Seller Displays PowerSeller Logo but is NOT a PowerSeller!?!

[stationstreet]

What happens to sellers who display the PowerSeller logo but are not actually PowerSellers? Are there any repercussions at all? What can be done to get eBay to take action against these less than honest sellers?

Thanks.

[recped]

If you really feel the need you can report them...

How can you know they are not a powerseller?

Ben
"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915

[sunward-hobbies]

rule is simple. In order to say you are a powerseller, you MUST have the symbol appear next to your feedback.

Just report them. They will get spanked and be forced to change their listing. And yes, you should do it.

Angelo

[recped]

There is NO requirement to display the Powerseller logo, the only rule is that you can only use the logo IF you are a powerseller. If you want to turn the logo off you can do so under the Seller Preferences section of My eBay.

The pluses and minuses of displaying the logo have been debated to death on the US board.

If know this seller is not a powerseller but claims to be one you can report them on this page.

http://pages.ebay.com/securitycenter/index.html

Ben
"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915

[stationstreet]

Thanks for the responses. The issue is not the PowerSeller logo that is displayed by the seller's name as this is controlled by eBay and the only way that can appear by your name is if you are a PowerSeller and have elected to have it shown.

The seller in question is displaying the PowerSeller logo within his listing description (twice). The fact that this user is not a PowerSeller was confirmed to us by a PS rep, not to mention he stole our eBay template and only changed enough of it to sell his products.

This seller is also displaying the SquareTrade logo when they are not a SquareTrade member (confirmed to us by SquareTrade) yet they are still up and active.

We have been trying to get this guy's listings pulled down for all 3 violations for about 2 weeks and are getting absolutely NOWHERE with eBay or SquareTrade. SquareTrade actually wrote us back and said No he's not a member and if you have any more questions just let us know.

Can you believe that! We pay SquareTrade good money to be a member of their service but it seems that anyone can just go ahead and use their logo without fear of repercussions. If this is the case SquareTrade's existence is moot.

Sorry ... gettin a little long here ... just getting frustrated as all get out. We even called PS support several times and yesterday the guy from the PowerSeller Trust and Safety department was more concerned with giving us attitude and telling us that there is nothing we can do than helping us. Typical of eBay support it seems.

For reference:

a) We have started legal action against this seller
b) We have attempted to join eBay's VeRO program over a week ago but have not heard one word back from them
c) We have a least 3 ways to prove beyond any doubt that this seller stole our HTML code, images and copy
d) For those interested the seller's ID is quality_item

I just can't believe that this guy is still up there listing and selling without any fear whatsoever. So much for Trust and Safety, I say.

Thanks for reading!

[shoplineca]

I dont believe that you have to be a member of ST to use their logo if you believe in accessing their services which is open to everyone, members or not. If the logo states he is a member, that is another matter however, it provides advertising to ST and an opportunity for them to make money should a problem between that seller and a buyer occur.

In that case, a $20 non member service charge will be levied.

I get concerned with any Seller who blazingly places numerous references throughout their listings that they can and should be trusted because they are a Power Seller.

Never-the-less, eBay should move swiftly to pull those listigs where the Seller is NOT a Power Seller yet makes reference to it in order to garner increased sales.

The sad fact remains that being a Power Seller has little to do with one's honesty and integrity as a Seller as we have seen and discussed unethical sales of contraband items on this board recently. Sellers not only display their PS logo but get eBay's congratulations and affirmation that being unethical has nothing to do with being illegal in ebay's books.

Malcolm

[stationstreet]

Hi Malcolm.

Just to clear things up this user is using the SquareTrade logo and the PowerSeller logo twice in their listings. Their listings specifically state that the user "is SquareTrade certified". One of the SquareTrade logos even has the word "certified" on it.

Cheers.

[llee2]

stationstreet,

Try using eBay's "contact us" email. This person has not only copied your html but also your auction descriptions word for word. There is a link to report "copying of your auction description/pictures". While I don't think eBay cares about someone copying your html, they usually pull copied descriptions and pictures rather quickly.

Lincoln

[shoplineca]

Is there such a thing as ST Certified? I thought it was nothing more than a $20 mediation service or $10 if you were a member? Each of which is open to anyone.

Either way, best of luck having the bum narud. I cant stand people who profit off the backs of those that work hard to earn what they work for.

Malcolm

[stationstreet]

We have been in contact with eBay on numerous, numerous occasions by phone, email and fax and nobody wants to do anything about it except give us attitude like we're doing something wrong or that we have no right to be upset over this.

I spoke to someone from eBay's PowerSeller Trust and Safety department on Friday and from the very moment my partner started talking to him this eBay employee went right on the defensive and instead of trying to help us out he was more concerned about telling us how the listings are not similar enough and there is nothing we can do.

COME ON!!!! Anyone who looks at this guys listings can tell that they copied them directly from our listings.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: This eBay rep said that our listings and the listings from this thieving seller (quality_item) are NOT SIGNIFICANTLY SIMILAR!!! I would love to hear the thoughts of the people who are reading this post as to whether or not they feel like they are similar or not. I mean, the first time I saw this guys listing I actually thought they were ours! I took me a minute to catch on that it wasn't our listing.

Anyway, I said to the eBay rep that if what this guy has done to us is OK with him that I can go to any seller's listings that I liked the look of, steal all the images, HTML and copy and change it to sell our products and that would be OK with eBay. Guess what his answer was. Of course, it was NO. So I said thank you, you just proved my point that what this seller did to us IS NOT OK. At this point he didn't know what to say, but it still didn't change his mind.

BOTTOM LINE: eBay support is nothing more than the front lines in a war waged by buyers and sellers alike looking for answers and help. They just keep bashing us back until we decide to give up and retreat.

I've said it a million times: We, the sellers, pay every single bill that eBay has and we get the worst treatment out of anybody.

I finally got it though some thick skulls over at eBay support that I have 100% irrefutable proof (which we mentioned in every email, fax and phone conversation we have had with them to date ... obviously noone listens or actually reads the support emails we send them) that he stole our template (HTML, images and copy) from us. I have again resubmitted our complaint to eBay citing each and every one of this seller's active items and spelling out the proof we have (as suggested by eBay support) and are waiting on word from them.

Somehow I think we'll just be ignored again.

Regarding SquareTrade: SquareTrade provides a service to paying members that verifies the sellers identity so you can be sure that you are dealing with a trustworth seller. If anyone can just post the SquareTrade logo on their website and eBay listings claiming to be certified why do we (or anyone) pay SquareTrade a yearly fee.

Here's a good point: Click on the SquareTrade logo found in this seller's eBay listings ... instead of confirming to anyone that may be interested in doing business with this buyer that he is in fact a certified member or that he is not, the message they will show you is "This SquareTrade Seal is temporarily unavailable. Please check back with us another time."

Not exactly a trustworthy thing to be doing in my opinion. We will be cancelling our SquareTrade account if no action is taken against this user.

Just a note regarding HTML: within eBay's policies regarding copyright they cite stealing images, copy AND HTML code as violations so apparently (according to their website) you can't take HTML either (not to mention my HTML is handcoded and stealing it is a direct violation of copyright law).

Cheers.

[lina-mallows]

Well- for what it's worth- and I am generally not in favour of more regulation at eBay- HOWEVER- maybe it's time eBay BAN all POWER SELLER logos, and references in auction descriptions.

It's been many years since eBay imposed restrictions on what third party advertising, and links are allowed. And further, restrictions were placed on the size of those third party ads.

Maybe it's time to take the BIG STEP, and BAN ALL POWER SELLER logos, other than the one that eBay provides, that may be voluntarily turned on/off by the seller. At this point eBay should take the opportunity to create- like the rating stars- different colour POWER SELLER logos to differentiate between categories of POWER SELLERS.

Any thoughts?

[mirakbiz_inc]

Wow ! I was just looking at the other guys auctions, they are identical ! What does eBay mean with "they are NOT SIGNIFICANTLY SIMILAR!!! of course they are not, they are identical !

Sucks !

[sunward-hobbies]

stationstreet;

-first, sue. They are in Canada
-second, you are right in joining VER0.
-I didn't check, but put copyright in your listings. You may even want to register them:
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/home and the US site. (makes it easier to claim rights)
-as for squaretrade, clicking on the link goes to a squaretrade site but says the seal is not available. You may want to enquire with them directly
-as for displaying the PS logo. There may be a little bit of confusion. You do not have to have the PS symbol next to your name. But the ebay rule is clear. In order to identify yourself as a PS, you must have the logo check on. If not, just report
-you made a mistake by mentioning their name in the post. This thread may get pulled.

Angelo

[stationstreet]

Hey everyone,

Firstly, I would like to mention that eBay finally took action against this user and pulled down all of his listings. It took ALOT (and I really, really stress ALOT) of work on our end (tons of emails, phone calls and faxes) and butting heads with eBay "customer support" but he's now been down for a few days.

Hey Angelo,

- We have contacted a lawyer and we are in the process of determining which course of action to take.

- We do have a copyright notice in all of our listings ... this seller simply changed it to his company's name (unbelievably unscrupulous).

- I'm a web developer and have loads of original material (scripts, images, etc...) that paying to copyright everything just isn't feasible.

- We have contacted SqaureTrade on a couple of occasions. After not receiving any response whatsoever from our first email to them we sent another one 8 days later. They finally replied yesterday (almost 2 weeks later!) The unnamed sender of the email from them said "Clicking on the seal reflects that they are no longer a seal [member]." This REALLY bugs me because it doesn't say that at all. It says "This SquareTrade Seal is temporarily unavailable. Please check back with us another time." We will not be renewing our SquareTrade membership.

- As I stated above, this seller is not a PS (as confirmed by an eBay rep) but was displaying the PS logo twice in their listing. Not cool not matter which way you look at it.

- As for mentioning their name I don't see it as a mistake at all. The thread may get pulled but it helped us feel a little better when a few people above voiced their opinion on how similar (if not identical in some spots) the listings are.

Thanks again for all the replies everyone!

Cheers!

[catseye*]

FWIW, I opted out of Square Trade months ago, and regularly get spammed by them to come back. And I mean regularly, at least 2 emails (always 2 at a time) every 2 weeks or so. Tacky.

[lina-mallows]

Well- for what it's worth- and I am generally not in favour of more regulation at eBay- HOWEVER- maybe it's time eBay BAN all POWER SELLER logos, and references in auction descriptions.

Apparently no one at eBay listened.