eBay Counterfeit Policies & Practices Deceptive and Unlawful
Legal and Ethical Issues Highlighted After Year-long Investigation
May 28, 2015, Los Angeles, CA – An examination of counterfeiting on e-commerce websites, such as Alibaba®, Etsy.com® and eBay® have led to lawsuits for racketeering and trademark infringement, as well as falling share prices. Counterfeit sales have been a lucrative revenue source for the e-commerce giants, as transaction fees are charged for each sale of fake goods.
eBay (EBAY) is no exception, with its website replete with the sale of counterfeit goods. The Counterfeit Report®, an anti-counterfeit advocate has never received an authentic product in over 1,000 items received from eBay sellers. The products received from eBay sellers represent hundreds-of-thousands of counterfeit product sales to duped eBay consumers who often never know they received a fake. The Counterfeit Report's research highlighted a woefully inadequate, understaffed and dysfunctional eBay business process for handling fakes, counterfeits and dishonest sellers.
eBay purports to police such counterfeiting through site policies which state "You can't list replicas, fakes, counterfeits, or other illegal copies on eBay." However, the Counterfeit Report® test purchases have proven this is simply lip service offered to address a known, extensive and ongoing problem. While eBay claims "We utilize a combination of sophisticated detection tools, enforcement and strong relationships with brand owners, retailers and law enforcement agencies to effectively combat bad activity and present our customers with a safe, trusted shopping experience", reality is starkly different.
eBay has often taken no action to block and remove sellers when counterfeit products were promptly reported to eBay. Incredibly, even products bearing a manufacturer's trademarked name that never existed in the manufacturer's product line continue to be sold on eBay, despite repeated complaints. In fact, eBay previously publicly admitted to The Counterfeit Report's allegations of deleting negative feedback, blocking accounts, changing resolved dispute cases, overturning refunds and removing counterfeit comments and warnings protecting consumers from dangerous products.
Even more shocking is that The Counterfeit Report® actually receives notifications from eBay, as do consumers, encouraging the purchase of known counterfeit and fake products. Further, eBay directs consumers to mail counterfeits back to the seller as a condition for a refund, a violation of US Postal Regulations. Returned counterfeits are easily recycled, re-listed and re-sold to unsuspecting consumers, and the buyer loses their only evidence of receiving a counterfeit.
Cautious consumers who insist on retaining the counterfeit evidence, receive a written declaration and demand from eBay to "destroy and discarded" the evidence before eBay will honor its Money Back Guarantee. When challenged, eBay stated the policy is directed by law enforcement – a dubious claim since destroying evidence is a crime. Requests for substantiation of eBay's claim to eBay management went unanswered.
Here are just a few fraudulent, dangerous or potentially deadly counterfeit products purchased on eBay by The Counterfeit Report®;
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Your life literally rides on this auto part. This counterfeit Honda/Acura lower control arm purchased on eBay is critical in keeping the rear wheels attached to the vehicle. The authentic Group-A Autosports part is forged from aircraft-quality 2024 billet aluminum and never offered in the color shown. The seller of this counterfeit suspension part has sold hundreds to unsuspecting eBay buyers and was repeatedly reported to eBay after each test purchase, yet his 70 eBay listings remain. Counterfeits damage the legitimate manufacturer's brand name and reputation, and in this case may be dangerous or deadly. |
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Counterfeit Apple iPhone® USB Chargers have damaged equipment, caused injuries, fires and one death, yet are common on eBay. Could you identify this counterfeit Apple charger purchased on eBay? Over 4,100 have been sold by just one of the many counterfeit charger sellers on eBay. The sellers claim an authentic Apple iPhone® charger in the listing, but send a fake. The counterfeit UL mark shown here further deceives consumers, but counterfeit products are not evaluated by UL for safety. The Counterfeit Report purchased various counterfeit "Apple" Chargers from eBay sellers and promptly submitted complaints to eBay, yet the sellers remain and the dangerous counterfeit product listings continue. |
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Counterfeit memory cards may damage equipment, destroy data, or your once in a lifetime photos. Consumers are easily deceived by counterfeit memory cards which are difficult to detect without test software and usually have much lower memory capacity than stated on the packaging or displayed by your device. This fake SanDisk® 64GB micro SDHC memory card purchased on eBay does not exist in the SanDisk product line, and is confirmed by SanDisk to be a fake. In fact, a 64GB capacity SDHC memory card is not even a product available in the industry, yet is listed on eBay. While an obvious fake, eBay inexplicably ruled in favor of the seller in the counterfeit product dispute case and removed the "counterfeit" feedback left to protect other consumers from the dishonest seller who remains active on eBay. One seller group has sold over 40,000 counterfeit and fake memory cards on eBay, yet still remains. |
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This fake aluminum LUNATIK TakTik Extreme® cell phone case is a copy of the rugged authentic LUNATIK® product which is made from a ballistic polymer, not aluminum, and is not made in yellow. Just two of the many counterfeit LUNATIK product sellers identified on eBay are responsible for over 60,000 sales of counterfeit LUNATIK cases, yet still remain. Counterfeit sales damage the authentic product manufacturers brand, reputation and income. They cost US workers jobs. The sellers continue to list and sell on eBay despite repeated counterfeit notifications. |
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Counterfeit fragrances are common on the internet and eBay. Consumers would be alarmed to know that counterfeit fragrances and cosmetics have been found to contain hazardous ingredients including arsenic, beryllium, DEHP (a plasticizer with health risks) and cadmium (a carcinogen), urine and antifreeze, along with high levels of aluminum and dangerous levels of bacteria. Is this something you would want to put on your body? |
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Several counterfeit versions of the popular children's Rainbow Loom ® craft kits were purchased on eBay. They are unsafe for children, may shatter into sharp edges and have not been tested in accordance with U.S. Toy Safety Standards (they may contain lead and other dangerous substances). Counterfeits do not comply with any ASTM, CPSIA, EU, or Japan's toy safety standards. |
Consumers rarely can identify counterfeits, and when they do, they are faced with a gauntlet of confusing challenges, deceptive practices, eBay system failures, arbitrary decisions and conflicting instructions;
In order to force eBay to address this ongoing problem, The Counterfeit Report recently served notice to eBay for arbitration alleging Racketeering, Unfair Business Competition and False Advertising. eBay skirts other legal remedy through its restrictive user agreement.
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