this is another in the Shame on eBay category…
eBay has become one of the main sources of counterfeit items, according to a story in today’s Wall Street Journal (D1 Personal section).

Wall Street Journal super-sleuth Loretta Chao buys five items on eBay: a Fendi Spy handbag, a Burberry cashmere scarf, Tiffany Elsa Peretti teardrop earrings, a Gucci Eclipse French flap wallet, and a Chloe Paddington handbag. turns out that the first four items were fakes. the last one (the Chloe Paddington) was unclear whether it was real or fake.

the article points out that eBay is not doing enough to stop sellers of counterfeit merchandise.

and counterfeiters are everywhere. but at least on the streets of NYC, most customers realize the stuff is fake. on eBay, “reputable” sellers are claiming their stuff is real. and as Loretta Chao found out, some of these sellers are allowed to continue selling even after it is discovered that they sold fakes.

of course, none of this is new. in 2004, Tiffany sued eBay over sales of fake goods. Tiffany bought 186 pieces of “Tiffany” jewelry on eBay and found that only 5% of them were real … the rest were fakes.

so while eBay says buyer beware and caveat emptor, the consumer suffers in the end. reputation is more than lip service. it is about promoting a world where it is more profitable to be ethical and a big negative to being a fraudster.