Tiffany is in a tiff over eBay fakes

[weirdid]

The upscale jeweler has sued eBay Inc., claiming the online auctioneer bilks customers - and makes a fortune - by allowing thousands of counterfeit Tiffany items to be sold on its Web site.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/205128p-177072c.html

All that is needed now is Dior, Prada,LV, etc etc to do the same.

weird

[MatrixWatch]

Great story. Here is a copy just in case the link goes bad in the future.

I have often thought that this will be a necessary approach if we were to put an end to the matrix scams on ebay for good.


Tiffany is in a tiff over eBay fakes



BY ROBERT GEARTY and ALISON GENDAR
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Let the Internet buyer beware: Some discount Tiffany jewelry hawked on eBay is apparently about as genuine as a $10 Rolex sold on the street.
The upscale jeweler has sued eBay Inc., claiming the online auctioneer bilks customers - and makes a fortune - by allowing thousands of counterfeit Tiffany items to be sold on its Web site.

"The consumer gets deceived, Tiffany gets damaged and eBay gets its fees," said Tiffany lawyer James Swire of Dorsey & Whitney.

Some 73% of the supposedly authentic "Tiffany" silver jewelry items sold on eBay were cheap knockoffs, according to a sampling purchased online by Tiffany employees.

Hani Durzy, an eBay spokesman, said he could not comment on the specifics of the complaint, but said the company took Tiffany's concerns "very seriously."

Tiffany tried to get eBay to police its own sites, but was forced to do its own sleuthing when the cybergiant refused, Swire countered.

Using eBay's own fraud detective programs, Tiffany shut down 19,000 eBay auctions selling phony baubles, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in Manhattan Federal Court.

Company policy bars eBay sellers from listing counterfeit items, and warns potential scam artists they could lose their accounts for multiple violations.

But bargain hunters found no shortage of so-called Tiffany merchandise to choose from yesterday on eBay. A quick check by the Daily News found nearly 4,000 jewelry items claiming a Tiffany provenance.

Stacey Croft of Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, was going to bid on silver Tiffany earrings until she learned about the online fake rate. "I guess I'd have to be pretty stupid to think I could get a $400 pair of earrings for $40. Greed makes you stupid," Croft said.

The lawsuit demands that eBay, which gets a cut of each sale, stop listing any Tiffany merchandise that is not genuine. Tiffany also is seeking huge damages: up to $1 million for each fake sold.

"This will say to those who think the Internet is the Wild West of marketing that there are rules," Swire said.

[weirdid]

Net profits The Times London 22 june
By Rhys Blakely
Could Tiffany's lawsuit against eBay damage consumer confidence in e-commerce?

Tiffany, the luxury jeweller, yesterday sued eBay in America for allegedly allowing counterfeit goods to be sold on its online auction site, claiming damages of up to $1 million for each forged item sold.

"Thousands of consumers have bought counterfeit Tiffany jewellery through eBay believing that their purchases were genuine, but they have been deceived," Tiffany claimed.

To date, the online auction site has been a conspicuous dot.com success. In the nine years since its launch it has accumulated 94.9 million users worldwide, who traded $23.8 billion in goods last year. But the Tiffany lawsuit is the latest in a string of instances that have threatened to erode consumer confidence in online trading.

Online banking is seen as being under threat from sophisticated schemes where people hack into secure networks or send bogus e-mails to obtain credit-card numbers (an increasingly popular scam known as “phishing”). But often people are tricked out of money by much simpler means.

Recently, Manchester United stopped its players from signing merchandise after training because of items continually appearing for sale on the internet. Manchester United felt that the club and its players were, for once at least, being unfairly exploited by opportunists.

And eBay itself has been used for another money-making operation. There have been reports of pyramid-style schemes, which are illegal in many countries, being operated through the site, where eBay users are asked to sign up members to "earn" an iPod.

Meanwhile, the number of forged items offered for sale online has been described as “extraordinary”. A study commissioned by the jeweller claims that 73 per cent of the goods sold under the "Tiffany" name on eBay were fakes. Meanwhile, booksellers, art collectors and antiques dealers have all warned that eBay is rife with bogus items.

Today, a spokesman for eBay said: "We have not seen the complaint yet, so we can't comment on it specifically.

"However, we take these concerns very seriously, which is why we have worked closely with Tiffany and thousands of other rights owners for many years through our VeRO Programme to help them address these types of issues."

The company says that VeRO Programme participants have the ability to identify and request removal of items and materials that allegedly infringe trademarks or copyrights. Tiffany claims, however, that its efforts to solve its disputes with eBay in a "businesslike" manner ran into a brick wall.

EBay also says that it employs a team of around 800 people to monitor improper behaviour on the site. However, with around 21 million items being offered for sale at any one time, that could mean that each team member is responsible for overseeing 26,000 different lots.

Consequently, the company says that the volume of goods traded online is so huge, it cannot be expected, as a middle man, to vouch for each transaction. Instead, it says the eBay community effectively polices itself, primarily through the star-rating system where users grade each other's behaviour.

Tiffany disagrees. The company says that eBay "should bear responsibility" for the selling of fake Tiffany goods on its site, "since it openly promotes Tiffany counterfeits by using the Tiffany name as a sponsored link, provides a forum for such sales, and profits handsomely from the sale of bogus merchandise and packaging".

Will eBay suffer at the hands of Tiffany's complaint? The reputation of the site could be damaged by a high profile court hearing. But at the same time, it is important to note that most eBay users are very happy with the service.

For those consumers whose idea of bliss involves rummaging through endless tat in hope of a bargain it has proven a resounding success: the world's largest virtual jumblesale, albeit a jumblesale where you can buy a Gulfstream jet for $4.9million.

“It really is a global market place,” says Rufus Exton, an enthusiastic eBay user who works in the City of London. “Pretty much anything and everything is up for sale. I love the fact I might never have to set foot on Oxford Street again.”

Staying safe

The tricks used by online conmen are constantly evolving but there are some basic things to look out for

It is important to be aware that it is not only buyers who are vulnerable. Sellers who receive cheques for far too much money for the items they have sold should be very wary. These type of payments, most usually made for cars, are often followed by a request to cash the cheque and repay the balance. When the cheque bounces, the conman walks off with the money.

Be especially careful of signs that caution you to “be aware of exactly what you are buying”. Some vendors will appear to offer, say, discounted stereo kit, but on close inspection actually only offer for sale a brochure describing that equipment in detail.

Also be aware that the COAs, or certificates of authenticity, offered with some items are worthless as guarantees. For items where provenance is important or from a field where you lack knowledge, it could well be worth going to a reputable conventional dealer.

Above all, remember that for all the high-tech wonder of eBay, the same basic and age-old rule applies as in any market place: caveat emptor. If a bargain looks too good to be true, it probably is.

[weirdid]

Rolex tells eBay it's lawsuit time

By Margaret Kane
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

Rolex has filed suit against eBay's German subsidiary, accusing it of trademark infringement and unfair competition, the auction company revealed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Rolex filed the suit in a German court April 25 against eBay GmbH and eBay International, wholly owned subsidiaries of eBay.

Rolex alleges that eBay customers sold counterfeit Rolex watches through the German Web site, infringing Rolex's trademark and resulting in unfair competition. Rolex is seeking an order forbidding the sale of Rolex watches on the Web site as well as damages.

In the SEC filing, eBay said, "We have meritorious defenses against this claim and intend to defend ourselves vigorously."

eBay has programs in the United States and Germany that allow companies to monitor sales and notify eBay if they believe their intellectual property rights are being abused. An eBay spokesman said Rolex participates in the program in the United States but not in Germany.

[MatrixWatch]

Originally posted by weirdid
In the SEC filing, eBay said, "We have meritorious defenses against this claim and intend to defend ourselves vigorously."


I'm sure they will. They haven't lost a case of this nature yet. No one has pierced their legal defence on this one.

[weirdid]

If ebay was just a venue, as they claim, this would mean they sell you the table to display, and sell your goods.

After the sale. ebay want a cut of the sale price,FVF, it could be said, that this makes them a partner in the sale.

weird

[jokach]

EBay also says that it employs a team of around 800 people to monitor improper behaviour on the site. However, with around 21 million items being offered for sale at any one time, that could mean that each team member is responsible for overseeing 26,000 different lots.

This explains the reason why the efforts we make here as watchdogs are important. Out of those 800 people, its unfortunate we couldn't get just one to focus on matrix auctions on a daily basis and accept the emails we submit and close down the fraud ..... Its apparent they have limited resources, but overall, I don't feel thats a good enough excuse.

If you follow weird's exampls of ebay providing a 'table' at an auction for vendors to sell, they would absolutely have to take responsibility for overseeing what is sold at that table. Despite the fact that the 'table' is substituted by a 'website' shouldn't excuse Ebay of the responsibility of providing a safe trading community!


jokach

[ycchen]

I agree with weird and jokach. eBay is definitely responsible for the fraudulent auctions on their website.

[jutin2001]

Originally posted by watchdog
The lawsuit demands that eBay, which gets a cut of each sale, stop listing any Tiffany merchandise that is not genuine. Tiffany also is seeking huge damages: up to $1 million for each fake sold.


I also think ebay should be responsible for the fake auctions, but I think up to $1 million per auction is a little steep. Considering that ebay only takes a small fraction of the money made off the auction. I think the sellers are a lot more responsible than ebay.
But i also know it would be next to impossible to find every single seller who ever sold a knockoff on an ebay auction.

[Dreamer]

I love you guys and all, but I think this is a stretch also. I was trying to find some relavent laws concerning this last night, but I got too tired and gave up too easily before finding anything.

If you go to any trade show, there are alot of dealers doing illegial things - cash sales without receipts, piracy, etc. If a small convention has 100 dealers, I wouldn't know who would want to oversee it all if they are liable for the actions of the few.

I'd imagine for a weekly show with the same dealers, maybe a background check would happen, maybe. I can see the owner being held responsible for knowningly allowing a crooked dealer in their mists, but other than that, I'm quite sure that there is some binding contract releasing the owner of any liabality for the action of the dealers.

I'm sure eBay has the same contract that sellers theoratically read. They are making millions of dollars a day, they cannot afford not to have one. I'm sure its as water tight as possible.

I don't think anything will happen to eBay. All they have to do is show they took all reasonable steps to verify the sellers, that they had no way they could have known items are conterfeit.