Someone is attacking my account reporting most of my authentic Apple Products as Counterfeit!

[ervayeverything2016]

I buy auctions from walmart & target, mostly shelf pulls and returns.  Recently someone has starting reporting only my apple products as counterfeit.  I have receipts and proof that my items are genuine.  Not one person that has purchased from me has reported any issues... i think another competitor is attacking my account with these reports.  I called eBay but there seems to be no recourse for me as a seller.  I called the help line and after talking to the service rep she basically told me there is nothing that i can do and not to relist the items.   I asked to speak to a supervisor and she took my info and said that someone would call me but no one has.  I've sent emails and no response.  I only sell on eBay and i now have a ton of good high price items that i cannot sell.  Has anyone out there had similar issues and how can i sort this out?

[shipscript]

There are often vigilantes looking for fraud and competitors trying to thin the competition.

I would recommend that you contact eBay staff through social media:

https://twitter.com/askebay
https://www.facebook.com/eBay/

Perhaps they can recommend how to preemptively provide receipts to avoid being banned from selling.

[ervayeverything2016]

Thank you for your reply.  I did follow your advise and reach out on social media... i am not hopeful but i await a response.  Still bugs me to no end that i cant even get a response though my seller dashboard.  I think if someone were to take an honest look at my account and this situation it would be a no brainer.  I thought that i had paid my dues and been a long time contributing member of the eBay community and have always tried my best to follow the rules and now i am being hung out to dry... i cant even be heard.  I will follow up on this thread regarding how this shakes out.

[rfmtm]

Do not relist until this matter is resolved.

Yes, it sounds like someone reporting your items or the bots found something, if you did not get a VeRO notice.

The problem is even Walmart and Target get returns that are fakes, so you have to check the serial numbers or research how to identify then as authentic.

What type of Apple products are you having a problem with? 

[ervayeverything2016]

No VeRo notice.  I understand that even target & walmart are not immune to fakes but how could one tell from my photos?  Everyone mentions this and i just want to say clearly that i understand this concept but i feel like that is an altogether separate issue that we face with each item that we sell.  Not sure about the rest of the community but it is not my intention to swindle eBay or my customers... i want to be the best at what i do, not the worst.

Let us just imagine that these are indeed authentic apple products instead of assuming that this is an actual counterfeit issue.   If i had one customer complaint i would give this merit but this complaint does not come from a customer.  

Specific items include different varieties of air pods & phone cases so far.  I get a few new ones every couple of days as i am selling a variety of apple items. 

The real problem here is a lack of support from what i had thought was a trusted partner.

[rfmtm]

@ervayeverything2016  I am certainly on your side.  Have seen enough of the bullies and abusers having items taken down.  I'm also one of many that have fought and won against them.

Unfortunately you have a few problems here.  One problem is it is not a VeRO take down, as those can be fought directly against the VeRO member.  Fighting an ebay policy take down is much harder, as it is ebay's playground  and it can be very hard to get to the right person to help you.  Plus it is a counterfeit claim, which is often the hardest to fight, so a favorite with abusers.  

Your particular two items are also often gone after for some reason.  They may be often counterfeited, but usually those that know how, can tell.  Plus ebay would not take them down unless it was obvious or there were more than one complaint.  Worse is you are now on ebay's radar, so this must be cleared up before trying to relist.  Actually best to clear it up even if you don't relist, just to get it off your account.

What you need to do now is see if you can figure out if anything obvious in your listing triggered this.  I'd post the same pictures you used in your listing, even some additional close up pictures, on the Electronics board to see if any ones see anything suspicious about them that to ebay might indicate they are not authentic.  Come back with any comments they may have.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Electronics/bd-p/electronics

Before going on to fight this, I would want to make sure you have some kind of authentication, maybe by serial number, a local Apple Store looking at them, etc.  Then with that and your invoice you can approach ebay to rescind the take down.

There was some other board posts about these same two items.  You might want to try to search them down to see if anyone got their problem resolved and how they did it.   You might also find help on the Seller Consumer Products board:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Consumer-Electronics/ct-p/consumerelcetronics

[ervayeverything2016]

Thanks, that's all great advice.  It's hard to swallow but your right.   I am going to try to sell my items elseware but also try to clear my good name on eBay.  I recently quite my job to do this full time so it couldn't have happened at a better time to kick me in the pants.  I had never considered that something like this could even happen so i was completely blind sided. 

I have a really hard time believing that the issue is genuinely a concern for the authenticity of the items.  You can go to the Apple website and enter the product serial number to authenticate your devices.  It's probably one of the most accessible companies to check the authenticity on.  I check all of my higher priced items like the air pods before I list them, the air pods in question all checked when i ran the their numbers.  If that was such a concern then why not just ask for the serial number when creating the post?  or would it solve my issue if i just listed the serial numbers for each item and take a clear pic of the actual product with serial number visible?  I just wish someone would "hear" me say these are not counterfeit, there must be a misunderstanding here. 

 I just wish eBay would share what the specific problem was and help me clear this up instead of giving me the endless run around.  They take the ad down so you cant even review it.  Too bad they don't have some kind of seller certification or rating for trusted sellers.  I have been selling for 5 years and have "top rated" status.

I have only sold on eBay so maybe this is good time to look at other options considering a fraudulent claim or misunderstanding could threaten my operation so easily.   

Thanks again for your reply and best of luck.  Ill post an update when i get this resolved.

[rfmtm]

Afraid ebay really doesn't look into this sort of thing unless you get their legal department involved, which the general public doesn't have easy access too.  So you might consider having an attorney send a letter.

Showing the serial number in a listing photo can help buyers verify the item and feel more confidant.  Plus sometimes even helps deter some would be scammer from returning a different item.

Besides the media links already posted, here are two more with maybe a little more clout.  Make sure to use a Private Message and include details that you have serial numbers and invoices to ask how to clear this up.

www.facebook.com/eBayForBusiness or

www.twitter.com/eBayForBusiness

P.S.  I just quickly looked over your other listings.  To avoid a future problem with a few of them that are compatible items, change the word "for", to either "fit", "fits", or "compatible with", to conform with ebay's listing policy for compatible items.

[ervayeverything2016]

I contacted eBay via Facebook as you suggested and i got the same scripted  and extremely unhelpful response.  It just repeated the policy to me as though a lack of policy knowledge was my issue.. Looks like there is not a solution to this  and i will no longer be able to sell air pods on eBay... i get these in my auctions often so ill just find somewhere else to sell them.   They don't even give you a chance to state your case or appeal such a harsh decision... its not only the one pair of airpods that they flagged its the other 12 i have on the shelf that i bought expecting to be able to sell on eBay, not to mention any future air pods that i end up with as i buy mixed lots and don't get to choose specific items.

To those whom find themselves in a similar situation do not expect support from eBay you are on your own with this one.  Find another site or venue to sell your stuff and don't waste your time trying to understand it.

[rfmtm]

Odd that the reps on FB weren't more helpful, that is disappointing.  Did you get any feedback from the other discussion boards?

Regardless, you are probably best selling elsewhere, it just would have been nice to clear up your account, but it appears ebay is just not going to make it easy.

[ervayeverything2016]

There have been many odd things about this....  I have only heard back from others who had similar experiences and only on postings on other websites and boards.  I have not heard form anyone else in the eBay community outside of the one person that has liked all of your responses.  The difference with me is that online selling is my job and i have so many more apple products that i need to sell so i can pay my bills and feed my family.

No one yet has told me a success story of how they got into contact with eBay and had someone actually help them.  As i mentioned these items were verified at the apple website as authentic according to the serial numbers so i don't need help determining what is a counterfeit or how to list them in a manner that could prove it... someone suggested that in the future i post a picture of the receipt or invoice with my listing but i cant imagine posting a copy of the 1500 item manifest from the auction. ... also i really wouldn't want to share my purchase price with the general public either... 

Best i can figure is that this is either a competitor or i grew sales too fast and found myself under the microscope and someone disagreed with my description or condition rating.  Too bad i will never know what misstep i took or whom i upset.  I try my best to follow the policies to the letter and have always made any mistakes right and really do what ever i need to to make our customers happy and coming back to eBay.  I give good deals, ship fast and provide quick and courteous customer service everyday to the best of my ability.

I am also surprised that no one else has responded to my thread?  Can i ask if you are employed by eBay or otherwise incentivized to respond?  I do appreciate your responses and your efforts to help me but i also noticed that your community posts are 44,439 but you only have 497 seller ratings since 2005.  Forgive me for bringing it up but it seems a little suspect?  I have been selling since 2016 and have 1181 ratings... i only went full time recently.

[rfmtm]

All posters here are just ebay members like yourself although unlike other boards, this one is reserved for only eBay Mentors to reply.  Although once in awhile an ebay employee will respond, which will be clearly indicated.

Also like many posters here, this is just a posting ID, or one just for personal buying and selling.  I also have a business ID and store for my main selling activity, which has many thousands of positive ratings.

I also like others have fought matters like this in the past, but those were VeRO take downs where you can confront the rights owner directly, and if necessary take them to federal court for abuse to force them to rescind their ebay complaint and even pay damages.

Since this is just eBay's doing, is the problem.  There use to be a way to simply upload your information, like a receipt or other authentication, but if that recourse option was not in the email eBay sent you about the take down, we'll have to see if there is some other way to do this.

Let me ask on the private Mentor Board about how you currently supply authentication to hopefully reverse your non-VeRO take downs.  I'll be back when I have an update.

[shipscript]

@ervayeverything2016 

Members who respond on the threads are not employed or compensated by eBay. eBay personnel will have a blue border around their posts.

Members who frequently post on the forums may have multiple accounts, so going by the feedback numbers won't really say much about a member's total experience with eBay.

The Mentors who reply to the "Ask a Mentor" forum are a few dozen unpaid volunteers who have been vetted by eBay for good manners and an understanding of policy. The "compensation" is better access to eBay teams for clarification on various topics. 

Because your question was posted on the Ask a Mentor forum, only Mentors can respond. To pull a larger group of members into the conversation, you may want to post on an open forum like the "Selling" forum to ask how others have dealt with non-Vero takedowns.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/bd-p/selling-db

[ervayeverything2016]

Thank you for the transparency, very clear helpful and much appreciated.  Can i ask what are the benefits of having multiple accounts?  I have much to learn...

My apologies to yourself and  RFMTM.  I did not realize that i was in "ask a mentor"  I had similar posts in 2 places... i was sent an email stating that one had been removed and i followed the link here and just kept returning.  I did not comprehend my audience and i did not intend to be rude.  I don't think I am in the correct place to find my solution.  This is a tough one to over come.  The emails stated that there they were not taking any actions against me just that they did not want me to relist the items... a common theme in these conversations.

Maybe this is the right place to ask if the same will apply to future items.  Like the specific model of air pods.. i get that i cant sell the one in the listing that was removed but what about the other 4 of the same model that i have?  for now i am just not relisting any of the 5 or so listings that were removed but i had multiples of all the items that were taken down.

[glorybells]

@shipscript ,

would it help in this case to tag an eBay team member?