Ebay Listing Policy violations not being addressed.

[tch_ca]

Why eBay chooses to do nothing about repeat offenders violating policy is beyond me...It's disappointing to say the least. I watch sellers continue to list counterfeit / copy material (coins in this case) with almost no enforcement by Ebay. The reporting system algorithm DOES NOT WORK. I don't know who manages it or how its setup, but I often report listings only to see them still active days and sometimes weeks later. And even if such listing finally get removed, the sellers are often allowed to remain selling the same items under different listing numbers. I sent a letter to Ebay Canada a few months ago (addressed specifically to Andrea) to see how the problem can be better managed and offering help from the Canadian coin community. No response.  Maybe we can have one here?...What say you tyler@ebay?

[momcqueen]

Your tag doesn’t work unless you’re doing it at a desktop.

[momcqueen]

Also, one report by one person isn’t going to shut anyone’s listing down. If it did, every envious competitor would ruin the business of whomever they liked. It takes x number of reports from y number of users to warrant intervention. Or call Customer Service.

[tch_ca]

That may be so but it doesn't solve the problem.  The listing in this particular case is an obvious violation. Either the listing violates policy or it doesn't. If eBay is committed to a safe environment for the community, it should put in place a mechanism that identifies problems with sellers more efficiently. And even if your argument for a single listing holds water, there is no excuse to not shut down other listings or the offender as a whole.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

At times it appears there are some major double standards getting applied. If Joe or Judy Seller is discovered, for example in Canada having made some sort of inadvertent error, that listing or their listings get pulled immediately or their account is on suspension. There is no email message or no actual contact from a real person. Not saying in all cases, but in some, they were just honest mistakes. For comparison: Use a firing squad and then have an investigation later. It's impossible for a seller to know all the rules when they are constantly changing and it's easy to find rules that are not perfectly clear. Try speaking with eBay customer service, it's usually necessary for them to confirm with 3 other folks and 2 supervisors before you get clarification. And usually, after you are finished on your call, you were more confused than before.

-CM

PS. Try researching a rule for your own satisfaction and find out how many help links don't actually work.

[tyler@ebay]

Hi @tch_ca - I'm glad that you've been reporting items you feel are not genuine, as we don't allow the sale of counterfeit items on the site. We will review and take action as appropriate. 

That action will not always be visible to you since we don't discuss account details of another member except with them. I can say that repeated violations results in more serious action taken up to and including loss of selling privileges and account suspension altogether. 

[tch_ca]

Hi Tyler, I appreciate the response. Unfortunately my experience in tracking this stuff extensively does reflect the established policy. The current reporting mechanism in large part does not work. I get better results reaching out through eBay.com's back door established through one of the well known collectible forums. And even then it generally only  results in quicker listing removal but no long term fix to the problem and no reprimand to the offenders (the listing goes, the offender keeps offending with new listings). It should be noted that no such working relationship exists with eBay Canada and the coin community in particular. I am not sure eBay understands how much damage and financial loss not clamping down on offenders of counterfeit collectibles causes the industry.  Maybe Ebay should consider a moderating mechanism with sufficient product knowledge expertise and a quicker conduit to eBay...

[esclyons]

i agree, that ebay does need to do more to remove outright fake coin listings, and there are lots of them,, and i agree that reporting them through ebay channels, does very little if anything ever..  so what do you next, 9 out of 10 are from overseas,  ebay needs to make a stand..

[momcqueen]

I understand your frustration with this. Until a new procedure is created to deal with enforcing the policy, there won’t be much satisfaction to be gained from selling in a category where 75 percent of listings are crooked. Not that the ratio is that high for Coins, I’m just using it as an example of perhaps specific places eBay needs to investigate further or devote more resources or create new tools to deal with problem areas. Like, counterfeiting fitted sheets isn’t as high stakes, I’d think. But I might be wrong. I also thought no one wanted used socks until my eyes were forced open to that whole thing.

[momcqueen]

(Selling in OR buying from, I mean. A new shopper won’t know how to avoid the listings that look suspicious until it’s too late. Then all sellers and all eBay gets tarred with the same brush.)

[retroman_studios]

Of importance is that I believe somewhere in the EULA, there is a "caveat emptor" clause which is important, especially as an ecommerce site.

Due diligence is required from both buyer and seller. There will always be those that chase the cheap deals and get stung. Can't be helped. However, eBays situation is unique because there is no regulation or industry standard that applies since it's online. (Compared to a retail store)

[tch_ca]

Sure..."Buyer be ware" is the obvious. The problem is far more complex and reaches beyond a simple Ebay transaction. When these items start to hit local markets months and years down the road is where the real repercussions are felt.  Of course there are other means  that eBay of dumping this garbage into the marketplace, but eBay needs to play a bigger part and become a more responsible corporate citizen with respect to counterfeits. It's a chronic problem.

[femmefan1946]

Oneof the problems we have with buying really old (like Victorian or Edwardian) stamp collections is that contemporary philately was the Wild West.

Even today, Fakes Forgeries and Cinderellas are a popular sub-genre with books about famous fakers and catalogues warning collectors how to spot counterfeits.

Numismatics has the same problem. Several coin dealers have told me stories of collections in which every piece was counterfeit, often blatantly so.  Plated 'bullion', gold pieces that are tarnishing, 'ancient' coins that are identical.

I was once shown a Roman coin dated  15 BC. In Arabic numerals.

EBay is a venue.

We can Report and get friends, customers and club members to Report.

One man is not an army. And should not be.

We can also encourage unhappy buyers to use the eBay Money Back Guarantee. Sellers who are getting a lot of Disputes lose eBay money.

Buyers are also protected by Paypal's Buyer Protection policy for 180 days from payment and by the chargeback provisions of their credit cards.

And dealers and collectors can help by outreach. Encouraging newbies to attend conventions and bourses. Letting collectors know where local clubs meet. Giving panels and seminars at conventions and at bourses.

Of course that takes work , complaining that someone else should do it is much easier.

[tch_ca]

All reasonable points...However, still outside of a valid argument that eBay is not doing enough to address the  blatant abuse of it's own policy infractions. My original post was as to what eBay can do to improve the process and not what we as dealers and my friends can do to protect themselves. Buyer beware is not a new concept and nothing but the obvious. And really in the example I used (that was deleted) it is a seller that does identify the items as "reproductions"....The problem is that these "reproductions" are not marked as such. Allowing them freely to flow into the market place creates a problem further on down the road. Irrelevant, the original question to eBay stands.