Okay we all know that reproduction video games (bootlegs/counterfeit copies) are illegal and not allowed to be sold on eBay. yes, i'm aware that eBay doesn't have the manpower to look at each individual listing. However, there is no reason why any listing that claims it's a reproduction/bootleg in the title or description can't be automatically removed, or flagged for review (similar to reporting items).
I am a video game collector and seller, and over the last few years the reproduction market has blown up. counterfeiters are getting even better at duplicating the original products, making it very difficult to tell whether something is authentic or not. however, a large amount of them explicitly say these are reproductions in their listings, however the box/manual/cartridge is the exact duplicate of the OEM product, with no reproduction disclaimer.
how come more isn't being done to combat this? not only is it frustrating, but it totally messes up the market for legitimate video games, and becomes an absolute hassle to scroll through listings looking for a particular game, only to have to wade through countless listings of repro **bleep** to get to the real thing.
now, as far as the actual legitimate homebrew/repro games --- there needs to be a separate category for this. there's no reason why these should be listed in the general video games category (which assumes that the games are legitimate/original). there needs to be a seperate category to seperate the countless homebrew items from the legitimate video games. just try searching for a popular nintendo nes video game such as zelda or metroid, and there are countless hits of things like 'Zelda Remixed', or 'Metroid II: Lost Levels' and things of that nature. it shouldn't be a problem for eBay to create an additional category to seperate the legit games from the homemade ones (ones that are legal, at any rate)
so why is eBay waiting for people to sit there and report every listing? reporting is way too time consuming for the end-user (as opposed to having a simple script that denies listings that say 'reproduction' in them, or at least flags them for later use --- exactly what reporting does, instead of making eBay buyers/sellers do this on their own)
i suspect they're happy to collect fees on everything, and then claim that they're not responsible for things unless they're reported, or not responsible at all, since they're simply a 'marketplace'.
i've already had it with the outrageous and restrictive seller benchmarks and additional fees if you step out of line, the constant issues with searching, the fact that auctions no longer make money anymore because they aren't promoted nearly as well as BIN listings.... i've used eBay for many years, but these compounding issues need to be solved, because it's really getting to the point where i actually dread using this platform. if things keep up, my activity on here will be scaled way back, and i'll be using the myriad of other marketplace applications out there to buy/sell.
there are plenty of ways eBay could make it a better marketplace for both buyers and sellers, even a few ways that could make them additional money and make it easier to facilitate legitimate transcations (e.g., instead of not being able to use variation listings for video games because they don't want to miss out on a cent of their precious fees,duplicate the variation code for things like video games where there are essentially tons of titles for a Nintendo game, but then call it "Combinations" instead of variations and issue fees on each item sold + shipping like they would in an individual listing. the few times in the past where i had listed a bunch of video game Nintendo titles under variations/one listing (i didn't realize it wasn't allowed) my sales started going through the roof - simply because when buyers see all of the items under one drop-box listing, it's a LOT easier for them to choose from the inventory and make more than a single purchase. when a buyer has to look through each individual listing for a game, or just to see what inventory the seller has, it's incredibly tedious and time-consuming. i've noticed that once i was no longer allowed to use variation listings, my sales dropped significantly. for God's sake, recycle the existing code, call it a different name, and let people put all of their related items on one easy-to-use dropbox style listing. it works better for buyers, sellers, and eBays bottom line.
