Campaign for Consumer Choice

The Consumer Choice Blog

What’s Consumer Choice all about?

Posted by simon, 13.11.09

Alia Papageorgiou, European Affairs Editor for the weekly newspaper www.neurope.eu as well as editor of a column at runninginheels.co.uk tells us why the campaign for Consumer Choice is important, and provides insight into the inner-workings of European policies.

It’s hard not to notice when you get off the Metro at Schuman, Brussels’ main underground stop. And it’s equally impossible to pass by the foot of the European Commission’s building, the Berlaymont, without pausing.

No matter which Metro exit you take, all you see in front of you are huge posters showing a pile of petitions, the eBay logo, an EU flag, and the number ‘750,000’.

So what’s this all about? What’s the background to eBay’s Consumer Choice campaign?

At the moment, outdated European law gives companies permission to stop people selling legitimate products online, regardless of whether the goods are new or second-hand. What the campaign is trying to do is help EU institutions bring this law up-to-date and assist in one of its ultimate goals: “no barriers to trade.”

The European Commission has a number of regulatory instruments at its disposal, but one used most often is a ‘Regulation’. Regulations usually have a re-appraisal or review date attached to them so that every few years EU officials must go back and review what was set out originally and ensure it is still relevant and up to date with current market and legal issues.

It’s a chance to iron out the kinks, make sure that the regulations imposed are still applicable today and will still be applicable in the future.

The current rules that apply to online retailing (called ‘vertical agreements’) were set out by a European Commission Regulation 10 years ago. This means the regulation pre-exists the rise of the web and of buying and selling goods on the internet.

As a result, they let brands and manufacturers block the sale of products online; limiting the range of choice and value available to consumers.

This is something the Commission has already recognized and commented on:

“Two major developments have marked the 10 year period following the adoption of the current rules: an increase in large distributors’ market power and the evolution of sales on the Internet”.

Not only that, but bringing the current regulation in line with the internet-age is a clear objective for the Commission.

As Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, recently commented: “Achieving a Digital Single Market is a top priority for Europe.” She added:

“We won’t have a real Digital Economy until we remove all barriers to online transactions, also for end-consumers. This must be on top of the list of all policy initiatives to re-launch the single market project.”

It’s great news that the Commission recognises the importance of the internet as a tool for cross-border trade that can improve consumers’ access to goods. However, what the Commission really needs to hear now is more voices; more online buyers and sellers like you and I. When we decide to buy a book or a pair of popular brand boots for winter, ‘at the click of a button’, we want to do so without restrictions limiting our choice.

It’s not too late to make your voice heard. Share your experiences of buying and selling online – both good and bad – with us and remind the EU Commission why the internet is a powerful tool offering consumers the best deal wherever they live in Europe.

Photo courtesy of A. Papageorgiou

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6 out of 10 European shoppers are blocked from purchasing their favourite products abroad

Posted by simon, 9.11.09

Kuneva_EU
A new report by the EU Commissioner for Consumer Affairs, Meglena Kuneva, sheds light on the difficulties of cross-border shopping.

A vast mystery shopping exercise was carried out across Europe: shoppers tried to purchase a range of 100 popular products and the results were revealing. The research found that:

• 60% of cross border transactions could not be completed by consumers because the trader did not ship the product to their country or did not offer adequate means for cross border payment.
• In 13 countries out of 27 and for at least half of all product searches, consumers were able to find an offer in another EU country which was at least 10% cheaper than the best domestic offer.
• Shoppers in 13 EU countries could not find domestic online offers for at least 50% of the products which they searched for, but found them in another EU country.

Meglena Kuneva, Commission for Consumer Affairs notes in a recent speech that:

“As we stand today, we cannot shop cross-border online within the EU. There is no European retail market online, but instead 27 inefficient mini-markets. We have the technology for a big market but not the trade. And this is generating a lot of frustration among European citizens who expect and deserve better”

In short, the report shows that cross border internet trade is often the only way consumers can buy the products they want at the prices they want. But too often cross border trade is hampered by the patchwork of different laws that exist across the EU and other online trade barriers.

It’s now time for the EU to tackle some of the problems highlighted by Kuneva’s report and encourage both online businesses and consumers to call for fairer online retailing by adopting a set of EU-wide consumer protection rules and taking action against online trade barriers.

This is exactly what we’re calling for, and 750,000 Europeans have already supported our call for free trade on the Internet. If you want a better, fairer deal for consumers, why don’t you sign up to join our Consumer Choice campaign?

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The campaign for Consumer Choice in Strasbourg

Posted by simon, 23.10.09

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.

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Brands and suppliers restricting online retailers

Posted by simon, 16.10.09

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

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Have you signed up for lower prices online?

Posted by simon, 15.10.09

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.

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The EU’s an open market. Make the most of it.

Posted by simon, 7.10.09

Blogger and eBay seller, Chris Dawson, attended the launch event in Strasbourg where we presented a petition signed by 750,000 eBayers to the European Parliament.

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.

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Mary Honeyball MEP speaks out for Consumer Choice

Posted by simon, 28.09.09

The British Labour MEP for London, Mary Honeyball, has written a blog post on the political website LabourList about our Campaign for Consumer Choice launch event at which she spoke. You can read her full article here.

In her post Mary sets out three clear arguments why policy-makers must amend current EU trading laws and why she supports our campaign.

Firstly, Mary argues that the internet allows consumers to purchase goods at a fair price which is especially important during tough economic times. She highlights the fact that the campaign isn’t just about companies protecting luxury or premium brands, it’s about stopping consumers making savings on everyday products.

Mary writes:

“High prices harm everyone. This is not just about expensive handbags and luxury products – it is about things bought by millions of consumers all over Europe. It’s also about new goods, not just second-hand – parents getting sporting goods, shoes, school bags and other equipment for their children and general consumers buying cycling helmets, ski equipment, mp3 players, computers and household appliances like washing machines.”

The second argument for amending EU trading laws is quite simply that they’re out-of-date! The current regulations were drawn up 10 years ago when the idea of buying and selling goods in a global online marketplace was but a twinkle in the internet’s eye.

Mary observes that “The internet redistributes power to the consumer in ways we could not have envisaged only a few years ago. The presentation of this unprecedented petition should be a wake up call to the Commission to think again about its review of these regulations.”

And last – but by no means least – removing restrictions on buying and selling goods online is good for the economy. Many businesses, that make money through online trading, are small to medium sized enterprises and the mainstay of most European countries.

Perhaps more significantly, the ability to run a small business by buying and selling goods online also allows people to run successful business from home while having the flexibility to spend more time with their families.

Mary ends by issuing a rallying call to consumers across Europe:

“The way things stand at present just makes everyone poorer. It hurts consumers. It costs jobs and damages businesses … The manufacturers and traditional retailers will be lobbying the Commission hard to protect themselves from having to compete with on fair basis with internet businesses. Those of us who want a fair deal for consumers must do the same.”

You can watch a video of her full speech at the EU Parliament on Mary’s YouTube page and read her full post over at LabourList.

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Welcome to the Campaign for Consumer Choice

Posted by simon, 28.09.09

Hi there and welcome to the home of the Consumer Choice campaign. We’ll be adding more to the site over the coming weeks, but in the meantime have a read about what we are campaigning for.

The campaign has been started by online marketplace, eBay, because we think it’s wrong that current EU law gives companies permission to stop people from buying and selling legitimate products online – whether they’re new or second-hand.

We asked people from across Europe whether they also thought this was unfair: more than 750,000 agreed with us by signing our online petition which we presented to the European Parliament at an event on Thursday 16th September.

The event sent a powerful message to EU politicians and policy-makers. Small businesses that sell through eBay spoke of the intimidating tactics adopted by certain brands to try to stop them earning a living. A number of MEPs attending the event joined our calls for the EU to update its laws so they are relevant for the internet age but so that consumers can always access greater choice and value by shopping online.

Please watch our film (embedded above) which tells you what the campaign is all about in 60 seconds.

We’ll be posting some video footage shot at the launch event over the coming days. In the meantime subscribe to our RSS feed for latest campaign news and updates.

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