Ebay accuses Amazon of poaching marketplace sellers on its own messaging system

eBay has accused Amazon of poaching sellers
Getty Images for eBay
Nick Charity4 October 2018

Bosses at eBay have accused rivals at Amazon Marketplace of stealing its independent sellers by using its own messaging system.

The auction site sent a letter to Amazon on Wednesday stating it had discovered 50 Amazon sales representatives had sent 1,000 messages to eBay sellers to convince them to move their business, the Wall Street Journal reported.

“We can confirm that we have uncovered an unlawful and troubling scheme on the part of Amazon to solicit eBay sellers to move to Amazon’s platform,” eBay told reporters. “We have demanded that Amazon end its unlawful activity and will take the appropriate steps, as needed, to protect eBay.

An Amazon spokesman reportedly responded in a statement to the Verge: “We are conducting a thorough investigation of these allegations.”

Competition between the two marketplaces has become increasingly tense as more and more consumers move towards direct sellers, and both Amazon and eBay are thriving with independent businesses and start-ups using the platforms to sell desirable goods.

Marketplace Pulse figures showed Amazon marketplace grew by over a million sellers last year, with over five million in total and sales of $118.57 billion. eBay serves more people with 25 million sellers and 175 million shoppers. But it is consumer activity was lower, with $88.4 billion.

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