A New Repro... THE COLLECTORS STRIKE BACK

reported - good work.

48 hours ago, an experiment began to see if community members could collectively target and remove the listing for a specific repro item on ebay. By my tally 37 took part on here and on Echo Base – thank you all for taking the time to 'Report Item'...

Disappointingly, the result is that the item listing remains.

The thread also brought up some conjecture about Ebay's policy towards repro, and so today I quizzed Ebay to try and get some clarity. In short, they'll do the sum total of jack and s**t. Here is the dialogue in full:

Very disappointing but unfortunately I think we all had our suspicions that this would be the case, as long as they can make money from it and the owner of the brand/copyright/trademark don't complain to them then they aren't going to do anything.

Someone needs to send a C&D letter on headed paper from a solicitor signed Bob Iger

Wow, I don't know what I'm more amazed at: a clear and concise answer from an eBay customer service rep or the fact that fakes are absolutely 100% allowed unless the copyright holder complains. A very disappointing stance from eBay and I am actually surprised it's that clear cut and condoned. No wonder Orme is having a field day.

There is an answer to this, however. It's one that will MAKE eBay take action because it will cost them money. It's a scaled up version of what Rich did: buy some fake crap, complain to ebay it was poor quality fake crap, or at the very least demand to return it to the business seller and then point out that Royal Mail will NOT allow the posting of fake/counterfeit items under it's terms and conditions. eBay are likely to take the stance that they will refund you whilst not taking the money back from the seller as it's their T&Cs causing the conflict: it's OK to sell this stuff, you must accept refunds but the buyer is unable to return it. Will give this some thought and do some reading.

So basically they're saying someone can list an item as genuine even thought it's fake and then scam people...?

Gotta love ebay! :evil:

Also if a case was opened then how would you get the money back without posting the item back?.. there's no option to get that kind of refund done in an ebay case. And also would ebay allow the refund if the listing stated 'repro'? and you knew it was a repro when you bought it?

What happens if a situation comes up where we (Star Wars) collectors know the item is a fake / repro. And the seller claims it's not to eBay. I think that's why it's a minefield to sort out.
It's because we've all an interest in this it's easy to spot. I look at repros and I am still unsure half the time what to look for. It's only because of the long term collectors knowledge that helps me when I'm stuck.
I can't imagine eBay will start dedicating time to analyzing small plastic weapons to see if they are fake or not. I think it would be really difficult to spot a repro if you don't have a deep interest in the hobby. And that could cause all sorts of problems for eBay.
It's just my opinion I don't know either how to stop them but what you guys have done is a great start.
They are destroying the hobby i know but and I never knew how detailed these things have become until I joined this forum.
You also got the problem of the casual collectors who just want weapons and go for the cheapest option not realising the monster they are feeding.
It really is a shame this is happening but because of the value of these items more and more are now being produced in greater numbers.

i sold copied cds some 10 years ago and got threatened by ebay that my account would be deleted if i continued to so.

And the problem has just got even worse....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Star-Wars-Luke-Jedi-Blue-lightsabre-Weapon-Float-Transparent-/302466585375?hash=item466c69d31f:g:TjcAAOSwJs1ZyQ3N

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Star-Wars-Luke-Bespin-Yellow-lightsabre-Weapon-Float-Transparent-/302466583313?hash=item466c69cb11:g:1d0AAOSwfrxZyQz2

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Star-Wars-Luke-Jedi-Green-lightsabre-Weapon-Float-Transparent-/302466584356?hash=item466c69cf24:g:jCsAAOSw2N1ZyQ1o

I know someone a while back who had an empty petrol lighter removed by ebay because it was apparently 'dangerous'.. not allowing items on ebay that harm their members was their dumb excuse, ( empty lighters these days must be exploding left right and centre ) yet they have no idea how much harm these repros actually cause their members financially. These weapons end up everywhere and sellers start listing them as genuine intentionally or not, then buyers on ebay end up completely out of pocket and all they have to show for it is a shitty fake believing it's real until they come to sell it on. :!:

FYI iv'e just remembered another stupid one he had removed, it was a wallet with a £20 note design on it and ebay removed it under the 'counterfeit currency' policy ( you can't make this **** up ). So they can decide to have a policy to take down whatever they see fit, but for some reason with reproduction vintage toys apparently they're fine to sell.... :x

subzero said:

Jez said:

Reported

Maybe one other way to piss these guys off is to create sock accounts and buy all his ****. Obviously not pay for any of them though :?:

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If ebay caught you doing that through the same IP then they would close any other accounts you have, chances are you'd prob get away with it anyway because ebay are pretty useless, but if they did catch you then, bye bye ebay account!

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You raise 2 good points. The first: be careful. The second, they'll probably not put two and two together.
Mega frustrating though.

Ebay don't care. I gave up on them a while back. We would have more luck petitioning Disney who own the name STAR WARS, if they threatened Ebay I'm sure Ebay might star listening?

Darth Bobby said:

Ebay don't care. I gave up on them a while back. We would have more luck petitioning Disney who own the name STAR WARS, if they threatened Ebay I'm sure Ebay might star listening?

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This could be good, the petition would need to be BIG though from the entire community to make any impact with Disney.

I don't think Disney, or anyone else except us lot, would give two shits about someone defrauding people over a 35 year old facette of their franchise. It's not robbing them of anything.

The tax-man, on the other hand, won't like people coining it in. I think you're onto something there, Sub.

I think this is getting more and more scary. Soon we have to check every parts in a vehicle or in a playset for repro parts. What will be the next repro legs for at-at og at-st, repro jabba the hutt, repro arms on the rancor or the wampa, repro parts on the tie fighters, x-wings, b-wings, y-wings and the bomb can allready be repro on that one. etc. etc. etc. repro arms or legs on loose figures, if I remember correct ev-9d9 can have repro arms and some figures can also today be all repro. This is ****ing crazy.

Maybe the tax office have to go after them :wink:

When do it stop custom YPS comic :shock:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Star-Wars-Vintage-YPS-Heft-510-Issue-Der-Stormtrooper-des-Imperiums-Custom-/122729202480?hash=item1c933b0330:g:AkMAAOSwD5ZZzSRP

Well here are the details if anyone wishes to report these two main repro sellers...

Joanne Lewis,
Saltburn-by-the-Sea,
North Yorkshire
ebay account - joggers78

Paul Gilding,
Saltburn-by-the-Sea,
North Yorkshire
ebay account - paugildin-6

And here is where you report them to, just put in your name as 'Anon' and leave out all the other details about yourself ( if you choose to ), and make sure to put in the ebay username in the box that says *Please provide details of the tax evasion* along with a brief description of them selling on ebay without being registered as a business...

https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/shortforms/form/TEH_IRF

Don't worry that the full contact details aren't there for these sellers, this is enough info for them to work off and they will demand ebay & paypal hand over all their personal info to them so they can investigate. You can bet your last quid that these sellers in private ebay accounts are rogue sellers, as almost all like this are on ebay so what they're doing is wrong anyway, and if the tax man types them into the system and finds out they're fully registered as a business then there's no harm done.

Word of caution, be careful in replying to this post stating that you've reported it as you never know who's watching on here, in case these sellers can find out who you are from looking at your SWFUK account.

It's a worthy idea but sadly ebay don't give a **** :evil:

There is clearly a market for repro items and let's face it the way prices are going people are priced out and repro is perhaps the only way some collectors are going to arm their figures so whilst I can sympathise with this I don't condone repro myself as there are far too many dishonest sellers out there who are only trying to rip people off.

In an ideal world it would be great if all repro items were somehow marked in a way so that they can be clearly identifiable like in the old days when they were made in a different colour. I think one seller on the inserts for a time actually imprinted an 'R' onto the cardboard so it could be identified. Now if only the other suppliers of these newer more realistic repros could follow and brand them with a clear marking to show they are repro.

Personally I think it is way way over the top to be reporting people to the tax man etc, at the end of the day we're not vigilantes we collect plastic toys, the people that buy the repro stuff are as guilty as the seller, no demand no seller, and I'm sure that real collectors are experienced enough not to get caught out, not so experienced collectors can do research and ask for support

If more people are in agreement that it's a bit too much then i'll delete the info.

Just my opinion mate

Lindo said:

Just my opinion mate

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Oh no I respect that mate, i'm just commenting to let everyone else know that if they think it's too much then i'll take the info down, out of respect of it being a community decision.