eBay France bring in proper business registration

August 11, 2008

eBay FranceeBay France have announced today that business sellers on the site will need to prove that they are officially registered as businesses. eBay are checking the information on sellers’ accounts against that held by the Registre du Commerce et des Sociétés, with which all companies and sole traders should already be registered.

Those whom eBay can link with their official registration need do nothing more. Those who can’t be matched will need to supply an official registration document plus a copy of their national ID card or passport, and then complete telephone verification with eBay Support. Registration will have to be completed by 30th October, or within 30 days of eBay notifying sellers that proof of status is required, whichever is sooner. Business sellers who do not complete the verification process will not be permitted to sell on eBay.fr after 30th October. From 6th October, new business sellers on eBay.fr will have to complete the verification process before being allowed to list items for sale.

To the best of my knowledge, eBay France are the first site to check all business sellers for proper registration. It’s perhaps easier here than it might be in some other countries because the necessary information is already in the public arena, but I think we can expect to see other eBay sites following France’s example in the not to distant future.

I would love to be able unreservedly to praise eBay France for taking this unprecedented step in cleaning up the site and ensuring their sellers are legal. In theory, I do that. But in practice, it all feels rather hit and miss: the overall time-scale, just ten weeks, seems short to complete everyone’s registration, and the lack of any more detailed up-front plan (”if we haven’t notified you we’ve found you by such-and-such date, then we need you to send your information in…”) leaves me as a seller feeling extremely insecure. I’ll let you know what happens.

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Site Changes, eBay.fr | 12 Comments