hasn't said a word about it to me and they have been listed this way for a few years now.   might be my last year with them though, my source might be  finally running out  or maybe it is just something they are holding back on with this virus running amuck, time will tell.

[inhawaii]

lucky & mam,

It's 2 fixed priced listings.

As far as i can tell, the listings are exactly identical except for the quantity.

upgradedenfmills,

Just curious, If you do the same to offer discounts on multiple items purchased,  why not just use ebays multiple item discount thingy?

[tsme35]

It wouldn't matter if you do, ebay doesn't do a thing, they now allow duplicate auctions, AS many as you want as long as its the same price and doesn't have a buy it now. Fishing lures are SO flooded I don't even list them unless I find them cheap or free. Make us follow ecommerce rules but doesn't know what that means, supply and demand, so if you run 20 of the same lures for auction they don't sell for squawk and kill prices on the rest of them

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@tsme35 wrote: ...  they now allow duplicate auctions, AS many as you want as long as its the same price and doesn't have a buy it now. ...

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That has been the policy for a long time. It seems so illogical for a seller to have simultaneous auction-format listings; essentially they're hiding their listings and then competing with themselves.

[muttlymob]

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@luckythewinner wrote:

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When you say the "only difference" is the quantity, do you mean that literally? In other words ... aside from quanitity, every single aspect (title, description, condition, item specifics, format, etc.) is *absolutely* identical?

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eBay policy states that duplicate listings are based on identical ITEMS.  Not identical LISTINGS.

So the title, description, item specifics, don't have to be identical for listings to violate the Duplicate Listings policy.  If the item is identical, then the listing is a violation even if the seller has tried to evade policy by varying the words in the listings.

[mr_lincoln]

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@inhawaii wrote:

Maybe? What do i pay you guys for?  😉

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Actually, your payment for my advice two weeks ago is over due, please submit it immediately so I can continue to provide you with the excellent service you have come to enjoy, expect not to mention profit from ...

Now, on to your question ... I recently had several duplicate collectible items, electric trains or non powered train cars in this instance. 

These are collectibles and typically there are some differences that I can actually note in the title so "technically" they are NOT the same.  I run many Auction style and from what I understand you can actually run duplicate listings on Auction format but NOT Fixed Price ... (at least that's what I recall reading somewhere).