When we launched the Consumer Choice campaign at the EU Parliament in Strasbourg last month we spent some time talking with a number of people who attended.
This included Alex von Schirmeister, director general of eBay, British MEPs backing the campaign Mary Honeyball and Roger Helmer as well as a range of small business owners from the UK, France and Germany who sell via eBay and have suffered from online restrictions from brand owners.
We’ve collected these interviews into a film that illustrates some of the problems faced by online retailers under the EU’s current legislation and reinforces the importance of our campaign.
As Alex von Schirmeister, director general of eBay, puts it:
“EU policymakers are in the process of reviewing the selective distribution laws which have to be revised by next year. What we’re hoping is to actually influence law making. We think that the current framework needs to be revised, needs to be updated and we’re hoping that policy makers today that hear this message will take this into account when they draft the law”
We hope that this video will further contribute towards increasing awareness of the significance of free Internet trade which we believe benefits not only businesses and consumers but society in general.
You can watch the film over at the Consumer Choice YouTube channel along with our other campaign films. Some of the content is also in French and German, but regardless of the language, the bottom line is always the same: Internet trade should not be restricted because it hurts consumers and small businesses.
The Consumer Choice campaign is calling on the European Commission to ensure that when it amends its Vertical Restraints Regulation and Guidelines consumers and small businesses aren’t the victim of unfair trade practices that ignore the power of the internet to increase the level of choice and value available.
We’ve written about some of the ways in which brands are unfairly pressuring online sellers in other EU countries to fix their prices to keep brands’ profits up and consumer savings down. But what about the UK?
The summer edition of eBay’s Online Business Index included the findings of an investigation, How Suppliers Are Blocking Online Trade, which examined the experiences of small businesses that sell online and the barriers they face to trade fairly.
The investigation revealed that half of the online retailers interviewed said they had faced pressure from suppliers to restrict trade.
It also gave a shocking insight into the range of tactics used by suppliers to force online retailers to keep prices high.
These tactics include:
Preventing retailers from discounting goods – Nearly half (45%) of sellers interviewed were told what price to charge, limiting their ability to offer discounted goods to consumers.
Complicated display criteria – A third (32%) of online retailers reported that suppliers make it hard to sell online by setting complicated conditions on how their goods are displayed. In some cases this even included stipulating how many pixels there must be in each image.
Banning sales on the internet – Half of online retailers (49%) reported that suppliers tried to prevent them from selling their goods on the internet or certain websites. For example, some suppliers insert clauses into contracts explicitly banning such sales.
We believe that these attempts by brands and suppliers to restrict online retail are short-sighted given the growing power of the internet but it’s undeniable that small businesses are on the receiving end of aggressive and bullying tactics. What’s worse is that many small sellers have no choice but to comply, for fear their supplies will be cut off.
It’s a worrying situation for online businesses and consumers alike and one our Campaign for Consumer Choice has set out to address.
You can help end these unfair and uncompetitive practices by signing our petition
So far 750,000 people from across the EU have signed our petition saying ‘yes’ to lower prices for goods online, including 251,712 – over a quarter of a million – from the UK alone.
But we don’t want to stop here. The EU commission is still considering the European Vertical Restraints Regulation and Guidelines and we want as many people as possible to send a clear message to policy-makers that British consumers support fairer trade and increased consumer choice online.
We need you to help defend your right to buy your favourite authentic goods online and support free trade online. Add your name to our petition by visiting www.ebaycampaigns.com
As part of this process, eBay is calling for support for cross-border internet sales, increasing consumer choice and treating online and offline channels equally.
251,712 Brits signed the eBay petition. All of the petitions on Twitition total just 132,255 with the largest having15,455. eBay’s petition addresses a relatively obscure piece of competition law so three quarters of a million signatures shows just how important the issue is for consumers and online sellers.
The petition calls for amendments to EU competition law to stop brands from restricting the sale of their products online.
We interviewed Chris and a number of other sellers at the event (we’ll be putting some of this content on the site shortly) but one important point Chris makes is that the whole point of “being in the EU is that it’s an open market. So let’s make the most of it.”
We couldn’t agree more and our petition aims to make sure that the final decision the EU Commission makes on its European Vertical Restraints Regulation and Guidelines fully supports cross-border internet sales, increased consumer choice and treating online and offline channels equally.
As Chris writes on his blog:
“750,000 signatories is a huge number which the EU will find hard to ignore. To put it into context on the Downing Street website the combined total for the top five open petitions have just 195,459 signatures – 251,712 signed the eBay petition from the UK.
All of the petitions on Twitition total just 132,255 with the largest being 15,455. eBay’s petition addresses a relatively obscure piece of competition law so three quarters of a million signatures shows just how important the issue is for consumers and online sellers.”
Chris also took the opportunity to explain why our campaign is important when he appeared on BBC News 24 last month. You can catch Chris in this YouTube clip where he explains to the Great British public why it is vital to help protect millions of EU consumers and their rights to purchase fairly priced products.
The Campaign for Consumer Choice is calling on EU politicians to bring European law up-to-date with the internet age and ensure consumers and small businesses are able to buy and sell freely online.
On this blog we'll be posting campaign news, highlighting examples, and inviting you to tell us your experiences of buying and selling online.
