Ebay still selling ivory - Labelled as "Ox bone"

19/07/2012 11:19:39 Ebay still selling ivory
July 2012. It was recently brought to our attention that EBay was still selling ivory. We were surprised at this, so we contacted EBay to find out why this was. The conversation (live chat over the web) was frustrating to say the least. The first two conversations were terminated by "technical faults" when we asked questions about the ivory; and in the third it almost seemed like they were being deliberately thick in answer to our questions. Interestingly, although we had the text of our first two conversations emailed to us, we didn't receive an email with the text of the 3rd chat. No doubt another technical error.

Portobello Road
EBay have a process in place whereby it is possible to report a listing. We reported a couple that seemed to be ivory, but they were still on Ebay when we last looked. If anyone lives near Portobello Road, there was an ‘Ox bone' Chinese puzzle ball for sale, by someone in Rogers Arcade. It is probably still on Ebay as Ox bone, so pop into Rogers and see if it is listed as Ox bone on the stall that is selling it.

Same story in the US
We were contacted by someone from the USA, their experience is as follows.
Elephant Ivory and Tortoise Shell items on Ebay are common and just as easy to find.

Ebay has an official policy of not allowing any products made of Elephant Ivory, Tortoise Shell Products or endangered species being sold on the site. The truth is all of them are available.

I contacted Ebay about a particular seller who had more than 21 Ivory pieces, one of which appeared to be a very Young Elephant carved tusk, only a couple feet long. In his completed and sold listings were dozens more Ivory items. He has been on there for months selling them. Now, 5 days later, the items are still on the site, still selling and being offered.

If you're wondering how I know these are Ivory's is simple, I've been an Asian art dealer for more than 35 Years and while I have an appreciation for the art of carving, carving elephant ivories is no longer are an option for anyone with a heart. It's just wrong.

I did get a call back, the news was this "the items are not going to be removed due to the HISTORY of the seller with the site, we feel we have nothing actionable". Translation to me? Get off our phone, stop saying it, be quiet, it's ok as long as we can feign ignorance and collect fees. Read more on this blog

Policy review
Wildlife Extra was promised during our final chat that the matter would be escalated to the policy department (or similar, we have no proof as the email with the transcript never arrived.) so we wait without baited breath as to what the outcome will be.

Is Ebay breaking the law?
Our understanding of the law is that DEFRA requires that elephant ivory products to be manufactured before 1st June 1947 and must have proof of that to be legally traded within the UK.

Update from USA
Our US correspondent  has been in contact with Ebay again. He spoke to an Ebay representative;

During the call, I directed her to a listing, mentioned in the blog, where the seller is actually using the term "Elephant Ivory Tusk" in the body of his items listing. She agreed 100% that it was obviously Ivory, but no action would take place PERIOD. She sympathized, but implied the revenues from these transactions outweigh any other issues. Additionally she argued , amazingly so, Ebay is concerned about possible litigation from the sellers, which is bunk..who on earth is going to sue Ebay over Ivory listings...? Ebay can remove any item, at anytime for any reason. They could make the sale of OX Bone off limits...

Currently, over 12,000 listings for "OX bone" are still on there...