Warning: Seller shipped me liquid softgels labeled as "Beef Liver" — a product that physically cannot exist in oil form
Summary: sanban_9985 expressed concerns over a seller allegedly mislabeling dietary supplements, specifically shipping softgels labeled as "Beef Liver," which cannot physically exist in gel form. sanban_9985 highlighted that various products from the seller's listings share similar discrepancies, such as mismatched labels and inappropriate forms for the contents. Other participants suggested options like reporting the product to eBay or opening an 'item not as described' case. However, sanban_9985 and others conveyed skepticism about eBay taking substantial action, as eBay's process often involves automated responses and lacks the resources to vet every listing closely. Participants generally agreed on the importance of buyer diligence in verifying the authenticity of products, especially those ingested.
I want to flag a pattern with the seller and ask others to look closely, because I don't think this is a single mistake.
I ordered "Grass-Fed Beef Liver Capsules 4500MG". What arrived was a bottle of clear golden-yellow oil softgels — visually identical to fish oil. Photos attached.
The problem is straightforward: desiccated beef liver is a dry, dark brown powder. It is the only form it exists in. It cannot be a clear golden oil. So whatever is in these softgels, it physically cannot be beef liver. I don't know if the oil is soybean, fish, or another cheap carrier — and that's the point. As a buyer I have no idea what I actually swallowed, and it isn't what was advertised.
Then I looked through the rest of the store (214 listings), and the pattern is hard to ignore. Bottles labeled as chemically unrelated products — CoQ10, Vitamin D3+K2, Calcium Magnesium Zinc, Glutathione, Saffron, Beef Liver — repeatedly show the same identical yellow oil-filled softgel in their own product images. These are not all things that come as a golden oil gel. Calcium, magnesium, and glutathione are powders or specific compounds; beef liver is a powder. Seeing them all presented as the same generic yellow gel raises an obvious question about what's really inside any of them.
Other things on the same listings:
The beef liver bottle's printed label misspells the product as "BEEF FLIVER" — a manufacturer with real quality control doesn't ship that.
Listings mix contradictory claims, e.g. "Vegan" alongside Gelatin as an ingredient.
Several carry an "FDA Approved" badge. The FDA does not approve dietary supplements — that claim is by definition false.
I'm not saying I've lab-tested every bottle. I'm saying the seller's own images show the same softgel across products that shouldn't share a form, one product is provably mislabeled by physics alone, and the labels carry false certification claims. With 15K+ items sold, most buyers have no way to tell a mislabeled supplement from a real one by taste or effect — so this goes unreported.
How do I get eBay's safety team — not just the community board — to review this seller's entire catalog rather than one item? This looks like it warrants a catalog-level look, and possibly an FDA MedWatch report for the mislabeling.
krazzykats
·2 months agoProtect yourself—no one else can do it for you. Avoid buying questionable ingestibles online, as you have no idea what processes were used to make them, what environment they were produced in, or what ingredients they contain. It’s worth paying a little more to get exactly what you want, rather than something you don’t.
🐈⬛
pickapaper
·2 months ago · EditedNo, it won't do any good to report the seller to eBay. There are more than two Billion listings on eBay and eBay has neither the time nor the manpower to know if those listings and those sellers are what they claim. Most reports now are handled by AI and AI doesn't know if a listing is legit or not. AI lets many listings remain that shouldn't and allows many listings that should be removed.
It is up to a buyer to do their due diligence when vetting a seller. I still don't understand why you bought these pills, especially from a Chinese seller, regardless of how many sales they have had, and especially when the product didn't look like you thought it should, and especially when you say you assume everything listed is fake. And then you said you swallowed some of them?
pickapaper
·2 months agoI assume when you bought these pills, there was a photo of the bottle on the listing. If you knew beef liver only comes in brown powdered form, why would you buy a bottle of yellow gel pills? Especially if you looked at this seller's other items and saw that everything looks alike. And then you got them and took some of them? Why?
Personally, there are certain things I would never buy on eBay, and one is anything that has to be ingested. There are too many fakes and too many whatevers. If I want pills like this, I buy them at a health food store or retail store or someplace I feel I can trust, not from an unknown seller who sells who-knows-what.
If it is less than 30 days from your receipt of the pills, file a return claim and return them.
sanban_9985
OP2 months agoyeah, i did, no response from seller to any of my messages, and he clearly know what's going on,
check this seller's listing. There are hundreds of Chinese-owned stores exactly like this one selling supplements filled with palm oil. - https://www.ebay.com/str/nlhealthy
This seller has literally sold 15,000 items. You can assume everything is fake. But still, eBay allows them to operate.
I reported to eBay. I don't think they are going to take any actions.
albertabrightalberta
·2 months agoSending a message to the seller isn't the same as filing a NAD (not as described) return request.
soh.maryl
·2 months agoThe appropriate action in a situation like this would be to open an item not as described case with eBay. Have you done this?
Many people who've reported such to eBay have discovered that their answer will be that they see nothing wrong with the listing. Don't waste your time.
kathiec
·2 months ago@sanban_9985
There are 20 million sellers and 2 billion listings on eBay. They certainly aren't going to review a single seller's entire catalog on a suspicion, nor do they have the expertise to do so. If you receive an item you feel is suspect simply open an item not as described case and return it.
sanban_9985
OP2 months agoYeah, but eBay has to do something, right? This is a very important category, and they are allowing anyone to sell fake supplements. Check this seller's listing. There are hundreds of Chinese-owned stores exactly like this one selling supplements filled with palm oil. - https://www.ebay.com/str/nlhealthy
This seller has literally sold 15,000 items. You can assume everything is fake. But still, eBay allows them to operate.
I reported to eBay. I don't think they are going to take any actions.
kathiec
·2 months agoSorry, but no, eBay doesn't have to do something. EBay has no means to vet every product sold here. How exactly do you expect them to vet this seller's products? Presumably the products are in China, so there's no physical access. Even if there were access eBay would have to hire someone to test the products. Not gonna happen.
What counts on eBay are Money Back Guarantee cases. Every time an item not as described case is settled against the seller their account gets a defect. It doesn't take many of those to trigger sanctions.
The most telling phrase of your post is "you can assume everything is fake". Buyers have a responsibility to vet the products they're buying. Personally I can't imagine anyone being stupid enough to order a supplement from China and ingest it.
msha3839
·2 months agoWhy would you buy something that can potentially harm you , on eBay? Sometimes I wonder what people think doing it…
kensgiftshop
·2 months agoThey won't review the sellers whole catalog.
Open an INAD and return the item.
ferncliff-39
·2 months ago@sanban_9985
You can report the product - no idea how eBay reviews and/or investigates these reports -
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/member-behavior-policies/reporting-product-violates-ebay-policy?id=4838&from=EBAY_AI&origin=EBAY_AI
sanban_9985
OP2 months agoYeah, it's crazy, right? It turns out you can literally make millions of dollars by directly selling fake supplements on eBay.
Check this seller's listing. There are hundreds of Chinese-owned stores exactly like this one selling supplements filled with palm oil. - https://www.ebay.com/str/nlhealthy
This seller has literally sold 15,000+ items. You can assume everything is fake if you check the labels with wrong grammar, yellow pills. But still, eBay allows them to operate.
I reported to eBay. I don't think they are going to take any actions.
msha3839
·2 months ago · EditedMost likely vegetable oil inside…I guess no fatalities so far, so sellers happy and buyers still alive…