eBay Retaliates Against Counterfeit Whistleblower

Counterfeits obvious, but sellers remain on eBay

Los Angeles, CA, November 10, 2014 - Consumers may have confidence they can trust and rely on eBay (EBAY) to take aggressive steps to protect them from counterfeit products. But that confidence is misplaced says The Counterfeit Report^®, a popular consumer protection website.

As part of a nine month investigation, over 250 counterfeit products were purchased from eBay sellers and promptly reported to eBay by The Counterfeit Report. Instead of adhering to their own standards, embracing the results and protecting the eBay community, eBay retaliated by blocking The Counterfeit Report’s corporate eBay accounts. eBay altered feedback, changed resolved case dispositions and removed counterfeit comments and warnings protecting consumers. In contrast, the counterfeit sellers remained on eBay, and transaction fees continued. Management did not respond to The Counterfeit Report’s request for comment.

The confirmed counterfeit and fake products included over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, sporting goods, fragrances, auto accessories, phone chargers and more.

Here are examples of actual counterfeit products purchased from eBay sellers;

	Counterfeit Apple iPhone® USB Chargers have damaged equipment, caused injuries, fires and one death, yet are common on eBay. eBay sellers may claim authentic Apple iPhone chargers, but send counterfeits. The counterfeit UL mark shown here further deceives consumers, but counterfeits are not evaluated by UL for safety. The Counterfeit Report purchased various counterfeit “Apple Chargers” from eBay sellers and submitted complaints to eBay for the confirmed counterfeit products. Additionally, eBay Trust and Safety was directly notified of these potentially deadly products, yet the sellers remain and the dangerous counterfeit listings continue.
	Labeled as a SanDisk® 64GB microSDHC memory card, this product does not exist in the SanDisk product line, but was purchased from eBay and confirmed by SanDisk to be a fake.   Look closely and you will see the package, while marked 64GB SDHC, actually contains an SDXC labeled memory card. While an obvious fake and SanDisk's written counterfeit confirmation, eBay inexplicably ruled in favor of the seller in the counterfeit product dispute and removed the counterfeit feedback for the seller. The seller remains active on eBay. Consumers are easily deceived by counterfeit memory cards which are difficult to detect without test software and are often much lower memory capacity than stated. An investigative source provided documentation of receiving counterfeit and fraudulent memory cards from just 5 eBay listing that had sold thousands of memory cards totalling almost a quarter million dollars in just 60 days. Counterfeits may damage equipment or destroy user data and are common on eBay.
	This counterfeit version of the $300 Auto Meter Sport Comp II® tachometer may look deceptively similar to the authentic product. The blurry, poor quality graphics lack detail, a weight half that of the authentic model and other features shown on The Counterfeit Report website make it an easy product to spot. Purchases of counterfeit Auto Meter tachometers from four different eBay seller accounts listing dozens of the counterfeit product identified a single seller behind the counterfeit sales. The seller remains on eBay even though admitting in eBay messaging the product is counterfeit. These poor quality counterfeit products have no warranty, destroy consumer confidence and damage the manufacturer’s reputation and brand.
	The innovative Iain Sinclair Cardsharp2® Folding Safety Knife is a very common counterfeit sold on eBay, both as a single item and bulk lots. Pink Cardsharp2 knives were never manufactured by Sinclair and therefore very easy to spot on eBay, as are fake knives with the “QC Passed” sticker shown here. Individual sellers were identified using multiple accounts to list and sell counterfeit products. Over 150 complaints were submitted by The Counterfeit Report to eBay for this investigation cornerstone, yet the listings and sellers remain on eBay. Consumers are easily duped out of their money and lose confidence in the legitimate manufacturer after unknowingly receiving a counterfeit poor quality product. The Counterfeit Report publishes the informative Cardsharp2 Counterfeit Product Alert® which is also featured on the Iain Sinclair website.

The Counterfeit Report reported the offending sellers to eBay, the manufacturer and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), or US customs for non-US eBay sellers. Disputes on the counterfeit purchases were initiated, and following eBay’s counterfeit policy, the counterfeit products were not returned. Trafficking in counterfeits is a crime, and while eBay sellers conceded to the dispute claims, occasionally admitted to the fakes, and refunded the purchase amounts, eBay allowed counterfeit sellers and listings to remain on eBay.

Even sellers admitting to selling counterfeits were allowed to remain on the eBay website. eBay states they do not notify the prior buyers of identified counterfeit sellers, which may be thousands, that they may have received a counterfeit product.

eBay’s practices are not unprecedented. Early in the investigation, eBay blocked consumer protection Counterfeit Product Alert^® tips published by The Counterfeit Report to help consumers identify and avoid fake products listed on eBay. An eBay Office-of-the-President spokesperson stated the alerts didn’t violate eBay policy, but claimed they “violated the spirit of eBay.”

Counterfeiting is a $1 trillion global criminal enterprise and e-commerce websites, including eBay, are an ideal platform to distribute counterfeits directly to the consumer. e-Commerce websites reap billions in revenue, and profit from transaction fees for the counterfeit product web sales.  A recent lawsuit by fashion giants Gucci, Yves St. Laurent, and parent Kering S.A, accused e-Commerce giant Alibaba of racketeering in their handing of counterfeit sellers and counterfeit product listings. This strong warning for e-commerce websites should elicit a cautious and protective posture, yet the opposite appears true. Absent proactive and effective results, consumers are victimized.

The eBay Community would be much better served if eBay put consumer protection before profits with aggressive proactive research, harsh penalties for sellers and appropriately staffed anti-counterfeiting efforts.

Our advice – avoid all branded product purchases from unauthorized sellers on eBay. Most manufacturers do not authorize eBay sales. Buy from the manufacturer direct or authorized retailers identified by the manufacturer. Consumers should be very cautious with eBay website purchases and always retain the counterfeit product; it is the only proof of receiving a counterfeit. If returned, sellers will simply deny it is counterfeit, deny your claim and sell it to another unsuspecting consumer.

Consumers can easily submit information to TheCounterfeitReport.com^® website for the appropriate notifications.

Website: www.TheCounterfeitReport.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Counterfeit-Report/131568053660579

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