eBay Fined in Europe
EBay was fined $61 million (38.6 million Euros) by a French court for damages to the French company LVMH, makers of Louis Vuitton leather goods, Dior perfume, and more. LVMH claimed 90% of the products sold online under its brand names were fake. EBay did not do enough to keep counterfeit merchandise off the site, the court ruled. EBay said it will appeal. In another French case, eBay was fined $31,400 (20,000 Euros) for not protecting sales of Hermes handbags. Tiffany & Company in the United States has also sued eBay, but the case is pending. Collectors have been trying to get eBay to remove fakes quickly but have been frustrated. Maybe the European lawsuits will help the U.S. eBay see the wisdom in trying to keep fakes away.
16 comments:
Sorry, E-bay should not be responsible for the wrong others do. Bunch of sissy-lala's punish the sellers of the fake items!!!
I'm not sure how eBay is supposed to check these things. I mean, there are millions of items listed every day; most of them made by companies which hold patents and copyrights on their products. Is eBay supposed to visit everyone's house or store and inspect the merchandise before allowing it to be listed? Even limiting it to designer products, we're still talking about tens or hundreds of thousands of items each week.
Can't agree more with Hank! eBay doesn't have an army to march to every one of those millions of sellers and personally examine each item for authenticity! The risk of buying a fake lies with the buyer...and, plagerism has been around since the dawn of time. Get real LV, Gucci, Tiffany, ETC, ETC! Brenda
I am an art dealer and art appraiser. Everyday i see fake art on Ebay, it cannot be moniyored by Ebay. Buyer beware, if you think you can get an authantic Picasso for $300, you cannot.
The days have been long when sellers could run amok and ebay did nothing to intervene-even in light of complaints and statements to the effect that exactly what is going on in their own backyard. There's got to be a way to protect buyers from unscrupulous sellers in their marketplece. An individual selling one item that's a fake is one thing-but a powerseller continuously moving hundreds of items per month-and lining ebays pockets in the process- is another thing entirely. It should be easy to see why it's gone unchecked for so long. I hope Tiffany's suit here in the US yeilds similar results. The balance between buyers and sellers needs to be restored.
I've been selling & buying real Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci and other high end designer items on eBay since 1998. I'm also a recommened seller of MyPoupette (MPRS). In the past eBay seemed to be monitoring more but now it's like trying to find a needle in the haystack since there are so many listings. Yahoo Auctions had a visible suspected abuse report link on all listings in which anyone could post a comment if they thought the seller was abusing the listing practice. If a seller had a certain number of reported abuses, IE: selling fakes, the listing was automatically ended or the seller was suspended. Perhaps eBay would benefit from that practice.
I don't believe Ebay should be held accountable for unscrupulous sellers. It is up to the buyer to read the feedback, inspect photo's, ask questions, and know your stuff before bidding. Get real people!
I believe that eBay should not have to pay these damages. The feedback alone on these sellers should signal the buyer not to purchase the goods. Most buyers are not reading the feedback and if they do, they are taking the chance at buying the merchandise. I have purchased fake perfume and ebay fought for me and refunded my money and suspended the seller. I am for eBay and I will stand behind them, it is up to these buyers to do their homework before purchasing.
I once unknowingly put up a LV bag that was fake...eBay was all over it. They cancelled the auction and gave me a stern warning. The cry-baby companies should police the sites for offenders then eBay would pull recommended offenders auctions. With the economy going down the tubes people will quit buying the over priced fashion junk anyway.
Good for France! I agree that ebay has let some sellers run amok! Buyers a lot of the time aren't even aware they have a fake until they show up on Antiques Road Show w/ it. Also, ebay lets buyers do as they please, now. I used to get payment fast, no problem, now they pay late or not at all knowing that I can do nothing about it!
Hate to say it, but I for one am tired of the constant blasting of Ebay. How can you expect Ebay to be held accountable for all sales on their site any more than a promoter should be held accountable for every item sold at a show he is promoting. The seller alone should be held accountable.
I have purchased all sorts of items on Ebay. Once in a while,I get a bad deal,but normally,I know precisely what it is that I bid on. Two things come to mind: Let the buyer beware. (forgot the Latin for it) and If it seems to good to be true,it probably is. Ebay does monitor complaints,and a seller who commits fraud often is excluded from doing any business on the site. Buyers need to learn how to complain properly (with full information) to Ebay so they can investigate the seller. They do that. If everyone was honest,there would be no problem. Since this is not the case,I again refer to my two things. Let adults be reasonable and responsible.
in most of these incidents ebay has been notified by the comanies that these item offered are counterfits - ebay's only response is to ignore the complaints. these are not incidents where an average ebayer is moving one item -- some of these counterfiters are unloading hundreds of counterfits.
there is nothing wrong with buying or selling fakes or reproductions. for some of us it is the only way to buy a nice look-a-like. so long as you dont pay original prices for something thats not original. it would be nice if sellers were honest, but some are not..eba should be of the hook on this one...buyer beware
No way should Ebay be responsible for the sellers .... Ebay offers a service to sell or purchase items.... They do not offer services that state Guaranteed by Ebay to be a real, authentic whatever.... They offer only a service for sellers and buyers to communicate to purchase.... If the buyer is uneducated and can't read the fine print, and go with what they believe to be real, than it's the purchasers fault..... If the Seller falsifies their listings.... How is ebay to know or any other purchaser, until the item is actually received.... And I do know for a fact that ebay does whatever it takes to rectify the solution.... As a purchaser you need to read the fine print, you need to find out their refund policies... And you need to take pictures of the packages if the look abused.... Of the unpacking process..... and of the final appearance.... Trust me, you never know when you need it.... There are a lot of scammers out there..... And alot that say it was broken during shipping, and it's like yeah, right, and they packaged the broken pieces separately too.... Always pictures..... and if they don't offer insurance, request it....
All ebay is doing is offering a service, just like advertising in the want ads in the newspaper.... Only difference is, is that we can't personnally go and inspect our purchase.... Ask questions, if they refuse to respond, then don't bid.... Know what it is that your looking for, know what the fakes and reproductions look like... Buyer beware, if you don't want to do the research, than expect to get shafted.... I have been shafted, and so now, I ask questions, I look up info out of ebay, and then I decide on how much I'm willing to pay on a reproduction, or how much I'm willing to go on the real authentic antique.....
After selling for many years on eBay, this type of thing is commonplace. eBay has absolutely NO incentive to follow any kind of procedural or copyright laws. They just keep raking in the listing fees, selling fees, PayPal fees - while looking the other way while they knowingly allow this to go on.
Same goes for shill bidding.
They want the money - regardless of the costs to other companies, or to unsuspecting buyers. They absolutely *DO* have an obligation to monitor their site.
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