Contacted seller about fake item - bad mistake?

[leanbeanee]

I contacted a seller to today because I believed the item she was selling was fake. She has very good feedback, perfect in fact, but the item she was selling was definitely a fake. 100% confident. Normally I would just report it but because she had such good feedback and this is her first fake item (that I could see) I thought I'd email her (maybe she didn't know it's fake) to warn her that selling this fake item could potentially harm her reputation.

She told me I was being rude and totally discounted my reasons for why I believed the item to be fake. She said her friend who's a big fan of the label said it looked authentic based on the pics she's showed them.

Should I have contacted her? Or should I have gone straight to eBay? She said she had reported me to eBay. For what? Did I do something wrong by contacting her with my concerns? What can they do?

Next time I will mind my own business.

 

[ladyisobel]

i've contacted many fake sellers , the people that know they're selling fakes are generally rude and obnoxious, the ones who don't realise they're selling a fake can be quite grateful, i wouldn't worry about being reported to ebay, fakers don't want to draw attention to themselves really do they ?

 

[Fraublucher]

i've contacted many fake sellers , the people that know they're selling fakes are generally rude and obnoxious, the ones who don't realise they're selling a fake can be quite grateful, i wouldn't worry about being reported to ebay, fakers don't want to draw attention to themselves really do they ?

Yes, I would also add that you were trying to save her a*s, so what is shereporting you for? I would write her that at this point *you* are going to report her to ebay, thanks to her obnoxious behaviour, as selling fakes is illegal!!!

 

[bernz84]

Would you like to post the link? I'd love to report her...I think she's hiding something.

 

[Coachlover123]

I think you did the right thing. Many sellers that sell fakes are very rude and def. aware they are selling fakes and don't want to get in trouble. Someday her actions will catch up with her.

 

[lorihmatthews]

I report fake bags to eBay all the time. It's quite sad, really. Here's the link:

http://cgi1.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISA...ited+and+Restricted+Items+>+Counterfeit+Items

 

[Oh Donna!]

I have never contacted sellers directly regarding fakes they might be selling, but if the fake item has bidders I will contact the bidders. I've had most of them thank me and cancel their bids, a couple told me to mind my own business. I dont do it much anymore. I just concentrate on what I might be buying or selling.

 

[Pewter]

She won't report you. I'm sure she knows it's fake and she won't draw attn to her fake listing. But yeah I just mind my own business on Ebay. Fake sellers will get what they deserve whether I report it or not. And I feel it's the buyers job to research what they are buying and know what they are bidding on themselves. I only report it if it's something really obnoxious or the seller really pisses me off.

 

[ShimmaPuff]

There is a saying, "no good deed goes unpunished."

However, in this case the extent of your punishment will consist of having been a victim of rudeness. There would be nothing for her to report to eBay beyond that someone had expressed their opinion of her item.

You have not harrassed her, signed her up for mailing lists about the benefits of 100% Natural Hair Replacement Software, attempted to hack her account or done anything but tell her what you thought.

If anyone has anything to report to eBay, it is you, if you have reason to believe that she is whether knowingly or not, fraudulently representing an item to be something that it is not.

The more I read on this forum, the more I am convinced that eBay is just becoming too much of a minefield for any but the most expert and experienced people to use for transactions involving high-ticket items.

What you are talking about sounds commonplace enough, and has been going on for so long, and is such a prevalent practice, that eBay has put up all these guides about authenticity, and links, and one presumes, staff, specifically for the purpose of looking into and dealing with people misrepresenting designer handbags, but it seems like every day there is some new convoluted scam or other, figuring out how to manipulate this or that...

Somebody else in this same thread has what looks like somebody who set up an eBay account specifically for the purpose of buying and then returning a handbag in order to obtain documentation, which I assume will be used to sell a handbag that is not actually from that particular designer - Will she set up a bunch of different accounts, each attached to different bank accounts, opened for the purpose? Does she want to see if she can duplicate the documentation?

Who knows? And yes, I am ranting, and no, I have never thought eBay was a good place for high dollar transactions, but it appears to be getting worse by the day.

I could easily see, in the not so distant future, people who are extremely adept at all this becoming professional eBay personal shoppers - you see a bag you want, you get your personal shopper to check it out, buy it for you, and then send it to you. You will, of course pay shipping twice, and some sort of fee to the personal shopper, but it would be preferable to risking the entire price of the bag simply because you were a trusting soul, and/or somebody had figured out some nifty new PayPal trick...

 

[MissThing]

I don't know if she can report you for auction interferance but it won't make a difference if the item she is selling is fake. She'll be drawing attention to her fake item!!

But let us see that auction and I'm sure we'll make up our own minds on the authenticity.

 

[leanbeanee]

Thanks ladies, you've made me feel so much better.

Next time I will go directly to eBay. Not that they would believe me... In the past I've found that when I report these things they say I need to contact the designer/trademark owner to get them to raise a complaint. I've alerted eBay to auctions where the seller has used pictures from websites like a*replicas.com and eBay says it's not enough proof? Huh? How much more proof do they need? If someone who was selling an authentic bag, why would they copy photos from a site that admits to selling 99% mirror image bags?!

 

[amamxr]

I have never contacted sellers directly regarding fakes they might be selling, but if the fake item has bidders I will contact the bidders. I've had most of them thank me and cancel their bids, a couple told me to mind my own business. I dont do it much anymore. I just concentrate on what I might be buying or selling.

I think that's a great idea, but I was told that is considered interfering with a sellers auction and that you could be suspended for it. Does anyone know?

 

[leanbeanee]

I think that's a great idea, but I was told that is considered interfering with a sellers auction and that you could be suspended for it. Does anyone know?

I've done that too. The buyers either thank me or ignore me. I haven't been told to mind my own business yet. Do you think that if the buyer tells you to mind your own business, then they're likely to know the seller and doing some shill bidding?

If the seller finds out that you're contacting their buyers then yes they can report you for interfering...

 

[Pewter]

I think that's a great idea, but I was told that is considered interfering with a sellers auction and that you could be suspended for it. Does anyone know?

Yes, it's considered auction interference and against Ebay policy to contact bidders regarding what they are bidding on, even if it's to alert them they are bidding on a fradulent listing. There are actually been some instances where someone will contact bidders to tell them the item they are bidding on is fake, when it is actually authentic, because they want to win it themselves...

 

[pugsonpurses]

Speaking as a seller of always authentic items, I really have mixed feelings about someone potentially contacting one of my bidders-I have no dount that you are well intentioned, but I also have no doubts at all that there are people who want to skew auctions for a variety of reasons (it's happened to me), and buyers just might want that particular item they're bidding on for their own reasons-it is all such a cloud, I just hope all good buyers and sellers don't get cold feet (I'm wearing socks now!) Good thread.