EMPOWERMENT OF CONSUMERS - OECD · 2016-03-29 · Education: Dialogue with Consumer organisations •For example in France: 10 consumer organisations accepted the dialogue. •Subjects

EMPOWERMENT OF CONSUMERS

Marjolein RAES,

Head of Public Affairs, eBay Europe/SENEParis - April, 1, 2009

Presentation OECD/ICPEN Joint Meeting on E-Commerce

eBay Inc. confidential2

eBay in the World

• 276 million Members on eBay, in 39 marketplaces

• 112,3 million live listings permanently, 6 million new listings every day

• More than 50 000 categories

• 1,3 million people make a living totally or partly from eBay


What is eBay?

• NOT an electronic retailer

• NOT an online auctioneer or auction house

• NOT just second hand goods

eBay is the World’s Leading

Online Marketplace


eBay’s Business Model - How Does eBay work?

• eBay is a marketplace –practically anything can be bought and sold, as long as it’s legal

• eBay not involved in the actual transaction between the buyer and seller

• eBay has detailed rules but never creates, edits, or approves user content

• Items sold pass from seller directly to buyer without eBay’s involvement

• eBay earns revenue from listing fees and commission on final sale value

Buyer

Seller


Internet and Consumers

Internet & eBay empower consumers by:

• increasing choice in terms of the wide selection of goods available in over

50,000 categories;

• enabling them to shop in a way that is often more convenient to them;

• providing detailed information about the reputation of the seller through its

unique Feedback Forum and Detailed Seller Ratings;

• making the comparison of price and services easier for the consumer through

greater price transparency;

• making inefficient markets more efficient, in many cases reducing prices; and

• by empowering SMEs to access global markets and compete with larger, more

established companies and traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ businesses.


Average Price Savings – France, Germany & UK

Average price savings per category from buying on eBay

21%22%

20%

48%

32%

11%

15%

8%

25%

2%

22%

31%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Cons.

Electronic -

Video

Cons.

Electronic -

Audio

Photo Telecoms Computers Domestic

Appliances

Video

Games

DVD &

Movies

Books Music Sporting

goods

Clothing

and

accessories

Product category

Ave

rag

e p

rice

dif

fere

nce

Average across all

categories (17%)

Source: Economic Study by Frontier Economics, June 2008 using Frontier Analysis, eBay & Harris Data

Average price savings on

new products across FR,

DE and UK = 17%

Average savings from

buying on eBay.co.uk

compared to various

offline sources = 25%


Old vs New Market


Feedback and Detailed Seller Ratings


Changes to Feedback

• To protect buyers from retaliatory feedback and give them the

confidence to leave honest feedback, sellers will no longer be able to

leave negative or neutral Feedback for buyers.

• We will remove negative and neutral Feedback left by members who

are suspended or who don’t respond to the Unpaid Item Process

(UPI).

• Also introduced new method for buyers to withdraw negative

feedback, if for example it was left by mistake or the seller has ‘made

good’ on the transaction.


Demoting Poor Sellers in Search

1

3

2

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11


Detection: ‘Report This Item’ Functionality


Education: Safety Centre


Education: Consumer Rights Hub Page


Education: Consumer Rights Page


Education: Dialogue with Consumer organisations

• For example in France: 10 consumer organisations accepted the dialogue.

• Subjects for discussion:

- Education consumer organisations

- Improve the communication with our users

- Fraud and security of transactions

• Reach out to BEUC: consumer empowerment.


Education: Rules and Policies


Education: Policies


Education: Advising Business on Legal Obligations


Business Registration

• High volume sellers are now required to trade from a business account. The

threshold is based on both monthly GMV AND the number of items sold

monthly over the past three months.

• Business sellers are required to:

– Display their business name and address details.

– Accept cancellations for all applicable Fixed Price type items according

to the legal minimum standard (7 days from receipt).


Enforcement: Who We Work With

• Law Enforcement Relationship Management Programme

• Training Law Enforcement:

– Objectives to share with Law Enforcement our knowledge & experience in effective online investigations

• Supporting Law Enforcement:

– Fraud Investigation Team in Dublin

– Sharing Data (governed by Data Protection Act)

– Providing witness statements and court appearances

UK

• UK Local / Regional Police Departments

• National Security Services (MI5)

• The National Crime Squad (NCS)

• SOCA E-Crime

• UK Intellectual Property Office

• Trading Standards

• Scotland Yard Computer Crime Bureau

• HMRC

International

• United States Secret Service

• FBI / US Department of Justice

• International Law Enforcement (Interpol)

• French Ministry of Interior

• French Customs

• Japanese Metropolitan Police

• Chinese Public Security Bureau

• Hong Kong Police Technology Crime

• Australian High Tech Crime Centre

In 2008, eBay trained 4,200 law enforcement officials and assisted in over

71,000 investigations and in the arrest or conviction of over 505 individuals

Documents

EMPOWERMENT OF CONSUMERS - OECD · 2016-03-29 · Education: Dialogue with Consumer organisations •For example in France: 10 consumer organisations accepted the dialogue. •Subjects