Seller deliberately removing expiration dates from medication, putting buyers health in danger.

[kazeboon]

I don't know where else to write. I've reported this seller twice via the report a seller button (no response, no actions taken). Contacted C/S regarding this sellers nefarious practices via email three times (no response, no actions taken). Left negative feedback with photographic evidence of this seller's ongoing practice putting people's health in danger only to have it removed when seller requested feedback removal from eBay because the seller was forced to refund me via an item not as described case for this very reason (seller stated 04/2025 expiration date in listing but what I received had no date at all, seller removes them using Acetone.)

The product I received was fused together as one large mass (gummies) due to being expired, there was yellow residue under the cap from oxidation as the product was probably several years old. I purchased this for my children and thank God I caught it, it could have made them sick or worse.

This seller has negative feedback going back at least a year which I can see from lots of other buyers that reported what this seller is doing. Upon confronting the seller, seller denies and gets upset over the negative feedback received but does not stop this practice!! The item I purchased for example is still listed! Seller only sees money. All this seller cares about is money and ruthlessly continue this illegal practice at the expense of people's trust and health and I won't stand for this.

This is against eBay's terms of service yet this seller is allowed to continue doing this unpunished. This is a liability to eBay as a corporation and to buyers health. I need someone to reach out to me so I can report this seller and have them removed from the marketplace.

[12345jamesstamps]

You can return item not as described for a refund. Rather easy.

I don't understand all the " --" feedbacks left by others and left for others. I only see one negative given to you.

I actually know what they mean but thought a response could change what I think they mean.

[powell-memorabilia]

gummyies? As in vitamin gummies?  If that is the case, that wouldn’t be illegal.

[kazeboon]

Gummies of all things actually can go bad and make a person sick as opposed to hard caplets or even dry powder capsules. No, this seller's practice is illegal in the state where this seller resides,

"False advertising is a class A misdemeanor under New York law."

- New York Penal Law § 190.20: False Advertising

Seller is falsely advertising products with future expiration dates but shipping out products that are 1-2-3+ years old. eBay, by allowing this to continue may be putting themselves at risk of liability or be seen as an accessory to a crime by looking the other way and/or ignoring/being negligent in their approach to buyer's reports of such sellers.

Not to mention this is against eBay's terms of service so I do not understand why my reports are being ignored.

[powell-memorabilia]

My bet is that you can’t find a source for the dangers of expired gummy vitamins.  Absolutely, it isn’t right to mask or erase the expiration date.  But let’s not pretend that anyone’s life was in danger.  Take comfort that with more customers like you filing for returns because the item didn’t match the description, the seller will eventually be shut down.  Maybe your case was isolated?

[kazeboon]

When an innocent 4 year old child ends up in the emergency room with unbearable stomach pain from stomach poisoning due to bacterial growth on the expired gummies, it will be eBay that will need to pay the hospital bill, legal fees and compensation for pain and suffering, not these trash sellers looking to turn a profit from literal garbage.

This is a black and white liability and I suspect eBay upper management have no idea it's going on because C/S simply do not care to report these things to them.

[kensgiftshop]

I don't know why anyone would give a 4 year old kid any medicine bought from a complete stranger off of a site like Ebay.

I wouldn't buy any medicine or food here, unless I knew the seller.

[powell-memorabilia]

the ingredients in gummy’s have antimicrobial properties. You aren’t going to get sick from eating an expired one.

[bonjourami]

"When an innocent 4 year old child ends up in the emergency room with unbearable stomach pain from stomach poisoning due to bacterial growth on the expired gummies, it will be eBay that will need to pay the hospital bill, legal fees and compensation for pain and suffering, not these trash sellers looking to turn a profit from literal garbage."

Where in the world are you getting these 'facts' from?

[safan80]

---

Your statement lead me to search

I found this

https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/opag-2021-0029/html?lang=en

@powell-memorabilia wrote:

the ingredients in gummy’s have antimicrobial properties. You aren’t going to get sick from eating an expired one.

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[nyr134]

I agree with Ken.  We just don’t know the conditions under which food and medicine sold on eBay have been stored or for how long.  And even if the sellers try to do the right thing, they may have picked up these products from estate sales where they were in attics for years.  I’ll stick with buying food and supplements from known entities.

[powell-memorabilia]

---

@safan80 wrote:

---

Your statement lead me to search

I found this

https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/opag-2021-0029/html?lang=en

@powell-memorabilia wrote:

the ingredients in gummy’s have antimicrobial properties. You aren’t going to get sick from eating an expired one.

---

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And the sugar-based gummies are even better - nothing is going to grow on them.  Ever.

[gosimus]

@12345jamesstamps 

< I don't understand all the " --" feedbacks left by others and left for others >    

I can explain those "––" because the same thing happened to me, too.  I bought some bottles of over-the-counter analgesic pain reliever – Aleve, if it matters – and everything went fine, and I left my usual type of Arrived Fast, Well Packed, blah blah blah, feedback comments.  At least, that's what I thought I'd be leaving. 

When I clicked to submit the feedbacks, instead of posting my well-thought-out, and well-deserved, praise, eBay changed them to "––" and eBay also changed the feedback that the seller left for me to "––" too.  And obscured the usernames.   

Somebody told me it was to protect my privacy.  But eBay doesn't protect my privacy when I purchase glucose meter test strips, or vitamins, or zinc supplement tablets, or, come to think of it, anything else at all. 

[simba6]

Not an item I would buy in a flea-market anyway.

[tenbigdogs]

HI @kazeboon   Your point is valid.  It took those gummies a lot longer than a couple of years to get in the shape you describe.  A google search says gummies are OK for a couple of years past the expiration date, with only a loss of potency.  What you describe sounds like they lost a lot more than potency.  It sounds like they were in a fire. 

So why won't eBay heed your warnings and shut down the seller?  Because eBay just doesn't have the means to do it.  eBay has no means to inspect the seller's products to see if you're right.  eBay takes everything as fine unless they hear differently about a specific transaction.  If they hear from a buyer that the item they received is not as described, the eBay Money Back Guarantee will get them a refund.  But if a member has an opinion on a seller's items that they've never actually seen, eBay can't act on that.  You may be absolutely right, but eBay can't act on it. 

You've done everything you can.  At this point you're just going to have to trust that other responsible adults will know better than to give their children any product that has disintegrated as you describe.   I did a quick search for Vitamins on eBay and got over 180,000 results.  Over 85,000 sold.  It would seem a lot of people buy their vitamins on eBay.  Find a better seller.  Time will take care of this one.  Good luck!