Where Should eBay Draw the Line Against Fakes?

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  1

  hifistyle1

  07/11/08 | Report as spam

  ebay and fake products

  My preception is that they'll continue to make money on fees while they let their lawyers tie it up in court for years.

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  2

  Michael.Mattis@...

  07/11/08 | Report as spam

  Agreed

  You're no doubt right about that.

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  sbrennaman354

  07/11/08 | Report as spam

  Cab eBay Draw a Line?

  Can eBay draw a line and stay in business? Since on-line auctions are virtual and no one can ???inspect??? the products auctioned/sold on-line except through the occasional picture, eBay and the consumer/purchaser are taking a great deal on faith. The comparison of eBay to a pawn broker and a fence is unfair. EBay is truly a facilitator of a commercial transaction between a provider and a buyer. Caveat emptor applies in this situation as well as in real-time sales (except when the sale is purposely a purveyance of stolen or fake goods ??? fraud at best). If I were eBay I would try to place some controls on the auctioned items that are susceptible to being ???fakes??? or unauthorized reproductions. This could well spell big expenditures by eBay. Another thought: Where do the fakes come from in the first place? Best guess they are seconds that were ???left??? by the back door for disposal.

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  4

  compliant1

  07/11/08 | Report as spam

  Fake bags on Ebay

  Ebay is right to appeal the ruling- it is legally untenable and largely a PR move for LV. I would venture that 98% of the customers that buy fake LV bags on Ebay would never be able to pay $3000 for a "real" LV handbag. LV is not losing money on these transactions. They agressively market to young urban hipsters who do not have the disposable income to buy their products. This lawsuit is a tactic to cement their status as a standard bearer for luxury that is unattainable to most. However, without fake bags, much of their client base would never have heard of LV before coming into wealth. LV publicizes the fake bags in order to make the "real" thing more aspirational. They can't prove any true damage from Ebay's sale of fake bags, since it only helps them. This is about PR, and I find my tax dollars being used to tie up the overcrowded courts for a billion dollar company to get press more offensive than any college student toting a fake handbag she bought on Ebay for $50.

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  Rick Des Rosiers

  07/11/08 | Report as spam

  Due Diligence

  I think an important fact that needs to be considered is the Due Diligence a company undertakes(corporate policy), to address copyright infringed material. Ebay is not a "mom & pop" or innocent bystander in the sale. They are a large, successful, knowledgable enterprise. Their policy indicates that they do not condone or allow infringement and an effort must be made to enforce this policy. If it's a token gesture, they become complicent in the transaction as they are making a profit on the actual sale, and the listing. I have reported fake signatures to ebay with no response or enforcement taken. To see innocent customers being taken advantage of is wrong as listing on Ebay gives the seller/transaction a measure of credability.

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  bgagan911

  07/11/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Where Should eBay Draw the Line Against Fakes?

  I was at a time an avid eBay user. eBay was not so developed in India as it was in other countries. It was about 1-2 years back, when I started selling old items and linux distributions online. It was legitimate. But I cam across, people selling Cd's/DVD's (pirated) Microsoft, Adobe, Games, etc. You name the software and it was there listed with a Highlight (Offered to the Premium users). I reported it to the eBay guys, and also to Adobe people. But it was of no use, the listings were there for weeks and months .
  
  I think eBay was a major culprit at that time. They wanted to earn rather than worrying about customers complaining about people stealing money from then without delivering the products. You should have seen the eBay complaints forums and you would have had never-ever shopped again!
  
  eBay is a big entity, and I don't think they cannot invest in technology to make it a bit more secure, at least they can ask for Credit-Card Information from the users as a part of security information or SSN or any similar kind of information at the time of sign up. I just think they just don't want to!! eBay is a brand now and they are just living on its value rather than enhancing its value further.