Received a Verification Request eBay message from a vendor doing verification for a name brand

[pineapplesquare]

I have a few pairs of shoes and sandals that I am selling on eBay around $50 to $100 range.  It's a brand I like and sometimes I regret buying too many of them and I end up trying to sell them on eBay.

Today I got a message via eBay from a vendor who is doing product verification for the shoe company.  It's asking me to provide documentation and info to establish -
* Identification of the source of my goods
* Invoices supporting quantity of inventory
* Company contact and business information

I don't have a company and I am just selling things I buy from stores around me (Dillard's Macy's...).

Has anyone else gotten such a message before?

What did you, if you have gotten one before?

(BTW, I am supposed to respond within 3 business days.)

Thanks for any info people care to share.

[albertabrightalberta · Accepted solution]

You don't have to respond and you shouldn't respond. Add the member to your BBL.

If the manufacturer wants information, they can (and will) do it through the VeRO program. 

I'm curious. Is the letter signed by a law firm or is it just some Joe Shmo? (There are some shark law firms that make deals with manufacturers to go after sellers and extort payments (fines) from sellers and give the manufacturers a cut. 

[pineapplesquare]

Thanks for your reply.

What is BBL?

I'll have to learn more about the VeRO program.

The letter is signed by a partner of VantageBP, LLC.  In the one page letter, it says --

"VantageBP swears under penalty of perjury that Vionic has authorized VantageBP to act as its non-exclusive representative for intellectual property infringement notifications and reseller verifications."

I was thinking of replying that I swear under penalty of perjury that my items are authentic!

Would it be useful to others if I post the letter ? (it's only a JPG file.)

[tdumonde2014]

You can Google them, plenty of information about them on the Web. 

[pineapplesquare]

Yes, I've learned more about BBL and VeRO.

The following VeRO links are useful:

https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/listing-and-marketing/verified-rights-owner-program.html#m17-1-...

https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/listing-and-marketing/verified-rights-owner-program.html#m22_tb...

Found an email address for VeRO on one of those web pages (vero@ebay.com) and sent my questions to that email address.  Will wait to see if I get any answers back. 

Thanks!

[donsdetour]

Some of these are total scams to scare you into paying money to them.

[glasser]

I don't know if this help but I looked at your listings and you are selling as New, which I assume to you means you bought and never wore. Maybe if you went with a new other designation or put in the description I bought these and never wore them so they are basically new or some such thing it might protect you. You do have a right to resell things you bought for yourself. You would need to look up the law but there is one.

[donsdetour]

I will also state for the record that some are fake:

some have found them selves with their entire financial accounts locked down and other prosecution for such notices;

Look at your listings and have doubts to what you are saying here my self.

[albertabrightalberta]

Those types of law firms work on the assumption that many sellers don't know what they're selling. They assume you are either unaware of authenticity and try to scare you or they assume you aren't aware of First Sale Doctrine.

In fact, many companies themselves aren't aware of or ignore first sale doctrine. First sale doctrine gives you the right to resell (if you want) any items you obtained through a legitimate source, i.e., retailer, thrift store, another online seller, etc. As long as you aren't trying to sell fakes (knowingly or not), you can resell. 

And so you know, whether a manufacturer or designer wants their items resold by a third party seller is irrelevant. They cannot report listings or prevent the sale of legal items. 

I would ignore the email and not respond at all.

[tev4all]

A receipt from  (Dillard's Macy's...) showing the purchase of said items is what you need to rebut their accusation.  

[pineapplesquare]

Got a reply back from an eBay VeRO Team member.

Basically he said -

I had reviewed the document that you had attached as PDF file. VCG Holdings LTD is the rights owner and we are not familiar with VantageBP. It seems to be friendly request for your information on the purchase of the inventory that you have. However, you, as seller or reseller, are not obliged to provide any document if they are reporting on the distribution.

So the first reply I got here was spot on.

Thanks for all the other replies as well.  I am learning more about all this.

[mrfaucets]

Hi!

I am a reseller on both Ebay and Amazon.  I received the Vantage BP letter in Amazon, and it says "from Customer".  It does not contain a name on the attached letter, and at the end it reads "Best Regards", and then there is a blank line, then another line that says "Best Regards" again.  So weird.  I read the thread, and your answer really helped.  I am just going to ignore, it because if Delta needed this information, then they would contact me. We only sell legit items, no counterfits.  They are all in the original box.  I am not about to provide VantageBP invoices and names of my suppliers!  I really like how you explained the "First Sale Doctrine"  I was not aware of this.  Thank you so much for your input!  We sellers have  to stick together, especially the smaller sellers who rely on amazon and ebay for our income.

 

[dontaskmeidunno]

Attention Moderator @kh-vince...this is exactly why old threads should not be closed!

[albertabrightalberta]

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@mrfaucets wrote:

Hi!

I am a reseller on both Ebay and Amazon.  I received the Vantage BP letter in Amazon, and it says "from Customer".  It does not contain a name on the attached letter, and at the end it reads "Best Regards", and then there is a blank line, then another line that says "Best Regards" again.  So weird.  I read the thread, and your answer really helped.  I am just going to ignore, it because if Delta needed this information, then they would contact me. We only sell legit items, no counterfits.  They are all in the original box.  I am not about to provide VantageBP invoices and names of my suppliers!  I really like how you explained the "First Sale Doctrine"  I was not aware of this.  Thank you so much for your input!  We sellers have  to stick together, especially the smaller sellers who rely on amazon and ebay for our income.

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Please start your own new thread on the topic. 

[yhlml]

Not really, I would think a new thread should have been started.