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Counterfeit Silver Rounds
Why or how can ebay state specific policies against counterfeit silver rounds/coins yet still allow Chinese to list dozens and dozens of listings daily?
8 comments
silverrounds
OP1 year agoEbay should enforce their own policies, that is all that I have stated from the onset. You are very well spoken, however you really have not directly addressed that specific issue. When stated in a Sellers listing a breach of any of Ebay's stated prohibited policies, any correctly reported listing that violate such policy should be removed. Otherwise they are enabling illegal activity on their platform. Interesting to make note that any US citizen that knowingly uses the US Postal System to send a known counterfeit is violating Federal Law. How is the customer to return the item legally?
eburtonlab
Mentor1 year ago@silverrounds
Counterfeit items are not allowed to be listed on eBay at all. No one is authorized to sell counterfeit coins. That fact alone does not stop some people from trying to sell them, however.
The problem is that unscrupulous or uninformed sellers can list genuine items and then deliver counterfeit items.
It is not always possible to look at a listing and know in advance exactly what, if anything, the seller intends to deliver. For one thing, a scammer can simply copy a listing from a genuine seller, using a genuine photo of a genuine item.
Except for a few specific categories of items that go through authentication, eBay never sees what the seller ships or the what the buyer receives, so there is nothing for eBay to check unless someone complains about what was received by invoking eBay's money back guarantee.
Sellers are responsible for the descriptions they provide, and buyers should not assume that eBay screens the listings in advance.
As long as counterfeits exist and there are folks trying to sell them, buyers will still have to be on the lookout for them, and avoid deals that are obviously too-good-to-be-true, whether they are being sold by accounts registered overseas or by domestic sellers wittingly or unwittingly buying counterfeits from overseas to sell here.
Buyers that doubt their ability to distinguish a genuine article from a counterfeit one should only consider purchasing from trustworthy sellers that have an established reputation for delivering exactly what was described, and should avoid deals that are too-good-to-be-true, or deals that are offered by inexperienced sellers that might disappear soon after the transaction is made, or else be prepared to get items authenticated by trusted sources within thirty days to be able to take advantage of eBay's money back guarantee.
silverrounds
OP1 year agoExtremely well written. Ebay's policy states clearly that counterfeit Silver is not allowed on ebay. So why when a Seller is reported doing just that does ebay report that they are not in violation of any of their stated policies?
eburtonlab
Mentor1 year agoEbay's policy states clearly that counterfeit Silver is not allowed on ebay. So why when a Seller is reported doing just that does ebay report that they are not in violation of any of their stated policies?
If you reported the listing, then eBay is telling you that the listing as written does not violate eBay policy.
The fact that a listing does not violate policy does not mean that the seller will deliver a genuine item, though. eBay has no way of knowing that in advance just by looking at the listing.
If you reported a specific transaction you were involved in, you should be able to get your money back if you act within thirty days of receiving something that is inauthentic or not as described. What happens to the seller may depend on a host of other factors, including whether the seller has done this before or not.
If you reported the seller and not the listing, eBay will not disclose any details of internal investigations to the user making that reports. Just because a someone claims a user is selling counterfeit items does not mean that eBay will take any specific action solely because of a report outside of a specific transaction.
silverrounds
OP1 year agoJust to be clear, this is ebay's stated policy-
"Replica or counterfeit bullion can’t be sold on eBay. Listings for all other bullion must follow our policy.
We want our members to buy with confidence, so there are rules when selling bullion items on eBay.
What is the policy?
Replica, counterfeit, plated or clad bullion, including items described as German silver or nickel silver, can’t be sold on eBay
Listings must accurately describe the precious metal weight content, purity (fineness) and brand (refiner or mint) of the bullion item being sold
Listings must include a photo of both sides of the actual coin, bar, or other bullion item being sold."
So, when reported to ebay that Seller's listing for sale that clearly violate these ebay policies, are these Sellers continued to be allowed to violate their own policies? That is my question.
eburtonlab
Mentor1 year agoSo, when reported to ebay that Seller's listing for sale that clearly violate these ebay policies, are these Sellers continued to be allowed to violate their own policies? That is my question.
A report by itself is not proof of anything. It is up to eBay to determine whether a listing violates policy or not. And unless the listing actually claims to be selling a counterfeit item, the listing will not violate the counterfeit item policy all by itself in any way that eBay is likely to detect unless it was so badly done that no one would be likely to purchase in the first place.
If I were to report that I thought you were selling counterfeit items, should you be kicked off of eBay solely because of my report? If it were actually the case that eBay was bound to act based solely on a report, a lot of legitimate sellers might be kicked off eBay by careless users or unscrupulous competitors making mistaken or false reports.
silverrounds
OP1 year agoRemoval of a singular particular listing for violating ebay listing policies is hardly being
"kicked off" ebay, now is it? My only concern is that unwary buyers can be fooled by false advertising.
I believe that many Buyers wish to purchase knowing full well that they are indeed counterfeit so that they can profit from them as originals-thus, thus enabling perpetuation of an illegal activity. Now that is indeed a concern, is it not?
eburtonlab
Mentor1 year agoMy only concern is that unwary buyers can be fooled by false advertising.
That will always be a danger no matter what eBay does or does not do. No one should be relying on eBay to protect them from false advertising unless they are prepared to get items authenticated or verified and then use the money back guarantee if items are not genuine.
I believe that many Buyers wish to purchase knowing full well that they are indeed counterfeit so that they can profit from them as originals-thus, thus enabling perpetuation of an illegal activity. Now that is indeed a concern, is it not?
Those buyers can already buy straight from overseas sources if that is the intention. And at much better prices than you will find on eBay, generally, since there is no pretense of authenticity.
The question is what eBay can do about it. For Forever stamps, eBay's solution was to basically block all sales of such items. Not sure if you want eBay to do that for the things you are interested in buying or selling.