OT: Louis Vuitton handbags eBay suit

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Posted By: Richard Dwyer

61 million dollars awarded to Louis Vuitton because eBay wasn't strict enough about policing the sale of counterfeit goods on its site!!!

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-9980445-36.html

edited to correct spelling.

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Posted By: Anthony S.

Does GAI slab purses yet?

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Posted By: Richard Dwyer

Yes, Dick Giddings use to slab those.

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Posted By: Paul

I had assumed that Louis Vuitton had given up on putting a stop to counterfeits. My wife and I get junk emails all the time from websites openly promoting counterfeit Louis Vuittons (and other brands). I assume these emails must be sent to just about everyone, including Louis Vuitton's attorneys. Maybe they just don't bother with anyone smaller than ebay, but you'd think dozens of counterfeiting sites on the web would draw their attention.

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Posted By: davidcycleback

One thing about Louis Vuitton handbags is they can only be bought brand new from a Louis Vuitton store, and the stores are very high end. This no doubt makes it easier to identify illegitimate sales and isolate problem dealers on eBay. You can't find a legitimate brand new, not-a-resale Louis Vuitton handbag on eBay. I believe the same goes for Chanel and Fendi bags.

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Posted By: Richard Dwyer

I hope this is the first of many lawsuits that will ultimately put eBay out of business.

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Posted By: T E

I have a gal in the fashion industry who consigns with me. She is a writer, her stuff appears in Vogue. From time to time, she will give me a new couture item. How does she get them? They are give aways in celebrity goodie bags. $1,500 and up items are given away to get them into celebreties hands. Although my understanding is that the IRS is trying to crack down on this pactice. Also, top designors want their items seen in hi-profile situations (award ceremonie, etc) and will lend or even give their items to people in the industry who attend these events. But you can bet a lot of this swag ends up on ebay.

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Posted By: David Smith

Richard,

eBay does not need to go out of business but they DO NEED to change their business practices.

1) eBay needs to allow honest Feedback. If a buyer or seller rips you off or just sucks in general, the Feedback should be allowed to show this.

2) Hidden ID's and Private auctions should be banned. This only allows for shill bidding and keeps honest buyers and sellers from alerting potential victims of trouble. ACOFIND is a KNOWN seller of reproduction posters and store signs and reprints of Mickey Mantle cards, yet they are a Power Seller who uses these two things to stay in business. This, even though, I and many other people have reported them NUMEROUS times for selling FAKE items.

3) the new management needs to STOP trying to force the company into becoming just an on-line store with fixed prices.

4) eBay needs to allow for at least five pictures to be shown on a listing and those pictures should be free. As it is now, only one picture is free, whereas just a couple of months ago, they allowed up to six free pictures in a listing. They also need to change the selling page back to allow for pictures to be imported from outside sources more easily.

5) As far as graded cards go, only SGC, PSA and maybe Beckett and GAI should be allowed to be auctioned without some type of notice. If cards are in PRO, AAA, NASA or some other third rate or unknown company's holder, then a warning should have to be included in the listing saying that there is a good chance the card/s are altered (if authentic), cut outs from newspapers or magazines or are just flat out fakes or reproductions and that the buyer should be aware and bid accordingly.

Just my two cents,

David

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Posted By: Richard Dwyer

I miss the ability to walk into a local card shop. eBay closed them all down. I agree with what you say about their practices. But don't expect eBay to do anything about it.

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Posted By: Red

What do you hope to find in a couple of local shops? Ebay gives you access to millions of shops and collections all over the world and you don't even have to get dressed.

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Posted By: davidcycleback

Unlike a magazine charging for ads, a flea market charging for space or mall renting store space, the problem for eBay's argument is they don't merely charge for the ability to 'take out an ad' or 'rent space' on eBay, they also take a percentage of the final sale. Meaning, when counterfeits are sold on eBay, eBay is taking a percentage of the take. This percentage of sales makes them different than the other entities, and likely makes them more responsible for guarding against sales of counterfeits. It's harder to argue you have zero responsibilities or duties concerning the sales of counterfeits when your revenue is directly and mathematically derived from it.

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Posted By: David Smith

Richard,

I know and I DON'T expect eBay to improve.

The founders are billionaires and have left the company to pursue other interests. I assume they have sold a LOT of their stock and diversified into other things thus leaving new people to run the company. People who are trying to please the shareholders while also trying to get rich themselves. Actions that don't necessarily mean good things for the company.

Back in the 1990's, I worked for Charles Schwab. Here is a brief history of the company.

Back in the day, Mr. Schwab was a broker for large brokerage company (Merril Lynch, I think). One day, he decided he could do what they were doing but with better customer service and for less. So, he quit and started his own company. His idea was to empower investors and allow them to make their OWN decisions about investing and to NOT have brokers pressure them to make trades.

His idea succeeded and he sold the company to Bank of America for BIG bucks. After a few years, BOA had messed the brokerage up and Mr. Schwab bought the company back for much LESS than what he sold it for. He then repaired the damage and made the company successful again. This time, instead of just selling out, he took the company public. That way, he could STILL retain control.

I was hired in 1995 and became a broker for them in 1996. After a couple of years, Mr. Schwab started to cede daily control of the company over to another guy and then he finally left day-to-day operations so he could pursue other interests.

Once in control, the other guy started making changes and putting new people into high powered management positions. These people started straying from Schwab's vision of what the company should be. They were turning Schwab into Merrill Luynch light. At that time, I saw what was going on and complained but very few listened. My main complaint was, if Schwab was going to become ML light, then WHY shoudln't customers jsut GO to Merrill Lynch?

After the tech bubble burst in 1999, Schwab stock started to tank. This was because the daily trading volume dropped, meaning less commissionable trades were being placed AND because of the POOR decisions the new guy and his management team had made.

Because of the CONSTANT changes (I had three different schedules and SIX different managers in six quarters), I quit the company in 2001.

Sometime after that, I read where Mr. Schwab came BACK to the company, fired the new guy and his management staff and took back daily control of the company. He then set about putting his rules back in place and getting the company back to his vision of doing things. I heard that part of the reason he did this was because his namesake was being ruined again and ALSO because the stock price had dropped by two thirds. So, even though Mr. Schwab was still a billionaire, he was worth far less than what he was when he turned control of the company over to the new guy.

So, for me, if eBay EVER wants to be a really good company again, the founders are going to HAVE to come back and take control.

Sorry for the looong post,

David

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Posted By: Richard Dwyer

The main reason why I posted this was that eBay lost the suit to the tune of 61 million. Hopefully, it's enough to make eBay do something about all the fraud that is currently on eBay with their present policies. If not, I'd like to see someone else enter the auction market with better policies.