Counterfeit Toothbrush Heads for Oral B being sold - eBay are not removing them

[lupo-store]

There's 3 markets for toothbrush heads on eBay.

1. Genuine Oral B Toothbrush heads

2. 3rd party brands selling compatible with Oral B (we sell these)

3. FAKE/COUNTERFEIT ORAL B toothbrush heads

Regarding the Fake ones, we have had long conversations with Concierge, Trust and Safety, Oral B, Trading Standards.

We estimate there is £0.5 million per annum sold of these.  What we have been doing is making test purchases of the fake ones, taking photos of them showing they don't have serial numbers where they should, reporting them to eBay with these images and a screenshot of an email from Oral B saying without these serial numbers they are FAKE.

eBay have removed maybe 2 sellers of the 10 we have reported.  Our sales have been halved in recent months due to this.  All these sellers have LOADS OF NEGATIVE feedback saying FAKES yet eBay still don't remove them with the proof that they are fake.

I am at a loss of what to do.  I have reported via all the correct channels multiple times.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Surely this should be something that the manufacturer/brand holder is prosecuting?
As a seller, we can only do so much in bringing this kind of thing to their/Ebay's attention.

But this kind of thing is certainly not limited to toothbrushes  Pretty much everything you can think of has this kind of an issue, as items flood the market from time to time with fakes.

They eventually get cleaned up and the fakers move on to something else.

[banditfrenzy]

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@lupo-store wrote:

I am at a loss of what to do.  I have reported via all the correct channels multiple times.

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Be very careful what you wish for ! While many will think ridding a marketplace of fakes is easy . . . It isn't.

IMO the best way to tackle this on ebay will be through VERO. Whether the makers of Oral B (Procter & Gamble) wish to persue the fakes, or maybe someone acting officially on their behalf, is down to them.

[bravergrace]

This is a problem in many categories, in many respects.

Not just stuff that's sold under false trade names.

Also - for instance - "Victorian antiques" that were actually made in the last 20 years.  Or brand new made-in-China jewellery flooding the "vintage jewellery" category.  Or "genuine first edition Chaucer manuscript, printed 2020".  

Yes, it does affect the sales of honest sellers - whose truthful listings are buried beneath mounds of fakes and deliberately misdescribed items.

To be blunt about it, eBay don't care about anything but profit.  They won't do anything unless the rights holder complains, using either the VERO scheme or a lawyer - because at that point, they risk legal action and hefty fines.   eBay take a pragmatic approach: they will act at the point where it's cheaper to take action and avoid fines, than to collect the fees from the sales.

If they restricted sales of your items to genuine items only, they wouldn't get so much in fees.

[messier44000]

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@lupo-store wrote:

"I am at a loss of what to do.  I have reported via all the correct channels multiple times."

Contact BBC rip off Britain TV program. They cover stories like this, with consumers 

unknowingly buying fake products.

Would be amusing getting someone from eBay towers live on TV.

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[4_bathrooms]

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@lupo-store wrote:

What we have been doing is making test purchases of the fake ones, taking photos of them showing they don't have serial numbers where they should, reporting them to eBay with these images

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You need to report them to Oral B as only they (or their appointed representative) can file a NOCI. It is the intellectual property owner who needs to enforce their IP rights; you can't do it for them. 

[lupo-store]

I have done some but apparently they have stopped policing eBay so not filing NOCI forms and since that change these fakes are everywhere 

[4_bathrooms]

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@lupo-store wrote:

I have done some but apparently they have stopped policing eBay so not filing NOCI forms and since that change these fakes are everywhere 

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This happens all the time. Usually at this point I stop ordering the product as there's no point stocking something I'm unlikely to sell. Once a brand realises their usual stockists are no longer ordering a product and why they sometimes do something about it.

Anyway; have you looked up the IP owner on the IPO website? That tells you who the IP owner is and the identity of their representative; this is who you need to report IP infringements to. Click on the "Names and addresses" tab on this IPO result - that is who you should be reporting to.