eBay

randermen54 · ‎07-20-2021

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.

coolections · ‎07-21-2021

I hate to say it but whoever you talked to did not give you correct info. A company as big as Apple would never give someone else's info out over the phone to you.

cynha-5147 · ‎07-21-2021

Thank you for information . I am interested in this topic

toysaver · ‎07-21-2021

Find something else to sell. Simple as that.

releasethekraken_1 · ‎07-21-2021

So you got these from a wholesaler on eBay, who got them from Apple's distributor in CA? That sounds pretty unlikely.

Were you advertising them as genuine Apple products?

maxine*j · ‎07-21-2021

@randermen54 wrote:
... 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...

You may buy something for own use, use it, and then resell it as a used item. That is covered under The First Sale Doctrine (codified at 17 U.S.C. § 109) and you are free to do so with anything you buy.

That is not what you were doing. You were buying multiple items from a wholesaler and then reselling them as a retailer. Many brands do now allow anyone to retail their products except with authorizarion.

As for others doing the same thing, they have not yet been caught but you were.

=

donsdetour · ‎07-21-2021

Again This is supposedly a wholesaler on ebay you purchase from>

Just how much of a discount did you get??

if it seems to be to good to be true: it usual is not true.

This single fact tells most folks if an item may or may not be FAKE.

It is possible you have been purchasing fakes and finally got outed. So called authentication you state may or may not have happen, and if did, was incorrect.

If you are not directly (meaning not through some wholesaler on eBay that would tell you anything to sell to you) you don't know.

Seems you may have learned not to relist them. Also the ones sold can also be pulled if they are reported, and get you suspended.

Just saying... Also you might want to report your seller....

gjs_16 · ‎07-21-2021

@maxine*j wrote:
Many brands do now allow anyone to retail their products except with authorization.

Yes and it has to do with warranty returns and repairs and the like.
Customers get upset, buying a product that doesn't live up to expectations, then finding out the manufacturer won't cover it... They can't, now with everybody and their relatives and friends and third cousins twice removed selling online this problem has become rampant, the manufacturer has no control over their product once it leaves their facility, especially if sold through Bill and Bob and Jake and Flake.
So the manufacturers have no choice but to institute strict measures over their return policies, and unfortunately these measures now extend to the point of sale. From a manufacturer's point of view, only two outlets should be selling their products: Themselves, and manufacturer authorized retailers (this is called second party). So if they can stop all the third party sellers from arbitraging their product, they hope to rein in the deluge of warranty issues... And yes, today's counterfeits are extremely well made, but that doesn't prevent the manufacturer from not wanting to honor warranty issues on products they didn't produce.

I hope that clarifies things a bit.

glasser · ‎07-21-2021

There are two issues that need to be separated. One are the really counterfeit? The OP seems to believe they are not (you could try going to an Apple store and having them look at them. I also believe for some Apple products you an go to the site and search by the serial number through suppot to see if they are real and still under warranty).

The second issues is the seller authorized to sell them. Or the buyer he is buying from is not authorized to sell them to a reseller.

It sounds like eBay is focused on the first. We have heard this story several times on these Boards. Sellers selling away and all of a sudden shut down as counterfeit, VERO, etc.

I think sellers are entitled to some due process here. eBay needs to be more transparent when taking down listings. If an individual user made the counterfeit claim that should revealed. If the manufacturer or trademark owner, that should be revealed as well. What's the harm? What's the privacy issue?

What's the adjudication process?

Suggestion: bring your issue to tomorrow's community chat 1pm PST and get in front of some other eBay people;, File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau bbb.org; contact eBay via Facebook page. People say that yields a response.