i dont know anything about laws and what not and i didnt read any of the decision in this case.

it isnt hard for rights owners to get items removed from ebay and the user selling them suspended. it really wouldnt be hard for louis to get one person looking at auctions on ebay and removing the ones that violate a copyright. a search for "diesel jeans" comes back with 2,303 auctions. divide that by 7 and you get like 325 new listings a day on average. that would be a pretty easy load for just one person to go over. i dont understand why more brands arent actively protecting their interests online.

i would also assume ebay is a really small part of the overall problem with fakes. i mean if youre buying a fake vuitton on ebay youre getting hella ripped off. you could get the same thing from one of a thousand other places for a lot less both online and in stores.

i would agree it is impossible for ebay to keep track of all issues concerning its members and what they do. counterfeits are probably a small part of the overall problem of fraudulent activity, in my own opinion (imo) im not sure i would hold ebay accountable for what the users on its site do just as i think its impossible to hold anyone other than the person responsible accountable for their actions if that makes any sense.

anyway its late and im rambling again as usual. vuitton and other brands that have a problem with counterfeits need to deal with the problem and im not sure an ebay lawsuit is the best way to do it.

I don't think it is counterfeits that are driving down prices. It's loss of interest, the economy, and amazing retail sales that bring the retail prices down. I am learning that I can get better prices from retail stores and their clearance prices. Ebay prices are overinflated lately, and the product and customer service is generally inferior.

NFJ - I agree with you completely.

^ it's both.

I still don't think it is ebay's responsibility, as much as I would like it to be. If "honest sellers" expect them to take responsibility for it, you should also expect to pay for the service.

When there is a kiosk selling counterfeits in a mall....do we fine the malls for allowing the store to open there? NO.

Although I support the idea of taking action to decrease/eliminate fakes on eBay, this is clearly an effort by LVMH to remove competition and require those in search of authentic goods to purchase from their retail locations. It's pretty thinly veiled, given their main brand, Louis Vuitton, doesn't go on sale. Of COURSE they hate it people are getting their products for less!

I do think, however, that eBay should maintain some kind of responsibility. If they're going to profit off the defamation/dilution of value/intellectual theft of a trademark, they need to do something better than the abysmal job they're doing now.

So really, I think they're both right although selfish reasons prevented either of them from acting properly. eBay should work WITH groups like LVMH to remove fakes.

Companies like LV shouldn't have to help police other market places. The market places should police themselves. If they cannot do this then they should not be selling the brands/products that they do not know how to police .... or they should only have sellers they know are legit selling there. The seller and the venue are both at fault here. The venue should know what its sellers are selling and make sure it is legit. Sellers should also know the products they are selling and make sure they are legit.

A venue can and should police its self. It might cost a bit out of their pocket but that is the cost of doing business.

I am not really referring to the current market ... and I am still making approx the same sales I was making 5 months ago and more then I was a year ago at this time when I consider different factors of my business.

I don't doubt that the economy is causing some sales to slump. Loss of interest I doubt ... plenty of people are still buying stuff. Amazing retail sales ... maybe but like I said my sales are level and better then last year.




I was actually referring to the market in General NOT at any specific time. Counterfeit items will always drive the market price of authentic items down because people who are buying counterfeits at cheap prices would be forced to buy authentic items instead (or they would not buy them at all) but this would drive the market price up. Also people who are do not know the markets and think they can snag a pair of popular and heavily faked Diesel like X-Rotuck 796, Zaf 796 or Zathan 772 for $50 (when they are actually comparing real prices to fake prices) would quickly come to realize that no one is going to sell them a real pair for that low price.

It really just comes down to supply and demand. The counterfeits drive the supply up, people buy the counterfeit either unknowingly or knowingly. This drives the demand down which in turn drives the price down. If there are no counterfeits on the market --- and I would esitimate 70 - 80% of the Diesel on eBay are fake ... then there would be less supply and it would drive the prices up.

That's just my opinion on the matter. I dropped out of college to run my own business ... so what do I know about economics ....

Even if there are no counterfeit goods, the market would produce other similar inferior substitute products. Designer goods are not inelastic goods. People would not have to pay more if only designer goods were available because they do not have to have the product. They could choose to go without the product or they could find a cheaper substitute (even if they were not replicas).

I don't think it's an issue of supply and demand as much as it is how much people are willing to pay for something. Inferior goods come in when consumers aren't willing to pay the price for designer goods. They will always exist. Even if somehow all sophisticated counterfeits were eliminated (not going to happen), there would always be other substitutes. So I think the prices would be essentially the same... perhaps with different inferior product choices.