Watchdog bans eBay adverts

eBay has been censured by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for a claim that its prices were 25 per cent cheaper than the High Street.

The online auction house ran a poster campaign that read: "Guess what? 25 per cent cheaper than the High Street on brand new items."

In its ruling the ASA said the auction giant's claim was misleading because it was not clear the comparison only related to certain High Street stores.

The 25 per cent figure was derived from independent research carried out in 2008, eBay argued.

Nearly 300 new products were checked against eBay prices, including postage and compared to the average prices in High Street stores such as Debenhams and John Lewis.

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However, the advertising watchdog said consumers reading the poster would take it to mean that eBay was cheaper than all main High Street stores for all new items.

"Although it might be the case that eBay was cheaper than some High Street stores for some new products, the evidence was not sufficient to support such an absolute claim that eBay was cheaper than all High Street stores for all new products," an ASA spokesman said.

The ASA banned the ad from appearing in its current form.

An eBay spokesman defended the campaign saying that the single complaint received by the ASA during the campaign stands in stark contrast to "15 million shoppers who return to eBay.co.uk every month knowing they'll get exactly those kind of deals".

Be sure to check out Issue 212 of Web User, on sale Thursday 23 April, for our top tips for making the most of eBay's new selling rules.