False counterfeit claim

[randermen54]

I  need to know what to do to make it right. I would buy Apple charging cables from a wholeseller on ebay.

I would resell them. I been doing this for 3 years.  This year some person wanted to just pay  for shipping and wanted 4 cables for free. These were offers given. I declined all offers from this individual. 3 days later ebay takes my listing down stating that it's a counterfeit item.  I contact customer service about it an they told me that the owners filed paperwork.  

I told customer service how did they determine that it's counterfeit? They told me that they cannot tell me this and told me to contact the people that make them. I contacted apple and took photos of the cable and asked a rep if it's a fake. They told me it's a legit item based off the machine finish connector and it's gold connectors. They verified that it's an autunitic item.  I contact ebay again and they told me to talk to the owners of the product.  They told they need something written or an email from the owners. I asked ebay who do I contact. The  rep keeps telling me the owners of the product. I asked who? do I contact apple headquarters?  I reported the wholesaler and ebay determined that it's authentic his listen doesn't get taken down.  I asked the whole seller if the items are counterfit. He told me that he has a reseller license with apple. I verified this by going to apple's web site and  emailed an address asking for a list of authorized resellers. The company matches. 

I feel that the cable is authentic and that when I list the item the person that wanted them for free is constantly looking at listings and making sure when they see my new listing that they report that it's counterfeit. I feel the person must have emailed ebay impersonating apple.  I have talked to apple from customer service to their legal team and they seem dumfounded that they didn't submitted anything to ebay. 

I am at the point that I don't know what to do and apple won't send anything to ebay. They told me that it's authentic based on the images I  provided.  I also have 100% rep. No one made any complaints against me other than the person that wanted me to give them the cables for free.  I don't know what I can do and the person that sold me the items is still selling them in bulk and it's been over a year after  I reported.  Is there anything I can do or try?  I even asked ebay who filed the complaint and what's their contact info. They refused to give me that information. 

[north40sales]

be sure to update your BBL with that person who sent you the multiple offers to take the cables for free and pay shipping only. 

[dogchow747]

"I would buy Apple charging cables from a wholeseller on ebay. I would resell them."

You did not buy them for Apple. You can not guarantee they are genuine.

[randermen54]

I actually before listing opened up one box. I use one cable myself. I took pictures of the cable and asked apple directly. They confirmed it's authentic and they even have a page to teach you how to spot a counterfeit.  On the listing I even posted a link to apples page that shows how to stop a fake. 

I listed this link on  my listing: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204566

Again the cable works fine and I have had it for 2 years. No sparks flying no electrocutions.

The question is why is it ok for others to resell it. There's a ton of people buying from the exact whole seller  and reselling it themselves.  My point is if ebay can verify that the wholesaler is selling authentic cables then why is mine questionable when that's my source? I told costumer support  Who I bought it from and why isnt their listing taken down. I  reported the multiple times. 

I mean what 's  the difference if I bought  cables an I  resold cables? How can I be sure  they're legit and authentic if it was bought from a  retail outlet? 

I own an iphone and I bought my phone from an apple store  with a charging cable and a charging adaptor. The wire looks the same and has the same exact machine finish.  What more is required? I resell used cpu's how is it that I can list those?  like how do I not know if it's counterfeit or not? It works  and has no issues. 

My point is that it's ridiculous to  assume my stuff is counterfeit based on the method that you're guilty until proven innocent.  I can understand this concept if I sold the item and I have a complaint that the person that bought the item that it doesn't work or damaged their cellphone. I received none. 

[randermen54]

That isn't a benchmark.  No manufacture sells directly. Apple has a contract to a company in Taiwan. They mass produce apple products. Apple owns a few of their own stores. They franchise stores to others around the U.S. and in other countries. However, They directly sell to distributors and wholesaler. The wholesaler is based in california  and they do buy directly from  a distributor and is a legal reseller of apple products. 

Most companies don't sell direct. AMD sells directly to distributors that resell to wholesalers that sell to suppliers and retail. You don't  have to buy directly from AMD and you won't ever buy directly from AMD unless you're a distributor.  So, to say well since I didn't buy it directly from apple therefor it's counterfeit. 

The truth is that I verified the wholesaler that sold me the items.  I did this in various ways. I got nothing but that it's authentic.  I even reported the wholeseller to ebay and ebay cleared them. 

I also even relisted not using the apple name nor trademark . I  asked people about this and was told try and use that because of copyright issues that might be why mine was taken down but listing still got taken down. Ebay just says it's counterfeit end of story.  Does not tell me who filed  the complain and won't give me any contact info. Yet, tells me I should contact the owners.  They give very vague responses.  I myself see no evidence to even suspect that the item is counterfeit.  I bought from the wholesaler because they have an ebay store and they been selling this in bulk for years since 2005.  They even had 100% reputation as a seller. 

[randermen54]

The link to apple's guide : https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204566

this is what I was shown and I sent a rep pictures of the cable and  the cable connectors. They verified that it's authentic. 

[dryophelia]

@randermen54 

If you bought them wholesale from Apple, you will have receipts. If you supply those records you may be able to sell these. 

To my knowledge, Apple is very active, looking at online sellers of their Brand. Not everyone is granted permission to represent the Brand. 

If you bought these from a guy in California with connections to the Taiwan manufacturer of these items, you may run into problems getting the authentication required. 

[randermen54]

I bought them from a wholesaler  on ebay they have an ebay store and they buy it directly from the distributor.  Apple verified this with me and verified the cables are authentic.  I don't have receipts other than a packing slip and ebay and papal records like the invoice. 

What is the required for the  authentication ?  I never said I am apple or represent them. Ebay is a place where you can sell used items. So, I  don't get why if I own a cable bought from an apple store that I cannot resell it without apples permission. If that's the case the everyone is committing  a crime if people resell their cars. 

The problem is that ebay isn't' telling me anything . That's what is frustrating and makes it suspicious.  All they told me that I need to get a hold of the owners.  Which I assume since it's an apple product that apple must have filed a claim. However,  this is all an assumption because ebay keeps telling me the owners filed a claim on my listing. I talked to apple customer support reps and got  transferred to their legal team. They have no clue about my case.  I asked if they can send anything to ebay and they haven't gotten back to me about it.   So, I have no clue if apple filed a claim? or if someone filed a false claim impersonating apple.  I asked people online and they said that normally if it's a vero member ebay would tell you in the message who filed a claim and their contact info.   They told me it's odd that ebay cannot let me know who filed it and their contact info. 

I have contacted ebay customer support about this about  4 or 5 times and each time they cannot tell me who filed the claim. 

[randermen54]

I didn't buy it from a guy.  I bought it from a company that has an ebay store since 2005 and has been selling apple products  iphones, charging cables charging adaptors etc.  They buy directly from the distributor in California. 

[coolections]

---

@randermen54 wrote:

I would buy Apple charging cables from a wholeseller on ebay.

I would resell them.

---

There are more counterfeit charging cables than there are real charging cables being sold out there. My guess is there is a good chance yours is counterfeit unless you buy them from an actual Apple dealer.

[randermen54]

That's where I got them. It's a wholeseller on ebay that is auth reseller by apple. That's my point. I reported them  the past year and ebay didn't do anything. I even reported them to apple and that is where they told me that they're authorized to sell. 

Yet,  ebay wants me to get in touch with owners to clear me. Which to me tells me they don't even know if it's a counterfeit item or not.  Not just that but apple doesn't even know about me getting claimed so I have no clue if apple filed or someone else or if someone is impersonating apple.  I found services online where people can pay these people to submit fake paperwork to impersonate companies  to take down listings that's competing against you.  Which is illegal if someone impersonates apple.  I am not talking about people acting as agents on behalf of apple but people impersonating as agents of apple.

However,  I  won't know because ebay won't tell me who filed the complaint. Which is odd to me because it's common legal practice to let you know that who wants you to stop sales and who to contact.  It's not common for ebay to tell me well it's owners. What owners?  apple? tim cook?  share holders? who?  they won't tell me. 

[rosachs]

You spoke with Apple's legal team.  Did you mention that someone may have assumed their identity in order to get your listing, and possibly others, taken down?  That this person is impersonating an Apple employee empowered to do this on behalf of Apple?  Then ask them if that might not cause irreparable damage to Apple's reputation?  Or does Apple allow just anyone to claim to be an Apple employee empowered to determine, from web pics (which have a lower detail palette than do the actual camera pics they were generated from), whether a particular item is legit or not?

You could also ask them to confirm, in writing, that your products are legitimate.  Then send a copy of the document to eBay's Trust & Safety team, the folks who manage this kind of stuff for eBay.  Does eBay really want Apple to have all their products pulled from eBay because eBay won't deal with a documented legitimate reseller properly?  Imagine of all the Apple accessories on eBay disappeared, never to return.  To say nothing of the iPhones, iPads, iPods, and iWhateverElse that Apple makes.

Probably would never come to that - but it is fun to think about.  eBay execs soiling themselves trying to figure out how to keep Apple on-site instead of moving to, oh, let's say Amazon.  🙂

Start with that written confirmation from Apple.  See where that gets you.  Get them to confirm the name/address/contact of the distributor they sold to that your seller bought from for the items you are reselling.  Connect all the dots and don't use big words -- they will only confuse eBay.

Because, of course... this is eBay.

-Bob.

[fashunu4eeuh]

If you continue to relist these items, and eBay takes them down multiple times, you will find your selling privileges suspended, possibly permanently. So whatever you do, don’t relist them. Your account is at risk for multiple penalties.

[gjs_16]

a) Do NOT relist!

b) You may need to undergo the process of obtaining an authorized reseller license with apple.

[randermen54]

I was told to not relist for any reason. I relisted it about 27 times nothing happened until today  which was the 28th time. I cannot sell items. 

I am thinking to just forget about it and just sell what I have locally in person like friend and family. 

No, I don't know if someone is impersonating them. I assume because when I finally got a hold to apple's legal team which took me a long way to get to them since it's not easy to get in contact.  They acted like they didn't know about me having something sent to take my listing down. I gave them the item name and  listing id.

I assume this based on their behavior and they couldn't reference anything about my case. That is when I told them who I bought it from and was asking if the wholesaler is legit.  They helped me with that part. It's just too much work and fuss to just sell cables.  So,   I am just not going to deal with it.   There's many on ebay that is counterfeit items and they been listed longer than mine.  

The only reason I think it's someone impersonating apple is because of their legal team behavior and all this started after a ebay user only wanted to pay for shipping didn't want to pay for the item. Insisted that I ship them free cables.  After i kept refusing the offers from the same user. About after a couple days after the last offer he sent me. Ebay out of the blue takes my listing down. I get my first message that my item is counterfeit. At this point didn't know why the listing was taken down. Didn't see the message or email because I would just check to see if there's any orders that need to be fullfilled. I noticed the listing was gone and I assumed maybe I deleted it by accident.  I relisted the Item and then after 3 hours being up it was taken down again. That's when I checked messages and found the reason which was  very vague. It just says this item violated counterfeit polices.  That's when I  first  contacted ebay  and then I contacted the seller that sold me the items and then apple. I kept going back and forth with ebay and apple.  I would then ask for help online from reddit and other places that talk about ebay issues.

That's when I tried to take out  the apple logo and trade marks and tried other stuff and relisted the items.  Right now my account is temp banned for a month for selling.  There's times when I relist it that it takes 3 to 4 hours to delist it. There were times where it took a week or two to delist it.  Which to me sounds like it has to be someone reporting it as counterfeit. I  did this to sellers that were clearly selling counterfeit items because it ships from china.  and would see it take down instantly.