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...

[dch2112011]

Have you tried a cease and desist letter - it sometimes works and has more clout if from a solicitor - it is free for you to send but costs once the solicitors get involved -  I guess you may be using these already -

Your situation is complex and I assume would cost a fortune via the legal system to sort out -  At least many thousands of people have been brought joy and delight  through your artistic talent and if nothing else that is something to be very proud of.

[namelesspromotions]

I haven't needed to resort to one yet but I will if I really have to.  

It is nice to know that people like my work and being known by people I don't know was one of my earliest goals, it's just unfortunate that I misjudged a turn in the road. 

It's a long story but my motivation and enjoyment of working were seriously affected. Now I just work as and when until the project in question is finished, but no third parties. 

Appreciate the replies.

[namelesspromotions]

To update: Reported the same seller for a THIRD time, as well as a new seller who'd listed the same artwork, in bootleg form. I explained that there are no LEGITIMATE versions of the artwork that are 17 x 11 inches, which noth of them are. 

Ebay's response?

Case 1: We looked into your report and didn’t find the listing to be in violation of our policy. This determination was made using automation or artificial intelligence.

Case 2: We looked into your report and didn’t find the listing to be in violation of our policy.  This determination was made by a customer service agent.

EBAY IS A DISGRACE. 

[weiwu108]

Given it's your own artwork it must be really infuriating.. the replies from ebay are insulting.

I wish there was an independent body that you could take this to (and that applies to all the fake or unlicensed goods mentioned in this thread).

[namelesspromotions]

I'll have a look at what Trading Standards can do though one can only make reports on weekends for some reason. It appears it also only applies to my own country (England) whilst one of the offending items is in the US and the other in Australia.. 

Very infuriating indeed. As I said before, I find new bootlegs virtually any time I do a search, the second of the two on this occasion showed up in ebay's recommended after I'd done a search for the first one(!) 

[rafferty80]

Check mirrorclothing. These based in UK and  sell counterfeit items  for about 8-9 years.  DG, Off-White, Philipp Plein, Balmain e.t.c.  They were reported many times and nothing has happened. 

[pillarboxred]

The problem is that only the owners of the Intellectual Property Rights in products have the right to say if they are genuine or not and take action. Exceptions would be Assayed silver, gold and platinum or , perhaps, goods like medicines and electric fires where there are public safety concerns, and public officials will take action.

If you are seriously concerned, you need to track down the owners of the Rights and inform them of what you have found and leave it to them to approach eBay which will listen to them. I couldn't be bothered to do that myself although it might prove to be a rewarding hobby for an amateur public defender.

[namelesspromotions]

As an original artist, I am the copyright holder, yet not once, in spite of several reports, have ebay removed any illicit copies of my work. Only yesterday I reported someone selling copies of one of my posters for next to nothing - these copies lacked the copyright notice (bearing my name and the year of production) contained on the legit version. I highlighted this, and ebay's response was that they "looked into your report and didn’t find the listing to be in violation of our policy. This determination was made using automation or artificial intelligence."

There is absolutely no point in reporting illicit items as it's patently clear that ebay have zero interest in resolving the problem, regardless of who makes the report, and regardless of whether the "agent" happens to be artificial intelligence or an actual human being. 

[rafferty80]

Fashion brands should be able to sue them. I've sent email to  Dolce&Gabbana with pictures of their labels. They will  pass it to relevant department for further investigation and tomorrow i want to have a chat with Trading Standarts as well.

[rafferty80]

Business sellers pay monthly fees to Ebay that's why they are not interested in removing them.

[namelesspromotions]

Which makes ebay complicit in illegal sales. 

[rafferty80]

Obviously.

[dch2112011]

In your specific situation could you register for the VERO program ? 

[rafferty80]

They can remove certain items but not the sellers and they will keep operating.  It's better to report to Trading Standards . I also got in touch with the fashion brands themself.

[pillarboxred]

I know it would cost a couple of hundred pounds but a solicitor's letter will sort this for good and all.  A solicitor who handles Intellectual Property will know exactly what to say and what next steps you can take. I find it incredible that eBay thinks it can get away with handing out duff judgements determined by automation: automation is not a "get out of prison" ruse, it makes the offence worse because it is a sign of total negligence by the human owners and operators of the site who are unaware of what their AI is doing, trampling on the citizens' rights. EBay will wake up when courts hand them judgements of exemplary damages. 

[rafferty80]

I would probably pay a solicitor if i was a victim myself. Luckily i have a degree in fashion  and can easily spot fake items. I just hate counterfeit products in general and feel sorry for the people who fell for this bait.

[namelesspromotions]

Thanks for the suggestion, will try it and see if it's effective. 

[rafferty80]

Definitely and it won't cost you anything.

[ascensionangel]

I also just had this a few seconds ago. But this was with a knockoff of a collectible action figure. I put in the description of the report that it was a fake and illegal copy of a licensed product and the report came back and said that a customer service agent looked at it and that it wasn't removed as they thought it was ok -_- it's beyond a damn joke tbh. Buying collectibles on eBay is an absolute minefield due to all the knockoffs on there. It's like an animal infected with a load of parasites! Obviously though it's eBay infected with knockoff products. 
Its even worse when all the fakes come from China and yet eBay has a specific item location for China! That's literally just inviting scams! It's beyond insane!

[jun_man1978]

Not that this is much help, but I've had the same issue with a recently purchased LEGO item. Once you have the item in hand, it's very clear it's a fake. You report it to eBay and I got the same response (within about half an hour) that it's not a breach and the determination was made by a customer services agent. I called to question this and was told there was nothing that could be done. It's clear there's not really much point in eBay having a Counterfeit Item policy because they clearly don't enforce it.

I've also raised the issue with LEGO themselves and provided the evidence, so if they want to pursue it they can. But in case others are reading this, it does seem like the only option for buyers is to get your money back via the eBay Guarantee programme and be disappointed that they allow criminal activity to continue on the site. It's pretty disappointing.