eBay is promoting counterfeit items within my item listings

[crustycurmudgeon]

When someone clicks on any of my listings, they're met with images and links to counterfeit versions of the genuine item in my listing, and invariably they're cheaper.  Do I have any kind of recourse to get eBay to stop encouraging people to buy fakes instead of my genuine items?

[crustycurmudgeon]

My selling account is caldecals, not crustycurmudgeon.

[nawlinsron2]

You can take the 1st step (albeit fruitless), and click "Report item" on the RH margin.
If they get booted, they just re-appear under a new ID.

[ted_200]

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@crustycurmudgeon wrote:

When someone clicks on any of my listings, they're met with images and links to counterfeit versions of the genuine item in my listing, and invariably they're cheaper.  Do I have any kind of recourse to get eBay to stop encouraging people to buy fakes instead of my genuine items?

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No.

Just curious, are any of those items "Promoted Listings"?  If so, that changes the answer to "Heck no!". 

[jonathankirkland]

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@crustycurmudgeon wrote:

When someone clicks on any of my listings, they're met with images and links to counterfeit versions of the genuine item in my listing, and invariably they're cheaper.  Do I have any kind of recourse to get eBay to stop encouraging people to buy fakes instead of my genuine items?

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Sorry to hear that and I understand how frustrating it is.

There are supposed to be proper channels you can follow (such as reporting the listings) but many members have noted that that often does not accomplish anything.

Ebay does not seem to be overly concerned with knockoff items (from countries halfway around the globe in most cases) funneling into the US and other countries globally through their network.

Heck, they don't even seem to be too conerned about administering equal punishment to sellers for prohibited items! You could have listings pulled today for being on their prohibited item list (and in some cases item that aren't even on there) and look a month from now and see thousands of them still for sale.

Sorry OP. Hopefully you can include a word like "genuine" in your title or some other key word to help distinguish your items from the cheap knockoffs.

[phono_0490xxxxxx]

It's a form of scam/fraud.

go here to do something about it > https://pages.ebay.com/securitycenter/index.html

When you do that reporting have it noted that you see ebay 'promoted' listings, as you say here.

Posting in thread will bring no remedy, just add to the clutter, confusion and divisive comments.

A Trust and Safety Board may help, but seems some prefer the above matters and like being in a state of denial.

That 'some' seems to include ebay. 

They are invited to prove otherwise.

[phono_0490xxxxxx]

the posting I reply to isn't a recomended action.

When you go here to do something about it > https://pages.ebay.com/securitycenter/index.html

 ... make sure you do so using your sell account and cite an example listing number.

[ted_200]

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@phono_0490xxxxxx wrote:

the posting I reply to isn't a recomended action.

When you go here to do something about it > https://pages.ebay.com/securitycenter/index.html

 ... make sure you do so using your sell account and cite an example listing number.

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That's a fascinating page.  I don't recall ever seeing it before. 

I'd be interested in hearing if using it does (or does not do) anything for the OP.

After looking it over some more, I'm not sure what OP is supposed to do when he gets there.  It's got a bunch of information.  And I see four links for "Report a Concern" (and a couple for Law Enforcement).

Contact Customer Service (link)

Report a Fake email (link to spoof at eBay)

If You Think You've Been Hacked (identical link to Contact Customer Service)

Resolve a Problem (link to Resolution Center, which only supports problems for a listing you sold or bought - the "Open A Dispute" link)

So... the answer is "Contact CS"? 

[phono_0490xxxxxx]

oppps, not quote button.

[phono_0490xxxxxx]

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@ted_200 wrote:

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@phono_0490xxxxxx wrote:

When you go here to do something about it > https://pages.ebay.com/securitycenter/index.html

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That's a fascinating page.  I don't recall ever seeing it before. 

I'd be interested in hearing if using it does (or does not do) anything for the OP.

After looking it over some more, I'm not sure what OP is supposed to do when he gets there.

So... the answer is "Contact CS"? 

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And so the merry-go-round. Not fun.

Here you see that's the cure all, recommended way to go >  https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Where-is-the-scam-fraud-warning-discussion-thread-on-these/td-...

Better we discuss this matter in that thread.

After 2 times around the 'ride' trying to reach CS, because it just went round and round, I saw a link to 'ask the community' which lead to these boards.

There is a tendency for it to lock-out and send you around when there isn't a correct AI bot selection avaiable. So much for AI bots 'help'.

May have been from a ebay.com listing I was trying to sort. It wouldn't have come from being on the ebay.com site seeking a remedy.

So, Y'all can thank such 'help' pages for sending me here.

[ted_200]

Interesting niche the OP is selling in, it wasn't what I'd expected when I looked.

On the 4 or 5 I looked at, I didn't see any other seller's listings that looked very cheap and likely counterfeits.  A lot of the listings showing were OP's, and from several other sellers that looked legit (and not in China).  I did not see any Promoted Listings at all.

For counterfeit items there could be a law enforcement option here since these stickers are actually issued by the State of CA, and because they are still currently being used for official purposes, and because eBay is in California.  MVD or the State AG might be willing to pursue it.

Unrelated, but of concern, after I cliked a few of the "other" listings, I suddenly got dumped onto an eBay Product Catalog / Buy Box page that showed some later year license plates, and "See All" produced a mishmash of old plates, custom order novelty plates, miniature plates, and other things not year decals or even related to license plates.   

[caldecals]

Thanks to everyone for the replies.  I'll try contacting the security center during their hours of operation and see where that gets me.  The counterfeits in this case are not coming from China, but elsewhere in the US.  I found counterfeits being promoted in about half of my listings.  I assume the links aren't always the same and that they change periodically.  Of course, I have to log out and search for my listings to see the links to competing items.  It's frustrating that eBay is forcing me to compete with counterfeit items.