WA Gumtree Disagreement - Posting Ads for Prohibited Items?

[Spink]

Does Gumtree really have the right to delete any Ad they see fit to delete under Australian Consumer Law? What about some items they have placed on the prohibited list which are not prohibited items in Australia, or even the rest of the world, e.g. speargun or compound bow? Why is it that they will delete your Ad if you post one of their so called prohibited items but at the same time have up to 10 'sponsored links' posted on the page?

Gumtree is massively popular in the UK and here in Australia is frequented by 26% of the population. It's a great way to buy and sell, and now that they are quite big , shouldn't there be, or isn't there federal laws which govern the way they operate their website to make sure it's fair for all, and not just their way and they do as they please, like deleting people's Ads or restricting access to their account until you agree to 'Their' terms and conditions?

And why is it that when I clicked my cursor in the Thread Title section, a box appeared with all the Ads that I have posted on gumtree all year, this site wouldn't happen to be own and moderated by Gumtree would it?

 

[John R]

Hi @Spink,
I've had a similar experience with Gumtree in the past.

In summary:

1. Gumtree is owned by eBay and as a privately owned "marketplace" business they can, as a general rule, set their own terms and conditions about who can use the website and what items can be posted, etc.
2. Gumtree sets out in their Terms of Use that any ad post that violates/breaches the Gumtree Australia Posting Policy may be deleted without notice. It is important to note that ad posts may be rejected/deleted because of manual or automated (e.g. keyword filter) moderation.
3. Gumtree also sets out that if you believe that your ad post has been incorrectly rejected/deleted, then you should contact Gumtree Australia by creating a Support Ticket.

All the best. Please keep us updated with your progress.

I'm also fairly certain that eBay and Gumtree don't own LawAnswers.com.au! The Ad/s you saw were most likely generated by Google AdSense, a popular way for forums (like LawAnswers.com.au) and other free/freemium websites (like Gumtree) to generate revenue.

 

[Spink]

Hi John , Thanks for your reply however I am in disagreement with you also. You refer to them as being ' A privately owned marketplace' , if I wad to start my own private business I would still have to operate under law , consumer law , whatever laws are applicable and as they are a marketplace that make the claim that they are there for everybody and that you can buy and sell just about anything then its seems to me that there decision to not allow someone to post an Ad that they dont see fit is to me Arbitrary. Especially if the items you want to buy or sell is not deemed illegal by that own countries law, furthermore , if Gumtree is owned by Ebay and Ebay consent to the selling of that item then they opetate with conflicting standards and if Gumtree dont allow the Ad under there so called prohibition list then why are they posting supporting links for the very the very thing they claim is prohibited?. Fairs fair , and there are enough complaints out there to form a petition to urge the Government to pull gumtrees administrative heads out there u know what.