what should i do next

keithboy40

i am currently selling a number of items on ebay and got this message from a source today which i find alarming. what do you think

Hello, I represent ( company name) based in Sunderland, your sale of ( company product) is closely regulated, could you please tell me the name of your supplier? thanks.

all of my items are bought legally and i am only selling them in the hope i can raise enough money for a decent holiday this year. should i contact the sender and reveal my source of purchase or do i report it to ebay.

has anybody experienced this before. the company mentioned is based in sunderland and the sender has a tyne and wear address.

soolin

This is a difficult one. If the company were registered with VERO then I'm sure they would have gone straight to ebay and had your auctions pulled without even consulting you first. Emailing you is an odd one, it would make me suspicious if I was the seller as well.

I certainly wouldn't respond, they either have sole selling rights or they don't so why reveal your sources to a possible competitor. Other than that I'm at a bit of a loss, maybe someone else can suggest a course of action.

However it is worth remembering that buying something legally does not automaically give you reselling rights.

Soo

EDIT: I just remembered that we had this question a few months back, in that instance it concerned a large manufacturer who sold only through a few shops and wondered where someone was getting cheap stock. If I recall correctly they had no way of enforcing a no resale policy, but were trying to find out if a staff member was selling items on the grey market. I've looked for the thread but can't remember what it was called, but someone else might remember.

keithboy40

the items i am selling are sold by many traders throughout the country. they are not down to a sole company. i actually bought from a number of well known national traders at discounted sale prices.

i cant see a problem with selling on goods i bought legally, surely a lot of ebay trade is done the same way.

tru

Try typing 'product regulated sales' (or something similar) into google, you might find something there

Though it just sounds like they want to undercut you. Does the company manufacture the items, or just sell them wholesale?

hjb123

Reply to him and tell him if he wonders that he can ask through the proper channels and ask through ebay!

smartie1976

To be fair, i'd say that if what you pasted (minus the personal details obviously) is the extent of their contact with you that they really aren't making advances towards gaining your information in a professional manner, so it's probable that they are trying to work out how you can undercut their sale price.
You have two options here I think:
1: Ignore them, and wait and see if anything else happens
2: A polite but curt reply advising that everything you sell is purchased legally (of which you have proof), and that you are not at liberty to disclose any further information. If they then have a gripe with you then theoretically they should take it up through the correct channels.

liz_uk

This person may actually be looking for a source to start selling from wholesale himself.. and just `phishing`..

I wouldn`t reply !

keithboy40

i think i will let ebay deal with it. i have proof of purchase for all my items and am happy to show this should it be needed. i don't think i am breaking any rules or laws so i will not be replying to the message.

finc

liz_uk wrote:

This person may actually be looking for a source to start selling from wholesale himself.. and just `phishing`..

I wouldn`t reply !

I agree with this. On the ebay boards this comes up quite reguarly. It could well be someone trying their luck.