Advise please.

[tanky_turk]

Hi all, sorry if I'm posting this in the wrong place but no idea where I should.

I was made aware about an item being auctioned by a seller, it is a lapel pin badge with a pic in it, military type. I designed it and only one person is allowed to sell. This person sells it online but does not sell it on EBAY, who is selling on EBAY I have no idea.

The original price for this item is £4.99 from the authorised seller but the bid stands at £16 on EBAY auction.

My question is, how do I find out who the EBAY seller is and where he got the badge from? For all I know he could have downloaded the design and is "illegally" making the pin badges.

Any advice please?

Thanks

[algasmoon]

Well how about someone bought it from your online seller, doesn't want it now so is selling it on ebay?

or, someone bought it in a car boot sale from a buyer of your online seller who didnt want it anymore etc etc, the scenarios are endless.

or, send a message of interest in the item asking of its history?

or, buy it and have a look at it

[tanky_turk]

algasmoon, it's gone up to £32 pounds, I can make one for less than £1 so don't think I'll buy it.

I only made the design recently so don't think it's hit the bootslaes yet.

"send a message of interest in the item asking of its history", that's an idea, thanks.

[*.*..lola..*.*]

Hi Eric

Lapel pin badges are highly collectable on eBay.

This particular design is probably commanding such a high resale price because of it's rarity value.

If this seller is only selling one your designs as his own 'used' property, he is probably just an avid collector or a seller with a shrewd eye for buying and selling collectables.

However, if you think he may be selling these commercially in bulk and you own the copyright, have a look here:

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/vero/

[tanky_turk]

Hi lola, I made the design only a few months ago so not really a collectors item I shouldn't think. I'll be really surprised and chuffed at the same tim eif it was though. LOL

The design is also available to download for free on FB (not sure if I am allowed to say that???) but not everyone has the skills to make a pin badge out of it. But it is for personal use only and not to be sold for rediculas prices. I just hate it when my fellow Sappers/Soldiers pay way over the top for something they can buy one for less than a 6th of the price it is being bid on now.

If this seller has bought it legitimately then all I can say is good luck to him but if he downloaded and making the badges himslef then I need to stop him somehow.

It was £16 last night, I put a "warning" on some Militarty pages and now it's gone to £32, maybe it was a mistake posting the "warning". LOL

Thanks.

[right-then-petal]

maybe you have to Patent your work Eric,or is that to exspencive these days

[tanky_turk]

We've made around 200 designs, all military stuff, it'd cost a fortune to patent them all. The idea was for military personel to download the designs and use them for free on their FB pages etc but then some asked for pin badges. So my "partner" asked another Sapper who works from home to make and sell them cheaply. We never thought that anyone would misuse the designs and earn money out of it. We do it for fun and as a hobby but others are now shamelessly making money out of them, even with my/our "trademark" still on it.

Oh well, lesson learned, we'll have to be more careful in the future. We don't want to earn any money out of our hobby and we certainly don't want others to rip people off.

Thanks for your replies everyone.

[ronnybabes]

Eric mate...

You've learned the hard way.

Don't put your brilliant ideas in the Public domain,  you should have realised that this would happen eventually.

With an idea like yours, you should be selling them, and reaping the rewards.

If you don't want to rip people off then sell at a fixed price.

I suggest you contact this Seller, and tell him to desist, or legal action will be brought.

If that doesn't work... a Solicitors letter might do the trick.

Or... if you are in competition at a fixed price, then they won't be able to compete.

[start-the-fire]

cant your authorised seller sell them on ebay, and thus control the price with bins? Unless of course this is just a one off.

[lhasa.two]

---

@ronnybabes wrote:

I suggest you contact this Seller, and tell him to desist, or legal action will be brought.

If that doesn't work... a Solicitors letter might do the trick.

But he wouldn't have a legal leg to stand on if the design isn't patented. Just because he makes them as a hobby doesn't mean others can't copy it to sell and make a profit. It happens all the time with many goods items, it's the free market in action.

[bankhaunter]

But he wouldn't have a legal leg to stand on if the design isn't patented.

When you create an original design, take a photograph etc, you automatically own the copyright., you don't have to do anything.

Having said that however, it is much easier to protect that copyright if the design is registered.