eBay

freelandendeavorsllc · ‎02-01-2022

I just received the attached notice from a VantageBP, LLC company acting under the authorization of VCG Holdings LTD(Vionic) about my Vionic listings asking for some information such as identifying my source of goods, invoices and contact information. Has anyone received this recently? Aren't I protected by the "First Sale Doctrine"? Is this some sort of scare tactic and I just should ignore it or wait until they go through eBay's VeRo channels? Thank you!

oldwestgold · ‎02-01-2022

The seller sells pre-owned items. They have no business with pre-owned items.

simba6 · ‎02-01-2022

If they could do anything, they could have come up with a better letter. They often try to scare off people and if it works great for them. They would have the items removed if they could.

gwens*4saleitems* · ‎02-01-2022

Until this thread, I didn't know what Vionic was. I had to look it up.

I see 30,000+ listings on this site. 10,000+ in solds.

maxine*j · ‎02-01-2022

@rfmtm wrote:
Yes, the First Sale Doctrine has be battered about over the last several years, creating some gray areas. I think one of the first was Dunkin' Donuts against those reselling their bags of coffee online. It was a pretty ridiculous case, but the court let them get away with it. And while others followed trying to ride on the Dunkin' case, most did not succeed, while others thought up some new ploys. Still for the most part the Doctrine does still prevail.

The biggest problem is that ebay more or less uses their own rules, which they can since it is their site. So you can't really go after ebay. You have to take on the abusers directly. Fortunately, those that know they are in the wrong often back down when they are confronted. Unfortunately, most casual sellers don't know their rights, or where to turn for help, and the bullies count on that and being able to scare them into submission.

And at the same time that the first sale doctrine is being eroded, the U.S. Patent and Trade Mark Office has been allowing insane registrations: Shabby Chic. Happy Valley. Pandora's Box. Realtor. That's Hot. Super Hero. Knock Your Socks Off.

Combine allowing common words and phrases to be trademarked with an ever-weakening first sale doctrine and you get nothing good.

=

simply-the-best-for-you · ‎02-01-2022

Vionic is pretty popular. Not popular enough that I think it's faked, but still fairly popular. I mean OP wouldn't be selling it if it didn't have a following.

Personally, if it were me, I'd ignore. Doesn't sound like the guy has any legal standing, nor do I reply to emails , ya know? How do they know it just didn't go into your junk folder & you never even saw it, kwim? FWIW, email addys are pretty easy to come by via a bit of research, so he didn't have to have anyone buy from you. Esp if you're active on SM, he likely could have found the info online. But yeah, who responds to emails for private info, right? The only defense you'd need is "I assume legitimate companies write actual letters".

Also, if all your shoes are pre-owned, how do they know you didn't buy them all yourself? I mean, your mom, you & your 3 sisters all love Vionic & sell them when you tire of them. Your 1 new pair was obviously just one that didn't fit your mom & was past the return date.

I mean, really, this is ridiculous! Likely most of these he sends out probably DO go into junk folders &/or NEVER get opened. I don't open any email unless I know who it's from. I would never have even opened this. I mean, you're a cautious person right? Of course you don't open strange emails from strange addresses 🙂 Should you ever need a defense.

This one goes to Eleven - Nigel Tufnel

Simply-the-best-for-you Volunteer Community Mentor
eBay Seller since 1996

2015usnoona · ‎03-25-2022

Hi,

I just received this same exact letter from an account with 0 feedback. I have 10 Vionic listings and all but 2 are used. What should I do? Leave it alone? Have not responded or done anything as of yet and do not intend to. Thanks!

eskoesplar · ‎07-19-2022

I just got the same letter and i have also about 10 vionic listings? What did you end up doing ? or did anything happen? tx

luxe_beauty_4_less · ‎07-25-2022

I also have had 2 notices from these guys about a cosmetic brand I am reselling. This happened a few years ago with a different brand but same basic tactic. Ebay messages from a shell ebay user account (2 notices for same thing from 2 different accounts). I'm ignoring them. Ebay VERO team says in other threads they've never heard of these guys....if they legitimately could pull listings down, they'd do it through the VERO program. It's just a scare tactic. Their business model is to do this for a company and I'm guessing get paid based on a percentage of listings removed.

a_c_green · ‎07-25-2022

@luxe_beauty_4_less wrote:
Their business model is to do this for a company and I'm guessing get paid based on a percentage of listings removed.

Something like that, yes; that outfit basically seems to be selling elbow deodorant to clueless manufacturers, in terms of billing them for letters they send out on the company's behalf for a fictitious threat to their business (e.g. counterfeit items that are not really counterfeit) that would not actually stand up in court. At a glance, other sellers who posted earlier in this thread are still listing those shoes with no apparent ill effects. I stand by my previous answer (here).