eBay for Education

[siash-61]

Hi,

I'm a Digital Technologies teacher in an Australian Primary school and I'd like to give my students the opportunity to design and create their own 3D printed items and then auction them on eBay to our school community. But I can't figure out a secure way to have the students draft their own ads (using an approved school account?) whilst denying them the ability to post their own ads. Once their drafts are ready, I / someone from the Finance would check them then post them. 

I've checked out the Seller Hub but I can't find any information about restricting the rights of other users / linking/creating other members who have restricted rights / access to the school's bank account.

Has anyone successfully done this before? 

TIA,

Simon.

[a_c_green]

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@siash-61 wrote:

Hi,

I'm a Digital Technologies teacher in an Australian Primary school and I'd like to give my students the opportunity to design and create their own 3D printed items and then auction them on eBay to our school community.

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I've read the whole discussion up to this point, but my thoughts are that designing and creating their own 3D-printed items is probably a much more important and valuable skill than subsequently trying to auction them on eBay, which seems to bring in more complication than it's worth.

I would focus a lot more on the 3D learning (and they can certainly design their own items without fear of IP violations risked by copying commercial products), and forget the eBay auctioning. A local silent auction can function just as well, especially as you said you expect the buyers to be local anyway (and probably related to the students, too 😉). Good luck.

[reallynicestamps]

@tobaccocardyahoo

@broto_64 

Australian law is different than American law.

And Australians are not a  suit-happy as Americans.

This question should be posted on the Australian site.

[reallynicestamps]

@siash-61 

I need to teach my students how to use digital systems.

Forget using eBay at all.

Set up a website of your own. OzBAY perhaps. Or eSchool.

Use the Sell Your Item form as a template.

You might try using Shopify or GoDaddy to host, since both are designed to be shopping sites.

[broto_64]

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@reallynicestamps wrote:

@tobaccocardyahoo

@broto_64 

Australian law is different than American law.

And Australians are not a  suit-happy as Americans.

This question should be posted on the Australian site.

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Yeah thanks, some of us don't check underwear labels to authenticate posts.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@broto_64 wrote:

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@reallynicestamps wrote: ...

This question should be posted on the Australian site.

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Yeah thanks, some of us don't check underwear labels to authenticate posts.

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Well, the very first line of the post mentions their location: "I'm a Digital Technologies teacher in an Australian Primary school and I'd like to give my students the opportunity to design and create their own 3D printed items and then auction them on eBay to our school community."

 I have been a very active member of this discussion board for many years and have never heard of a proposal like this. As you commented above, "I can't believe nobody has already thought of this."  Well, IMHO that's because you are overlooking a host of challenges and potential complications, not the least of which is that you yourself apparently have no experience as an eBay seller.  How are you going to teach them to fish when you have no fishing experience, yourself? In addition to tax advice you need an advisor who understands how eBay works. 

Access to the students' auctions can't be limited to their own community. The items would be available for anyone to bid on. In addition to the above-mentioned concerns about tax liabilities and parental consent, are you prepared to also walk the students through the realities of ecommerce including finance, shipping, and potentially dealing with shipping damage or unhappy customers, returns and claims?  You apparently have no experience as an eBay seller, yourself. My understanding of Australian schools is that "primary" is for kids up to 12 years old.  As you can see, here is an entire discussion community dedicated to dealing with the complications and details of how to sell on eBay. I think you are underestimating the complications of your proposed auction approach.

[dhbookds]

I think it's an idea worth exploring more.........

First thing I'd do is ask the question on the Australian Board ........   https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Buying-Selling/ct-p/1500000003

Here in the States, many schools have Parent Teachers Associations........you might find an ebayer in that group (if one exists) that is an ebayer and could help in that aspect.......they might also have a "charitable"/ school funding raising entity set up that avoids the individual tax problem.

I'm all for educating kids in real world projects......and I can see alot of peripherals to making the item......learning to write the descriptions/photoing/record keeping/profit loss could involve many more kids that just the 3 D kids........

[ckimodog]

@siash-61 

You are posting on a US community discussion forum.  What applies in our country concerning your question, may not apply in yours.  You want want to log into your discussion forum (ebay.com/au) to get more hands on advice from your seller piers in your country.  Just a suggestion.

Good luck getting the help & advice you need. 

[toysaver]

"But I can't figure out a secure way to have the students draft their own ads"

Ever hear of pencil and paper?  You're so stuck in your digital world you can't see the forest through the trees.  Set up your own website for selling.  Keep it local.  Even better make things the kids can donate to others in need.  

EBay is a legitimate business involved in international commerce and not meant to be a tool used in classrooms by children.  Not as farfetched as letting kids run a nuclear reactor for the day or perform surgery in a hospital but could have just as catastrophic results. 

[lacemaker3]

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@siash-61 wrote:

Thanks for your thoughts @wastingtime101  and @tobaccocardyahoo . 

In regards to the IP issue, I will be keeping a very close on all projects and I'm not actually planning on selling all the items - just the top 3 from each class (12 in total). 

As for the MUAA, this is an interesting idea. I could setup 2 accounts: 1 for the teacher, 1 for Finance. I could share my account with the students with severely limited restrictions and then Finance and I manage them all 🙂  Can you see any issues with this?

Thanks again for your time fleshing this out... I can't believe nobody has already thought of this

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In order to make use of MUAA (multi-user account access), each of your students would need to have their own eBay account, which you would then give limited access to the selling account.

The students would need to have their parents' and/or guardians' permission to have eBay accounts. In the USA, this generally means that the accounts should be set up in the parents' or guardians' names, with their financial and tax information, and then at their discretion, the parents/guardians can give their children permission to use their account under their supervision. When the children set up the accounts with their own names, those accounts are generally shut down once eBay becomes aware of the situation, because children cannot enter into contracts in their own right. I expect that this is similar in Australia.

I don't know whether the law (and eBay policy) in the USA or Australia would permit under-age minors to use a teacher's account under the teacher's supervision, since the teacher would not have the same rights/authority over the children as their parents/guardians would, to be able to enter into contracts on the children's behalf. I don't think this would be acceptable in the USA, and I don't know how it would be regarded in Australia either.

MUAA is generally used to give a seller's employees access to the seller's account, to allow them to perform their job duties. I'm not sure how (or if) that would apply to a student/teacher relationship.

[mtgraves7984]

"I can't believe nobody has already thought of this"

@siash-61 

I'm with @nobody*s_perfect on this one. I'm sure it's been dreamed, but found not to be doable. Good luck, though...

[siash-61]

Under Australian law, teachers are employed "in loco parentis", meaning they are the location of parents / legal guardians once they are signed in during school hours/events. 

[mtgraves7984]

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@siash-61 wrote:

Under Australian law, teachers are employed "in loco parentis", meaning they are the location of parents / legal guardians once they are signed in during school hours/events. 

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@siash-61 

Wow. What a burden. That's something that I also thought would be "found not to be doable". Hats off to you! 🙌

[lacemaker3]

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@siash-61 wrote:

Under Australian law, teachers are employed "in loco parentis", meaning they are the location of parents / legal guardians once they are signed in during school hours/events. 

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OK ... well ... we have the same concept here, but ... that's not what it means ... "in loco" does not mean "the location of" ...

https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/in_loco_parentis

I doubt that this concept would be extended to the point of you creating an eBay account for each of your students, in your name, with your financial information (and tax information if applicable), and allowing your students to operate the account (and purchase or sell whatever they wish to) without your supervision outside of the few hours per week that you supervise them during school hours.

I could be wrong, but I would be surprised if eBay Australia would agree to that interpretation, in regards to the eBay underage user policy and  MUAA. [For which you should be massively grateful because this is a stellarly bad idea.]

Please let us know how this works, if you try it.

https://www.ebay.com.au/help/policies/identity-policies/underage-user-policy?id=4233

https://www.ebay.com.au/help/account/multiuser-account-access/multiuser-account-access?id=5197

[downunder-61]

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@dryophelia wrote:

OP is located in Australia. 

@siash-61 

“…then auction them on eBay to our school community.”

If you’re just offering them locally, wouldn’t a table or two in the gymnasium be less hassle?

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Totally agree, for a few items eBay is a hassle and you would do better locally, advertise on Marketplace. 

Ask question on https://www.ebay.com.au/  and if you do decide to go the eBay way, make sure you list on the Au site.