Taking matters into our own hands

[Bluntrauma]

I don't know if this would be okay, recommended or allowed but I am just about to the end of my rope with all the knock offs getting passed off to innocent Ebayers thinking they are getting a Spyderco knife.

I just went through a file I keep on my PC where I send copies of reports of fake listings to Ebay and out of curiosity this morning I counted them. I have reported 97 listings for fake Spyderco knives over the years.

In that time, I have not once seen one of these listings end early. It seems that Sal's hands are tied in dealing with most of these thieves so I had an idea I thought I would float along and see what others thought.

What if I started a thread in their discussion area letting them know that fakes abound and ask that they can contact me or come to the site and educate themselves if they wonder about the authenticity of a knife they are bidding on.

Hell, I don't even know how much traffic those discussion boards get, it was just a thought. Sometimes you have to have an uprising (peacefully) to get things done and information is power. Maybe other members here could involve themself in the thread as well.

This may be a dumb idea but I am just sick and tired of seeing Ebay be unwilling or unable to do anything about it. I even thought about contacting Ebay and asking if they would like someone to trouble shoot listings for obvious fakes.

So what do you guys think? Is there something we can do other than sit back and get pissed off watching Sal & Co get crapped on by these fakes?

Bluntrauma

[The Deacon]

Well, I'm doing a hair better than you, I may have had a hand in getting one pulled out of I don't know how many reported. However, that was a special case, as I will explain later.

For most listings the problem is that eBay has a policy that only intellectual property "rights owners" who have registered with their VeRO (verified rights owner) program can report violations of those rights. That policy is not entirely unreasonable, unscrupulous sellers in some fields have been know to report competitors listings of legitimate merchandise as fake, just to get their auctions pulled.

Problem here is that, for whatever reason, Spyderco has never registered with the VeRO program, so they can't report and "our" IP rights are not being infringed, so we cannot register and report for them. Whether the VeRO program is even marginally effective is another question, but you can't fairly put the blame on eBay unless Spyderco has registered and reported, and eBay failed to act.

As for my one "success", it was a fake Spyderfly, which I'm sure was pulled because it was a balisong, not because it was a fake.

[rycen]

I have had better luck contacting the seller directly than reporting through eBay.

[Creepo]

I have had better luck contacting the seller directly than reporting through eBay.

Though this works only if the seller really thinks he's selling a genuine Spyderco. On the other hand it's of no use if it's just some a**hat selling a fake knowing it's a fake just trying to make a profit by knowingly scamming people out of their money. :mad:

[Bluntrauma]

I have done both and usually get shot at with both barrels when asking them nicely if they know the knife they are selling is a fake. When I am that nice and they are that rude, I can only assume they know exactly what they have.

Deacon thanks for the additional information I did not know that. Come to think of it, I did get 2 listings pulled but they weren't for fakes but 1 auto and one flipper.

And to be clear, I understand that Ebay probably receives 100's of emails a day so while I don't like seeing a fake listing go to the end, I'm sure they have a lot to handle on a day to day basis.

That still leaves a problem that is unacceptable to me on so many levels that I cannot begin to tell you. Probably none of my business but I can't quit being bothered by it.

I have often thought how nice it would be to have a forum just for identifying fakes. It could have a Spyderco section, Benchmade, Buck, etc... with pictures and information and would have a mod in each section with enough knowledge of each model to help people before they ultimately get taken to the cleaners.

Maybe I am just making too much of it but when I think of the years of imagination, sweat and love that go into the design of one of these knives it just burns my ass off to see these cheap pieces of junk donning the :spyder:

There has to be something that we could do individually or as a community.

{steps off of soapbox}

[Bluntrauma]

Additionally, it would be good if we still had the ability to contact the bidder. I would probably have to quit my day job though. :eek: :D

[Sequimite]

Recently I've seen several pulled after I reported them. Don't know if it's a trend or a coincidence.

[Bluntrauma]

Recently I've seen several pulled after I reported them. Don't know if it's a trend or a coincidence.

Good to know. You are having better luck than I am. Everytime I report one I save it in my watched items to see what happens. I even write down when it should end so I can see if Ebay caused the listing to end early.

[TazKristi]

Problem here is that, for whatever reason, Spyderco has never registered with the VeRO program, so they can't report and "our" IP rights are not being infringed, so we cannot register and report for them. Whether the VeRO program is even marginally effective is another question, but you can't fairly put the blame on eBay unless Spyderco has registered and reported, and eBay failed to act.

Paul,
I know we have something arranged with Ebay, but I don't know that it is the VeRO program (not quite my area). I'll check next week and see if it is the VeRO program.

Kristi

[TazKristi]

Take a look here for a more detailed reply... http://spyderco.com/forums/showthread.php?p=625751#post625751 ;)