eBay

rainbowprophet · ‎05-14-2023

Y'know, this is literally the 2nd time this has happened for the exact same item, which is a nostalgic tape produced by Prometheus music in 2022. Yes, 2022. And for those that aren't aware, there's a subculture of people who actively still collect music tapes. Sales have increased in the past few years; its just vinyl increased more. There's also a growing culture of people realizing they prefer CDs versus the cloud.

Also, most of the music I sell is filk music - which is a niche form. We do things like make tapes and our own CDs. We're more than independent. We also don't care if we play badly. If you're going to control music listings on eBay, that's definitely something you need to know about before you, well, remove a listing because you clearly don't know what you're talking about.

That being said, I'm the person who sells stuff for Prometheus on eBay. The first time the tape was taken down under claims of counterfeit, I was able to reach out and get it handled. The producer also offered to reach out, as this sort of stupidity also effects his sales. THIS time, however, I'm completely blocked from reaching out. It has me hopping mad.

I tried to find an answer on the internet and you know what I found? And article talking about this situation with a suggestion we get a lawyer.

This is ridiculous, not being able to reach out and solve what is clearly a problem. I'm very disappointed in eBay.

hartungcards · ‎05-14-2023

You're going to hire a lawyer so you can sell a cassette tape on eBay?

lacemaker3 · ‎05-14-2023

I'm familiar with filk ... it's been a while, but yeah. Still have some tapes.

It sounds like you are the authorized seller for Prometheus, which is the company that produced the tape in question. Since tapes like these are typically produced by small companies, sometimes home produced, with small production runs, it's not surprising that they may appear to be black market or copied tapes, to those who are not familiar with them.

Since the producer at Prometheus is willing to verify that you are the authorized retailer for them, I think that you need to find out how to become their authorized seller on eBay. I'm not sure how this is done. eBay does recognize authorized sellers in some cases, but they don't publish how to go about it, probably because they would be inundated with requests, many of which might not be legitimate.

You can reach out to customer service using social media:

eBay on Facebook

eBay on Twitter

The people who respond to private messages there are eBay employees, not out-sourced CS reps who can only handle issues that they have been trained in (and your issue is not one of them). The social media agents have more ability to go outside the box, so they are your best bet.

I did some searching trying to find out how to submit your authorization to eBay, and the best I could find were suggestions to try the social media customer service. At least one of the replies here is from someone who says they have been able to get Authorized seller status.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Ebay/comments/z9c8jd/authorized_seller/

eBay may or may not display an Authorized Reseller badge on your account/listings -- according to this article from 2012, that is done for Diamond sellers (very high volume, and at least some of these accounts are operated by the manufacturer themselves).

https://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2012/4/1335795303.html

ckimodog · ‎05-14-2023

@rainbowprophet

Sorry for your situation. Unfortunately once Ebay takes a listing down, it's advisable not to list it again. It really doesn't matter what you, me or anyone else thinks. It's their playground and they make the rules. Relisting it again will only jeopardize your account status on eBay and I know that's not what you want to happen. Do you really want to spend money for an attorney on something this trivial?

Let it go and get back to selling. Given your feedback and the time you've put into your shop, you appear to be very good at it. Keep up the good work.

Have a great day.

rainbowprophet · ‎05-14-2023

Wouldn't be a problem if 1. It has been cleared and proven not counterfeit already and 2. the producer is even ready to tell them what for on the phone about it. LOL.

As far as I'm concerned reason 1 makes this whole situation ludicrous.

dhbookds · ‎05-14-2023

It won't be ludicrous.......if they suspend your account..........which they may well do if you relist it......

collectfest · ‎05-14-2023

@hartungcards wrote:
You're going to hire a lawyer so you can sell a cassette tape on eBay?

THATS NOT WHAT THE OP SAID. They said they tried to find an answer on the net with a "...suggestion...they get a lawyer..."

deltilogical · ‎05-14-2023

I'm curious what mechanism is making the accusations here. Are they covering other musicians' copyrighted work, in which case it might be correct to not allow until royalties are ensured.

I think all of us sellers are unclear on this seemingly unAmericanism of not being able to confront the accuser - of not even knowning what the accusation is. But under globalism there is more and more of that, our way of life and ethical system is quaint.