Is Your eBay Purchase A Counterfeit?
The website is ideal for malicious, fraudulent and counterfeit product sales.
March 22, 2018 - One-third of online shoppers received an unexpected surprise last year - they unwillingly received a counterfeit product1. An undercover investigation2 by the U.S. Government Accountability Office ("GAO") of counterfeit consumer goods on eBay (EBAY), Amazon (AMZN), Sears (SHLD), Walmart (WMT) and Newegg validates that claim -- about 50% of the items purchased by the GAO were counterfeit.
eBay has migrated from the auction house of garage sale items to concentrating on its global "Marketplace" sellers -- retail vendors of new items at a fixed price. eBay allows U.S. and cross-border scam artists to sell just about anything on its website, including counterfeits. Sellers use eBay to freely unload an inexhaustible supply of fake goods, mostly from China. The downstream consequences are destroyed U.S companies and retailers, lost U.S. jobs and deceived consumers spending good money for bad products.
This is the same marketplace model that landed Jack Ma's Alibaba (appropriately named after the fable “Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves”) on the U.S. Government's Notorious Markets List - a designation reserved for the world's most notorious markets for counterfeit goods.
eBay is no stranger to allegations it enables and facilitates the sales of counterfeit goods;
eBay enables and facilitates an enormous number of counterfeit product sales while touting its illusory counterfeit policy "You can't list replicas, fakes, counterfeits or other illegal copies on eBay" - but it's a lie. Indisputably fake items - items that don't even exist in an authentic product line - are listed, relisted and can remain active for weeks, even months, until the item is sold out or eBay gets around to it; "We have been experiencing higher than normal volume and are working diligently to remedy the situation." eBay even sends direct email solicitations promoting banned, counterfeit and inarguably fake items; "badge LAPD Police Officer Police US is ending soon"
One eBay seller boasts of over 5,000 sales of an indisputable fake product, yet remains on eBay despite repeated counterfeit complaints sent to eBay dating back to 2016.
Consumers' wouldn't suspect the eBay items below are all fake - none exist in an authentic product line. Despite repeated complaints, they are still sold on eBay.
(Photo: ©The Counterfeit Report)
Items Shown:Monster® never made a Tron model headphone. Supra® never produced a "Justin Bieber" model skateboard shoe, and the Drew Technologies® Mongoose® Pro vehicle diagnostic interface cable was never made in purple. Vans® does not make or license the use of the VANS® trademark on iPhone 6, 7 or 8 phone cases. Authentic Dr. Numb is not made in the 10g size shown here. Counterfeit Dr. Numb® 5% Lidocaine Cream submitted for ingredient testing did not contain any Lidocaine as indicated, but Tetracaine, a potentially fatal drug. The CIA does not issue badges, and prohibits the use of the CIA seal in connection with any merchandise. Composite Resources, Combat Application Tourniquet® (C-A-T®), has been supplied to the U.S. Military, police, first responders and the public worldwide for the past decade but was never produced in tan. Counterfeit versions of the C-A-T tourniquet have catastrophically failed during actual life-saving applications. Your life could literally be riding on this counterfeit Group-A Autosports® vehicle suspension part -the Skunk2® control arm was never made in the colors shown. An automobile suspension part failure can cause a catastrophic accident with fatal consequences to those in, and around, the counterfeit equipped vehicle. The various micro SD® memory cards shown were never produced in any authentic product line in the capacities shown, or licensed by SD-3C, LLC, the right holder of the microSD® trademark. ICOM® never made a V87 model amateur radio, and pharmaceutical giant Novartis does not make its OTC anti-fungicide medication, Lamisil® in the liquid form shown.
Companies that facilitate criminal activity and profit from dishonest sales which impact consumer safety, jobs and public trust create a public perception of deception and impunity. However, their reputation damage is only a small part of the problem: the value of counterfeit and pirated goods is forecast to grow to $2.8 trillion, and cost 5.4 million net job losses4 by 2022, while manufacturer's brand integrity is tarnished or destroyed. Counterfeiting is now the world's largest criminal enterprise.
Congress can act to protect consumers, and consumers can shop elsewhere - will they?
Footnotes:
(1) Global Online Shopping Survey 2017 – Consumer Goods
Prepared by: Clarivate Analytics for MarkMonitor® Inc. November 2017
(2) Report to the Chairman, Committee on Finance, U.S. Senate
Full Report: Agencies Can Improve Efforts to Address Risks Posed by Changing Counterfeits Market
GAO-18-216: Published: Jan 30, 2018. Publicly Released: Feb. 27, 2018.
Summary: https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-18-216
(3) Wade Shepard, "As Amazon And eBay Flood With Illegal Goods From China, Beijing Cracks Down On Foreign E-Commerce"
Forbes (Nov. 22, 2017), available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/wadeshepard/2017/11/22/as-amazon-and-ebay-flood-with-illegal-goods-from-china-beijing-cracks-down-on-foreign-e-commerce/#7223f1604dfd
(4) THE ECONOMIC COSTS OF COUNTERFEITING AND PIRACY
The report was prepared for The International Chamber of Commerce Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy unit (ICC BASCAP) and The International Trademark Association (INTA)
January 2017
Frontier Economics, Ltd.
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