another web site is reporting good auctions as fakes

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#76
I have no intention of weighing in on a debate where I know little of either party, but just an observation - 'group think' can be seductive but dangerous and we are all fallible.

I am sorry if that seems trite or otherwise off the mark, but I know myself how easily influenced I can be by the power of the group (on whichever 'side' of a debate) and I always welcome a reminder that a black-white allegiance is often unhelpful and rarely represents the most useful way of approaching a problem.
 
#77
Miss Sooky said:
I have no intention of weighing in on a debate where I know little of either party, but just an observation - 'group think' can be seductive but dangerous and we are all fallible.

I am sorry if that seems trite or otherwise off the mark, but I know myself how easily influenced I can be by the power of the group (on whichever 'side' of a debate) and I always welcome a reminder that a black-white allegiance is often unhelpful and rarely represents the most useful way of approaching a problem.
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A very thoughtful and intelligent piece of information! Well Said!
 
#78
zacfashion said:
There are some pretty valid points being made here that we should ALL consider - I purchased a Wallet from Louis Vuitton Concession in a major London Department Store - used it a bit and it was the worse made piece of canvas ever, no joke - When I purchased another in LV - San Frisco the SA could not believe the original one, it fell appart in a year. We are all advocates to 'Authenticity' but no expert is a 100% Expert unless they have worked in the LV Quality Control or Factory - So we should keep that in mind. Ruining someones livelyhood over something we are not 100% educated is really bad Karma - What goes around comes around!

We all worship these huge brands - But they worship the God of 'Profit'...
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Welll said!! :yes:
 
#79
As a member of KKO, I know the ladies there know their stuff. When an auction is reported it isn't just removed based on the fact that people reported it, it has to be verified as fake by the VERO. So i'd be blaming the VERO folks for the actual removal, not the KKO members.
 
#81
I'm also a member of KKO, and I'm proud of the work we do in trying to get the fakes and fakers off Ebay. As another of our members said, we stick to our own specialties - I do Coach, and only report other brands when I know the original reporter is well-qualified to judge the authenticity of that particular brand.

If the OP feels her auctions are being reported when they shouldn't be, she should contact the forum owner. Coming here and accusing the forum members en masse the way she did is counterproductive and solves nothing.

Let me remind everyone of one basic fact - REPORTING LISTINGS TO EBAY DOESN'T GET THEM REMOVED. THE ONLY PERSON WHO CAN TELL EBAY TO REMOVE A LISTING IS THE VERO REP FOR THAT SPECIFIC MANUFACTURER. There have been dozens if not hundreds of blatantly fake bags that have been reported repeatedly by the members of TPF, KKO, and Ebay's Shoes and Purses forums that have NEVER been removed, so obviously it doesn't matter how many people send in reports OR WHAT FORUM THEY BELONG TO.
 
#83
Sadly, I think it is becoming increasingly evident that the days of the great ebay bargains are coming to an end. Both sides in this debate have valid points and both seem to want to do the right thing. I applaud the removal of fakes yet I feel for those accused falsely. Anyone can make a mistake. All that being said, I think the safest, best way to assure authenticity for a buyer is to only purchase from the designer boutique or major dept. store. Definitely not good for legit sellers but may be the buyers only assurance of authenticity nowadays.
 
#84
kalodie1 said:
Sadly, I think it is becoming increasingly evident that the days of the great ebay bargains are coming to an end. Both sides in this debate have valid points and both seem to want to do the right thing. I applaud the removal of fakes yet I feel for those accused falsely. Anyone can make a mistake. All that being said, I think the safest, best way to assure authenticity for a buyer is to only purchase from the designer boutique or major dept. store. Definitely not good for legit sellers but may be the buyers only assurance of authenticity nowadays.
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Unfortunately, that's not an option for a lot of people. TPF has hundreds of members who have no access to the boutiques or outlet stores or who simply prefer to save their hard-earned money by buying bags at less than full retail.

Let's face it, as much as we rant and rave about the problems with Ebay, it will always be around. If you want an older bag or one that's no longer available in the stores, Ebay is pretty much your only choice. If someone's only criterion for buying a designer item is "it was the cheapest one on Ebay" they shouldn't be surprised when they get a fake. Buying genuine items on Ebay is a matter of education - most of the really horrendous fakes are bought by Ebay newbies who don't know any better and who believe it when Ebay tells them it's a safe and fun place to shop.

Honest Ebay buyers and sellers have two choices, we can ignore the problem completely and let Ebay become a cesspool like iOffer, or we can do something about it. Since reporting fake items is the only thing Ebay allows, that's what we have to do. And with sites like this, we try to educate people about fakes vs. genuine items.

And just a reminder - a LOT of legitimate auctions are reported BY THE FAKES SELLERS THEMSELVES. Even posting warnings about a counterfeit listing on one of the Ebay forums can put a seller in the position of being a target for retaliation by the crooks and their cronies. It's the reason none of the forum posters who sell on Ebay use their selling IDs for posting, they've already been victims of vendettas by the fakes sellers. Sellers who knowingly and continuously sell fakes are career criminals and it shoudn't surprise anyone when they start acting like street thugs.
 
#85
A lot of good points here, and I have no reason to doubt or believe the OP (perhaps he/she should post some photos of of her bag), I simply HAVE to say this:

MY outloook changed the day I had a legitimate ebay auction removed, and was unable to find out the reasons why (they don't tell you, you know! they just refer you to the vero ebay pages to read what's allowed and what's not - UH, THANKS.). It was a Balenciaga I had purchased at NM in South Coast Plaza. Gigantic photos. Perhaps it's because I hadn't gotten around to adding photos of the cards/tags or receipt (I was offfering a copy of the original receipt) - but I see tons of auctions without those items pictured, both fake and real. Who knows. All I can tell you is that there is NO worse feeling in the world than to be unjustly accused and treated like a fraud, especially for allegedly doing the thing you abhore most.
 
#86
cuteusername said:
A lot of good points here, and I have no reason to doubt or believe the OP (perhaps he/she should post some photos of of her bag), I simply HAVE to say this:

MY outloook changed the day I had a legitimate ebay auction removed, and was unable to find out the reasons why (they don't tell you, you know! they just refer you to the vero ebay pages to read what's allowed and what's not - UH, THANKS.). It was a Balenciaga I had purchased at NM in South Coast Plaza. Gigantic photos. Perhaps it's because I hadn't gotten around to adding photos of the cards/tags or receipt (I was offfering a copy of the original receipt) - but I see tons of auctions without those items pictured, both fake and real. Who knows. All I can tell you is that there is NO worse feeling in the world than to be unjustly accused and treated like a fraud, especially for allegedly doing the thing you abhore most.
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I know EXACTLY how you feel. When they suspended my big account last year...2000+ positive feedback at 99.5%, after I had reported 1000's of fakes, because THEY said my Coach was fake????? I was astounded!!! I mean how in the world are you supposed to prove yourself worthy of this auction site??! My Coach was NOT fake, no way no how. If it weren't that eBay was the biggest site in the world, I surely would not be doing what I'm doing off their site. :shrugs:
 
#87
I just wanted to add - the REASON ebay gives for why they won't tell you why they've removed your item???? Because.... not their exact words, but close... they don't want to give you any tips that could help you cheat the system!!!! Can you imagine how it feels like to hear that, to be treated like the very people you find utterly disgusting? You want to scream! I just can't imagine anything worse than being unjustly accused. For that reason alone, as much as I LOATHE fakes, as much as I DETEST manufacturers/sellers of fakes... as much as I am REPULSED by ioffer, I have difficulty tolerating the current witchhunt-type atmosphere ebay seems to be embracing of late. If all we can achieve FAIRLY is to merely educate people to know the difference between fake and authentic, then that's all anyone should do. It's unfortunate, but between tolerating having some under-informed buyers ripped off (and trust me, I've been that poor person, too) and tolerating a system where we so readily accuse and penalize the innocent without explanation, I'll take the former and do my best to promote greater education. Until such time as the designer handbag "criminal justice system" is a little more just.
 
#88
cuteusername said:
All I can tell you is that there is NO worse feeling in the world than to be unjustly accused and treated like a fraud, especially for allegedly doing the thing you abhore most.
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Ditto. Those of us who are authentic resellers work our BUTTS off to make sure what we're selling is both on the up-and-up, and is represented to the world accurately, so that there are no doubts. Each auction I post has 16 photos, and a paper-trail a mile long. But despite all these precautions and appropriate protocol, I also learned this particularly hard lesson as I received a neg. feedback 3 months ago from a bloke in NYC who attempted to swap out the Prada I sold him with one from canal street. Because I intervened, he went straight to neg. feedback (which I now wear as a badge of honor). But I can tell you that being unjustly accused is one of the worst feelings in the world. I was questioned in this forum, too - and while I welcomed the inquiry, a poster referenced my neg. feedback as a reason to steer clear of any of my auctions. Which just goes to show you you can please some of the people some of the time, All of the people some of the time, but never ALL of the people ALL of the time. For my part, I continue to report fakes, and authenticate in this forum where I can. Sting of false accusation aside, I want to do my part to continue to bring the fakers down.
 
#89
I post on the eBay purse board and on KKO. I report Coach that I feel is definitely fake. I don't report if I'm unsure myself, or can't figure out why someone thinks it's fake. I've changed my selling ID because originally I posted with it and the counterfeiters started targeting my authentic auctions (Hyacinth also mentioned this happening). I don't post anywhere with my current selling ID because I don't want counterfeiters screwing with my sales anymore. I think KKO does a good job and they helped me a lot when I was buying my first Coach bag on eBay.
 
#90
I have no doubt that eBay makes mistakes and occasionally pulls authentic listings. However, the current system for reporting is the only system there is and unfortunately, the dishonest sellers will find ways to make money and stick it to their unknowing buyers, and sometimes, in spite of and because of the current system, the honest sellers get hurt too when the fake-sellers report legit listings.

However, in the case of the OP, although most of her listings were authentic, she would sneak in fakes periodically. And the fact is the whether a seller has 30 authentic listings and 1 fake listing or 100 fakes and no authentic, she is in violation!! Fakes are illegal and disallowed on ebay---PERIOD! (She was originally posted on KKO last summer, at which time she had several authentic listings and a few fakes sprinkled in the mix.) Perhaps these fake listings were honest errors at first and to give her the benefit of the doubt, maybe she bought them (to resell) without realizing they were fake, however, she was made aware of the fact and declined to end the offending listings. At that point, she is NOT making an honest mistake in misrepresenting her items--she knows exactly what she is doing. Therefore, perhaps she did have authentic listings pulled if her fakes were reported. (I've seen cases where ebay will pull all the sellers' listings, even if some were authentic and not reported as being fake. Maybe ebay saw a pattern and not recognizing the difference assumed that all were counterfeit.)

And in fact, ebay policy stipulates that if a seller is not 100% sure of the authenticity of the items they list, they ARE NOT to list it. That is why they have their "authenticity disclaimer" policy. It is a seller's responsibility to verify and confirm the legitimacy of their items PRIOR to listing.

To be honest, I am so sick and tired of reading sellers' descriptions of their fakes, stating that "it was a gift and not my style," or "not the original owner so I don't know where it was purchased," or "received duplicate Christmas/birthday/Mother's Day gifts and I don't need more than one," etc. These excuses are so overused that they scream "FAKE."
 
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