Another eBay trap

Thomas Linton

Thomas Linton

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So I win a nice knife for a good price and go to pay.

The vendor forces you to pay through "ChannelAdvisor." Down at the bottom in very small print it says "Privacy Policy." Dunno why, but I checked.

Turns out the "Privacy Policy" of ChannelAdvisor is to sell your personal information to whomever they desire unless you inform their Legal Department that you don't agree.

What information? Name; address; telephone number; what you bought; email address.

And you can't say they didn't warn you. After all, they gave you a link to their Privacy Policy, those spam-sucking nogoodnicks.:mad:
 
Is ChannelAdvisor owned by ebay?

If it's a separate company that exists to service ebay sellers, then
I don't think we can blame ebay for ChannelAdvisor's business practices.
 
rifon2 said:
Is ChannelAdvisor owned by ebay?

If it's a separate company that exists to service ebay sellers, then
I don't think we can blame ebay for ChannelAdvisor's business practices.
Click to expand...


Exactly. Sounds like a third-party processor,,not Ebays baby.
 
Not every risk of the Ebay world is eBay's fault. Just something else to watch for when you venture out where life is cheap, down on the Rio Bravo.

If "user" means the vendor, I am convinced he never read the "fine print" any more than the typical buyer. If you do, you discover that CA takes the position that "by visiting this website you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this Privacy policy." Got that? Click on the vendor's payment link, and, CA says, you have already agreed to terms you never even see unless you also click on the small link to the "Privacy Policy."

AND that policy includes a statement that the terms and conditions "may be changed from time to time." :eek:

The shame of it is that this may be no more than an overzealous lawyer doing too "good" a job of making the "fine print" one-sided. But how willing are you to give a company consent to do whatever they decide -- "from time to time" -- they want to do with your information?
 
I went to the ChannelAdvisor website and it states there that they do not sell your information to third parties. They only supply your information to ChannelAdvisor clients. That's bad enough, but not as bad as selling to third parties.
 
Keith Montgomery said:
I went to the ChannelAdvisor website and it states there that they do not sell your information to third parties. They only supply your information to ChannelAdvisor clients. That's bad enough, but not as bad as selling to third parties.
Click to expand...

Keith,

Anyone other than the vendor (who just agreed to take regular PayPal) may be a "client" of CA. That does not make them a party to the transaction. Other than the vendor, all CA clients are "third parties."

Worse is the provision of the "Privacy Policy" that I noted: "This policy may be changed from time to time." By hitting the payment button on the invoicing email (thus visiting CA's website), you are supposedly agreeing to whatever terms and conditions CA decides to set up in the future. Is that legal? Probably not. The basic notion, as you know, is that a contract is a conscious agreement, and you can't agree to unstated terms. (Well, the G can often do such things, but it's the G.) It's a big red warning sign when a company trys to pull a fast one.
 
If "user" means the vendor, I am convinced he never read the "fine print" any more than the typical buyer. If you do, you discover that CA takes the position that "by visiting this website you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this Privacy policy." Got that? Click on the vendor's payment link, and, CA says, you have already agreed to terms you never even see unless you also click on the small link to the "Privacy Policy."
Click to expand...

You're right, THIS is getting to be a big deal.

Everyone on the web has users "agreeing" to a zillion things just by using their site!
 
Thanks for the heads up !!! There are far too many ways for people to get your information already !!!!:mad:
 
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