UK Baby Buggy Makers Seek Ban On eBay Sales

[mandy]

Two of Britain's most popular baby buggy brands have joined the front line in the growing global battle between retailers and eBay, the internet auction site.

Maclaren and Bugaboo, which together supply just over a third of the pushchairs sold in the UK, are trying to stop new pushchairs being sold through eBay shops for a fixed price.

They will be followed by Mamas & Papas, which accounts for another third of the market. It will introduce a strict internet sales policy from September making it almost impossible for independent retailers to sell its products on eBay...

full article: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/bu...258334.ece

TechDirt commentary:

...a bunch of baby stroller companies in the UK are pushing hard to stop retailers from selling their legitimately purchased products on eBay. Effectively, they're trying to put EULAs on baby strollers suggesting that the retailer buyers don't actually have the right to resell what they've legally purchased. Not only is this questionable from a legal standpoint, it's dumb from a business standpoint. A healthy secondary market for products increases the value of the product itself, since buyers intrinsically recognize the potential resale market in determining the value of purchasing the original....

full article and comments: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/bu...258334.ece