Online Auction Venues Filled to the Gills with Counterfeit Goods

[mandy]

Buyers winning name brand merchandise on an auction site for a great price may not get the real deal -- and that can be a big deal in terms of costs to the companies, the auction sites and the duped consumers. Anyone buying products with brand names like Microsoft, Gucci, Nike, Canon, Nokia, Louis Vuitton, Gameboy and Disney -- to name just a few -- can end up with counterfeits. Consumers may be lulled into a false sense of security by a seller's high positive ratings, but they can be misleading.

Savvy sellers know how to work the feedback system, and many users avoid leaving negative feedback -- even after having negative experiences -- in fear of retribution that could ruin their own ratings...

"If a seller appears to be offering infringing goods for sale, eBay promptly ends and removes the listing from the site, notifies the seller that the listing has been removed, refunds all fees associated with that listing and reviews the seller's account for possible suspension," said eBay spokesperson Catherine England...

full article: http://ecommercetimes.com/story/X3n8I9JB...oods.xhtml