NSW Fair Trading has issued eBay with multiple infringement notices following an investigation into the sale of NRL Grand Final tickets on its platform.
In a statement on Friday, Fair Trading said it attended the offices of eBay in Sydney and issued a number of penalty notices for NRL Grand Final tickets being advertised contrary to regulations.
Under NSW law, advertisements for the resale of tickets are required to specify the original cost of the ticket and a resale price that is no more than 10 per cent above the original cost.
“Under the Fair Trading Act, corporations found breaching ticket reselling laws can be fined up to $110,000, while individuals can be fined up to $22,000,” Fair Trading Commissioner Natasha Mann said.
Fair Trading hit eBay with $44,000 in fines.
A spokesperson for eBay told Gizmodo Australia that when it was alerted by Fair Trading of the ticket listings, it moved swiftly to remove them from its marketplace.
“As of this morning, 48 listings have been taken down and our team will continue monitoring and sweeping for items in the lead up to the NRL Grand Final,” they said.
eBay has clear policies in place in respect of the resale of tickets, as well as its eBay Regulatory Portal which empowers Australian authorities, including the ACCC, Therapeutic Goods Authority, the Victorian Department of Jobs Precincts and Regions (responsible for ticket sale regulation in Victoria) to efficiently report and remove listings for illegal or unsafe items.
“While we have a range of mechanisms in place to monitor for items in breach of our policies, we do rely on reports from our community, including regulators, to help keep our marketplace safe for consumers,” the eBay spokesperson added.
“When reported by an agency via this channel the listing is removed automatically without further approval by eBay.
“We are the only online marketplace in Australia that offers such a service to regulators and we have offered this to NSW Fair Trading.”
eBay said action from NSW Fair Trading was “disappointing”.
“Considering the tools we have available and our willingness to collaborate it is disappointing that NSW Fair Trading has chosen to issue penalties without providing an opportunity to work together in this instance,” the spokesperson said.
“This is not the approach we have experienced in other jurisdictions where we work in partnership with regulators to address ticket scalping.”
eBay is expected to respond to NSW Fair Trading’s notice in due course.
“We encourage consumers not to purchase tickets at inflated prices and if they see any item on eBay that raises concerns to report it via our report item feature,” they added.
Also, don’t be greedy by taking advantage of others.