I received a notice from "earthkind"

[corn.32]

I received a message from another user that had a pic of a final notice from "earthkind" saying that the product I had for sell is intellectual property and I didn't have permission to sell and to pull my listing.  My question is, does this sound legit and does this happen a lot?  I see other listings with this brand.  I didn't get the letter, it looks like the other user got the letter and was letting me know about it.

[mam98031]

Coming from another user, I would be aware, but I wouldn't take it to mean I have to take my listing down.  

[simba6]

First off, they would have to become a VERO member and then eBay would remove it.  Until then,  it can stay.

It it an item you made or was it made by a company?  Your allowed to resell a legit product.  If you made or copied it,  then they might have a case.

[mam98031]

@simba6 

It was just another seller sharing with the OP an email they got on the brand name.

[slippinjimmy]

---

@corn.32 wrote:

I received a message from another user that had a pic of a final notice from "earthkind" saying that the product I had for sell is intellectual property and I didn't have permission to sell and to pull my listing.  My question is, does this sound legit and does this happen a lot?  I see other listings with this brand.  I didn't get the letter, it looks like the other user got the letter and was letting me know about it.

---

If it was legit they would simply file a Notice Of Copyright Infringement with eBay and "poof" your listing would be gone.

That said, some companies are doing an end run and launching action in court instead.

Which "earthkind" is it (there are a number of companies with that name)?

[whattheactualfox]

I received a message from another user that had a pic of a final notice from "earthkind"

Final Notice? That implies there might have been previous messages. Would you be able to provide the message (provided you censor any personal info?)

[slippinjimmy]

---

@simba6 wrote:

First off, they would have to become a VERO member and then eBay would remove it.  Until then,  it can stay.

It it an item you made or was it made by a company?  Your allowed to resell a legit product.  If you made or copied it,  then they might have a case.

---

A "Vero member"?

Becoming a Vero "member" is as easy as opening an eBay account. In any event it is not necessary, one simply needs to issue an NOCI to eBay.

[mam98031]

As I understand what the OP is sharing.  They got a message from another seller that got a final notice from this Earthkind company.  The message the OP got was a copy of the message sent to a different seller.  The OP has not received a warning directly from Earthkind.

If I have that wrong @corn.32 PLEASE correct me.

[corn.32]

You are correct @mam98031.   I am new to ebay (4 months) and I am learning something new everyday. I will post my listing again until I hear directly from eBay.  Thank you all for the answers.

[a_c_green]

---

@mam98031 wrote:

As I understand what the OP is sharing.  They got a message from another seller that got a final notice from this Earthkind company.  The message the OP got was a copy of the message sent to a different seller.  The OP has not received a warning directly from Earthkind.

If I have that wrong @corn.32 PLEASE correct me.

---

We've seen this situation before here. The account sending the photo to the OP is using a throwaway eBay account in order to deliver the message, and it's in the form of a photo instead of text in order to evade eBay filters looking for this particular threatening message.

The throwaway account belongs to a copyright troll law firm that's hoping to hear from the seller, in order to bully them into some kind of cash "settlement" for a case that is threatened but not actually filed.

@corn.32 : Was there any kind of cover message accompanying the image of the letter? Was the eBay account sending the message an active seller or buyer on eBay? i.e. Was their feedback count at (or close to) zero, or something much higher?

[corn.32]

That is exactly what it was.  A picture of a letter of the threat.  The user had no feedback count(0), and I doubt they were active. Thanks for the heads up and I am glad I didn't reply to them.

[slippinjimmy]

@a_c_green 

One recent twist is that the trolls ARE filing cases with the courts, some sort of slipshod "service" is being done so if the recipient ignores it they can get a summary judgment.

I have no idea how much of this is going on but there have been at least two posts here in the last couple of months,  those two prompted an article on the Steiner rag blog with more details.

[a_c_green]

---

@slippinjimmy wrote:

@a_c_green 

One recent twist is that the trolls ARE filing cases with the courts, some sort of slipshod "service" is being done so if the recipient ignores it they can get a summary judgment.

---

Ayup, I did see those articles, but this is not remotely close to that. Sending an unsolicited image of a threatening letter addressed to someone else from a throwaway account to a recipient who may or may not receive it and may or may not read it is nothing resembling legal service. It's an attempt to dodge filters and try to fool the recipient into thinking it's a legitimate notice, when it's nothing of the kind.

[mam98031]

I'm just glad that @corn.32  came here to seek more information.  Thank you so much for sharing all of this.  It is so helpful.