Hermes Beats eBay in Counterfeit Case

Megs · Jun 11th, 2008, 11:28 PM

Authentic Birkin vs Fake Birkin

eBay thought they were running the perfect platform, holding the buyer and seller responsible for deals not themselves. Problem is a French court ruled differently in favor of Hermes in an eBay counterfeit case. With this ruling, the online marketplace can slowly be changing before our faces. While this exact case only involves 20,000 euros ($31,439.30), there are many suits said to follow against eBay. This leaves you wondering what may happen to the eBay giant that has become a staple of our society? Of course there has to be rules, but should eBay be held responsible for every single transaction on their site? This should and will get interesting, we would love to hear your thoughts.

Read the entire article at Forbes.

Online auction house eBay is simply a host for transactions between buyers and sellers, not liable for any dodgy dealings that go on, right? Wrong.

On June 4, a French court ruled against eBay (nasdaq: EBAY - news - people ) in a case brought against it by French ultra-chic luxury retailer Hermès over the sale of three Hermès bags, including two fakes, for a total of 3,000 euros ($4,715.50). I

It's not so much the size of the fine that's likely to be keeping eBay executives awake at night: 20,000 euros ($31,439.30) is relatively small change for a company the market values at $38.5 billion. Rather, it's the precedent that the ruling by the court in Troyes sets, as it could apply to cases that might cost eBay a lot more and force it to rethink its entire selling strategy.

delilahds · Jun 12th, 2008, 05:43 AM

Oh good!
This might mean there will be less scammers out there?
A crackdown by eBay hopefully!

Or even worse scammers might venture out to less known areas?
In Australia we have a oztion.com.au website which is an Australian eBay alternative and it's crawling with Chanel fakes. :( It would be sad for people who don't know to end up being scammed there.

meluvs2shop · Jun 12th, 2008, 10:06 AM

what an interesting case, ty for posting it.
the future of eBay will obviously depend on any future/pending lawsuits.
i wonder if eBay will appeal since according to their argument they only host transactions so they should not be liable.

eBay is a behemoth online company and as consumers we have to take some responsibility, however we're talking about thousands of dollars here that scammers are getting away with on their site.

thank goodness for the ladies here who do such an amazing job on the "authenticate this ..." thread.

Jun 11th, 2008, 11:28 PM	#1
Megs	Hermes Beats eBay in Counterfeit Case Authentic Birkin vs Fake Birkin eBay thought they were running the perfect platform, holding the buyer and seller responsible for deals not themselves. Problem is a French court ruled differently in favor of Hermes in an eBay counterfeit case. With this ruling, the online marketplace can slowly be changing before our faces. While this exact case only involves 20,000 euros ($31,439.30), there are many suits said to follow against eBay. This leaves you wondering what may happen to the eBay giant that has become a staple of our society? Of course there has to be rules, but should eBay be held responsible for every single transaction on their site? This should and will get interesting, we would love to hear your thoughts. Read the entire article at Forbes. Online auction house eBay is simply a host for transactions between buyers and sellers, not liable for any dodgy dealings that go on, right? Wrong. On June 4, a French court ruled against eBay (nasdaq: EBAY - news - people ) in a case brought against it by French ultra-chic luxury retailer Hermès over the sale of three Hermès bags, including two fakes, for a total of 3,000 euros ($4,715.50). I It's not so much the size of the fine that's likely to be keeping eBay executives awake at night: 20,000 euros ($31,439.30) is relatively small change for a company the market values at $38.5 billion. Rather, it's the precedent that the ruling by the court in Troyes sets, as it could apply to cases that might cost eBay a lot more and force it to rethink its entire selling strategy. __________________ Sign up for our October Giveaway sponsored by: NET-A-PORTER!

Jun 12th, 2008, 05:43 AM	#2
delilahds Member Location: Melbourne, Aus	Oh good! This might mean there will be less scammers out there? A crackdown by eBay hopefully! Or even worse scammers might venture out to less known areas? In Australia we have a oztion.com.au website which is an Australian eBay alternative and it's crawling with Chanel fakes. :( It would be sad for people who don't know to end up being scammed there.

Jun 12th, 2008, 10:06 AM	#3
meluvs2shop mi isla	what an interesting case, ty for posting it. the future of eBay will obviously depend on any future/pending lawsuits. i wonder if eBay will appeal since according to their argument they only host transactions so they should not be liable. eBay is a behemoth online company and as consumers we have to take some responsibility, however we're talking about thousands of dollars here that scammers are getting away with on their site. thank goodness for the ladies here who do such an amazing job on the "authenticate this ..." thread.