A brand does not have to accept the way its products are offered by resellers on internet platforms such as eBay. That’s more or less what a court in Mannheim, Germany, recently ruled. The plaintiff, an eBay seller dealing with satchels, went to the court claiming that its vendor, the company Sternjakob, which markets Scout, a popular brand for school backpacks in Germany, was illegally no longer delivering goods.
The Scout company states in its general terms and conditions that its retail customers should be allowed to sell on the internet, as long as the web shop has the ambience of a specialized on-street store. The retailer should also offer a certain range of the brand’s products and should ensure that its sales staff is skilled.
The Mannheim court’s ruling, which may be appealed, is potentially revolutionary. First, it agreed with Sternjakob that vendors have the right to say what stores that sell their products should look like. Second, it tries to define what a specialized store is in contrast to mass merchants, power sellers and others.
In countries where eBay has become extremely popular, such as Germany, the vendors increasingly face the problem that their quality products are offered on such platforms for €1 or so, posing a major risk for the brand’s image. Another problem is that they do not have the right to refuse deliveries to such aggressive sellers as long as they had long-lasting relationships with the sellers and the sellers pay their invoices regularly.
The Mannheim ruling has redefined B2B relations so that vendors do have influence on how their retail customers sell their goods on the web – and at what price. It is widely expected, however, that the court’s decision will be debated because the judge’s ruling opened the floor to a discussion on what a quality store should actually look like.
