Sellers selling fake items, why ebay lets them to do so?

[laura1995-uk]

Have recently come accross many listings that look fake and price suggests its fake item as well bellow to what they are worth, for example Phillip Plein jacket (mirror) , seller sells for £80 but can't find real one that is exact thing + price is off the charts. Made report, but ebay responded that it doesn't fall under counterfeit item. Ridiculous. Even sellers feedback looks and proves they've sold fakes. 

Whats going on ebay? 

[jckl1957]

Ebay won't respond to one report from one member.

You can try trading standards, if the seller is a UK business seller, or contact the manufacturer of the item.

Ebay do state that they don't allow the sale of fakes but they can't guarantee the authenticity of items because they don't see them.

If you buy something and decide it is fake, you are fully covered by the Ebay Money Back Guarantee.

[tressygirl]

Well,   eBay do not work on messages or feedbacks ,  as these could be left from disgruntled buyers or even competitors,  it does happen.

eBay work on cases being open.  All buyers are protected and guaranteed to receive a 100% full refund if they receive a fake,  that is, an item not as described,  if they open a case within 30 days of the item's last estimated date for delivery.

If these cases mount up for the same reason,  and especially if escalated the seller's account receives defects,   a red flag  for eBay is raised,  they investigate and only then can serve penalties,  even lifetime bans.

If a buyer states they were sold a fake in feedback , the seller can ask for it to be removed as eBay cannot see the item in question,  so cannot be .  As above it's cases here that are really effective.

[toolboss15]

There are a lot of fraudulent listings here on eBay. They won’t do a thing as there are as crooked as some of the sellers. 2 members who have been on eBay 10 years sell Murano Glass fakes. They open new account every year when things are not going well for them. eBay just let them rip people off. This platform is now in a complete mess but that all down to eBay that’s why most of shopping now is done on more reliable platforms..

[twiggyrenata6]

Have found sellers are selling fake iphone phones. They are actually putting it in the main heading

this is an android version  .We all know that apple don't make android phones .

Its there for every one to see without opening up the listing and still ebay has not taken them down.

 

[tressygirl]

There's a report button down the ight hand side of every listing,  use that to report the listing.

No guarantee it will then be removed,  but will put it in eBay's radar.

[pg_kicks]

The reporting feature doesnt work, the chat team tell you people check it, eBay members tell you people check it then you get an email saying AI checked it and nothing is wrong with it whilst its a dummy listing.

eBay allow them because they get fee's if somebody complains they dont lose out as they charge the seller anyway. Trainers are terrible for it, they have a template on their own site on how to bypass the authentication scheme also fakes are ok(ish) if you are just an average wearer so i'd say 95% of the fakes sold nothing is even raised about it. 

Even the more senior customer service teams dont care, trading standards are the only route that may make ebay actually fixed the reporting system, its as bad as the EDD.

[tressygirl]

I have no idea how and why it does or doesn't work,  I  just remember in the height of Covid,  when So many sellers were charging astronomical prices for masks /  wipes,  price gouging,  therefore making money out of a ' disaster situation' and 100% against eBay's rulings,  the ones I reported,  some were,  and some were not removed.

You're right it's not a stable , guaranteed process, but all anyone can do if you wish to report a listing.

eBay won't cannot listen to just a message , as this could be from a disgruntled buyer or even a competitor.

The report button is all we have,   but yes I do not disagree,   it's far from working 100%.

[pg_kicks]

Covid times were very different, imagine the uproar if you had nurses/front line without PPE but you could get it on eBay for £50, thats front page stories so eBay know they had to act.

Its pointless reporting, like I've told you it doesnt work, I have reported hundreds, sent a list to executive teams, offered to send a list to the community team none of them actually care so its clearly passed down from higher up that unless it hits eBay in the pocket just tell people to use the reporting feature that we know is broken.

Its not just for competitors either, its items I know are fake (bypassing authentication), dummy listings, offering sales outside of eBay, you name it and I've tried it and every single time you get a reply saying this has been checked by AI and we deem it not to have broken a policy.

[steve648536]

I have been an eBay member for 21yrs not much changes they have always sold fake items from day one, like others have said they go by the amount of complaints they get about a seller before they will even do anything, most major brands are not bothered that fake items of theirs are being sold.

I have contacted companies before in the past about this & they really don't care, the only thing I have seen stopped by eBay is bootleg music CDs, the rest is a minefield. It's ok to say "your covered by eBay" but it's the inconvenience of buying fake items & having to send them back order after order.

Even the "certified refurbished" is not what it seems I have brought this type of item in the past & the item will look well used, with scratches & paint missing etc, sellers try it on all the time in the hope they can give you a few pounds off & you will keep it anyway.

I don't shop much on eBay now days I used to buy almost everything off them, but now I shop around Amazon is good if you are spending over £20 if your not a prime customer, many the same price as eBay if not cheaper as your not paying for individual postage.

Shop around eBay is pretty much dead now days most sellers left have very poor feedback, always read feedback before you buy anything of anyone is the best advice I can give you, plenty of other places online to purchase items apart from eBay.

[youbela15]

eBay , Amazon and all the electronic commerce is just a fake 🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥 I'll never trust them because it's virtuale world.

Better to buy any items live.Don'l look for saving money.

[jeromesh]

I recently reported an obvious listing where people could either buy a CD, or an MP3 download of all the tracks for a bit less. They also went on to say in their listing that they could supply MP3s of other albums and gave contact details which clearly indicated that they would trade off of eBay. Ebay advised that the listing did not break their terms. I was gobsmacked. I ended up reporting the piracy issue to the lawful authorities in the UK, but eBay is making itself a home for illegal sales. If this was a physical environment trading in this way it would be shut down quite quickly.

[dryzachip]

Money, that's what's going on with eBay, even fakes bring in revenue.

[*vyolla*]

This is just a digital upgrade from the local street market, fake items have always been sold, there are fakes on every online selling platform.

Buyers are protected by the platforms buyer protection and their card provider too, so they shouldn't lose out.  Yes, it's a minor inconvenience having to return an item, but checking out your sellers feedback and the other items they're selling should give some indication of whether the item is the real deal, or not.

eBay can't see the listed item, so rely on item not as described return cases to indicate whether a seller is making a habit of selling fakes, or not.

Personally, I'd always report counterfeit product to the brand owner, then they can decide whether they want to take action, or not. For example, in the Vivienne Westwood jewellery section currently over 90% of that product is fake. Private sellers do not have thirty brand new necklaces that retail for £400 that they're selling for £100, that should be a heads up, but people get excited and want to believe. So, fake product floods the market and gets resold and it goes on. The Vivienne Westwood company didn't seem to care about it, which is why there's such a ridiculously high percentage of it pro rata the real deal. 

Music companies are the most hands on when it comes to responding to reports, and they do have companies trawling the sites looking for counterfeit product. 

[kath3735_wxmjn]

the problem i have has a private seller (usually just normal stuff not high brand) is that i would not know a fake unless it was really really obvious and so much stuff is pretty good these days.  I get stuff from my family that i sell and one item was a Tiffany brooch which did scream out at me (family are not completely stupid) so i stopped and asked before listing and they said it was a fake.  Still sitting around in my boxes because i will not even sell it on a car boot.   With my own stuff i sold two DVDs and the guy returned them saying they were fakes  which they were not.  Unless there was a problem with quality i would not have known if they were or not even though one was bought new through Amazon.  I did ask my two older nephews to check and they both said they were genuine.   I had obviously refunded the money back immediately though, not worth arguing with someone.

[laura1995-uk]

Now i get messages from ebay for "naming and shaming" 

Basically they protect the fake seller

[rafferty80]

They let them to sell fakes because these sellers pay commission to  Ebay.  And if you are a business seller there is a monthly fee .Ebay is making a good money on them so they are not interested in removing these people.

[rafferty80]

 Amazon do not sell fake designer clothing.  They are full of cheap low quality Chinese products but Ebay sells absolutely everything.

[laura1995-uk]

Sadly thats the issue. 

Sometimes when i sell authentic GUESS items they get taken down and im told i violated policy. Madness

[beechvale76_5]

Ebay sells nothing, it lets its users sell items on their platform.