The Justice Department filed a complaint against eBay on behalf of the EPA over the alleged sale of unlawful pesticides and other illegal products and devices on its platform. eBay immediately responded, calling the actions unprecedented, and the company said it would vigorously defend itself.
eBay already set aside $64 million in the event it was found liable in connection with government matters and a civil action, including the EPA matter and a separate matter with the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency). eBay had made the disclosure in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The Justice Department referenced a “stop sale” order the EPA had issued to eBay in 2020 (and amended in 2021) in Wednesday’s announcement and alleged eBay violated the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) “by unlawfully distributing or selling at least 23,000 unregistered, misbranded or restricted-use pesticide products” in spite of the EPA order.
It also accused eBay of violating the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
According to the government’s press release, “The complaint seeks a court order that eBay’s business practices as an e-commerce retailer violated the CAA, FIFRA and TSCA and requests injunctive relief to enjoin eBay from further violations of these laws, as well as civil penalties for CAA violations.”
eBay responded to the DOJ’s complaint by issuing the following statement:
“Maintaining a safe and trusted marketplace for our global community of sellers and buyers is a fundamental principle of our business at eBay. We dedicate significant resources, implement state-of-the-art technology and ensure our teams are properly trained to prevent prohibited items from being listed on the marketplace. Indeed, eBay is blocking and removing more than 99.9% of the listings for the products cited by the DOJ, including millions of listings each year. And eBay has partnered closely with law enforcement, including the DOJ, for over two decades on identifying emerging risks and assisting with prevention and enforcement.
“The Government’s actions are entirely unprecedented and eBay intends to vigorously defend itself.”
While the government referred to eBay as a retailer, eBay’s statement refers to its platform as a marketplace of buyers and sellers (it doesn’t list items for sale itself), which may be the cornerstone of its defense, with the outcome of the case having far-reaching implications for platforms like eBay’s.
hahahahahaha.
“While the government referred to eBay as a retailer, eBay’s statement refers to its platform as a marketplace of buyers and sellers”
except…fedex and ups say ebay is the shipper of record
except …credit cards show ebay as the merchant
must be more magical innovations
If eBay spent as much time removing the bad/illegal items off their site as they do playing around with VERO (ie LEVI’S etc) – then they wouldnt be in in the trouble they are in.
eBay (getting back and money + more) from brands who ILLEGALLY try to stop competition from their items OR remove items for political posturing (radar detectors/rifle scopes and other items – all legal in the US to sell online AND legal according to ADBAYS own site) is the cause of the issues.
1) remove all ephemera items that say reproduction
2) remove all chinese power supplies etc that are NOT UL rated
3) demand to see UL ratings on Chinese motor scooters (you know – the ones that blow up/catch fire)
4) remove all the illegal video game (home/handheld and arcade) that are bootleg
JUST doing these 4 simple things – instead of harassing sellers for nothing – would go along way.
BUT Adbay loves the money, someone has to pay for the brass’s kids to go to UCLA etc – and money doesnt grow on trees (you steal it from sellers) so …….. (for once) – let the government go after them!