Account restricted for 3 days - Counterfeit item policy

[clothes-express]

Hello

I've been selling on ebay for over 10 years full time, and had no issues whatsoever set for recently with this automated system which "detects problems". I have listed score draw England shirts on ebay for years however recently they got flagged as counterfeit so I spoke with customer service who said to upload actual pictures of the items, tags and even provide invoices to the listings. Which I did and had 0 issues for about 4-5 weeks now. However signed into my account today to say the items have been removed and my account has been restricted for 3 days.

The items are legit, I have purchased them from credible high street stores such as Sports Direct etc and even uploaded the invoices to the listings. I spoke with customer service who have said they can't do anything.

Anywhere to file a complaint please? thanks

[tressygirl]

The one thing unfair here, is the way that message is written.  The claim the item is 'not authentic'  is not explaining the true issue here.

Some brand items are protected by Vero Regulations and policies.  It was the brand owner, not eBay who asked for the removal of your item. 

There are so many fakes of high brand items and impossible to check authenticty for online items,  even receipts can be faked, I know, my work took me to the Far East for decades , and fake receipts  made there, are impossible to tell from the real deal.

You may well see identical items listed,  the site is massive over 7 billion + listings on at any one time, so not possible to check every listing, and some slip the net and become listed.

Your item has been reported do not relist it,  you would face serious selling restrictions.  You may have listed these before they may well have slipped the net, non one spotted them so they weren't reported.

You can read about Vero's policies from a link at the bottom of most eBay pages, it is also explained here:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/listing-policies/selling-policies/intellectual-property-

@clothes-express 

[clothes-express]

Hello,

Thanks for your reply. That link unfortunately does not work. How would I know which brand(s) are protected by Vero Regulations and policies? How do I know if a brand has complained about my listing(s)? 

Very insightful and takes me on a different path compared to whether the item is real or not. 

Kind regards

[clothes-express]

So is the issue the brand owner decided I cannot list it for sale on ebay? or something else? 

[myriad*seller]

Nobody except the brand owner can answer this, but yes, the brand owner can shut down your sales if they don't want them sold by people who are not authorised retailers 

Contact the VERO and ask for permission to sell their items

They may say yes, but probably will say no 

[tressygirl]

So sorry about the link , no idea why it's suddenly stopped working,  but there is a link to Vero regulations at the bottom of most eBay pages.

@clothes-express 

[clothes-express]

Thank you that's very insightful and much more helpful 🙂 thanks for taking the time to reply too! Ok my next problem is I decided I would start buying and selling used branded clothing however considering my account restriction and the threat of future (7 day restrictions) would this be a good idea or not? or is it best to just not list any brands on ebay and sell non branded clothing items? 😞

terrible situation to be in, considering I was hoping to expand sales as costs keep rising! I have received a few warnings from ebay about this particular brand however I thought it was just a case of if it was authentic or not (it was). 

[tressygirl]

All I can tell you from others having experienced these warnings,  is once you get that warning message you're flagged up, under eBay's radar, relisting the same brings longer restrictions,  breaking any other selling regulation could result in a ban.

There is an extensive list A - Z  in that Vero link at the bottom of the page of  the brands which are protected,  check to see if yours is there.

@clothes-express 

[dch2112011]

If it was the rights holder via vero who had your listings removed you should have an email from ebay giving you the rights holders details so that you can contact them direct for an explanation and they are obliged to respond within a set time - sometimes it is just the picture or wording that contravenes their rights. (anything taken from an advert or brochure - even if you are unaware and have just borrowed photos or text from another source.

However if the item has been reported as counterfeit this report goes to ebay rather than the rights holder - speculating about who authorised the removal  without the obligatory email may point to ebay themselves although I would have thought that it involved the rights holder or it could be certain items are on a list as being common counterfeits from trading standards or manufacturers  - the secrecy behind this issue makes speculation the only avenue of response.

I guess the secrecy is to 'stop' counterfeiters from learing the system but is non the less frustrating for re sellers like yourself. 

It does not follow that all your sports related garments will be removed if it is an isolated report that triggered the ebay response - this tends to occur with popular selling items - perhaps these are the items counterfeiters target  

[clothes-express]

i had a listing removed a day before about not being able to use "euro 24" in my listing title which I removed and the listing next day was reinstated however the same day my account was restricted for selling the same items for 3 days? Very strange!

Not sure what is going on but the explanation was that the automated system flagged these listings and a customer service rep decided to restrict my account for 3 days. Very little explanation, other than the items were suspected as "counterfeit". 

[dch2112011]

This might make sense

 "UEFA EURO 2024" is a registered trademark in the UK. UEFA, the governing body of the tournament, has trademarked the tournament name, logo, and other related emblems. UEFA's trademarked rights include the names "UEFA", "THE EUROS", and "UEFA EURO 2024".

UEFA has strict regulations in place to protect its trademarked rights and may use watch services to identify infringement. Anyone who uses these marks without UEFA's permission could be accused of trademark infringement. This could lead to legal action that could be costly and damaging to a business's reputation.
Businesses should ensure that any promotional materials, merchandise, or advertising campaigns involving Euro 2024 branding have proper authorization from UEFA.  

[clothes-express]

Yes that definitely made more sense but the "Euro 24" Not even Uefa Euro 2024 was removed as the listing reinstated but same time the above occurred. Very strange.

Either way guess I will just need to stop selling those items and maybe even avoid branded items in general 😞 

[dch2112011]

I don't personally see why you should stop selling branded goods - it may be that ebay removed the listing based on the euro 24 as somewhere along the line they were warned to look out for counterfeit euro 24 items before the tournament started -

 the ammended listing was flagged so when the auotbot found it still listed then it was removed and a wrist slap dealt to you -  Maybe it would have not happened if you made a new listing without euro 24  but not worth the risk just at the moment ?

This is all speculation but may fit ?

Did any of the description, item specifics etc mention euros etc ?

[clothes-express]

Yeah not worth the risk i think, sadly. Rather just keep things ticking along as we are pretty much nearly down and out and just another problem added to our list of problems currently! 

Thanks for all your help, i've learned some new stuff! 

[nigelica2009]

They wont listen to you as they are the 'experts' that can identify a fake from a photo even when the item is genuine. I have not been suspended but had my ad for some Euro coins pulled last week despite having got them when I exchanged pounds for Euros at an official bank !! They have no idea what they are doing and refuse to admit they are wrong.

I have written to the newspapers about it to see if they think people would like to read about how eBay trade and treat sellers of long standing merit (20 years plus). Ridiculous.