eBay UK to ban electronic cigarettes, limit voucher sales
29/05/2009 at 13:09
eBay UK have announced today that the sale of electronic cigarettes is to be banned on the site from the 30th June. The ban also includes componant parts, including cartridges, atomisers, liquid refills, vaporisers, batteries and shells.
Again on 30th June, eBay UK will launch a new policy on the sale of vouchers:
- expired vouchers (unless collectable) and emailed vouchers will no longer be permitted.
- Sellers will have to deliver physical vouchers to their buyers.
- Bulk listings for more than 100 vouchers total or more than 20 vouchers for the same item will be banned.
- Sellers are asked not to place unaltered scans of vouchers, which could be printed out and used in stores, on their listings.
What’s particularly concerning about this announcement is its concluding line:
Full details of these two policies will be available on 30th June
This is the same day that both policies come into force: in other words, sellers of any of these items are only going to get full details on the day they have to comply with the policy. I must admit that neither electronic cigarettes nor vouchers is my area of expertise: but every time eBay makes a policy change, the sellers who are actually affected by it need more information than is initially given out by eBay – and I don’t see why this is going to be much different.
Publishing the full policy on the same day it’s been enacted seems to run entirely contrary to Mark Lewis’s promise back in March to make eBay UK a better business partner, and to give sellers a sixty day notice period of changes to come.
whirly says
1:23 pm on 29/05/2009
The ban also includes component batteries…I can smell disaster for sellers selling ordinary batteries
As for “Full details of these two policies will be available on 30th June” I think that is disgusting, it just highlights even further the ever widening gap between eBay and its fee paying customers, many of whom have built up successful businesses on eBay…shameful.
admin says
2:00 pm on 29/05/2009
The whole componant battery thing is perhaps *the* thing that desperately needs clarification, Whirly – I see one battery seller on the PSB almost having a heart attack already over this.
eCigsOnline says
10:08 pm on 29/05/2009
As a major supplier of eCigs on ebay UK no doubt this hits us hard.
We have supplied to many people who through careful, controlled use have cut right down or indeed successfully quit. Our driving force and passion to supply has been for health benefits foremost.
We will continue to sell after the ban on our website and hopefully continue to service the needs of those in the midst of a quit programme with supplies.
For sure this is a draconian measure taken by ebay to impose the ban but I feel the puppet master wears a real smokers jacket.
Buy Electronic Cigarettes Online says
5:35 am on 01/06/2009
Ok – there are plenty of places to buy ELECTRONIC CIGARETTES online, but only one place that i can recommend. I buy electronic cigarettes online without worry of FDA approval because they do not put nicotene in their product. Check out http://www.healthechoice.net/healthysmoking They are the ONLY website selling FDA REGISTERED electronic cigarette product, also known as SmokeFree, and take credit cards. They’ll even let you sign-up as a distributor so you can purchase their electronic cigarettes at wholesale prices and resell them.
Also, email buyelectroniccigarettesnow@gmail.com if you have any more questions. They’ll be more than happy to answer your questions and help you along.
whirly says
6:50 am on 01/06/2009
#4 I wish I had customers like you
Helen Burgess says
1:51 pm on 01/06/2009
#4 What is the point of eciggies with no nicotine if you’re looking to quit??? The whole point is to slowly reduce your dose on nicotine and then use zero nicotine cartridges.
With regards to the Ebay ban, I bought a kit 2 months ago from a seller and regularly buy cartridges instead of normal ciggies.
I’m down from smoking almost 40 a day to just 2. The electronic ones have been a lifesaver. I’ve tried gum, patches and the dreaded champix and nothing but electronic cigrarettes have worked.
Ebay UK should stand up to EU pressure and allow people to sell them. Electronic cigarettes are really helpful. I have read about problems with quality and ingredients but I’d rather smoke something with 5 ingredients and no tar than the carcinogenic sticks the government allows.
Goodness me it’s 2009. Shouldn’t we be supporting change and demanding supply of something that helps lives not wrecks them.
Thank heaven for suppliers with websites. I’m sure I’ll quit fully soon and will just have to source my supplies eleswhere.
Shame on you Ebay.
Pete says
5:40 pm on 01/06/2009
I think it may have something to do with TAX. I assume these ecigs are not taxed in the same way as cigarettes?
Super Max says
6:34 pm on 01/06/2009
#5 Whirly: customers like #4 are easy to get, you just start spamming blogs/forums pretending to be a customer saying how great your product is, in the long term though, it will make you look like a unethical spammer and this sort of thing could help explain why #4′s product is no longer allowed on ebay.
#6 they have probably been banned due to concerns about children buying them and the lack of clear legal guidelines.
George says
9:44 pm on 04/06/2009
You will find that there are a few reasons why eBay will ban electronic cigarettes and acessories. The main reason is not because of tax but pressure from pharmaceutical companies who wish that they had come up with the idea. Electronic cigarettes are only another form of nicotine replacement but unlike patches and gum they actually work. I sell electronic cigarettes and liquids etc on eBay as “Brummy_George” and I also have an online shop http://www.oksmokey.com. Many of my eBay customers are changing to my shop already and many more are asking what they will do when they are banned. In the short term it’s not worth worrying about. Worse is yet to come!
Mike - smokeless cigarettes says
11:43 am on 08/06/2009
This hurts man…. We also have an electronic cigarette business. http://www.electroniccigarettesource.com
I really hope that the US, FDA does not ban this product, that would really be bad, and thousands of current e cigarette users in the US will suffer, all because of big tobacco and lobbyists.