As Andy Murray was bowing out of his first Wimbledon final appearance yesterday, the benefits for his sponsor, Adidas, might not be as big as it could have expected.

This is because the sportswear company is preparing to pull out of selling its goods on eBay by the end of this year.

It has told its distributors that, from January 1 2013, Adidas and Reebok products will be forbidden from being listed on online marketplaces, with online sales only allowed through approved channels.

But, commenting on online selling news site Tamebay.com, the site's owner, Chris Dawson said he believed the move could backfire on the two companies. "For a mass market product is it really worth cutting off the marketplaces?", he asked.

And he added that Amazon itself was a third-party seller of Adidas products, which begged the question of how far Adidas and Reebok would be prepared to go to cut off all unauthorised online channels for their goods.

But whatever happens, anyone who currently sells Adidas or Reebok on their site, and it is not sanctioned by the manufacturers, has until the end of the year to dispose of their stocks.