It can be a cruel world on eBay

PHARR

Not a happy chap at all.

Sister in law bought a hoody from a Ralph Lauren outlet store not too long back. Lost the receipt somewhere within a month and after some time decided she didn't like it no more as she never even wore it (Still had tags).

I put it on ebay for her, sells for a great price (Less than half the RRP price for it nearly)

Posted it 1st Class and was received.

1 day later a case was open against me and i had the seller accusing me it was fake and the stitching was not 100%. After explaining my story and telling them it was genuine i offered a full refund of any costs if they sent it back.

They refused and told me they were 'Destroying it' and contacting 'Trading standards' after again offering a refund they waited for ebay to resolve the case.

Ebay closed the case today refunding the buyer thus leaving me empty handed now just because they assumed it was a fake.

This side of ebay really gripes me and puts me off.

sharpy2010

I believe that if the buyer states the item is fake (whether it is or not), it should be sent back to the seller. At least that way the seller doesn't lose both their money AND the item - because eBay don't check whether or not the item is genuine, so why should they have the right to tell the buyer to destroy it?

Money-Saving-King

Can you not just bypass eBay & take legal action on the buyer?

ballisticbrian

Yes, small claims court.

onetwothree123

Well well, if it "gripes" you then just don't sell items "on behalf of someone else" that you cannot prove are genuine? I hope your buyer is indeed off to the Trading Standards with the item, and fakes do not get returned that whole point is it is being kept as evidence , Paypal ask that you intercept suspect items and they will probably advise she shows the Ralph Lauren company it for their verdict then they can instruct lawyers to your address, because selling imitation clothing is against the law in the UK.

Was just laughing inwardly as you must be so angry at being caught out, such a fabricated story ,but soz I've read it all before , funnily enough the amount of sisters inlaw out there who have not got an ebay account and ask an inlaw to sell it on their behalf for massively less than it is worth . RL items are a well known counterfeiters choice. The other one has bells on mate!

It's never "the original buyer" who sells it, strange how it was on "someones behalf" ebay accounts are for selling your own items, none of my sisters in law would "allow" me to sell a very highly expensive piece of clothing with tags but no receipt hmmm it was a counterfeit , if I bought it I would also be complaining loudly to eBay as well and alerting Trading Standards at least ebay gave her her money back, hope that the police to do something to come down hard on the middle men who get the goods into the country and sell them , ask yourself, if the courts will accept your story cos I sure as hell don't!!:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

ilikewatch

onetwothree123 wrote: »

Well well, if it "gripes" you then just don't sell items "on behalf of someone else" that you cannot prove are genuine? I hope your buyer is indeed off to the Trading Standards with the item, and fakes do not get returned that whole point is it is being kept as evidence , Paypal ask that you intercept suspect items and they will probably advise she shows the Ralph Lauren company it for their verdict then they can instruct lawyers to your address, because selling imitation clothing is against the law in the UK.

Was just laughing inwardly as you must be so angry at being caught out, such a fabricated story ,but soz I've read it all before , funnily enough the amount of sisters inlaw out there who have not got an ebay account and ask an inlaw to sell it on their behalf for massively less than it is worth . RL items are a well known counterfeiters choice. The other one has bells on mate!

It's never "the original buyer" who sells it, strange how it was on "someones behalf" ebay accounts are for selling your own items, none of my sisters in law would "allow" me to sell a very highly expensive piece of clothing with tags but no receipt hmmm it was a counterfeit , if I bought it I would also be complaining loudly to eBay as well and alerting Trading Standards at least ebay gave her her money back, hope that the police to do something to come down hard on the middle men who get the goods into the country and sell them , ask yourself, if the courts will accept your story cos I sure as hell don't!!:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Wow, you've really made your mind up quickly!

FWIW I frequently sell items for other people - my mum, friends, my wife. I've also sold plenty of real items that are frequently counterfeited (Tiffany jewellery, Jimmy Choo shoes, B&O earphones etc.etc.) and have also had people try it on by claiming they're fake when I can 100% guarantee that they're not.

I wonder if part of the problem in this case is that the item came from an outlet store? I don't know about Ralph Lauren, but I know that lots of companies (Next, TK Maxx etc.) sell genuine items in outlet stores, but made to a different (inferior) spec to the actual High St versions. If i remember correctly Next label their as "outlet" or similair, but TKMaxx let people believe that stock is "last seasons" when often it's actually specially comissioned budget stock made exclusively for them.

Personally I think that eBay need to develop some sort of indepenent system to mediate when a buyer claims they have bought a fake - there's too much scope for buyers to take advantage of the current system by claiming that genuine items are fake, and it's extremely difficult for a seller to prove their item is genuine without independent expert analysis.

A couple of years ago I sold a Ted Baker bag which the buyer claimed was fake - they also claimed that they had taken it to a Ted Baker shop (incidentally the same shop where it was bought new) who agreed it was a fake. The buyer returned the bag to me, and I went back to the same shop who insisted it was fake right up until I produced the original receipt at which point they backtracked and stated that it was actually hard to tell if it was a fake or not so they had erred on the side of caution.

campdave

ilikewatch wrote: »

I wonder if part of the problem in this case is that the item came from an outlet store? I don't know about Ralph Lauren, but I know that lots of companies (Next, TK Maxx etc.) sell genuine items in outlet stores, but made to a different (inferior) spec to the actual High St versions.

If this is the case, and it sounds like you're knowledgable, did you describe as being from an outlet store? If you didn't, and it is not up to the standard of a regular Ralph Lauren item, you have left yourself somewhat open to an item not as described case.

onetwothree123

Did you know, you are breaking eBay rules selling other peoples belongings for a profit (unless you are a business )then you don't know the law about fake goods, if you have a private account, but like all private sellers, you have nothing to hide if it is just the odd unwanted unused personal items or clothes the wrong size etc or that have been worn ...BUT when you start crossing into "obtaining" bnwt designer items with no receipts then you enter a dodgy territory and ignorance of the law is no excuse "looked real to me so I sold it, officer" doesn't actually prevent you from being prosecuted.

Auction sites want to get the folk who have loads of faked goods, and ebay will now have a marker on the OP account cos of this complaint, and will monitor any other branded items asking for serial numbers etc .

If a receipt was not given with goods (brands that are well known as counterfeited ) and it is on sale at a fraction of the RRP then OF COURSE the items will be fakes! OR stolen from a shop, and out for a quick sale.

If items were bought legit as you say above, from TK MAXX there is a store receipt to prove this, or at least a credit card reference to keep for records, if you lack any sort of evidence as to the origins of your items don't even bother coming here and bemoaning how cruel a world is on ebay.

The police do compile files and are arresting people who commit this crime, after 15months a lady on here had the police contact her to catch the offenders who had sold a lot of designer handbags up and down the length and breadth of the UK, they needed to contact all the buyers and have access to your Paypal info , bear in mind, all your actions online are fully accountable and are tracked.

ilikewatch

onetwothree123 wrote: »

Did you know, you are breaking eBay rules selling other peoples belongings for a profit (unless you are a business )

Even if this is true, where is the suggestion that the OP was selling to make a profit? I often list bits and pieces for other people and give them the sale price minus Ebay/Paypal fees.

onetwothree123 wrote: »

when you start crossing into "obtaining" bnwt designer items with no receipts then you enter a dodgy territory and ignorance of the law is no excuse "looked real to me so I sold it, officer" doesn't actually prevent you from being prosecuted.

The OP sold one item that she believes to be genuine for a family member, it's hardly the same as bulk buying to sell at a profit.

onetwothree123 wrote: »

Auction sites want to get the folk who have loads of faked goods, and ebay will now have a marker on the OP account cos of this complaint, and will monitor any other branded items asking for serial numbers etc .

If so this must be a new thing, I've had a couple of fraud accusations and VERO complaints before and still list high end gear without any issue.

onetwothree123 wrote: »

If a receipt was not given with goods (brands that are well known as counterfeited ) and it is on sale at a fraction of the RRP then OF COURSE the items will be fakes! OR stolen from a shop, and out for a quick sale.

Rubbish, - the nature of auction sites is that things are often listed at very low prices, and sometimes sell cheaply too - it doesn't mean that they're all fake or stolen. If someone was selling lots of similair, new items on a very low BIN then I would be suspicious, but that's still not a guarantee that anythings wrong with the items.

onetwothree123 wrote: »

If items were bought legit as you say above, from TK MAXX there is a store receipt to prove this, or at least a credit card reference to keep for records.

The OP never mentioned TK Maxx - I did. People lose receipts and not everyone pays by cash. Just because you have no proof of purchase doesn't mean an item's fake.

onetwothree123 wrote: »

The police do compile files and are arresting people who commit this crime, after 15months a lady on here had the police contact her to catch the offenders who had sold a lot of designer handbags up and down the length and breadth of the UK, they needed to contact all the buyers and have access to your Paypal info , bear in mind, all your actions online are fully accountable and are tracked.

The OP was talking about having sold 1 genuine item - not lot's of fake ones?

onetwothree123

You who done all the quote boxes, I think some of them are my words but I didnt re-read them again, my message is that the OP sold a funny item and knows it is not real, got caught out and is probably scared cos they know they can be in trouble with the law, ebay don't want him trading there, I don't want to buy fakes of him or anyone else, if you can prove items are genuine in court then you don't need to worry ! It is a cruel ebay world if you intend to rip the public of Great Britain off!

onetwothree123

I LOL'ed as I read that in your quotey box thing in defence of the original guy who sold the "sister inlaws genuine unfake item "....

I've had a couple of fraud accusations and VERO complaints before and still list high end gear without any issue

Wow imagine even admitting it, that is shocking!