eBay has made no secret of the fact it has been tightening the rules around selling refurbished goods on its platform. But it has not publicized the fact that sellers who wish to apply to its fairly recent program must sign a non-disclosure agreement that binds them to secrecy over anything eBay tells them for 3 years from the date of signing the contract, according to John Bumstead of RDKL Inc (pronounced "roadkill incorporated").
Beginning in October of 2020, eBay restricted sellers to listing refurbished goods in one of two ways: "Seller refurbished" and "Certified refurbished," and severely restricting who was allowed to use the certified condition.
A year later, it barred sellers from listing *any* refurbished goods in the Cell Phones & Smartphones category.
Today, the eBay policy page shows there is no "seller refurbished" option in cell phones, laptop & desktop computers, smartphone and tablet categories - sellers must be vetted by eBay or else sell their refurbs as "used," a major disadvantage.
When Bumstead was forced to either change his listings for refurbished goods to "used" condition or else stop selling them on eBay entirely, he decided to apply for the program. He would still not qualify to list his items as *certified* refurbished, since that requires manufacturer approval, but in the categories he sells, there were options to sell refurbished in three other conditions: Excellent, Very Good, and Good - explained on this page of the eBay website.
After receiving his application, eBay reached out and said he'd have to sign a "Mutual Non Disclosure Agreement" (MNDA). This would prevent him from talking about the program for 3 years - even if eBay did not ultimately accept him into the program.
Bumstead explained how he came to his decision about what to do in a YouTube video, "eBay Silences Refurbishers With Mandatory Non-Disclosure Agreement."
He told EcommerceBytes he sees the requirement to sign an "MNDA" (Mutual Non Disclosure Agreement) to be much more than a single instance of silencing sellers - he fears it's the beginning of "brand-gating" on eBay.
"I fear this means more changes for eBay because it mirrors what happened with the Apple/Amazon agreement years ago - Apple sellers were kicked off listings they had sold for years, and the "Renewed" program was founded, but would only authorize specific sellers who presumably had manufacturer approval and met absurdly high requirements.
"Since then Amazon has continued to partner with manufacturers and institute brand gating, essentially waging a war inside the Amazon ecosystem, pitting manufacturers and approved sellers against everyone else."
Bumstead said he believes eBay is trying to replicate Amazon's success and asked, "If eBay is open to the strategy of defining a new segment of manufacturers/approved sellers and pitting it against regular sellers, then why would they not also be open to FURTHERING that strategy, especially if it is lucrative?"
He said that with its MNDA mandate, "eBay could tighten the requirements further, or implement any given anticompetitive strategy, and sellers involved would remain legally muzzled and unable to voice concerns to the public."
This isn't the first time Bumstead has spoken out publicly about marketplace practices. He had been selling refurbished goods on Amazon when the marketplace sent him notice in 2018 that it would begin limiting sales of Apple products to "authorized resellers."
He broke the story to the media, and outlets including the LA Times ("How Apple and other manufacturers attach your right to repair their products") and Vice ("Amazon Is Kicking All Unauthorized Apple Refurbishers Off Amazon Marketplace") picked up the story, leading the FTC to launch an investigation - all of which he describes in the video he posted on YouTube. (A law professor quoted in the Vice article called Amazon's practice a "coordinated assault on the lawful resale of consumer devices.")
Bumstead said requiring sellers who aren't approved for the eBay Certified Refurb program to list their items as used rather than refurbished is "effectively degrading their listings and leading consumers to believe their products are "used", and probably something found in the back of a closet."
"Refurbishers can apply for "eBay Refurbished", but to do so they must abandon their right to free speech for 3 years, something I personally find unacceptable," he said.
Sellers have come to expect (though not accept) brand-gating on Amazon, but not so on eBay. Is this a strategy out of eBay CEO Jamie Iannone's Innovation Playbook? Let us know what you think and what it would take for you to sign a "mutual" NDA with an online marketplace.
eBay Silences Sellers Who Apply to Its Refurb Program
by: pace306
Sat Jul 23 21:58:19 2022
Said for the 10 thousandth time - SAN JOSE MAFIA
eBay Silences Sellers Who Apply to Its Refurb Program
by: Rexford
Sat Jul 23 22:46:25 2022
Vee haav vays of making you taak and Vee haav vays of silencing you.
PACE306 has been describing them perfectly for years.
eBay knows that there execs would be in prison if it were not for their heavy handed user agreements. Any company who has to have someone sign their rights away to use their platform need to take a good luck at themselves in the mirror.
eBay Silences Sellers Who Apply to Its Refurb Program
by: Rexford
Sat Jul 23 22:47:03 2022
Their execs, not there execs. I am not entirely illiterate. : )
eBay Silences Sellers Who Apply to Its Refurb Program
by: comments
Sun Jul 24 05:39:33 2022
It my opinion this is a very positive step for ebay many sellers sell used goods as refurbished and I think ebay is using good judgment by confirming these products are actually refurbished.
They also need more cracking down on New - Other and New - Open box which sellers are just using interchangeably to promote used items.
A used item is a used item. It isn't refurbished and it isn't a new open box regardless of the condition. Its like the old "we just opened it to test it".....Who opens a new item for testing anyway?
It is the small minority of unscrupulous sellers that cause knit picky problems for the good honorable sellers.
eBay Silences Sellers Who Apply to Its Refurb Program
by: CT Bay
Sun Jul 24 07:37:03 2022
I open new stuff all the time and still call it new. For one thing just because something is sealed doesn’t mean its not broken inside. Especially if it contains glass. For another thing, Amazon and eBay both encourage, condone, and facilitate, return abuse/theft. People are quite good at sealing packages back to look like they are factory sealed when they aren’t. And for yet another thing, VERO. I would love to leave an item sealed and use a stock photo. You never know when your going to get hammered for doing that with a vero violation. Furthermore the stock photos are not always accurate and are often misleading. I open lots of sealed items just to get a good, non IP violating set of photos. So who opens new things to test them? I do.
eBay Silences Sellers Who Apply to Its Refurb Program
by: AddyUp
Sun Jul 24 07:37:52 2022
"we just opened it to test it".....Who opens a new item for testing anyway?
Just about any sensible small seller. If you don't at least picture the box contents it just increases the risk of arriving "empty".
eBay Silences Sellers Who Apply to Its Refurb Program
by: Rexford
Sun Jul 24 08:12:52 2022
"we just opened it to test it".....Who opens a new item for testing anyway?
Someone who doesn't want a SNAD? Especially with very expensive items I can see why a seller might want to test before the ship.
To be clear, I see nothing wrong with the program itself. What I have a problem with is eBay silencing those who participate in the program.
eBay Silences Sellers Who Apply to Its Refurb Program
by: rhw1
Sun Jul 24 12:31:02 2022
What I simply don’t understand and probably never will is why eBay continues to coddle the buyers endlessly. For the refurb category why not offer certified refurb AND non certified refurb? Let the buyer decide with their pocketbook which way they want to go? In the event the the transaction goes sideways, you file the INAD. Once eBay makes the buyers put on their big boy pants, instead of hand and bottle feeding them, the problem will go away. Just like the sellers who charge outrageous shipping on items. They either adjust their price or they go away. But either way, it’s still wrong for eBay to have anyone sign an NDA. Nothing from eBay is beneficial to both sides. Never has and never will.
eBay Silences Sellers Who Apply to Its Refurb Program
by: pace306
Sun Jul 24 18:33:13 2022
Of selling Refurbished items is such a great thing - then why the NDA???
NDA’s are to protect secrets- what illegal cr@p is eBay trying to hide.
I was told by eBay that even though I had Amazon refurb items- sealed with paper work to back it up and I was STILL told it’s USED.
Ebays not doing it to help sellers or buyers (even the STUPID ones that think refurbished items are always %100 perfect) they are getting backend money from preferred sellers.
Aka San Jose Mafia- by locking out good sellers like myself (20+ yr seller)
I know crooks when I see them.
eBay Silences Sellers Who Apply to Its Refurb Program
by: Mazdaman
Mon Jul 25 00:19:37 2022
It seems like lately eBay can't come up with ANY ideas or marketing programs by themselves - they've got to steal it from a competitor - and then FORCE sellers to sign NDAs so they can't TELL OTHERS that they stole the program.
Ebay will only be first at going out of business this way; the others will watch with glee.
eBay Silences Sellers Who Apply to Its Refurb Program
by: Actual Seller
Mon Jul 25 03:10:04 2022
"We jUSt oPEnED it To tEsT iT"
I would never buy from that seller. That means it is NOT NEW and they got it used somewhere. You do not open new items from authorized distributors or retail arbitrage. You open used trash that you will call new.
Too many sellers trying to flip return pallets and stuff they find at a Thrift Store as new.
eBay DOES need to crackdown on these sellers.
I had to stop buying on eBay because almost every order has something wrong with it.
eBay Silences Sellers Who Apply to Its Refurb Program
by: Chicago48
Mon Jul 25 04:15:56 2022
I can see a competing platform ("Mercari"? "Whatnot?") picking up where Ebay is falling down. Or sellers moving to their own sites with Shopify to sell refurbs. I just don't see anyone who sells refurbs going along with this EB move and pulling their items down.
eBay Silences Sellers Who Apply to Its Refurb Program
by: pace306
Mon Jul 25 09:29:24 2022
Chicago
I have high HOPES for Mercari - but at this point they arent "mature enough" to compete directly with eBay - though the sky is the limit should they so choose.
They still have some of eBays original sin - total control of payments and an odd feedback system - but in general it does work
Lets hope they continue to take a bite out of eBays apple.
eBay Silences Sellers Who Apply to Its Refurb Program
by: spooky
Mon Jul 25 10:09:00 2022
I never understood how "seller refurbished" worked on ebay. I understand if I am buying a refurbished cell phone from Apple thats one thing but I am sure on eBay that condition link was always abused
eBay Silences Sellers Who Apply to Its Refurb Program
by: Shanna
Mon Jul 25 11:45:00 2022
Pace,
The best thing about Mercari is their shipping rates. They have option significantly lower than eBay. Most buyers are shopping on total price, and with, say, 2 pounds going coast to coast for $7.99 UPS, $3 less than eBay's discounted Priority shipping. Oh, and when you use Mercari's shipping, they charge no FVF on the shipping portion.
eBay Silences Sellers Who Apply to Its Refurb Program
by: pace306
Mon Jul 25 13:05:12 2022
Shanna :)
yes you are correct!
eBay Silences Sellers Who Apply to Its Refurb Program
by: ShortSeller
Mon Jul 25 15:38:01 2022
NDAs are in place because ebay pays these companies to list their refurb product there in return for exclusivity and free marketing.
eBay Silences Sellers Who Apply to Its Refurb Program
by: pace306
Mon Jul 25 19:11:29 2022
Short - which is unfair to other sellers
aka its pay for play (mafia)
eBay Silences Sellers Who Apply to Its Refurb Program
by: Snapped
Tue Jul 26 03:25:55 2022
OP is on point. This latest anti-trust thrust by eBay cloaked in the guise of ‘consumer protection’ is erecting the gateposts. And their NDA is the fence to exclude those disadvantaged as a result. With eBay, it’s put up AND shut-up.
The ‘confirmation’ justification for this is absurd. Sellers with an established rep as determined by eBay’s own metrics measuring buyer conversion and satisfaction need MORE confirmation?
No, what needs more confirmation is each and every buyer accusation before eBay passes judgement. Moreover, any ‘NDA’ in place with a seller who falls victim to one of these non-due processed sanctions should be rendered null and void at that very microsecond.
The fact it would not be though, is not what makes it a bad idea. Trust works both ways. Trusting eBay is what makes it a bad choice idea.
eBay Silences Sellers Who Apply to Its Refurb Program
by: pace306
Tue Jul 26 09:56:21 2022
eBay has been doing "Brand Gating" on a much smaller scale for YEARS now, but no one cares.
This is the FIRST time anyone's ever written about it, besides posters here like myself.
eBay has done this brand gating via the evil cretins @VERO.
You can tell its coming when alot of small sellers of a certain brand "magically" are kicked, their items are kicked and the banners for that brand just "show up".
Under the FAKE "unauthorized" VERO game (theres no such thing in US trade law and eBay knows it (either that or their lawyers got their degrees of place from the back of a matchbook cover)) eBay removes said items/sellers.
Of course its simply about removing competition not fakes - eBay never seems to be concerned with fakes - until theres a court case with their name on it.
eBay then places the makers "Platinum Store" on top, on the bottom of YOUR listings, or anywhere else it pleases, to insure that the maker gets every possible sale. In alot of cases, theres money passed back n forth between eBay and the maker ...... (the fries in Walkers are sponsored to day by _______)
How do I know? I went through this with eBay AND a few makers - and Im looking at YOU G-Shock and YOU Skullcandy (just to name 2).
The new "lock out" of sellers via the "refurb game" is a new low/game for eBay. They have gone 1 step farther in playing this game -desperate times call for desperate measures (like a %50 stock drop).
Sadly, no one cares, so its just another day in the sleazy eBay neighborhood (waiting for the "but but AMAZON does it too !!!!" (true but the topic ISNT about Amazon, even though its factually correct)
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eBay Silences Sellers Who Apply to Its Refurb Program
by: Rexford