The Punishment for Selling Fake Items on eBay

 ‘Some You Win and Some You Lose’ and nowhere will you find this ringing louder than on eBay, where, in just the last few days some amazing tales have emerged in the press about big time winners and big time losers.  One in particular represents a stark warning to eBay sellers who don’t check their legal standing on items they buy to resell on eBay.

While our readers would never knowingly sell fakes on eBay, it can sometimes be difficult to spot real from fake and that’s one reason I personally never sell designer label items or big brand name products that I don’t know for certain to be the ‘real thing’.  And in my books buying the ‘real thing’ doesn’t mean buying designer name products at boot sales or flea markets and certainly never from companies you contact mainly by phone – mobile phone!

The big message here is: ‘If something looks to good to be true, it probably is too good to be true!’ and taking chances means risking more than just having your ‘iffy’ products confiscated by Trading Standards.

In fact, just days ago a Tolworth man was ordered to sell his flat and car to pay back money taken from people conned on eBay as part of a £170,000 a year turnover business importing fake designer clothes from India and selling them as genuine on eBay. 

Kingston based Chief Trading Standards Officer, Ted Forsyth, part of the team that brought the case to court said: "This just shows that crime and selling fakes on eBay doesn't pay."

It’s a good idea to insist on receipts specifying authenticity for everything you buy, designer label or not, it just isn’t worth taking risks!

And if you don’t have receipts and you can’t vouch for the authenticity of whatever you buy, don’t buy it at all!