eBay knowingly selling stolen goods is bad for community

[f154792]

I just tried to report the sale of stolen goods, and found the process is completely broken. It's almost as eBay encourages fencing stolen items to reap the fees with no fear of prosecution. I went through reporting process. I first called the number, this was just an AI prompt telling me to report online. I then went online and filed the report and then got just another AI message saying AI had investigated the claim and then closed the claim. Meanwhile, the stolen goods are still being openly sold on the listing. Ebay at some point has to take responsibility for their participation in criminal activity. It's unfortunate that they don't consider the sale of stolen goods on their site a serious matter

[mordecai8614]

How do you know they were stolen?

[bonjourami]

If you expect the item to be removed just on your say so you are sadly mistaken. If you have proof that the item is stolen, file a police report and submit that to Ebay.

[f154792]

Because they are selling my own stuff. Here is eBay's reply, nothing but AI generated garbage:

A decision was made on the listing you reported

Hello f154792,

Thanks again for reporting the listing(s) you found. 

What happened:
We looked into your report and didn’t find the listing to be in violation of our policy. This determination was made using automation or artificial intelligence.

If you reported content that isn’t listed below, we’ll send a separate email once we’ve made a decision.. 

Your reference ID:
2-177421654793 


Thank you for being part of the eBay community.

Thanks,
eBay

Please don't reply to this message. It was sent from an address that doesn't accept incoming email.

[f154792]

EBay will not cooperate in the filing of a police report.  They claim the are just the itermediary and will not reveal the seller's info beyond a user name. Have you ever reported stolen mechandise? 

[itsjustasprain]

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@f154792 wrote:

Because they are selling my own stuff.

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Have you filed a police report yet? That would be the minimum first step. There is a law enforcement portal that THEY can use to report stolen items.

What exactly are the stolen items and how are you able to verify that they are yours? Not trying to be nosy here but anyone else you report to is going to ask you the same thing up front.

[f154792]

It is my own stuff with serial numbers

[lacemaker3]

@f154792 

If someone is selling items that have been stolen from you, then you need to file a police report for the theft, first.

The police will be able to contact eBay directly through their dedicated contact portal for law enforcement officers to get the information they need to investigate the theft.

https://pages.ebay.com/securitycenter/law_enforcement.html

Here is some information about this, specifically for individuals to use when reporting suspected stolen items to the police:

https://pages.ebay.com/securitycenter/law_enforcement_customers.html

[toysaver]

How did you go about proving ownership?  Did you have receipts and serial numbers?  Maybe the seller provided this type of legitimate receipt.  It would be hard to confirm ownership from internet pictures especially considering most listings are mass made, mass marketed consumer goods.  

[gurlcat]

You haven't answered any of the commenters asking if you filed a police report and you indicated it wouldn't work anyway, so I'm guessing the answer is 'no'.  But I'm curious, what kind of theft occurred (break in, shoplifting from your store, or ????).  How long ago were the items stolen?  Is it just one seller posting listings of the exact (multiple) items that you noticed missing?  Is the seller in the same state as you?  

[bonjourami]

" Have you ever reported stolen mechandise"? 

Yes I have, a police report is the first step. Why would you think Ebay would release to you the sellers name and location? With absolutely no proof that the items are stolen. Hope you have receipts too.

[gurlcat]

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@bonjourami wrote:

" Have you ever reported stolen mechandise"? 

Yes I have, a police report is the first step. Why would you think Ebay would release to you the sellers name and location? With absolutely no proof that the items are stolen. Hope you have receipts too.

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Ahhhh, see the first time I read that reply by the OP, I thought they were saying that eBay will not give seller info TO THE POLICE, which I found hard to believe.  But now that I re-read the OP's words, it sounds like they think they (the victim) need to get the seller's real name and info as the first step "in filing a police report."  

[itsjustasprain]

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@f154792 wrote:

It is my own stuff with serial numbers

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Is this connected to your other post of yesterday? You sent something off for repair and the repair/seller sent you back an empty envelope?

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Ask-a-Mentor/Is-EBay-part-of-the-scam/td-p/34444336

[ebooksdiva]

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@f154792 wrote:

EBay will not cooperate in the filing of a police report.  They claim the are just the itermediary and will not reveal the seller's info beyond a user name. Have you ever reported stolen mechandise? 

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YOU have to be the one who files the police report for theft. THEN you submit that police report to eBay.

eBay isn't going to file a police report for you or with you. 

[tekctrl]

Adding another log to the fire.

Discovered today that a non-fiction book which I copyrighted and published in 2018 is being offered on Ebay by a seller name "***".  I attempted to contact the seller, but they have no contact info listed.  I attempted to report the sale of pirated copyrighted material to Ebay 'customer support', but evidently there is no mechanism within Ebay to report this.  Only automated audio scripts pointing callers to articles about account hacking and other unrelated issues.  Yes, a police report has been filed.  Yes, I will be pursuing this with an attorney.  Yes, this is a Federal offense and a report/complaint has been lodged with the appropriate federal office.  Ebay doesn't seem to attach much weight to piracy/theft of IP as long as the profits continue to roll in!  (/snark-on) Perhaps I should start offering cloned copies of MSWindows 11 at $20/ea since Ebay doesn't really care.  (snark off)