eBay seller falsely accused of selling counterfeit

[burgh]

I'm in PA - thanks in advance for any help.

I've been selling on eBay on and off since 1997 with 2000+ positive feedback - I sell a variety of new outdoor items that are new and authentic. Last week I received a notice that all of my Skullcandy headphone listings had been removed because the "Item is a counterfeit product which infringes the trademark owner's rights." I was also suspended for a week of listing/revising listings.

That'd be the end of the story if the accusation was true. However, I have invoices documenting that these are legally purchased, authentic headphones - many were purchased from Skullcandy directly during sales.

I contacted eBay, who told me the rights owners can basically pull any listings they decide they don't like and that there's no recourse through eBay. I've been in touch with Skullcandy and it's a brick wall.

It seems like I've been judged and punished without having any way to advocate for myself, and this is way out of my area of expertise. Is there anything I can do to help myself in this situation? At minimum I'd like the policy violation removed from my eBay account...

Thanks again for any help!

 

[mightymoose]

If you relist it without drawing attention to the brand name then you may be able to get around it... otherwise, you are at their mercy.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I'm very sorry to hear your experience. You are not alone. I hate to say it but my experience mirrors yours. Write a written letter as a last resort, send it certified mail. If that doesn't help then I don't know of a better remedy. I'm not sure that suing is a cost effective option and eBay may simply not care and more concerned about making the bigger business happy.

 

[gotyourgear]

Burgh,
I'd like to talk to you personally. I have had the same problem. Skullcandy will do nothing and eBay offers no recourse if you have been accused of counterfeiting. It truely is a guilty with no chance proving your innocence situation.
Please call me so we can discuss options.
Thanks

 

[Michael Wechsler]

You have no practical options. I've been stonewalled myself from having legitimate businesses get an affiliate status through eBay - yet I've seen teenagers talk about how easy it was for them to put up a sham affiliate site, obtain status and be done with it. Perhaps this is why they have suffered significant downward trends from what I have been reading.

Perhaps I could make an effort to contact someone in eBay's legal department directly but I don't care any more - it's not worth doing business with them. Best bet is to sell them over Craig's List or the like. Yes, I know it's frustrating.

 

[BenBrent]

I would definitely agree that ebay does nothing with bad buyers. I've had a bad buyer situation which I won't post here because it took me being unethical in my reporting of the member to get them to do anything about a clear policy violation.