The VERO program is out of control

[schloopertz]

The VERO program is completely out of control and unreasonable. 

Today I received this (poorly written) message from a bot 

 

 Apparently, and this is news to me, I can no longer sell Levi’s to any buyer in the EU. The listings were on EBay US, and I offer the global shipping program for everything I sell…I’m hardly an “importer”.

Although the shoddily worded email doesn’t even list the items that were removed, it was 4 pair of Levi’s jeans.

eBay and the VERO program keep changing the goal posts, and it’s crazy making.

How In the world would any seller know that a worldwide brand they have sold dozens of times suddenly is telling VERO to take down any listing with global shipping…this has GOT to be losing eBay so much money, and  I cannot even fathom why it’s supported so aggressively.

These threats of removal and punitive action have scared the bejesus out of me and have me almost out the door. I suspect I’m not the only one….

Also, yeah, yeah, it’s their sandbox/party/playground/rules, I’m aware, but sending it out there as a heads up to others, as well as a whine. 

[monster-deals]

New?

or used?

[schloopertz]

Good question.

Mine were all new, but the email doesn't specify, and as we all know when it comes to VERO there are no answers to be found.

[glasser]

Interesting. Another way artificial intelligence not so intelligent.

Why is eBay putting this on the seller? Why not just block an EU buyer from making the purchase? I would assume the EU buyer probably saw the item because they shop .com instead of say .UK. How would you know that and why would you be responsible for that?

eBay knows where the buyer is and should be able to enforce VERO on the buyer. Sorry, buyer these items can't be shipped to you in your country.

Why can't eBay just ask you to modify your listing to comply?

Why can't eBay provide better communications?

[fashunu4eeuh]

Ok, after reading the VERO email, to be compliant, exclude all EU countries from the Levi listings, and point this out in the description field. This can be done easily in shipping preferences. Or just sell Levi’s domestically only. 

That said, it can be a risk to list something that has been removed, even if changes are made. Sometimes the bots remove a relist and then impose a stiffer penalty.

Sorry this happened to you.

[kensgiftshop]

Like it or not, there are some items you can't ship to another country and it's the sellers job to know that.

[stainlessenginecovers]

That is NOT a bot doing this; it's a VERO member reporting it. Then a bot email is sent out. 

[powell-memorabilia]

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@monster-deals wrote:

New?

or used?

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That was my thought.  People are getting pinched for selling “new” without authorization from Apple, Levi’s, etc..  Maybe “New (other)” is permissible.

[buy-it-here-and-now]

Got the same message today with a 3 day suspension from creating new listings. I thought there was a glitch in the eBay Global shipping software, because I don’t ship anything at all out of country without EBay Global Shipping involved. If you read the blurb on the global shipping sign-up it gives the option to select all the items that they are allowed to ship. Apparently (I found out from the 5th eBay C.S. Agent I spoke with) that it’s just Levis that has the rule/law. I would have assumed eBay would have unchecked the EU from the list when the item is anything Levi. But here is a question, is it only new Levi’s or used as well? Anyone know? I now have to go through all the Levi items and turn off global shipping, I guess, I hate to disallow countries that I could sell to, and if I disallow EU Counties and EEA Countries from global shipping then everything not Levi’s is in a shrunken marketplace. eBay you need to step in and fix this issue somehow, such as having a checkbox on the listing page next to global shipping that asks if this is a Levi item, and if checked you have an alternate shipping country list that shows up, or something that essentially does the same thing.

[buy-it-here-and-now]

Glasses, that’s smart, I didn’t even think of that, but when I read your reply I actually remember listing an old Austrian Military Helmet and I got a message that stated the item was not allowed to be sold in XYZ Countries. It’s been many years ago, so I don’t recall all the details, but the system knew from my title, so why does it not know when you type in Levi and give you a warning?

[powell-memorabilia]

Are the recent listings, again, being sold as “new?”  

[bangordiscount]

Was their contact information in the VeRO e-mail for Levi's or whomever was authorized to file the complaint? 

[luckythewinner]

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@schloopertz wrote:

this has GOT to be losing eBay so much money, and  I cannot even fathom why it’s supported so aggressively.

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If you read up on the "safe harbor" provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright act, you will understand why the VERO program is designed the way it is. 

The DMCA gives websites like eBay "safe harbor" from liability for intellectual property violations by a seller,  provided that eBay promptly removes the alleged infringing content as soon a "Notice of Claimed Infringement" (i.e. a VERO claim) is submitted to them.

eBay has no incentive to substitute its own judgement in place of a VERO claim, because doing so would  negate the safe harbor provision and expose them to liability. 

I am registered with VERO and I find there is nothing "aggressive" about how eBay "supports" the VERO program. When eBay receives a NOCI, eBay simply removes the listing. 

[schloopertz]

No! There was no reference to Levi's at all, no list of the items removed, and certainly no contact information for them. 

It's just so clumsy and inept, I mean, at least add those things to the email.

[axiombody]

 Do you list on international sites using Webinterpret?  I had the same problem a few months ago.  After I blocked Webinterpret from listing Levi's on international sites I was still able to list NWT Levi's on Ebay USA to be sold overseas.  I understand not being able to understand the email as it took me sometime to figure what it all meant and not wanting to cancel hundreds of Levi's it became a problem for me.  I assumed Levi's didn't want me selling the same stock of items on multiple sites but who knows.  It seems to be fixed now and I haven't received anymore VERO emails about my Levi's.