I had 2 items removed by Vero, LG water filters. What would have clued me they are counterfeit?

[yzinve_4]

I recently had 2 LG water filters for your fridge removed.  They were both sealed and in the box. They had LG all over the box, I had a UPC number, etc.  There was never a red flag at all to me.   I’ve sold water filters before on EBay with no issues.   Is there something that I should have noticed that would have alerted me these items were a no? I’m feeling kind of dumb right now but not sure why. I certainly don’t want any bad marks on my account or sell something I should not be selling.  I appreciate all help.

Yzguy

[chapeau-noir]

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@albertabrightalberta wrote:

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@yzinve_4 wrote:

I recently had 2 LG water filters for your fridge removed.  They were both sealed and in the box. They had LG all over the box, I had a UPC number, etc.  There was never a red flag at all to me.   I’ve sold water filters before on EBay with no issues.   Is there something that I should have noticed that would have alerted me these items were a no? I’m feeling kind of dumb right now but not sure why. I certainly don’t want any bad marks on my account or sell something I should not be selling.  I appreciate all help.

Yzguy

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Are you sure it was VeRO? What did the VeRO takedown message say? 

Despite what others have said, it's irrelevant that a company may not want its items resold on ebay. If an item is authentic and you obtained it by legitimate means, First Sale Doctrine allows you to resell it. 

Did you use LG's stock images? 
If so, that's a violation because those images are the intellectual property of the company. 

Did you copy and use LG's description? 
Again, that's a copyright violation.

But if you used your own pictures, wrote your own description in your own words and if the filters are absolutely authentic, you can respond to the VeRO notice. 

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Unfortunately, not true, at least for here.  I've had two take-downs for products banned by the manufacturer for being sold here, despite their being my own items.  There was no indication at all that resale was forbidden when I listed them, and there was no reason why, they were pretty common. *I meant to say they got me for being an 'unauthorized seller' - no, it made no sense to me, either, given First Sale.

Problem is, we don't fight eBay over this, it's the manufacturer we have to fight, and TBH, it's often not worth it (and they bank on that).  I know some have been successful. 

@yzinve_4   Don't feel dumb - you're not the first person to get blind-sided by this, and it was smart to ask.

[albertabrightalberta]

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@yzinve_4 wrote:

Here was the email I received.  I’m not understanding how my items were counterfeit.  I used my own photos, and my own description. The UPC matched and everything seemed normal. My original question was how to spot an item that is counterfeit. I have sold other filters (new and sealed) and have never had any issues,  I’m not going to dispute anything, just trying not to make the same mistake down the road. Is there any info on EBay that explains to you what to look for on your items?  Thank you for your response. 

Hello yzinve_4,

Your listing didn't follow our VeRO Unauthorized Item Policy. Unauthorized copies or counterfeits are illegal and not allowed on eBay

What activity didn't follow the policy

 More specific details are provided below.

What you need to do next

Items removed for this policy cannot be relisted. Please ensure that your future listings are for authentic items only. For these items, they should be described accurately and completely, so buyers know that it is an authentic item.

What is the policy

- Your listing was reported by LG Electronics, Inc. for offering a counterfeit item.  eBay’s Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) program offers intellectual property rights owner(s) a way to report listings that they believe infringe on their rights  
- Counterfeits are illegal, and not allowed on eBay 
- If you believe a mistake has been made, you will need to contact the rights owner directly. If the rights owner approves your appeal, please have them contact us directly to reinstate your listing(s)
You can send an email to:
infringements.lg@netnames.com

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Your listing is a VeRO removal and in this case, the only way to appeal is by contacting LG at the email address highlighted in red. 

If it were my listing that was removed and if I was sure it's authentic, I would contact them to get more detail of what the infringement is. 

If their contention is that it's counterfeit, they may request various proof of authenticity as well as questioning your source. 

This link describes how to file your counter notice and they will be required to respond within a certain number of days (may be 10 days) or you are allowed to appeal to the site and they must reinstate the listing.

https://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/responding-dmca-takedown-notice-targeting-your-content

• If LG's reason for the removal is counterfeit and you are able to prove authenticity, they have to contact ebay to notify them that the listing was removed in error and to reinstate it or allow you to relist. Ding should be removed also.
• If LG's reason for the removal is counterfeit and your item is deemed to be fake after your submission, you can't relist and the account ding remains.
• If LG's reason for removal is simply because they don't want their items resold on ebay, that's a violation of First Sale Doctrine and they cannot do that. This is the law and what it says is that if you own an item and obtained it through legal means (i.e., bought from a retailer, bought from the manufacturer, bought from a reseller, etc.), you are allowed to do whatever you please with the item, including reselling it. (This doesn't apply to a partner to whom the company may have a contract that disallows reselling.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-sale_doctrine

[arky-alley]

I just looked up my LG filter before I Listed it.  LG is not on that VERO List.  how would I Know not to list it is I had not found this conversation.  It is hard to find stuff on that list.  is there a company name different than LG.  I don't want suspended or even a first strike.  That VERO List is not user friendly.  For goodness sake they didn't even bother to put it in alphabetical order.  

[arky-alley]

Can I sell them on Poshmark?

[toomuchstuffagain35]

Unfortunately you can't file a counter notice for counterfeit allegations. That only applies to copyright.

If the company fails to respond, you can get ebay to contact them, but if they also fail to respond to ebay, ebay just washes their hands of it and the seller is SOL.

[toomuchstuffagain35]

A rights holder doesn't have to be on ebay's VERO list to file a  notice.

[janet9988]

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@arky-alley wrote:

Can I sell them on Poshmark?

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You would need to ask Poshmark. We go by ebay policies here.

[inhawaii]

Nothing to do with YOUR situation but I just wanted to share my story.

I recently bought a GE refrigerator water filer on ebay.

It was factory sealed and looked 100% authentic.

It would not work. I kept getting an error message.

I learned that counterfeit filers are a big problem.

Genuine filters now have an electronic chip in them which the counterfeits do not. 

I ended up getting a genuine filter from Home Depot (for twice the price).

[tinycabbage]

The exact same thing just happened to me. The filter came with my elderly parents' new LG fridge, so it couldn't have been counterfeit. They weren't going to connect the ice machine (they can't because there's no water access on that side of the kitchen) and asked me to sell the filter for them. The listing got pulled and I got this intimidating message from ebay Vero--the same message you got. I don't understand what I could have done wrong. I've been an ebay seller for over a decade and was insulted that they were acting like I did something wrong. I was just trying to help out my parents and there's no way this filter could be counterfeit unless LG includes counterfeit filters with their own fridges. Annoying!!!!! 😠

[powell-memorabilia]

Seems that the problem comes when these items are sold as new.  Some “new” items come only from authorized sellers.  If you aren’t authorized and you are selling as new, that means that they are used or open box.

[brightlightbookseller]

Just email the address in the notice and tell them the situation.  If you do list them again (after getting the VeRO notice that it was reversed) make sure not to list them as new as @powell-memorabilia pointed out.

Also, this is an old thread and mods will probably close it.  You usually get better help if you start your own thread.

[broto_64]

For clarification you may wish to re-read the message and see if there exists a way to get said clarification, this may involve contacting the manufacturer which that information will be contained within that message. Without clarification none of us here could tell you exactly why it was removed and we're all just guessing.

That said...

VERO cases usually have to do with trademark infringement, which isn't about your items being counterfeit however if your items were aftermarket (and not made by LG) you may have ran into trouble there if you claimed they were LG or something to that effect, also most often it is the use of a (tm) word (examples: Xerox, Kevlar, Velcro, Bobcat are all trademarked words, in fact they're brand names and not actual words) that will trigger a Vero takedown.

[kh-laura]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.