Retailers Banning eBay Sellers

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AuctionBytes Blog
News and insight focusing on
ecommerce and the online auction industry
by Ina Steiner, Editor of AuctionBytes.com

August 08, 2007

Retailers Banning eBay Sellers - Your Experiences

By: Ina Steiner

Wed Aug 8 2007 11:36:30

AuctionBytes ran a piece on Tuesday about Pottery Barn Outlet stores banning eBay sellers from making any purchases. As expected, this is generating lots of discussion. Some sellers who were banned from the stores wrote to me to share their experiences, and I'd like to give them the opportunity to share their thoughts here. Please feel free to comment below.

Here are some questions I have for these sellers, plus I'd be interested to hear what others think about this, and if they have had similar experiences at other retail stores.

How important are Pottery Barn Outlet store purchases to you in your eBay businesses (for example, what percentage of your eBay inventory is sourced through Pottery Barn purchases)?

Have you been banned? If so, what was the reason given? (and from which store?)

If you were banned, how did the store staff know you were a reseller? Had you ever given the store your tax-exempt reseller number?

What kind of behavior did you observe from eBay sellers in the store, was it ever disruptive? If so, was it an ongoing problem? What did the store staff do to try to minimize the disruption? (which store?)

If you were banned, did you send someone else in your stead to make your purchases?

I've read that retailers often will put limits on how much of a particular item a customer may purchase. Would that work in the case of the Pottery Barn Outlet stores?

Why do you think Williams-Sonoma's Pottery Barn banned eBay sellers from their Outlet stores, and is there anyway they could ever enforce such a policy fairly?

There's also some talk about Williams-Sonoma's activity in terms of asking eBay to pull auctions that violate their trademark/copyright through the eBay VeRO program. Any observations?

This is an issue I'm sure I'll be revisiting, thanks for your comments, and feel free to email me as well.

Comments (130) | Comments Off | Permalink

Readers Comments

Retailers Banning eBay Sellers - Your Experiences

by: Another banned Ebayer

Sat Nov 1 10:14:20 2008

Banned,
I was banned in their Lancaster outlet. What abot you?
Really disappointing and I still don't see a logic on this policy because everytime I go there, they just have lots and lots of inventory to move.
Hopefully, they see the error on this. But if not, oh well, they're not the only store I can go to. It's their loss not mine. :)

Retailers Banning eBay Sellers - Your Experiences

by: EBAYER 101

Wed Nov 5 14:23:02 2008

I have been banned from the beninning back in June 2007. Ohio was were all the banning started (test plot) and shortly after they banned all outlets. I agree with the person that wrote we should start emailing all their CEO's especially with Howard Lester who recently had to sell 1 million worth of his stock and now yesterday he had to sell more. I would love to know if he is aware of the PB outlet ban. When this initially happened, 3 of us (ebayers) and we were openely admit we were ebayers (very obvious because we bought tons) met with an attorney and thought about discrimination lawsuit but really coulnd't find anyone that we felt would take this all the way and spend the money, because we couldn't afford to go after PB alone.. We dropped it and moved on to other stores who appreciate our business. BUT, I can tell you based on my collection of data from all 9 outlets that the ebayers in these outlets spend 30 million plus in their outlet stores, so I guarantee they are feeling the pain as we stock fall from a regular $35 per share to a recent $7 a share..Our only hope is to send letters, emails and such to these CEO's.. if anyone knows diret phone numbers or email address, post them on here because I know ebayers who sold PB still watch this. I really don't think CEO's are aware of the decision that PB executives made on their behalf. Better yet, get a big name talk show to look into this and air it!

Retailers Banning eBay Sellers - Your Experiences

by: misty

Thu Nov 6 08:44:58 2008

CONTACT:
WILLIAMS-SONOMA, INC. Sharon L. McCollam
3250 Van Ness Avenue Executive Vice President, COO and CFO
San Francisco, CA 94109 (415) 616-8775

Stephen C. Nelson
Director, Investor Relations
(415) 616-8754

Kim Khalvati
Investor Relations Administration
(415) 616-8332

Retailers Banning eBay Sellers - Your Experiences

by: Phil

Thu Nov 6 08:58:29 2008

I was told to call 1 800 421-2004 ext 1684. I've called and left messages with no response. I will continue bothering them. Thankfully we have enough inventory for a few more months.

Retailers Banning eBay Sellers - Your Experiences

by: Alsobanned

Thu Nov 6 19:07:48 2008

Don't waste your time calling the number that the Outlet Manager gives you at the time you are banned. That number is obviously given to make it seem that the banned person has an official Williams Sonoma Corporate place to complain to. It is in fact a number to make you think you are calling a place where your concerns will be heard but in reality it is to a person who is totally un-sympatetic to re-sellers. It is the run-a-round. I think you may be given this number so that you do not go to the higher up corporate management that may be more sympathetic to you. When I was banned I was given a number to call by the store manager to voice my concerns. I called and got a voicemail and I left a message and my phone number. I was called back by Clancey who is the PB Outlet manager in Jefferson, Ohio. He was not at all sympathetic to re-sellers. I have since learned that he was one of the originators of the re-seller ban and was the first to ban re-sellers in a PB Outlet. I would call the numbers that Misty posted beginning with the COO (chief operating officer)in San Francisco.

Retailers Banning eBay Sellers - Your Experiences

by: Another banned Ebayer

Tue Nov 11 08:19:50 2008

Hi EBAYER 101,
Given that you've been banned for more than a year now (since June 2007), have you ever tried to go back to the store and buy something and maybe pay in cash?
Just wondering if after 6 months, I can try and do the same thing.
Thanks!

Retailers Banning eBay Sellers - Your Experiences

by: A Banned Ebayer

Mon Nov 17 07:50:29 2008

I think it is funny that people are still being banned. So many families lives were financially changed forever last June and July when the original ban took down all the major players at the time. And now Williams Sonoma is literally months away from going bankrupt. And then when Donna Isralsky and her equally uneducated brother Jay who initiated this ban lose their jobs like they lost all the money in their company stock.......I will be very happy. Everyone should call Donna, she is the head of the outlets, and made this decision. We tried to tell her then.......I bet she wished she listened :)

Retailers Banning eBay Sellers - Your Experiences

by: stillaseller

Sat Dec 20 02:39:11 2008

With the economy now the way it is, I bet a bunch of these stores would beg for those people to come back and buy the place up. Now with ebay's new insane policies, sellers are dropping like flies. Another case of corporate greed.

I also don't understand why someone can't pay for the item from a store and sell it on ebay. Why would anyone ban someone from buying a bunch of merchandise. Everyone else is just as free to go to the store and buy it, if they want to pay for it marked up on ebay then whats the problem?

These people try to control thier items at all times, they don't realize that there is a ''fair use doctrine or a first sale doctrine''....i've had three VERO takedowns in the past few months. In my previous 8 years as a seller i've never had any (all of my items are legit and have my own pictures/descriptions),....so the stores must be feeling the pinch in sales now and gettting desperate....

Retailers Banning eBay Sellers - Your Experiences

by: Curious Seller

Tue Dec 23 11:22:45 2008

If WS is really serious about their stuff not selling in Ebay, then, they should simply ask Ebay to not allow others sell their products. That's what they did in Amazon so I see no reason why they can't do it in Ebay as well.
What they're doing now is very ineffective. They might have ban a few, but most likely, a new crop of sellers will show up. Then, the cycle of banning will begin again. Plus, since they've given the responsibility of banning to their sales crew, it has a potential of banning a loyal customer who does not sell at all, but simply likes their products for personal use.

Retailers Banning eBay Sellers - Your Experiences

by: Carla Smit

Sun Jan 18 08:51:26 2009

I just received a letter from Coach stating I am buying too much and must be reselling the items. Naturally, this is only pure speculation on their part, especially since all my purchases were made over the holidays, however, they state they are notifying all of their stores and I am banned and anyone who they think is acting on my behalf is also banned from buying. Sounds to me like Coach is worried about a person making a few dollars more than they do, furthermore, most of their full price bags end up in the outlets within a few weeks. Kudos to Coach for driving away good buyers.

Retailers Banning eBay Sellers - Your Experiences

by: Confused

Thu Jan 22 18:19:56 2009

Just this week heard that the Pottery Barn Outlet Management had changed it's policy and that there was no longer a ban on re-sellers. If this is true, how does it affect the re-sellers who were already banned? Are they now allowed to shop again? If not wouldn't that be discrimination? Will the store managers of individual Outlets try to stop those re-sellers from shopping even though the ban has been lifted? Does anyone have any new information?

Retailers Banning eBay Sellers - Your Experiences

by: banned ebayer

Thu Jan 22 19:44:23 2009

Confused,where did you hear this from?Did you talk to a pottery barn outlet manager?

Retailers Banning eBay Sellers - Your Experiences

by: Nolongerbanned

Fri Jan 23 16:01:49 2009

Apparently the Factory Outlet Division has now become part of the Retail Division. Re-sellers were never banned at retail. The ban was put into affect by the Outlet Management who may no longer be in control of that decision. Just speculation as to why re-sellers may now be allowed to shop.

Retailers Banning eBay Sellers - Your Experiences

by: Texas Sandy's clinic

Fri Jan 23 16:30:46 2009

Dear Pottery Barn, Please ban me for life, I've never been in one of your overpriced shops & never will, and I'm an Ebay silver powerseller:) Good luck with your forthcoming bankruptcy!

Retailers Banning eBay Sellers - Your Experiences

by: Texas Sandy's clinic

Fri Jan 23 16:35:25 2009

OH PS, I'd totally recommend going into their stores & filling carts with goods, then abandoning them at checkout, saying "Oh, that's right I resell on Ebay, I forgot your idiotic policy, oh well, off to the next closeout store where I'll spend my dollars instead". Let them restock the shelves;)

Retailers Banning eBay Sellers - Your Experiences

by: banned ebayer

Fri Jan 23 18:16:10 2009

nolongerbanned

Are you saying you were a banned ebayer at one of pottery barn's outlets and you are now being allowed to shop in there again?

Retailers Banning eBay Sellers - Your Experiences

by: shopper

Mon Jan 26 11:28:13 2009

I was in the Gaffney SC store recently and they looked like they were about to go out of business. It was right around Christmas and there were no crowds, nothing. I would not be at all suprised to see them close down.

Retailers Banning eBay Sellers - Your Experiences

by: amused

Wed Feb 25 19:49:38 2009

I have been lurking on this message board for over a year now and finally have something to say. It must be a joke that in these harsh economic times any business would ban a paying customer. What are those pathetic jokers smoking?

Retailers Banning eBay Sellers - Your Experiences

by: Former loyal PB shopper

Mon Mar 2 19:03:16 2009

I just got banned from PB lancaster outlet. Although the manager who approached me is very nice about it, it was still very humiliating and I felt like a criminal when I've been told me that I'm not allowed to shop there because they suspect that I'm an ebay reseller. I neither confirm nor deny it.
I just felt it's ridiculous and it just doesn't make sense with the kind of market we have. When I went there, there's not much people shopping. And those who actually buy something, it's just 1 or 2 items. I usually bought a cartful of their stuff. And what I bought, whether it sells in ebay or not, I don't return it. So, I don't really see any logic in them banning those of us who spent $$$ in their store.

Retailers Banning eBay Sellers - Your Experiences

by: holeinmyrug

Thu Mar 12 17:42:41 2009

I am one of the lucky to be banned from Pottery Barn. I have recently walked into our local outlet store just to look around. You should have seen the employees. It was rather entertaining! They all scattered, looking for managers to tell that an ebayer was in their store. You could here them on walkie talkies saying, ''keep a watch on them.'' Like what was I going to do? The more they made comments and acted like juveniles, the longer I stayed in the store to stir things up. I know of another ebay seller who recently went into the same Pottery Barn Outlet, and they did the same to her. One employee told her that he was not even suppose to acknowledge her. Isn't that sweet. We are just waiting for the day when they go bankrupt, we will be standing outside their stores with balloons and horns, asking them if it was worth it!!

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