Reported obviously fake goods - eBay chooses to allow them to continue selling

[weiwu108]

I took the time to report a seller based in China for listing a number of fake garments. They purport to be from contemporary designer brands and the brands are unashamedly named in the listing (Our Legacy, Lanvin, Kapital etc.) but they are being sent from China and listed at one-tenth of the price. eBay sent a message in response to my reports and declared that the seller was not in breach of their guidelines. 

I am posting here just to register my surprise and disappointment that eBay condones the sale of fake goods on its platform and what a waste of time it is to report them.

I know this is hardly an important issue in the greater scheme of things but it bothers me. I plan to take it up with Trading Standards and other agencies but it's a shame eBay doesn't see fit to stop these counterfeit sales. Times must be hard for them...

[weiwu108]

That's a really good question (about blocking sellers/items) - I hope someone with more knowledge can reply. I have a feeling it might be possible to block individual sellers but I sense that's all that's possible.

[zoomingmouse]

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@docto4768 wrote:

What I don't understand (maybe as a new buyer) is that eBay don't automatically remove goods which are marked by a seller as (e.g.) facsimile.

My interest is GB stamps and there are many listed as facsimile or copy, but to sell such items is surely fraud even if marked as (actually) fake. These are antiques after all.

So is there a way to block a seller's items from appearing onscreen please?

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If you click on 'Advanced' next to the large search button you will find more options. 

There is the option to exclude words from your search which may help narrow down the results.

If you want to exclude a seller then you can enter their ID <s> under 'exclude' as shown below:

[fotherbale]

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@alicenluca wrote:

....Sellers should declare their goods are copies or counterfeit to allow buyers to choose to to buy at their own risk.

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No, not in the least - the law does not give that opportunity.  Producing and selling of fakes/counterfeits is illegal. End of.  

[fotherbale]

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@dch2112011 wrote:

Copies or dupe's are copies of  the original product with different labelling and declared as such - these are not necessarily illegal -  it would be up to the original brand as to whether they wanted to pursue infringement

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Unless it is clearly different from the genuine item, and it is clear that it is only in the style of and they don't to imitate the logos or any distinctive features, they could be guilty of 'passing off'.  The law is only slightly less rigid where that is concerned than it is with a direct counterfeit. As you say, it takes action by the trademark/copyright owner for anything to be enforced.

[Anonymous]

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@weiwu108 wrote:

I took the time to report a seller based in China for listing a number of fake garments. They purport to be from contemporary designer brands and the brands are unashamedly named in the listing (Our Legacy, Lanvin, Kapital etc.) but they are being sent from China and listed at one-tenth of the price. eBay sent a message in response to my reports and declared that the seller was not in breach of their guidelines. 

I am posting here just to register my surprise and disappointment that eBay condones the sale of fake goods on its platform and what a waste of time it is to report them.

I know this is hardly an important issue in the greater scheme of things but it bothers me. I plan to take it up with Trading Standards and other agencies but it's a shame eBay doesn't see fit to stop these counterfeit sales. Times must be hard for them...

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Did you feel like you are being told you are wrong on this thread ? I did. I reported scammers selling huge size sd cards for pennies. I also got the same "ebay are not experts" but to be an expert, takes a few minutes and anyone who has bought sd cards, already knows enough to do the extra bit of research to see the blatant scam. 

Ebay carried on profitting while people trying to create memories were left with ruined memories. 

Ebay knowingly selling and profitting from fraud is a huge secret, said no one, ever. 

[Anonymous]

On the positive side, I once listed Boris Johnson for sale on ebay. 
Yup.... 100% true.

No bids. 

[woo_an9]

Hahaha!!! Love it!!!

[woo_an9]

Totally agree, absolute waste of time reporting good for sale which are
counterfeit. The amount of bottles of Creed perfume I spotted which were
listed as 'unwanted Christmas presents' would seem rather obvious to
anyone, but not it would seem with Ebay. The usual 'does not breach our
guidelines'. So if blatantly obvious fakes don't then breach your
guidelines then what actually does? Who knows? 🤦🏻‍♀️

[northherts2013]

I cannot for the life of me figure out how ebay can sell fake and counterfeit items on their platform? If you came through customs with a bunch of fake name brand electronics, clothes, bags etc you would be in a bunch of trouble! But importing container loads is ok?? Hmmm more high level corruption. Sickens me to the core. 

[*help_no_brakes*]

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@northherts2013 wrote:

I cannot for the life of me figure out how ebay can sell fake and counterfeit items on their platform? 

Apart from advertising eBay do not sell anything.

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[weiwu108]

True, eBay doesn't actually sell anything but they give a platform and marketing opportunities to those that do. Also, a facility for reporting 'fake goods' which we have found to be pretty ineffectual.

[weiwu108]

"So if blatantly obvious fakes don't then breach your
guidelines then what actually does?"

Nailed it  🙂

I can see this becoming a scandal in the not-too-distant future. If the BBC or Channel 4 are looking for something to fill their schedules they might decide to focus on Ebay's business practices.

[weiwu108]

"Did you feel like you are being told you are wrong on this thread ?"

Do you mean some of the replies? Oh, yes, absolutely - most people have been very supportive and feel the same way, they have many stories similar to mine. But, there always seem to be a couple of posters who always try to be clever or contradict or explain away the issue.

Anyway, I am surprised and encouraged by the responses to my op, there are a lot of honest ebay buyers and sellers who can't understand why this fake goods thing continues.

[plpmr]

unfortunately you are responding to a member who has been banned from the boards  because they have lost their eBay account.

[weiwu108]

Still, he had a good point....

[lynbrom]

Just posted a negative review about an obvious (business) scammer. It was pulled (no doubt by eBay). Then I noticed that some 80% of their positive reviews were generated by the eBay bot - i quote - 'We leave automated positive feedback when a seller successfully completes an order and there's no buyer feedback about it'. 

So in the case of this seller, some 80% of the positive feedback is from the bot giving potential buyers a totally false impression. But I suppose $$'s count for everything these days. But sooner or later the media will pick up on this and eBay will suffer and they wonder why folks are walking away from the platform!!!

[tizmond]

I feel you mate. I've just been burned on a pair of Nike Air Max 90 trainers, that I purchased on here. The seller had good feedback, is UK based and the trainers looked genuine in the pictures. Even when they arrived, they looked 100% legit, had Nike tags on them, correct labelling etc. I wore them for a few days and noticed they weren't as comfortable as other Nike Air Max 90s I've owned. After doing a bit of research on how to spot fake Air Max's, I checked the shoes over and despite being very convincing, they turned out to be complete FAKES. I'm guessing that because they appear genuine at first glance, that 99.9% of people wouldn't know and have left positive feedback, because they're none the wiser. I did go back to the seller's feedback page and went further back in their feedback history and 2 negatives pointed out fake trainers. I wish I'd seen this before buying. Obviously, I can't return them now, because I've worn them and no longer have the box, but I was considering contacting eBay to report the selling of counterfeit goods. However, after reading this thread, it seems it will be a pointless excercise. Unfortunately, I suppose I'll just have to put this down to a lesson learned. Going forward, there's things I will just no longer buy from eBay and if buying trainers again, I'll only be buying from sellers that offer the "Authenticity Guarantee."
But I am genuinely shocked at eBay's lack of vigilance when it comes to this type of thing. Makes eBay look like one of those dodgy Sunday Markets. Something really needs to be done about it.

[lynbrom]

It's short-sighted $$ driven on the part of eBay. Amazon take it far more seriously. Anyway, as many of the positive reviews are bot generated then they are also fake. 

If I buyer wishes to give me positive feedback then that's a bonus. If they choose not to or cannot be bothered that is their prerogative. But for eBay to use a bot to give positive feedback for a business seller selling fake goods is well......... - plus pulling my negative feedback when I have provided proof is frankly resulting in a deceitful racket. 

[weiwu108]

Brilliant post, thanks. It's genuinely shocking, isn't it?

Many of the people who responded to this post, and a lot of ebay buyers in general, are good people whose only fault is that they are a bit too trusting, it seems to me.

You also made that error of examining the feedback only when problems became apparent... the number of times I've done this 🙂

Cheers.

[lynbrom]

Fair point about checking feedback. My seller had a 97.7% positive feedback - 418 in total of which 315 were positive from the eBay bot. No doubt my negative feedback (until it was pulled by eBay) would have quickly slipped down the board anyway. So in my view eBay are deliberately concealing and colluding with these fake sellers all to generate a few short term $$'s. 

They (eBay) will loose business over this practice but in the days of quick buck making what would I know.