Earlier this month we examined proposed European legislation concerning large suppliers’ possible ability to insist their retailers have bricks and mortar premises that customers can visit. eBay has been campaigning on this for over a year, with Amazon joining the fray in public recently. eBay has been examining the latest draft: “The direction of the general [...]

Buying items online in Europe should be straightforward. You search for the product you want, you might well use a price comparison site, you check your favourite sites to see whether it’s available even less expensively and you buy. This works as long as someone discloses their price.

The European Commission is considering allowing brands to force companies selling items online to have bricks and mortar shops for customers to visit as well. This comes under guidelines called the Vertical Restraints Regulations (VRR) and comes under competition law. Frankly this is nothing less than an assault on the customer’s right to choose. Found a better price for something from a seller on eBay? If it doesn’t have actual premises, it might not be able to sell certain brands in future. Got a bargain on Amazon? Tough – it doesn’t have a shop you can visit so it could be banned from selling you this product.