Why doesn't ebay enforce Trademark Infringement ?

[gps-recovery]

I have a competitor that prints counterfeit bar-code labels for several major manufacturers for repair kits he produces himself . . . the named manufacturer never had anything to do with the items he is selling.   His fake labels are displayed in his listings and he also uses the stolen brands in his descriptions.   Two of his products with counerfeit labels compete with 2 of my listings.  

When I called ebay, they said they only address Trademark Infringement when the complaint comes from the Manufacturer, not a buyer or another ebay member.   So in my listing,  I "OUT"  the guy but I wish I didn't have to do this.    I had an ebay support person read my listing "OUTING" another seller and they said I could do this.    Their policy just says something like you can't use offensive language about another member.  

[southernfriedbelle]

@7606dennis, I think "imaginary" may have been an autocorrect typo. @nowthatsjustducky probably meant to type " intellectual. " At least, I hope that's what happened! 😆

[southernfriedbelle]

---

@kitschy*loot wrote:

I looked at one of your listings, you shouldn't have named those sellers and accused them of being liars. It does not make you look helpful, but it does make you look spiteful.

---

Yeah, @gps-recovery. Definitely not cool, dude.

[brian_burke@ebay]

---

@gps-recovery wrote:

I have a competitor that prints counterfeit bar-code labels for several major manufacturers for repair kits he produces himself . . . the named manufacturer never had anything to do with the items he is selling.   His fake labels are displayed in his listings and he also uses the stolen brands in his descriptions.   Two of his products with counerfeit labels compete with 2 of my listings.  

When I called ebay, they said they only address Trademark Infringement when the complaint comes from the Manufacturer, not a buyer or another ebay member.   So in my listing,  I "OUT"  the guy but I wish I didn't have to do this.    I had an ebay support person read my listing "OUTING" another seller and they said I could do this.    Their policy just says something like you can't use offensive language about another member.  

---

@gps-recovery I strongly agree with the others who said you shouldn't be calling out sellers in your item description.  I suggest you check out the following page for best practices writing a description - http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/title_desc_ov.html#inform

You want your buyers focused on the item you are selling so that they purchase it.  The content at the top clutters your page and the seller zemtronix cannot be found, so they either changed their UserID or we took action. Either way, you description is cluttered with info that doesn't help the buyer. 

If they are doing what you said, there are two potential violations:

1. Infringement - which as everyone has stated needs to come from the manufacturer

2. Item not as described - if they are describing an item as "New- other" and it has been used for a year, that is item not as described and you as the buyer can make a claim against the seller for a refund. As a competitor of the seller I would be very cautious of filing claims since it can very easily intent to disrupt your competitors business. 

My suggestion, report them if you purchase inventory that is not as described, remove any text unrelated to the item you are selling. 

Thanks for selling on eBay!

Brian

[partial*eclipse]

Whoa, the Big Kahuna has spoken!

[southernfriedbelle]

---

@partial*eclipse wrote:

Whoa, the Big Kahuna has spoken!

---

Yikes!

[brian_burke@ebay]

---

@partial*eclipse wrote:

Whoa, the Big Kahuna has spoken!

---

@partial*eclipse - I've been called much worse 🙂 - since I was just in Hawaii with my family I like the Big Kahuna reference! But in reality I'm just one of the team.

Have a great weekend!

Brian 

[brian_burke@ebay]

---

@southernfriedbelle wrote:

---

@partial*eclipse wrote:

Whoa, the Big Kahuna has spoken!

---

Yikes!

---

@southernfriedbelle Yikes! Hmmm...I'm hopeful that is for astonishment that I posted and not out of fear 🙂

Have a great weekend.

Brian

[18704d]

Here's what I found:

What are the rules and policies for listing items on eBay?
http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/questions/what-rules-selling-items.html

Rules about the kinds of items you can list

    Prohibited and restricted items – Find out if the item you want to sell is prohibited or subject to restrictions.

    Rules about intellectual property – Find out how we're protecting copyrights, trademarks, and other intellectual property rights.

    No item listings and inappropriate comments policy – Listings that don't offer anything for sale or those that offer intangible items aren't allowed. A listing also shouldn't include personal opinions, political views, or offensive comments about eBay members.

fwiw,

Lynn

[southernfriedbelle]

LOL! Just awestruck wonder! 😄

[gps-recovery]

This guy pays $5.00 for a 5 year old hard drive with 23,000 hours of use and then lists it as NEW.
I pay $40 for a NEW drive. It is hard to compete with someone who cheats. This product is not typical because the buyer generally can't tell he is buying a very used product until it fails prematurely. "used" doesn't visually show like most other product types.

[gps-recovery]

It hard to compete with someone sells a 5 year old product as NEW, He pays next to nothing for his product while I pay for a NEW product that costs me more than 5 times the price. Ebay customers should know he is selling an old, heavily used product.

[ebuyingcat]

I see this one:

zemtronix-com (10981

Not positive but I believe it is the one brian_burke@ebay

or someone tried to find.

[brian_burke@ebay]

---

@ebuyingcat wrote:

I see this one:

zemtronix-com (10981

Not positive but I believe it is the one brian_burke@ebay

or someone tried to find.

---

@ebuyingcat - thanks for the sleuthing. @gps-recovery - I'll forward this ID to our trust department. If it is a different user ID misrepresenting the items email me the ID to bburke@ebay.com

Thanks

Brian

[southernfriedbelle]

---

@gps-recovery wrote:
It hard to compete with someone sells a 5 year old product as NEW, He pays next to nothing for his product while I pay for a NEW product that costs me more than 5 times the price. Ebay customers should know he is selling an old, heavily used product.

---

I get that, and, believe me, I do understand your frustration and outrage. However, the manner in which you've chosen to deal with the issue is NOT helpful to your mutual potential clients, or to you. Not only does the public format "outing" of your competitor violate eBay's policies which you agreed to as a seller, it makes you look petty, vindictive, and more concerned with what that competitor is offering than with providing information regarding your own listed items.

No, I don't sell an exclusive aftermarket niche product, but I have experience competing on eBay with some other sellers whom I know to be selling counterfeit designer dresses that are in competition  with the genuine ones I sometimes sell. It's not my job to call out these fraudulent items, or the dishonest sellers offering them for sale on my own listings. As a buyer, I would hit rhe back button in a hot nanosecond if I saw that on someone's listing. Someone who would display such unprofessionalism in selling his product is someone whom I would avoid doing business with.

[sharingtheland]

Just playing contrarian/devil's advocate here, but whenever a seller came along and wondered why a listing was removed, one the standard answers has always been "someone/a competitor reported it."

And now "it's ebay pays attention to only the rights holder", never to a random person reporting a listing ?