eBay UK to require Business Sellers to list Contact Info on View Item Pages

[mandy]

***Extension to rules for display of business information on View Item page***

Last week we announced broad changes to the marketplace, including new rules for businesses to display their contact details to prospective buyers.

E-commerce regulations clearly state that businesses must provide the geographic address at which their business is established. Members who are operating as businesses on eBay.co.uk need to comply with this law. eBay provides business registration functionality to help sellers easily display their business details directly on the View Item page.

A number of sellers have voiced security concerns with displaying their address on the View Item page. To mitigate this, we are extending the list of permissible locations for a business to provide their contact details.

Sellers operating as a business on eBay.co.uk must clearly display their business name and geographic address in at least one of the following locations:

      1. On the View Item page – in the Business Seller Information section

      2. On a user’s About Me page

      3. On a Shop’s custom page that is no more than one click from their main Shop page.

Please note:

      1. PO Box addresses are not considered to be geographic addresses, and will not be accepted as a valid business address.

      2. Businesses choosing to display their name and address on the View Item page must display that information in the Business Seller Information section. Displaying the name and address in the item description only is insufficient.

Related announcement:

Consumer rights and your business

EU law states that anyone who is trading as a business must clearly indicate this to consumers. This does not only apply to sellers who sell in high volume, but to any seller who buys items to resell or makes items to sell for a profit. Consumers have special rights when they buy from businesses online in a fixed price format, such as the right to cancel the contract within seven days after the day of receipt of the item. At eBay, we will work with you to help you understand your obligations to customers and guide you through the steps you need to take right now.

Find out more about consumer rights and your obligations as a business.
Action for PowerSellers

The majority of PowerSellers on eBay are registered as businesses, they benefit from an enhanced level of service from eBay and are clearly visible as PowerSellers to buyers. From March, we will require that PowerSellers who are not already registered as businesses on eBay take a few moments to upgrade their account to continue to enjoy the benefits of the PowerSeller programme.

Action for high volume sellers who aren't PowerSellers

In the next few weeks, we will start to send alerts to sellers who are operating on very high levels of sales but who are not yet registered as a business. Two factors are taken into account, the gross merchandise volume (GMV) of your sales and the number of items you sold in the last three months. The alert will be sent to My Messages and will explain the steps to upgrade your account. You do not need to be a PowerSeller to receive this alert. The process to upgrade to a business account is straightforward and only takes a few minutes. If you receive this alert, you will have to follow those few simple steps in order to continue selling on eBay.

full announcement: http://web.ebay.co.uk/businesshub/index....gistration
legal FAQ: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/businesscentre/law-policies/