eBay Price Jacking - Enough is Enough

Tnetennba on 11/07/2018 - 13:40

Not sure where else to post this rant, but I can't be the only one…

How much longer can eBay and associated eBay stores get away with blatantly illegal "price jacking" as part of their selected store sales? We all know (as indicated by frequent price jacking comments) that it is going on but seem to not give a toss that consumers are being completely misled.

You simply cannot claim 20% off a particular store, and immediately before the sale, rise prices by 15-20%… Kogan did it in 2015 and were fined $32k in 2016 for doing exactly what the current stores are doing on their own eBay store… I don't believe Kogan has since repeated the offence.

I can understand why the OzBargain community still enjoys the sales. You can often find outlier products that you do get a good 10-20% off retail value on, and generally you can get maybe 5% off the original selling price from that seller (nb. it is often cheaper elsewhere anyway), however not everyone will investigate that deeply and will see "20% off these stores" and think that it's a genuinely good deal… This is illegal and we need to stop putting up with it.

I have nothing against the sitewide deals, since obviously not every store out there is going to price jack, or even know about the deal in the first place.

I realise how much I sound like an angry old man with too much time on my hands, but surely others feel the same :(

Poll Options

  • 68
    Ban eBay sales with blatant price jacking
  • 18
    Keep 'em coming, I don't care
General Discussion

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Comments

  • CyberMurning on 11/07/2018 - 13:41

    Enough, Jacky

    • Yummy on 11/07/2018 - 13:50

      Chan?

  • foxmulder on 11/07/2018 - 13:45

    Sample listing?

  • myusername on 11/07/2018 - 13:49

    it's not just ebay that do it, plenty of retailers follow this practice

  • Yummy on 11/07/2018 - 13:50
    +7

    Yup same with Harvey Norman. Boycott Gerry!

  • FireRunner on 11/07/2018 - 13:52

    Problem is that it is often a mixed bag.
    I bought something last eBay sale and the seller had not raised the price. Might have missed it if wasn't on ozbargain.
    I think most ozbargainers are aware of the price jacking so no, I don't think it should be banned.

  • Mister Miser on 11/07/2018 - 13:55
    +3

    should we also ban the stores that advertise "up to 50% off" sales, but you can only find jackall or only items at 10% off?

    • Tnetennba on 11/07/2018 - 13:57
      +3

      Generally they don't get hundreds of upvotes, so are less likely to appear as a good deal. More often than not, people will ask for a sample item/items that actually are 50% off.

      When these eBay deals are posted, they often get upvoted ridiculously quickly, even though there is little substance to the deals.

      • Mister Miser on 11/07/2018 - 14:46

        hmm..you have a point, but i'm not that much bothered by the extra deal slot it is taking up on the front page. just something i scroll past. if i'm on the lookout for a particular deal for an item, it's nice to be aware of the active promotions and do a search to compare. so far the stuff that i've purchased through the 20% off sales have saved me quite alot.

      • Diji1 on 11/07/2018 - 14:47

        often get upvoted ridiculously quickly, even though there is little substance to the deals.

        I agree they get a ridiculous amount of votes (but what ya gonna do? People vote how the people vote) but there are often real some bargains to be had with the code.

        The issue is the deception of claiming that it's a 20% saving in many cases though.

    • ronnknee on 11/07/2018 - 14:38

      EB Games would be instant banned with all those false "SALE" banners everywhere.

      • Gandalf the Thrifty on 11/07/2018 - 22:35

        EB Biggest Sale ever seems to be up every couple months too

  • Clear on 11/07/2018 - 13:58
    +1

    All the reasons of why price jacking have been made clear countless times so I won't talk about them. But there are always genuine bargains within the mix without price jacking. Even ones with price jacking can end up a bargain.

    eBay deals aren't going to be banned for those two reasons. The problem is trying to get something done about it. Get enough people and whinge to Fair Trade and you might get a response. The constant whinging in deal posts never really achieves anything.

  • holdenmg on 11/07/2018 - 14:10
    +2

    Old Man Yells at Cloud
    https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/019/304/old…

  • capslock on 11/07/2018 - 14:13
    +2

    The 20% off sales seem to be a permanent occurrence now. I wouldn't even call it a sale anymore. It is just the new normal price. Seems to be good marketing though as it gets heaps of upvotes each time making it look like a real sale.

  • HighAndDry on 11/07/2018 - 14:16

    Caveat emptor. There are dozens of tools to see what the usual price is, what the previous lowest price was, etc. Do your own research.

    • Tnetennba on 11/07/2018 - 14:34

      This is true, and of course I always shop around and check if something is a deal like everyone else on a bargain enthusiast forum.

      Doesn't make these practices any better.

  • hawkeye on 11/07/2018 - 14:16

    Goes to show Stores can only jack up some of the people some of the time. It would be better to find out latter you only got jacked off rather than ripped off for not paying attention.

    • Mister Miser on 11/07/2018 - 14:35

      i don't like to be jacked off by stores.

  • p1 ama on 11/07/2018 - 14:34
    +7

    You simply cannot claim 20% off a particular store, and immediately before the sale, rise prices by 15-20%… Kogan did it in 2015 and were fined $32k in 2016(news.com.au) for doing exactly what the current stores are doing on their own eBay store… I don't believe Kogan has since repeated the offence.

    It's not the same. I used to work at the ACCC (though in regulation), but I discussed this with a colleague from the consumer and product safety division and he basically pointed out that this is not the same issue as Kogan. This would be the same as if I stood outside Target and said "if you buy XYZ from Target, I'll give you $10". The promoters of the sale are eBay, not the sellers themselves. Therefore, the sellers are free to charge whatever price they want. On top of that, regardless of what you might feel about these sales, even if it were "illegal" (and I use that word loosely), it would be practically impossible to go after all of these small retailers.

    I can understand why the OzBargain community still enjoys the sales. You can often find outlier products that you do get a good 10-20% off retail value on, and generally you can get maybe 5% off the original selling price from that seller (nb. it is often cheaper elsewhere anyway), however not everyone will investigate that deeply and will see "20% off these stores" and think that it's a genuinely good deal… This is illegal and we need to stop putting up with it.

    Unfortunately, that's on them. I see Harvey Norman advertising 15% off TVs all the time, doesn't make it a good deal.

    I realise how much I sound like an angry old man with too much time on my hands, but surely others feel the same :(

    Yes, I don't understand why the visceral response to anything you don't like is to "ban". It reminds me of the drug war - want to reduce drug usage? Ban them all! If you want to see how that's going, check out what the state of drug use in Indonesia or the Philippines are at the moment.

    If you ban the sales, you are simply reducing the amount of information that people have because it is no longer discussed in the open. On top of that, you miss out on the genuinely good deals that do pop up with all of these sales.

    • Tnetennba on 11/07/2018 - 14:43

      The promoters of the sale are eBay, not the sellers themselves.

      This is somewhat true. I would say there is an agreement between eBay and the stores, and as such the stores are probably the ones absorbing some or most of the cost of the coupon discount.

      Probably a legal loophole which you are right, likely makes this not actually illegal.

      The stores themselves do heavily promote the coupon codes though. Last time I did actually buy something from Futu_online who had banners and notes all over their store saying to use the PICKITUP coupon for 20% off. Hard to argue it is only eBay promoting it.

      • p1 ama on 11/07/2018 - 22:29
        +1

        Probably a legal loophole which you are right, likely makes this not actually illegal.

        I think you're throwing around the word "legal" in a very loose way.

        Having been part of committees investigating breaches of competition law when I was at the ACCC and having sat on commission meetings, I would say that what is "legal" is actually very, very unclear.

        The law is not black and white, the law is open to interpretation and different people may ascribe different meanings on the same written text. Of course, that's why the legal profession (and I'm not a lawyer, I'm an economist) exists. This is why there are courts and due process and why trials are sometimes extremely drawn out and expensive.

        It is not easy to prove that one is in breach of the law. In competition law, you would first have to get the economists to show that there existed some market distortions, then you would have to get the lawyers to find some sort of transgression which led to the market distortion. It goes through many teams, then through the commissioners, then can potentially be challenged in court, knocked back…etc.

        In other words, this is not "illegal" in the sense that killing someone is "illegal".

    • ronnknee on 11/07/2018 - 14:43
      +2

      This is the most educated answer.

  • Ryanek on 11/07/2018 - 14:58
    -1

    On the bright side, it makes finding a genuine bargain all the more satisfying.

  • DarkOz on 11/07/2018 - 15:30

    It saved me $80 last time and it will save me $35 this time. It wasted some of my time pricing around but I have plenty of time to waste.

    • idonotknowwhy on 13/07/2018 - 14:56

      I have plenty of time to waste

      You can always get more money but you'll never get wasted time back.

  • GangGang on 11/07/2018 - 16:25
    +1

    These eBay sales are perfect for people who are wanting to purchase an item, know what the price is at competitor stores and have done their homework.

    All these people getting screwed must just jump on ebay and buy anything at 20% off and realise after the purchase they could of got it cheaper somewhere else.

    • ninjataki on 12/07/2018 - 21:54

      Agree mostly on your point. Personally been researching the Triton 700 for a while and knew the local and ebay lowest prices. Got it today for well below that and with no prior price jacking. Happy happy

      • GangGang on 12/07/2018 - 22:35

        That's how it should be done. Unfortunately, majority of people are getting screwed and that's why there are sales everyday now to take advantage and eBay is loving it.

  • this is us on 12/07/2018 - 11:58
    +1

    People should complain to ACCC and they should do something about that. Informal complaints here won't change anything. Consumers can pressure ACCC if there is evidence that eBay and/or stores are increasing the price (and that is crystal clear). If ACCC doesn't care or turns the blind eye for whatever reason (being lazy, bribe, etc.), the consumers can question why they are not doing their job. Is it because there are no enough complaints, enough evidence, or other reason?

    Having said that, we know that they increase prices, but we can see the price before completing the order. It is annoying and misleading but we open the links, see the prices, check the discount (or the increased price), add to the cart, and press the button to confirm (or not).

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