SAKs / MTs on ebay.co.uk ... get 'em while you can

[nuphoria]

Totally and utterly fu**ing ridiculous. This has really peed me off  

We can sell alcohol and cigarettes because the tax they bring in is all lovely, yes and they don't kill anyone do they?!
Most murders are domestic and happen using implements in the home such as kitchen knives - knives which can be bought and are on display all over the sodding place. Just because a bunch of utter f*ckwit kids want to play at being ganstar' pricks, people like us who love collecting and coveting the shiny goodness of our tools will suffer.

Ebay can kiss my chocolate starfish! HA!

[I'm Still Bison]

The idiocy will just continue.what's in the future,and where will it stop? A nation of bearded British men because razors  have been outlawed?
 It's a sad and dangerous day when a private enterprise takes it upon itself to be judge,prosecutor and jury;regulator and enforcer of social behavior. 1984 self-imposed.
 I can't help but feel that the US will see the same thing happening within a decade.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

That's a very good point guy's, there's goin to be a lot of traders who are going to suffer in an already hostile climate

I wonder if Amoazon will follow suit

[Gareth]

Rather than give up I hope the UK sellers will find an alternative auction site and let us know where they have gone.  My concern is that we won't be able to see items on ebay.com and so be unable to find the rare and collectible stuff.  I've slept on this and am still not a happy man. 



PS. Bison, what's wrong with beards eh? 

[Benner]

I think guys like Gareth, Neil and Dave are going to be the ones who suffer the most from all of this as you guys seem to use ebay the most in order to get the odd and the rare.

Like Gareth said, hopefully these guys will find other means of selling.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Gentlemen (and Lady!), if there is any way at all that you feel that this site can aid you in fighting this, or any other piece of knife/tool related legislation, be it private or public (and this goes for everyone, in any country!) please by all means feel free to contact me, and I will devote as many resources as I can to the cause.

I would also suggest, if any of you in the UK have any dealings with any of the major importers or eBay sellers that may be affected by this, please invite them to join us or contact me and I will do what I can to help them out as well.  If importation of knives/tools is about to be a big problem, then it will be up to the local boys to feed the need and we might as well have something ready for them!

Def

[Neil]

  Time to get that auction add-on for the forum Def.

Help us out and make a few $ at the same time.  You know you want to

Neil

[Grant Lamontagne]

I never wanted to do that because I thought I couldn't compete, and I didn't want to take advantage of you guys....

But if you think it will help then it's something we can look into.

Def

[Neil]

Personally I would have rather paid you fees than eBay in the first place.  OK, you're never going to get the throughput of eBay but I certainly think the time is ripe for a speSmurfpillsed MT auction site.

No one's naive enough to think that servers and bandwidth are free, never mind the time put into making it all work. I for one am happy to be taken advantage of... to a certain extent

Neil

[Gareth]

Sounds like a good plan to me.  As Neil says I'd much prefer any fees going to this site than eBay.

[appletree_man]

Sigh insanity, but hey it's the image that matters these days, not actually preventing crime.
David Cameron, the useless hypocritical media whoring opposition leader called it the Daily Mail test, image is everything. No matter who is in power all that matters is the perception and scaremongering media. I'm struggling not to use foul language here.

[Craig]

Sounds like a good plan to me.  As Neil says I'd much prefer any fees going to this site than eBay.

I'd prefer to buy from here too - even if it meant paying a bit extra. Be a way of putting something back into the forum.

[cryptrick]

I only heard about this last night on the Text, just watched the show on iPlayer tonight and it really does suck doesn't it. I really don't spend as nearly as much on tools and SAK's as I used to, but it still pisses me off how stupid eBay and our country are. You have to remember that ebay have always made rash decisions. People who use ebay a lot will know about the time when shop items got grouped at the bottom of the page, hiking up paypal fees, feedback changes, crap new search design etc. If there were any rivals around the size of ebay I'd soon switch (so would thousands of others).

Watchdog are to blame as well, they (the BBC) being the Media, love to grossly exaggerate problems and situations. They love making a huge fuss about a small number of items that 'slipped through the net', then give themselves a pat on the back about how they managed to get large companies to change their policies. AppleTree_Man described it well about perception being everything. The Media and the Government have to be looking to please certain people unfortunately.

But we now have to start living with the fact that this is what the country is like now. As a friend of mine says more often now... Where's the Great gone out of Great Britain?

[Flash]

Gentlemen (and Lady!), if there is any way at all that you feel that this site can aid you in fighting this, or any other piece of knife/tool related legislation, be it private or public (and this goes for everyone, in any country!) please by all means feel free to contact me, and I will devote as many resources as I can to the cause.

I would also suggest, if any of you in the UK have any dealings with any of the major importers or eBay sellers that may be affected by this, please invite them to join us or contact me and I will do what I can to help them out as well.  If importation of knives/tools is about to be a big problem, then it will be up to the local boys to feed the need and we might as well have something ready for them!

Def

Captain...I always knew you were a gent 

[DaveK]

Personally I would have rather paid you fees than eBay in the first place.  OK, you're never going to get the throughput of eBay but I certainly think the time is ripe for a speSmurfpillsed MT auction site.

No one's naive enough to think that servers and bandwidth are free, never mind the time put into making it all work. I for one am happy to be taken advantage of... to a certain extent

Neil

Spot on

[Grant Lamontagne]

Well, I am not promising anything, but we are looking into it, and I'll keep you all informed.

Def

[Neil]

UPDATE:

   ***Updated: Change to policy regarding sale of knives on eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie***     
      
23 February, 2009 | 12:06PM GMT

We’d like to update you on the changes to the policy on the sale of knives.

From 10th March 2009, all knives and swords except cutlery will be banned from sale on eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie. The definition of cutlery includes those implements which can be used for eating, including cutlery sets, individual pieces of cutlery and antique cutlery.

All other items, including knives used in the preparation of food will be banned, including (but not limited to);
# antique knives
# bread knives
# craft knives
# Stanley knives
# camping/ survival/ hunting knives
# diving knives
# kitchen knives
# Swiss Army knives and Leathermans
# all swords

Under the new policy buyers will be asked to enter credit card details if they attempt to bid on or buy any item of cutlery in the new cutlery category. These details will need to be provided again after six months if the buyer seeks to buy or bid again.

We will be able to determine if the buyer or bidder enters the details of a debit card, solo card or pre-paid card, the types of card most likely to be held by under-18s. If the details of any of these types of cards are entered, eBay will prevent the buyer or bidder from completing the transaction.

If the bidder or buyer enters valid credit card details they will then be given the option to pay using any approved method of payment.

We will be strict in the enforcement of these new policies and any seller who repeatedly attempts to break this policy will face strict sanctions, including possible suspension from the eBay site.

Regards,

The eBay Team

 

Neil

[DaveK]

I really don't know what to say about this. It's almost comical.

[I'm Still Bison]

  That's one if the most outrageous pieces of policy I've ever had the misfortune to read.I sincerely hope somebody is working to develop an alternative.
     There's a couple things that bother me;first,somebody,some group will no doubt want to start adding their own personal dislikes to the ban list.Will staplers be banned because you can shoot a staple a couple centimeters? Secondly,I'm afraid Ebay will wind up making it a blanket policy on all their auctions globally.

[Benner]

It's all so pathetic isn't it.

[I'm Still Bison]

It's all so pathetic isn't it.

           Private enterprise is doing a 4 star job of being Big Brother.

[Flash]

I would suggest a global letter of complaint against this but I know it would do no good.

I for one will be informing ebay that as soon as this ban comes into effect I will be deleting ebay from my favourite list and vow to never use their site again.

Thankfully there ARE other auction sites....hopefully our favourite sellers will move over to these, reasonable, non knee jerk reacting sites 

[I'm Still Bison]

When I was in school I was taught that government had 3 branches;the judicial,legislative,and executive.I guess Ebay wants to unilaterally re-write constitutions and become the new 4th branch of government.

[Sean]

So obviously this is very disappointing to hear.
Can someone give me an overview of knife laws in England?  I know very little about what is fueling this ban by ebay.
From my limited understanding you are not allowed to carry fixed or locking blades of any kind?  Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,
Sean

[Benner]

So obviously this is very disappointing to hear.
Can someone give me an overview of knife laws in England?  I know very little about what is fueling this ban by ebay.
From my limited understanding you are not allowed to carry fixed or locking blades of any kind?  Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,
Sean

That's pretty much it, or any blades over 3".

Unless you have a valid reason of course.

[Neil]

What's caused this to happen is nothing to do with law though.  Its a knee jerk public relations reaction by eBay to media hype.

Yes there are still other means for me to get SAKs/tools/multis both in the UK and from sellers such as FelineVet but due to the way I normally buy and fund my collection this is going to make my collecting much trickier.

All just a pain in the bum really

Neil

[Gareth]

What makes me so angry is the fact that nobody is forcing eBay to do this.  There is no change in Law, not even Governmental pressure.  It was one know-it-all TV show that cheerfully broke the Law to try and prove a point. 

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

One know-it-all TV show that the main presenter is in a lot of hot water for accepting back handers

[I'm Still Bison]

What makes me so angry is the fact that nobody is forcing eBay to do this.  There is no change in Law, not even Governmental pressure.  It was one know-it-all TV show that cheerfully broke the Law to try and prove a point. 

And people wonder why TV is sometimes called a one-eyed monster.

[Benner]

One know-it-all TV show that the main presenter is in a lot of hot water for accepting back handers

Even better then.