eBay UK Restricts Baby Toys & E-Bikes To Business Sellers Only
eBay UK is notifying users as of October 31st, sales of baby toys and e-bikes, chargers and kits will be restricted to active, established business sellers in order to make sure these products adhere to UK safety standards.
The notice went out in an email apparently targeted to sellers who have sold in these categories in the past.
fatbobfan
Selling e-bikes and baby toys on eBay.co.uk
We're getting in touch to let you know that we're updating our policy for selling e-bikes and their batteries, chargers, conversion kits, and baby toys on ebay.co.uk.To ensure that these products adhere to UK safety standards when sold on our marketplace, from 31 October 2024 only eligible business sellers will be able to list them for sale in the UK. The impacted products are as follows:
- E-bikes: This includes e-bikes and their batteries, chargers, and conversion kits. These products can only be sold by business sellers. Please note that used e-bike batteries will no longer be able to be sold on ebay.co.uk
- Baby toys: Items for the use of children under 36 months can only be sold by business sellers registered in the UK
In addition to the criteria above, you’ll need:
- An established history of active selling for at least 90 days, with 100 or more transactions and £1,000 or more in sales in the last 12 months
- A track record of delivering positive buying experiences, including an account that’s Above Standard or Top Rated
- To be compliant with all applicable laws, regulations, and eBay policies
- To have registered for eBay managed payments and verified your identity
- To provide great customer service, like delivering items on time
The move comes as eBay just announced fee-free selling for private UK selles in all categories except Motors, so it's not surprising that they would seek to clamp down on certain dangerous or restricted products that may flood the marketplace without the normal consumer protections that would come from purchasing from a business.
Liz Morton
But as one seller in the eBay UK community points out - the devil will be in the enforcement details, and unfortunately eBay doesn't have a great track record on that front, particularly when it comes to the often complex category structure on the site.
Well, this is going to cause a stir. The first thing that springs to mind is what actual ebay categories are going to be blocked for private sellers. Will it just be Baby > Toys & Activities >... categories or will it also include Toys & Games > ... categories where that age range is selected in item specifics?
If it doesn't include the latter then that will be an obvious loophole. I just had a quick look and there are currently 54,000+ listings from private sellers in the Toys & Games category when you use the two filters, 12 Months & Under and 1-2 Years.
That, of course, doesn't include the no doubt many more that just haven't got that item specific filled in.
Another seller pointed to recent actions by the Office for Product Safety and Standards as another likely catalyst for this policy change.
Interesting. At first I thought this was GPSR related due to Northern Ireland but the restrictions are too specific for that. This sounds more like something from the Office for Product Safety and Standards - I know there have been several e-bike battery fires reported in the news recently.
eBay just dodged a potential ~$2 Billion bullet in the US with a judge dismissing a lawsuit brought by the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Justice regarding prohibited pesticides, restricted chemicals and illegal emissions control cheat devices sold on the site.
U.S. District Judge Orelia Merchant granted eBay's motion to dismiss, agreeing that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act protects the platform from liability for items sold by third parties.
Liz Morton
But that is only a US court and the decision, and applicable case law, only applies to items sold on the main eBay.com US site - and the UK and Europe typically have much stronger consumer protection laws with much less wiggle room for companies to skirt responsibility for items sold on their respective sites.
What do you think of eBay cracking down on the sale of baby toys and e-bikes by private sellers? Let us know in the comments below!
