EBay has taken its petition to stop brands restricting sales on its site to the European Union.

Its petition, which has over 750,000 signatures from its users, was launched in July. It is calling the EU to amend European competition law to halt what it calls the “abuse” of “selective distribution” agreements which block online sales of some products.

EBay argues that the practice unfairly impacts online businesses and entrepreneurs and means the consumer ends up paying more.

It has called for greater clarity and support for cross-border internet sales in Europe and wants the way offline and online channels are treated for distribution to be the same.

Many brands appose this at they feel they lose control of how their product are sold and eBay has had several high profile court battles with many brands including jewellery brand Tiffany and luxury group LVMH over counterfeit goods which have found their way onto the site.

EBay director general Alex von Schirmeister said: “EBay was built on a simple idea - that it could empower individuals by building a global marketplace where practically anyone could buy or sell practically anything.

“Unfortunately, that idea is under threat from certain brand owners and manufacturers who are trying to block and restrict unfairly the sale of legitimate products on the internet. Through this online petition our community of users is calling on policymakers to amend European competition law to stop these unfair trade practices. “

The petition was lodged to coincide with revision of the European Commission’s public consultation on its European Vertical Restraints Regulation and Guidelines which ends on September 28.

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