Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;benhur767, post: 2932214, member: 36818&quot;]I agree with Ken. eBay sales follow an auction-bidding model, and in this sense they can be called auctions. But eBay sales are not regulated in the same way and by the same government entities that regulate the auctioneering profession. Most states and some cities in the U.S regulate the auctioneering profession (countries in Europe have similar regulations). In most of these (at least in the U.S.), one who &quot;holds him/herself out to be an auctioneer&quot; or as an &quot;auction house&quot; to the public and who is not licensed by a government entity is committing consumer fraud through misrepresentation and will be prosecuted.</p><p><br /></p><p>eBay sellers cannot hold themselves out to be auctioneers unless they actually are. Most do not hold an auctioneers&#039; license and cannot legally refer to themselves as such. Similarly, in the U.S, it is illegal to use the nominal &quot;esquire&quot; or &quot;.esq&quot; unless one is licensed to practice law.</p><p><br /></p><p>This is why eBay sellers are called &quot;sellers&quot; and not &quot;auctioneers.&quot; They are not subject to the same fiduciary responsibilities and government regulations as are licensed auctioneers. Therefore, in a legal sense, eBay &quot;auctions&quot; are not true auctions; as stated above, they are a method of sales which follows an auction-bidding model. The exception, of course, is when the eBay auction is run by a licensed auctioneer.</p><p><br /></p><p>With eBay, the customer is first and has many protections. In most cases the seller owns the material, rarely is it a consignment. &quot;Buy it now&quot; and &quot;Make an offer&quot; sales are common. The seller receives the lion&#039;s share of the full sales price, part of which goes to cover fees. For these reasons eBay it is more akin to retail. But with traditional auction houses run by licensed auctioneers, the client is first and has many protections. For bidders they are more akin to casinos and almost nothing like retail. A bid is a bet and buyer beware. Most items are consigned. The client receives all or most of the hammer price, and the auctioneer has to cover expenses and make a profit from buyer&#039;s fees, etc.</p><p><br /></p><p>In short, eBay functions primarily by attracting sellers but protecting bidders. Auctioneers function primarily by attracting bidders but protecting sellers. Certainly everyone benefits if both eBay and traditional auction houses treat everyone with courtesy, respect, and fair dealing. But their ultimate loyalties are at opposite poles.</p><p><br /></p><p>Governments have been looking to regulate eBay and other online-only auction sales for many years. Once that happens, only licensed auctioneers will be able to sell through eBay, if it survives at all. It will fundamentally change the nature of eBay. In most locales, it takes much training, expense, and time, and many hoops to jump through, before one becomes licensed. The reality is that it will probably kill eBay.</p><p><br /></p><p>In the future, then, look for eBay — or what&#039;s left of it — to become more like a venue for traditional auction houses with a client-first, customer-second attitude. It&#039;s barking up the wrong tree to expect traditional auction houses to become more like eBay where the customer is first.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in