We do not determine prices; neither sell directly to end users: eBay India

DQ Week Exclusive

eBay India, one of the prominent E Commerce portal has clarified its stand on the allegations that online portals are indulged in predatory pricing and unethical business practices. eBay India clarified that the online giant is neither involved in price determination nor sell the products directly to end users.

Vidmay Naini, Director and Business Head, eBay India said, “eBay never holds the goods and never sell it on its own. We are not involved in pricing decisions about the products listed on our sites.”

Naini said that eBay is an open market place where anyone can come and do business. It is a win win situation from the merchant’s points of view as well as eBay’s point of view. He said that eBay never competes with any of the merchants and only helps to add their business volumes.

“We do not sell products directly to end users. We have provided our technology platform that helped lakhs of small, medium and large merchants to come in and participate in the online spear”, he said.

On the accusations of E commerce companies deceiving consumers in online transactions, Naini said that eBay has very strong consumer protection mechanism that keeps track of such incidents.

“We provide a unique buyer protection program where we offer protection to all our buyers. We have 30 days money back guarantee where if a customer does not receive the product or if not satisfied with it, we refund the money. In addition to buyer protection policies we also program called as PowerShip which gives the leverage of the intermediated shipping solution to all our merchants”, Naini said.

On the allegations that certain online platforms endorse counterfeited goods being sourced from China, Naini said that eBay has a robust Trust and Safety team and Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) Program that was devoted to make eBay a safe and reliable place to trade. He said that eBay had more than 15000 thousand trust and safety employees all across the world.

“Our Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) Program works to ensure that item listing do not infringe upon the copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights of third parties. VeRO Program participants have the ability to identify and request removal of allegedly infringing items and materials”, Naini said.

According to media reports eBay, with a clutch of investors has put Rs 830 crore in Snapdeal, raising the stake to an estimated 20 percent. Naini, however, avoided disclosing eBay’s actual market share in the Indian E Commerce industry.

“We are currently less that a percent of the entire organized retail and minute fraction of overall retail in sense of the world. From that point of view eBay is a long term player eBay believes in being invested in the market from the long term”, he said.

The e-commerce market in India is estimated to grow at 55-60 percent annually. eBay said that recognizing the benefits of selling on online platforms, more merchants would come on board and expand their business. More than 90 percent of eBay’s 50,000 sellers in India are retailers including major ones like Tata, Croma, Sangeetha mobiles, Next Retail, and The Electronic Store.

“The way I see this is all merchants come in and participate in the E commerce boom primarily because of the fact that this will help them to expand their business. We have essentially enabled merchants to come online in a very easy and effective way by providing them an ecosystem of consumers, proving the technology platform, proving the coverage and protection for the buyers and in addition to this help them with the logistics. It is a complete package where all kinds of merchant can come in and participate with us”, he said.

Naini also said that initiatives like “Digital India” will further boost the growth of E Commerce in the country.

“Going digital and using technology is always a good thing world over. It can help to reduce the inefficiencies in the system, it brings transparency reduces the cost of service delivery. So from that point of view, many people as possible can come under the digital umbrella is always beneficial for players like eBay but also various live services”, he said.