eBay and fake/replica items

solidice on 12/06/2014 - 14:08

Hi everyone,

I am just curious about people's experiences with purchasing or witnessing fake/replica items being sold on ebay. I haven't been directly effected by this transaction but I thought I would share this none the less as I feel ebay is doing things wrong. At the same time I am seeing a lot more fake goods turning up on ebay.

So about 2 weeks ago I saw a Rolex watch on ebay starting at about $1. The seller and item were located in Australia. It had no information about its authenticity only that it was gold. I thought I would contact the seller to find out if its fake or real and if it was real gold or not.

The seller replied quickly saying its definitely a fake rolex.

I noticed people were bidding on it, and so I thought I would do the ethical thing and report it because I wouldn't want to be caught out buying a fake watch and some people might genuinely be uninformed. So I reported it using their report system. 3 days later it hadn't been taken down by ebay. I kept the item on my watch list to see what happens. I decided to email ebay to report it again telling them to look at my private messages as evidence that the seller is selling a fake.

The watch ended up selling for just under $1000.

To my shock ebay emailed me back saying that they looked at the messages sent between myself and the seller, but they are not experts in identifying fake goods. As a result they saw no reason to take the item down. They further told me that if believe feel that the seller is selling a fake Rolex that I should be reporting it to Rolex directly.

I feel as though these practices are completely wrong and encourage fake/replica items to be sold on eBay.\

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Comments

  • rambutann on 12/06/2014 - 14:17
    +25

    Thats insane!

    I used to play golf with someone that bought an xbox for his son on ebay in the UK a couple of years ago and he ended up receiving a box with an 'X' written on it.

    • QW3RTY on 12/06/2014 - 14:52
      +24

      I cannot tell you how hard I laughed at this.

      The look on your mate's face must have been worth a thousand enloops.

    • Daabido on 12/06/2014 - 20:01
      +4

      Sounds like an urban legend.

  • Ajo on 12/06/2014 - 14:40
    +1

    Wow!!! Wonder where can we report ebay for indirectly encouraging sale of counterfeit items!

  • grog on 12/06/2014 - 14:43
    +13

    Meanwhile ebay laughs all the way to the bank with fees on a sale of $1000

    • scrimshaw on 12/06/2014 - 15:49
      +7

      9.9 percent of a grand is 99 dollars. eBay probably is more interested in pocketing that money rather than taking a potential high value item down.

      • [Deactivated] on 15/06/2014 - 10:05

        Isn't it like 12.7 now? I last update I saw (last time I sold something was a while back) had the fee nicely over the 10% mark.

  • [Deactivated] on 12/06/2014 - 15:23
    +8

    Scandalous, but eBay has always known full well that their site is populated by piles of fake merchandise. They are also keenly aware of the profit they have made off the back of it over the years.

    From time-to-time they have 'talked-the-talk' about being 'proactive' in relation to pulling down fake listings. Your experience proves that - as happened a few years ago with some specific 'designer' gear that was listed - you pretty much need to get the media involved to get any, destined to be, short-lived, action.

    Why don't you call eBay's bluff? Get in touch with Rolex and 'The Media'. Somebody just might bite when you show them the seller's message versus eBay's response.

    • bleachy_dude on 12/06/2014 - 19:51
      +6

      Sounds like an A Current Affair story to me.

      • [Deactivated] on 12/06/2014 - 20:08
        +1

        Yeah, that was my first thought - then I recalled some of the cozy little promo tie-ups (the impression of anyway) that I believe Channel 9 has done with eBay, some masquerading (again - my impression) as consumer reports…

  • sm007h on 12/06/2014 - 19:45
    +3

    It's frustrating that ebay can get away with this without any government body stepping in and yet the government expects ISPs to police all piracy infringements.

  • Garagesale on 12/06/2014 - 21:15
    +1

    By the tme the buyer realses the seller will have run off the cash and fleabay/ praypal will play hardball about giving a refund.

  • Amores on 13/06/2014 - 07:54
    +2

    They also prohibit selling sex toys in Australia (why btw?)
    When you write there "dildo" you get hundreds of results, some of them probably months or years old from different sellers.

    Somehow when I listed a sex toy for sale, I've got email with "your auction is deleted bla bla bla, don't relist otherwise we may block your account"

    • Scrooge McDuck on 14/06/2014 - 13:51
      +5

      Was it used?

      • yaziyo on 15/06/2014 - 03:09
        +1

        Low KMs, two owners

        • whodidthat on 15/06/2014 - 11:59

          And still buzzing along

  • tech9trading on 13/06/2014 - 09:27
    +1

    Hey Guys, I have dealt with this problem before on eBay when I was accused of advertising a fake item some years back.

    eBay's policy is that unless it clearly says the item is fake in the listing then it is up to the rights holder (Rolex) to report the item and have it removed.

    It fair to say that your average eBay customer service person is not going to know a genuine from a fake simply by looking at the images and allowing anyone to remove items suspected as fake will just result in competing sellers trying to get each other kicked off.

    In saying this it does surprise me that the seller admitted the item was fake via message which eBay saw when you brought it to their attention but chose to then place the responsibility for its removal onto a third party.

    Unfortunately fakes have become so prolific over so many categories that many companies just dont have the resources to have them all removed.

    If you Google "replica Rolex" for example there are literally thousands of sites openly selling fake watches, some even have .com.au domains which would suggest that registered Australian companies are behind them.

    Its also fair to say that in most cases individuals buying a fake Rolex for a couple of hundred were not going to be in the market for a real one costing thousands anyway, so in this case Rolex are not losing much sleep over it as they haven't really lost a sale.

    Whereas if you purchased a pair of fake running shoes for $50 you would have been more likely to be able pay the RRP$100 had the fakes not have been available.

    I agree that in this case eBay allowed buyers to assume the item was genuine when they had evidence that it wasn't and this has resulted in someone being ripped off, which is totally unethical at the very least especially for a market place that prides itself on looking after buyers.

    If you have purchased an item that turns out to be fake in most cases you can claim back the payment in full through your credit card provider or paypal, to do this you will need written evidence from an expert in the field, in this case the buyer could get a jeweler to give a written valuation.

    • mparf on 15/06/2014 - 15:06

      This happened to me- I listed a Cath Kidston bag that was given to me by a relative, but because I didn't know for 100% that it was authentic, I wrote "Cath Kidston Inspired" on the listing. Got it taken down. =/

  • windale on 13/06/2014 - 09:37
    -2

    Rolex watch starting at $1. That's the giveaway that's its fake. Gold can just mean the colour as well. I guess the seller didn't think anyone would believe it was real at that price.

    It shouldn't really be up to eBay to police it, we have common sense. If in doubt don't bid.

    • [Deactivated] on 13/06/2014 - 09:56
      +2

      While I somewhat agree with the premise of your opinion - that common sense should prevent anyone from buying this watch believing it's real - I still think there is an onus of responsibility on eBay to protect vulnerable/naive buyers from making purchases under misguided beliefs like this.

      If the fake watch had a higher starting price, imagine how many more people would've been fooled.

      The fact this fake sold for what it did just goes to show how naive people truly can be. It's easy to say 'tough luck, that's your fault' for falling for stuff like this, but it's not quite fair. What if it was your mother or father? I know mine can be quite gullible when it comes to the online world - much like many older generations who didn't grow up with the net and the awareness of scams.

      On the other side of the coin, sometimes you really will find genuine antiques for sale at stupidly low prices (or free, even) because the seller has no idea what they have on their hands. I often go to garage sales and this happens quite a lot. You can score a crazy bargain, so who knows, maybe some peeps believe they've stumbled onto the same sort of situation on eBay when bidding on stuff like this.

      Basically, people should be protected. In a perfect world, we shouldn't have to be on guard all the time for people trying to scam or exploit us, but that's the reality. Some people just don't have the smarts or experience to look out for themselves.

      I still get what you're saying, though.

  • pandibabi on 13/06/2014 - 12:01
    -3

    I have bought a few fake LVs that were claimed to be real. My experiences have been

    1. Paid $500+ for fake bag to get nothing. Seller was stupid enough to use their work email so was able to send a solicitor's letter and received bag (ok I got lucky there). Learned the importance of using credit cards versus bank transfers

    2. Paid $100 for fake wallet, email threat about the fakeness, got refund and kept wallet

    3. Paid $300 for fake bag, phone/email threat about the fakeness, got refund and kept bag

    4. Should keep this up to get free bags/wallets…

    • GaryQ on 13/06/2014 - 16:21

      Which begs the question - why would you pay $500 for a bag even if it was REAL!?

      • porleng on 13/06/2014 - 17:13

        so she can claim that it was fake even though it was real and get it for free

      • [Deactivated] on 13/06/2014 - 18:02

        This confused me as well…

      • pandibabi on 13/06/2014 - 20:38

        It was when I bought my first bag.. I was clueless to fakes and ebay was newish…

        • Scrooge McDuck on 14/06/2014 - 13:53
          +1

          You didn't answer the question.

        • TRANCE on 14/06/2014 - 17:19
          -1

          That explains why you spent $500, you were a bag virgin and were desperate for some hot n heavy bag action :P

        • pandibabi on 17/06/2014 - 08:58

          I once bought a wallet for $99 that lasted 10 years. $99 was ALOT to me, but over 10 years means I spent only $10 a year. Now LV bags last a lot longer than 10 years (legit ones), so yeah $500 is nothing if it lasts over 10 years

    • pandibabi on 17/06/2014 - 08:56

      With each of these transactions I did believe these were real… this is over a period of a decade and way before LV advertised their prices

  • [Deactivated] on 13/06/2014 - 14:13

    It is a Buyer Beware issue with EBay and all other selling site, but at least EBay/PayPal protect you, unlike Gumtree. It's not only watches but everything else, handbags, designer clothes. It's not illegal as long as the seller does not actually state untruthfully it is genuine when it's fake. Anyone who states 'Chanel inspired' (just use the word 'inspired' which is a nice way of saying 'fake' or 'knock off') is not deceiving the public. It's because there are people out there, many actually who want the real thing and cannot afford it. The only recourse for the 'buyer' or observer is to report it to the actual companies, but this we know already. Must say I have bought fakes knowingly myself and always ended up being disappointed. If you have been truly deceived, PayPal is the way to go! They will almost certainly find in favor of you, if you can prove to them (via proof from certified seller that it is a fake). You get your money back. I guess that's the good thing about Paypal with buyer protection, if not anything else like greedy fees.

  • kwaker on 13/06/2014 - 16:19
    +1

    if you think your getting a real rolex for $1 then you need a new brain. ebay is full of cheap chinese things, if you want real things don't purchase on ebay. the seller admitted it so I really don't see why you had to interfere

    • BoomTetrisForJeff on 14/06/2014 - 13:53
      -1

      Yeah let the seller do whatever he/she wants, if the buyer is that **** then so be it.

  • Dr Techno on 13/06/2014 - 16:23
    +1

    For me it seems better common sense to ONLY bid on a luxary item if it was available locally so you can preview the item before auction end first to check its validity. Even then it's a bit of a risk since a Rolex of all items would be better to purchase via a reputable 2nd hand rolex dealer. There's Rolex Forums and exchanges which seem a little better than ebay.

    Even when I purchased my $26 Casio calculator watch off ebay, I did my due diligence, even then I was thinking would be funny if it was a fake, but for $26 the risk was okay.. Turned out to be genuine.

    There's some items I would never think of buying from ebay and prefer to pay more via other sources for more money to secure the real thing.

  • AG_ACT on 13/06/2014 - 18:18
    +2

    I bought a "Michael Korrs" bag, and the advertisement claimed it had been received as a gift, but had all tags etc. It was very clearly a fake when it arrived - printing wasn't straight, no authenticity certificate etc. I paid pretty close to $200 so I was rather annoyed. Contacted Ebay, and was told to get an independent appraisal that the item is fake before they could intervene. $200 down the dunny, I learnt my lesson never to buy expensive goods from ebay.

    • solidice on 15/06/2014 - 14:40

      I had the exact same experience when I purchased a few Ralph Lauren polo shirts on ebay. When I got them, they were such poor quality it was unbelievable. I contacted ebay/paypal and was told I need to obtain a legal letter from the manufacturer or an authorized reseller detailing why they were fake.

  • whodidthat on 13/06/2014 - 18:58

    Why doesn't this surprise me?
    I don't think there's many ebay staff that can actually read these days, for a start.
    They never seem to read what I send as the responses I get are nothing at all to do with what I asked about.

    I brought up many different issues with them at Pesa this year.
    My reward? They pulled some of my listings.

    One of the issues I raised with them is one that my customers brought to my attention, sellers (some extremely experienced - now including overstock) who list "sterling silver plated" or sterling silver filled" items as fine jewellery.

    Doesn't seem to matter to ebay that there is no such thing, in fact it is illegal to do so in USA - pity we don't have the same laws here.

    If it is plated or filled, it is "silver plated" or "silver filled".

    With ebay, it seems if you are bringing in large sums of money, it doesn't matter.

  • JimmyF on 13/06/2014 - 20:29
    +7

    He should have told ebay the guy was trying to avoid ebay fees! Then watch them act and take action!!!

  • exp1 on 13/06/2014 - 22:01
    +2

    Ebay doesn't suspend the seller because they want to earn the listing fee from the sale of fake goods.

    I have reported numerous sellers after successful paypal disputes and even with official verification of the fakes (after it was inspected by a official manufacturer, determined to be fake and a letter sent to me which i forwarded onto eday),Ebay refuses to
    suspend the sellers.

    Because there was a refund it is a 'canceled transaction' and my negative review no longer shows on their reviews. The seller continues to sell fake goods for around $200 each, selling around 400 items a month.

    • scrimshaw on 13/06/2014 - 23:47
      +2

      If there's such a thing as Karma, hopefully someone realizes they've been conned into buying a fake badged product and report him to authorities, rather than going to eBay and complaining to them. All ebay is interested in is earning revenue, not catching dishonest sellers.

  • notarealperson on 14/06/2014 - 09:35
    +2

    I've reported fake Mimco bags to eBay, but only one or two listings were actually removed. Most auctions that I've reported have just been allowed to finish, so the highest bidder has ended up with a fake bag that they probably think is real.

    The other thing is that I've seen those fake bags then being resold by the normal 'wardrobe clean-out' sellers who probably aren't trying to rip anyone off, so the counterfeit crap just keeps kicking around when eBay lets it sell.

  • xuqi on 14/06/2014 - 12:12
    +3

    E-Bay don't care about most illegal activity, unless the copyright / trademark owner kicks up a stink. Even then it takes them a very long time to respond.

    A couple of weeks back a shop in Sydney was advertising a Samsung galaxy S4, as blocked by 'Optus', and that it could only be used on Wi-Fi.

    They also mentioned that it was blocked by all service providers in Australia.

    This usually means the item is either lost, or stolen. I reported the post with 6 days remaining on the counter.

    They never did anything about it, and the phone was purchased by a private bidder.

  • bulletproof on 14/06/2014 - 22:35

    old mate of mine from uni ages ago used to bring back grade a or b fakes of louis vuittons and von dutch items (when they were the thing!).

    he used to make his airfare back by selling them back on ebay. a lot of the time people used to PM him and question the authenticity of them and he would say they are fakes. regardless, the same people would ask for more photos and still pay good money for them (and i'm talking in circa of $300 for a purse!!!)- obviously not as much as the real thing, then still leave positive feedback.

    just shows a lot of the time people are quite satisfied to pay for great fakes - something i could never understand.

    • Ughhh on 15/06/2014 - 03:14

      Well if you look at the retail price of those high end designer stuff, you'll understand.

  • Aydin on 15/06/2014 - 05:50

    Unfortunately my experiences with EBay and Paypal show that they could not care less if you order legit products and receive fakes instead.
    Ordered a Dora toddlers bed a few years ago for my daughter and got a halfassed effort for a fake instead.
    Complaining to the seller; I was accused of trying to scam money out of him,
    Complaining to Ebay; was asked to go through Paypal's process,
    Complaining to Paypal; wasted weeks of my time with emails and photos with no solution at the end.

    It would seem that as long as the company that has the rights to the manufacture of the legit products has no complaint then Ebay/Paypal couldn't care less.

  • Cluster on 15/06/2014 - 10:12
    +1

    About 10 years ago I saw someone try to auction a Perth Mint gold coloured paperweight as a real 1kg 99.99% pure gold coin. The photo was taken in dark surroundings, the description was a little vague, but the bidding was already past $10,000. Gold price at the time was $26,000 per kilo. I emailed the seller and fortunately the auction was removed before someone was seriously defrauded.

    It amazes me how people are willing to spend small fortunes on the promises of other people and a generic photo.

  • Dr Techno on 15/06/2014 - 12:56
    +1

    One good tool for checking feedback - http://toolhaus.org/

    Use the Item-FB and do a keyword search for item name, also check the 30 day Negs.

    If the feedback is still public then this is a handy tool.

    Before ebay hide buyer information, I use to contact previous buyers of an item and ask for their feedback.. Dont think you can do this anymore.

  • solidice on 15/06/2014 - 14:31
    +1

    As a follow up. I kept checking out the seller's feedback the past few days to see if the person that purchased it would leave negative or positive feedback. Not surprisingly, the seller has received negative feedback from the buyer stating that the Rolex has been verified as a fake…

  • bundybare1967 on 15/06/2014 - 15:02

    on ebay I only use paypal that way if i dont get what i wanted i put in a dispute paypal always side with the customer i always get a refund

    • Dr Techno on 15/06/2014 - 19:03

      Doesn't the refund only work if money is still sitting in the sellers Paypal account ?

      I've had some strange experiences with Paypal as a buyer, which would make me very worried if I used it as a seller.

      This is a interesting website for other ppl's experiences - www.paypalsucks.com

  • ny770 on 16/06/2014 - 13:03

    i try not to use ebay anymore…its just a massive headache always
    im starting to use that new Locl app alot now… much easier and quicker.

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