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Comment by dcc1 | Hacker News Reader

I hope Amazon crushes Ebay/Paypal

Ebay/Paypal has a long history of screwing sellers and buyers and users of Paypal, just search the internet for horror stories. Their support is staffed by drones (ha) unlike Amazon support who are swift and efficient and seem to go out of their way to make me feel good as a customer.

What is more surprising is that Ebay hasnt been brought to court here in Europe, its quite obvious majority of sellers are not charging or paying sales taxes (VAT) which are as high as 20 to 30% here depending on state.

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I was a consultant at eBay for a few years, and one thing I learned was that it's big, hairy, complex problem to run a marketplace. Every policy change is fraught with vitriol because there are always two sides -- the buyers and the sellers. One group will always think you're screwing them over while the other side thinks you made their day. It's worse because the sellers are a small, extremely vocal group and the buyers are the quiet millions that simply react through purchasing decisions (or lack thereof). Buyers tend not to run anti-eBay blogs, forums, etc.

On top of that, there's fraud. Both eBay and PayPal have inserted themselves as an intermediary in the long history of humans trying to screw each other over, where one or both parties is going to walk away very unhappy, and the company gets the blame. It's a tiny fraction of the activity, but the outcome is that everyone pays the price through draconian policies, high fees, bad customer service, locked accounts, etc.

Honest question, why does EBay not offer a simple we open the package weigh it and take some pictures and then email them, to the buyer option? Even adding a week and charging 20$ + shipping would be worth it for a fair number of purchases and add quite a bit to there bottom line.

I have no idea. If I had to guess, I'd say the problems are that it's not cost effective and it could cause eBay to hold the bag in the case of fraud. I'm not sure that it would be as little as $20 to process shipments, and photographs aren't necessarily going to show problems such as defective products or counterfeit goods. It requires a more lengthy examination by an expert.

I think there's a small market opportunity here though. Gazelle and some other companies are doing this for some electronics. Instead of essentially acting as an escrow, they are buying a tested, QA'd product outright from the seller, and then selling it for a more hefty markup on eBay and other outlets. Small, high value goods with high margins such as electronics, luxury clothing, and jewelry may be a good business here if it marketing can be scaled cost effectively.

eBay avoids a lot of headaches by not touching the merchandise, for example sales tax (in the US). Unlike amazon, which is caving to sales tax demands in one state after another.

Ever since Amazon started charging sales tax in my state, people I know have been showrooming products on Amazon, then buying them on eBay, buydig, etc. As long as eBay isn't forced to deal with taxes, they have an inherent advantage.

The morality and legality of avoiding paying sales taxes is quite another discussion, and an interesting one.

From what I experienced, European merchants do charge VAT as a part of the price: being from outside EU I can see prices listed on ebay.de and ebay.co.uk with and without VAT. Different EU nations have different provisions for taxation of privately sold / used items, so VAT may or may not apply in those cases.

Foreign merchants listed on European eBay sites do not charge VAT, nor they should: import duty is the job of customs office.

Have you ever tried getting a VAT invoice (invoice with price and vat amount and rates and numbers written down on the invoice) from any eBay seller?

I doubt many of them are even VAT registered

Amazon on the other hand clearly state the Tax amounts and/or import duties on the invoices and receipts.

Anyways Ebay/Paypal are one scummy company who are being rightly out-competed by Amazon, they deserve it for their treatment of buyers and sellers and users of Paypal.

Yes, normally I get a full invoice from a seller, which lists VAT. Might be not something every mom&pop seller follows, but par the course with incorporated merchants on eBay.

In the UK a business does not have to register for VAT until sales reach £79,000 so many small traders can go VAT free quite legally.

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