Going once, twice … buyer beware in Polish auction site
The site is run by a company called Komernet, but its "contact" page does not include any names or telephone numbers to the company. The site offers most of the same features as eBay, such as offering free space for people to list their items for sale. Users can submit bids or place their own items up for sale, setting a minimum price which, if not reached at auction, means the sale will not happen.
But despite the similarities to eBay, the Polish site lacks some important features that have helped the more famous site grow to 2.5 million auctions each day.
The major feature missing on Kto Da Wiecej is any type of seller accreditation system. On eBay, you can check the history of sellers and see how they are rated by people who have conducted transactions with them. Those sellers who deliver goods as ordered and on time earn high ratings, and give potential buyers more confidence to entrust sellers with checks and credit card numbers.
But, so far, that ambiance of confidence seems to be absent from the Kto Da Wiecej site. For example, in the sale of a Hewlett Packard CD-Rom burner, all we know is some guy with the screen name "Demonic" has put the item on the block with a starting price of zl. 600. If you feel like trusting Mr. Demonic with your credit card, you still have a chance: the sale ends Nov. 25.
Neither does the Polish web auctioneer offer free insurance for unfulfilled transactions, nor an escrow service to hold the money bag while the purchaser checks that the item meets spec. The same holds true in reverse for items returned. With Kto Da Wiecej, it's truly buyer beware.
The site does not say whether Komernet takes a cut of each auction, as does eBay. It does seem to be trying to sell banner ads on the site.
A statement on the site's regulations page says, "Taking part in an internet auction carries with it the same consequences as that in a 'live' auction." But that's not entirely true, according to Jerzy Skrzypowski, head of the IT group at Baker & McKenzie law firm.
"Contracts exceeding zl. 2,000 must be confirmed in writing, and Polish law does not recognize the electronic medium as conforming with this requirement," Skrzypowski said.
In other words, there's no binding contract if all you've done is clicked "O.K." on your web browser, which can lead to unfortunate circumstances for both buyer and seller.
"If you decide to pay, fine, but if not, there is no sanction. There are no legal tools to press your complaint" if the deal doesn't go down as expected, Skrzypowski said. If you've paid for something that never showed up, you may be able to make a case based on "unjust enrichment" provisions in the law to get your money back, Skrzypowski said. But without a valid contract, you can't force the seller to deliver the goods themselves, he said.
Of course, this only affects sales for items costing more than zl. 2,000, so for the few items available on the site now, it wouldn't be a problem. But the law does require that complaints involving amounts below zl. 2,000 be documented in other ways, either with witnesses or computer records – so don't delete those e-mails.
Medical web
Last week, the WBJ reported about the upcoming launch of a site, www.medicover.com, which aims to become the "Dr. Koop.com" of the Polish web. A few days later, the WBJ discovered that there already is a site with claims to that title: Polski Informator Medyczny (www.polska.com.pl/medycyna) is a very nice, thorough site, but available only in Polish, whereas Medicover wants to be bilingual. The PIM site also lacks any contact information, so the site's creators are hard to get ahold of. But most of its features, such as health-related news, discussion groups and on-line consultations with doctors, are also things Medicover wants to offer on its site. Looks like the competition in the on-line health category here is definitely warming up.
Expensive access
Poland is among the most expensive countries from which to surf the net, according to a report by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The study, titled OECD Internet Access Price Comparison and dated Oct. 15, ranked Poland the fourth most expensive country for internet access among all OECD countries. Twenty hours of access at off-peak hours cost about $65, which is about the same as in Greece, the report said. OECD calculated values based on purchasing power parity, a measure of relative costs of goods and services. The OECD report said that only the Czech Republic ($78) and Hungary ($95) were more expensive places from which to access the internet.
The report also included Poland in the list of countries where the major internet service provider, in this case Telekomunikacja Polska (TPSA), offers "free" access, whereby customers pay only the local phone charges without any supplement for the internet. The other countries where that is the case are Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the U.K.
In Poland's case, however, those basic per-minute charges add up, accounting for a whopping 85% of the total cost for 20 hours of internet access, whereas in similarly priced Greece they make up only 40%.
But despite the similarities to eBay, the Polish site lacks some important features that have helped the more famous site grow to 2.5 million auctions each day.
The major feature missing on Kto Da Wiecej is any type of seller accreditation system. On eBay, you can check the history of sellers and see how they are rated by people who have conducted transactions with them. Those sellers who deliver goods as ordered and on time earn high ratings, and give potential buyers more confidence to entrust sellers with checks and credit card numbers.
But, so far, that ambiance of confidence seems to be absent from the Kto Da Wiecej site. For example, in the sale of a Hewlett Packard CD-Rom burner, all we know is some guy with the screen name "Demonic" has put the item on the block with a starting price of zl. 600. If you feel like trusting Mr. Demonic with your credit card, you still have a chance: the sale ends Nov. 25.
Neither does the Polish web auctioneer offer free insurance for unfulfilled transactions, nor an escrow service to hold the money bag while the purchaser checks that the item meets spec. The same holds true in reverse for items returned. With Kto Da Wiecej, it's truly buyer beware.
The site does not say whether Komernet takes a cut of each auction, as does eBay. It does seem to be trying to sell banner ads on the site.
A statement on the site's regulations page says, "Taking part in an internet auction carries with it the same consequences as that in a 'live' auction." But that's not entirely true, according to Jerzy Skrzypowski, head of the IT group at Baker & McKenzie law firm.
"Contracts exceeding zl. 2,000 must be confirmed in writing, and Polish law does not recognize the electronic medium as conforming with this requirement," Skrzypowski said.
In other words, there's no binding contract if all you've done is clicked "O.K." on your web browser, which can lead to unfortunate circumstances for both buyer and seller.
"If you decide to pay, fine, but if not, there is no sanction. There are no legal tools to press your complaint" if the deal doesn't go down as expected, Skrzypowski said. If you've paid for something that never showed up, you may be able to make a case based on "unjust enrichment" provisions in the law to get your money back, Skrzypowski said. But without a valid contract, you can't force the seller to deliver the goods themselves, he said.
Of course, this only affects sales for items costing more than zl. 2,000, so for the few items available on the site now, it wouldn't be a problem. But the law does require that complaints involving amounts below zl. 2,000 be documented in other ways, either with witnesses or computer records – so don't delete those e-mails.
Medical web
Last week, the WBJ reported about the upcoming launch of a site, www.medicover.com, which aims to become the "Dr. Koop.com" of the Polish web. A few days later, the WBJ discovered that there already is a site with claims to that title: Polski Informator Medyczny (www.polska.com.pl/medycyna) is a very nice, thorough site, but available only in Polish, whereas Medicover wants to be bilingual. The PIM site also lacks any contact information, so the site's creators are hard to get ahold of. But most of its features, such as health-related news, discussion groups and on-line consultations with doctors, are also things Medicover wants to offer on its site. Looks like the competition in the on-line health category here is definitely warming up.
Expensive access
Poland is among the most expensive countries from which to surf the net, according to a report by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The study, titled OECD Internet Access Price Comparison and dated Oct. 15, ranked Poland the fourth most expensive country for internet access among all OECD countries. Twenty hours of access at off-peak hours cost about $65, which is about the same as in Greece, the report said. OECD calculated values based on purchasing power parity, a measure of relative costs of goods and services. The OECD report said that only the Czech Republic ($78) and Hungary ($95) were more expensive places from which to access the internet.
The report also included Poland in the list of countries where the major internet service provider, in this case Telekomunikacja Polska (TPSA), offers "free" access, whereby customers pay only the local phone charges without any supplement for the internet. The other countries where that is the case are Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the U.K.
In Poland's case, however, those basic per-minute charges add up, accounting for a whopping 85% of the total cost for 20 hours of internet access, whereas in similarly priced Greece they make up only 40%.
