EBay hit by retailer backlash

In September, maternity specialist Mamas & Papas will introduce an internet sales policy, making it almost impossible for independent retailers to sell its products on eBay.

Buggy brands Maclaren and Bugaboo are trying to stop new pushchairs being sold through eBay shops for a fixed price.

The backlash follows the order made by the French courts this week that the online auction site must pay €19.3 million (£15.4 million) to LVMH and €17.3 million (£13.8 million) to its subsidiary Christian Dior Couture for damage to their brands through the sale of counterfeit goods on the site.

EBay told The Times: “We are seeing an increasing and disturbing trend whereby manufacturers and brands either try to ban distributors from selling on particular web sites, including eBay, or on the internet as a whole. Sometimes the prohibitions are explicit. In other cases, manufacturers impose onerous requirements on how their products can be sold, which effectively restricts who can sell them.”