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Important Announcement: Auctiva Has Been Acquired By Alibaba.com

A auctivatonymAuctiva Product Manager
Hello Community,

This post repeats the post just made in the 'News' Forum.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Today we are pleased to announce that Auctiva has been acquired by Alibaba.com!

Alibaba.com is the world's leading e-commerce company for small business. The acquisition of Auctiva by Alibaba.com will give Auctiva users access to millions of products available on AliExpress.com, Alibaba.com's wholesale transaction platform. Together Auctiva and Alibaba.com will enable Auctiva sellers to research, source and sell all within the Auctiva platform.

The eBay landscape and the greater world of e-commerce are rapidly changing. Alibaba.com is well positioned to thrive in this fluctuating market, and we're happy to be joining forces with them. Becoming part of the Alibaba.com family enables us to now meet these challenges aided by Alibaba.com's resources, expertise and focus.

The staff and management team of Auctiva will be continuing unchanged at our existing Chico, California and other locations.

You can read FAQs about this announcement here. Also, you can view the official Press Release here.

As always, thank you for your continued use and support of Auctiva.
Auctiva Tony M. Sr. Product Manager, Auctiva.com
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

E ebWhiz
After eBay has choked Auctiva the past few years, I guess Auctiva's ownership had nowhere else to turn but to sell out or fold.

It's not coincidental, I bet, that eBay announced it's cutting off third party checkout within a year. Bye bye Auctiva checkout, never found much use for it anyway.

Watch in the months ahead for eBay to try to apply further choke holds to cut Auctiva off now it's under hostile ownership of a competitor.

Watch for the floodgates to open up via Auctiva for a wave of further cheap junk crashing upon eBay shores while the gates remain open, further marginalizing collectibles sellers on Auctiva.

Place your bets on when Alibaba makes a hostile play for eBay ownership. How long till that happens???

Probably time to start looking around for another image hosting & listing service. I really don't want to ever go back to turbolister! But I don't see Auctiva being a plaform for me for too much longer.
L lisahandbags4hungercomMember
I am beyond blown away. I think we are all asking ourselves first, "What does this mean to me personally? How does this affect how I currently use Auctiva? Will this help me or hurt me?

Also, did Auctiva want this to happen or was it a takeover? Why would they want to sell to Alibaba? Are they going to combine their offerings with Vendio, since Alibaba now owns both? Auctiva was a competitor to Vendio and now they will be sharing data. Will this be a good thing? Maybe this will be eBay's worst nightmare as this union of 3 companies is positioned to further help eBay sellers but ultimately could they also strengthen the growing legions of sellers who have left eBay to sell elsewhere?

Are they now going to list items from Alibaba for sale on Elefy? Will this dilute our own listings? How will we compete?

It's all a bit much to sort out. Eek
A auctivatonymAuctiva Product Manager
Please do read the FAQ page as it answers almost all of the questions you are posting here.

Also, please read the email from our CEO Jeff Schlicht that we are sending you, as it gives his personal perspective on our being acquired by Alibaba.com. Jeff is very positive by the way. UPDATE: We've got CEO Jeff's take on the acquisition now written up on our EDU page.

Lastly, in reference to Lisa@Handbags4hunger.com's last question, we are not going to compete with Auctiva sellers; we plan to enable Sellers with tools that let you sell more listings and make more money, just as we always have. You do the selling, we provide the tools. Now we can add additional value for you because we will help you find new and profitable products to sell, which is what 'sourcing' is all about.
Last edited by auctivatonym
L lisahandbags4hungercomMember
The designer handbags Alibaba offers are in large part replicas and therefore I can't source from them, as Handbags4Hunger as a strict "no replicas" policy.

In the spirit of cooperation however I am sure there are items they offer that are fine for other sellers to source and I welcome the new partnership.

If anyone knows of any authentic designer products they offer I'd love to hear about it. In the meantime I guess it's always possible for me to consider a second store in a different niche.

My other concern is the payment system. I have read less than good experiences with the AliPay system and read that PayPal is working to get approved in it's place. I would caution my fellow store owners to do their homework before buying anything from a new supplier and make sure you aren't using Western Union off the Aliexpress platform. I'm not trying to cast doubt here but anyone can Google what I'm saying and I would hate to see my friends get taken advantage of. As it stands now the Alipay system says it offers buyer protection but I have read it is fraught with issues.

I don't want to paint with too broad a brush, so will just say do your homework. And welcome to the new owners.
A auctivatonymAuctiva Product Manager
quote:
Originally posted by Lisa @ Handbags4Hunger.com:...My other concern is the payment system. I have read less than good experiences with the AliPay system and read that PayPal is working to get approved in it's place. I would caution my fellow store owners to do their homework before buying anything from a new supplier and make sure you aren't using Western Union off the Aliexpress platform. I'm not trying to cast doubt here but anyone can Google what I'm saying and I would hate to see my friends get taken advantage of. As it stands now the Alipay system says it offers buyer protection but I have read it is fraught with issues.

I don't want to paint with too broad a brush, so will just say do your homework. And welcome to the new owners.
AliExpress won't always be best sourcing choice for items in every single category especially since it is relatively new. But in the coming months, it will grow and expand and this will provide attractive opportunities for sourcing to many Auctiva sellers. And, as our EDU story says "Auctiva customers will have access to exclusive discounts, promotions and coupons to shop on the sourcing platform."

Regarding payments, several of our staff acting as individuals purchased items from AliExpress in the run-up to the acquisition, and none of us had any bad experiences with payments. That is a small sample to be sure, but our experience was good.
Last edited by auctivatonym
E ebWhiz
This "sourcing" is not much use to collectible/antique sellers unless they specialize in Asian artifacts or to those who sell original or authentic name brand items in the "new" market.

Do I just wait until a Chinese supplier of "vintage" US, European postcards comes along. How quickly can they print them off and in what quantities?

Not sure I'd put much weight on what Auctiva Jeff has to say about the deal. Presumably as a major owner that just benefited financially from the deal, he's a bit too close to the transaction to have much credibility with the existing membership here. Will look for commentary of third party observers instead, thank you.
A anacyclusMember
That's all very well Tony, but Ali Express is only one part of Ali Baba. I have been trawling their site for a few years now and have had successful trading with some companies - it is certainly very useful for sourcing producs. But 2 companies ripped me off - one sent fake goods, the other disappeared with my money. (Not much, but enough!) I wrote to Ali Baba several times but they ignored my emails. There seems to be no recourse when things go wrong or any system for making a complaint. Both companies who conned me are still openly advertising on Ali Baba now.

Only the AliExpress part of the business is covered by their Alipay (escrow) system, the rest is not, and believe me, it is a bottomless pit for the unwary. Ali Baba will have to up their game considerably and find some way of regulating the suppliers who advertise on their site or I fear a lot of Auctiva users will just lose money. And if they accessed these new sources via Auctiva, who do you think they are going to complain to?

There is also the issue of counterfeit goods. Ali Baba is full of companies openly selling fake designer merchandise. Ali Baba clearly have no problem with this. I can't see eBay liking it when their site is flooded with even more fakes than it is already.

I'm also not convinced they won't merge Auctiva with Vendio - it makes no sense not to...

If Auctiva falls into the same management style as Ali Baba, heaven help us all. As far as I can see they are interested in one thing only - making as much money as possible. They care about the people who use their site even less than eBay and Paypal do. (And that's saying something.)

This is a very bad day for Auctiva users.

Frown

Jane
Silk Dreams Lingerie
A auctivatonymAuctiva Product Manager
Hopefully, everyone does understand that sourcing is an option that we will be making available to our sellers.

We are still the same Auctiva site that you have been using; that has not changed, and our fees are not changing. Yes, we will be adding a sourcing tab that will give you access to AliExpress.com through our site. Yes, there will be some attractive and exclusive buying opportunities that you can avail yourself of.

But it's your business and your choice as to whether you choose to source your items in that manner.

If you like and are using Auctiva's features and capabilities, there is absolutely no reason to change providers, which if you do any volume of listing at all is time consuming and expensive to do. We will continue to improve the Auctiva site, adding new features and providing excellent selling tools at reasonable fees to sellers both on and off-eBay.
michellegmichellegMember
Tony,

My phone was ringing early this morning from customers with the news of the buy-out. From their perspectives there was concern over whether or not the new ownership would cause our prices to go up (even though we were promised that it would not.) And yes it is a lot of work to open another store and work with putting in products and SEO issues.

Know that despite the FAQs and the email from Auctiva about the change there is a great deal more unrest from your users that what I have seen posted here today.

I have had great confidence in Auctiva to move forward towards bringing us a good product in Auctiva Commerce. I want to believe that I still can hold on to that belief as it has been a long ride since last January.

Having worked in the corporate world I have seen buy outs where the companies were allowed to remain autonomous. On other occasions they were blood baths.

Perhaps the buy out provides you with a new source of capital. I hope that you use it to more quickly and efficiently get our updates to us. AucCom 2.4.0 when fixed and released will provide great things. But there is still a lot more work to do.

And then there is the whole China thing. I am not even going to go there.
B bmsiskoMember
Great News! - For the CEO, CFO, and all the other "O's" who have a personal investment in Auctiva!

Unfortunately, this is just another example of the selling of America to the "Global Economy"

Imagine selling your business to a company whose government controls every action of their citizenry - and uses deceptive economic tactics to ensure its own growth. How much influence do the socialist mandarins of Beijing have upon the puppets of Alibaba?

I have been subscribing to Auctiva for two years - looks like it's time to go back to clunky Turbolister. Too bad. Sometimes principles have to take precedence over time and money.

I guess I'm just a dinosaur. One day we'll all be extinct.
A auctivatonymAuctiva Product Manager
In addition to the email we sent everyone, there is an interview with CEO Jeff Schlicht that is posted on our EDU pages. You can read it by clicking here. Jeff's email, the FAQ's you can find here give a complete rundown on the acquisition.

Additionally, you can find more information about our new parent company, Alibaba.com here. It is worth noting that Alibaba.com is a publicly traded company, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. United States based Yahoo! is a major stockholder in Alibaba.com, and Yahoo's CEO is a member of Alibaba's Board of Directors. You can read about that strategic relationship here.
W wizardofozMember
Good God people! Get a grip!
Just because Auctiva was sold doesn't mean that we're all going to have to start speaking Chinese or using chopsticks to eat! From what I've read, it also doesn't mean that we'll be forced to buy products from alibaba's site!

Fact: Chinese-made products already flood the marketplace in the US, not only on ebay, but amazon.com, overstock.com, bonanzle, the shelves of your local department store, etc. So this purchase isn't going to suddenly release a tidal wave of Made in China products, now will it? Open your eyes: it already exists.

To me, this feels like a small part of something much, much bigger in the future. It's comforting to know that the biggest and most successful ecommerce company in the world has taken the helm. They obviously know how to take a small company and turn it into something HUGE. Why is that a bad thing?

Frankly, I'm tired of ebay taking my profits (aren't we ALL?), and if this helps me get off their site entirely and have my own successful business, then bring it on!
F fancynancy22Member
I think this is a sign of something much bigger than merchant sourcing. The US is in debt up to it's collective eyeballs to China. China effectively owns the US, if not now, it won't be long in coming. What happens if the economy continues to sink and the US can't make it's loan payments? Can anyone say "Foreclosure?" If something doesn't change, we could all be "speaking Chinese and using chopsticks to eat."

You think things are bad now, wait until we are under a Chinese government!
B bmsiskoMember
If you'd rather not give your profits to ebay, but to the Chinese, to lend back to us, that's your choice.

As far as already doing business with China - well, if you have an open wound, do you stitch it and try to stop the bleeding or expand the cut and bleed to death?

quote:
Originally posted by wizard_of_oz:
Good God people! Get a grip!
Just because Auctiva was sold doesn't mean that we're all going to have to start speaking Chinese or using chopsticks to eat! From what I've read, it also doesn't mean that we'll be forced to buy products from alibaba's site!

Fact: Chinese-made products already flood the marketplace in the US, not only on ebay, but amazon.com, overstock.com, bonanzle, the shelves of your local department store, etc. So this purchase isn't going to suddenly release a tidal wave of Made in China products, now will it? Open your eyes: it already exists.

To me, this feels like a small part of something much, much bigger in the future. It's comforting to know that the biggest and most successful ecommerce company in the world has taken the helm. They obviously know how to take a small company and turn it into something HUGE. Why is that a bad thing?

Frankly, I'm tired of ebay taking my profits (aren't we ALL?), and if this helps me get off their site entirely and have my own successful business, then bring it on!
A auctivatonymAuctiva Product Manager
I'm going to try to bring this thread back on topic again (as the size of US debt and who owns it etc. etc. are just simply not on topic) so I'm going to quote from CEO Jeff's email we sent everyone:

Auctiva remains focused on expanding and improving its suite of seller tools, including helping you identify and source great products to resell on eBay, other online marketplaces, your Auctiva Commerce Store and other channels. Auctiva and Alibaba.com share a common belief that the Internet and well-crafted software can—and should—be used to enable people to easily do business. Both companies also have a particular focus on small to mid-sized merchants and making online commerce accessible to, and more profitable for, everyone. With the synergies that exist between the two companies, I'm confident that we'll be able to greatly improve the value we deliver to users like you in the months and years ahead.

Alibaba.com has thousands of suppliers eager to break into other global markets. We've been piloting a sourcing integration with the company's AliExpress and a small subset of Auctiva users over the past couple of months.

Very soon, this opportunity will be made available to all users in the form of a new Sourcing tab within your Auctiva account. Adding to the already tremendous value of this opportunity is a number of exclusive deals, coupons, discounts, services and more that will be offered only to Auctiva users . These will be accessible through the new Sourcing tab, so be sure to check that page of your account often to ensure you don't miss out.

The opportunity that Jeff is describing is an opportunity to make a profit by buying merchandise thru AliExpress/Alibaba (with additional exclusive discounts and 'deals' for Auctiva users to lower your costs) and then markup and then resell that merchandise on eBay or Auctiva Commerce or some other venue for a profit...a profit that you keep...it doesn't go back to anybody other than yourself. That profit that you make goes in your pocket.

No, Americana prints, antiques, collectibles, and many other one-of-a-kind items probably won't sourceable from AliExpress or Alibaba.com. But the fact that not all categories will have sourcing opportunities doesn't make the underlying business concept of sourcing untrue or unworkable. Not at all.

Take this example from real life: a couple of American kids graduated from college but couldn't find jobs, so they thought they would try starting a small business. They wanted to make bicycles, but you can't make a bicycle in this country that you can resell for prices college students (their target market) could afford.

Alibaba.com hooked them up with a small manufacturer in China who made them bicycles to their specification at prices low enough that these two young guys could markup the bikes--good quality bikes too--enough to make a profit while selling at prices low enough to appeal to college kids who are on a tight budget. It was a win/win; these two young guys with no jobs make money selling a product they are proud of, and their college kid customers get a good product.

That's what Auctiva as part of Alibaba.com is going to do; we are going provide great selling tools just like we always have, AND we are going to provide sourcing opportunities to buy products which can then be resold at a profit.

Unless you are just cleaning out your attic or garage, profit is the reason to be doing e-commerce selling isn't it?
A auctivatonymAuctiva Product Manager
In CEO Jeff Schlicht's words:

"I'll be staying on as CEO of Auctiva. I'm as excited about leading the company through this next stage in its evolution as I am thrilled about the opportunities this deal will mean for Auctiva users. In fact, the Auctiva management team is among the highly valued elements of this acquisition, and Alibaba.com is committed to keeping it intact.

Likewise, our staff, locations, dedication and commitment to our users remain unchanged. You will continue to access Auctiva services, including other sites like Auctiva Commerce and KickItBack, as you do currently. Our phone numbers, e-mail addresses, online customer support, etc. remain the same. Our friendly, knowledgeable and prompt Customer Service team is also unchanged..."
L lisahandbags4hungercomMember
In the spirit of the old saying, "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade" I offer this:

From what I've read thus far, Mr. Jack Ma, the founder and CEO of Alibaba, is a very hardworking and well-respected businessman.

Alibaba and Ma's consumer-auction website, Taobao.com, did so well that
in 2006, eBay shut down its own site in China.

Now if this guy is smart enough beat eBay at their own game, I want him on my team. And if you read the links, he's got a pretty impressive life story. In 2010 he began committing hundreds of millions for environmental issues , and he's big on philanthropy too.
Last edited by lisahandbags4hungercom
O oceansideblueMember
PLEASE READ.....Alibaba.com has some of the biggest thieves on it that I have ever seen...make sure you do you Due Diligence before buying from anyone on that site… I lost over 20,000.00 in 2007 when trying to buy from sellers on that site that claimed to be companies, but in truth they were trade people just waiting to steal from people in the US and PayPal helps them do it!!!
PLEASE…be very careful & only buy from there if they offer the escrow service or you may lose lots of money!!
O oceansideblueMember
Hi Lisa,

You’re right on the mark about the handbags and all of the designer apparel that is coming out of China. I am someone who lost over $20,000.00 in 2007 when trying to buy from some sellers on Alibaba.com....what a nightmare it was!!
It seems like EBay & PayPal are helping these thieves mislead the public by processing their sales. After losing all of my money to people in China I started watching eBay and to date I have over 900 names of eBay sellers and about 30 links to trade people from China that are selling replicas out of China, but are claiming they are 100% authentic. As someone who has an account with Ed Hardy I can't even sell half of what I stock due to all of the replicas being sold on eBay & PayPal are processing all of the transactions...I just don't know how they can get away with this or how I can compete with this anymore!!!

Good Luck,
Kathy


quote:
Originally posted by Lisa @ Handbags4Hunger.com:
The designer handbags Alibaba offers are in large part replicas and therefore I can't source from them, as Handbags4Hunger as a strict "no replicas" policy.

In the spirit of cooperation however I am sure there are items they offer that are fine for other sellers to source and I welcome the new partnership.

If anyone knows of any authentic designer products they offer I'd love to hear about it. In the meantime I guess it's always possible for me to consider a second store in a different niche.

My other concern is the payment system. I have read less than good experiences with the AliPay system and read that PayPal is working to get approved in it's place. I would caution my fellow store owners to do their homework before buying anything from a new supplier and make sure you aren't using Western Union off the Aliexpress platform. I'm not trying to cast doubt here but anyone can Google what I'm saying and I would hate to see my friends get taken advantage of. As it stands now the Alipay system says it offers buyer protection but I have read it is fraught with issues.

I don't want to paint with too broad a brush, so will just say do your homework. And welcome to the new owners.
A auctivatonymAuctiva Product Manager
Oceanside Blue,

Your advice about doing due diligence before 'pulling the trigger' on a purchase when buying to resell is spot on. I would point out that sellers should do that regardless of whether they are buying from Alibaba.com or some other source. It's just good business practice. Sourcing from overseas vendors can be very profitable, but one must do your homework as you correctly point out.

AliExpress does offer escrow service like you mention.

I don't mean to minimize the problem you report that you experienced in any way, but you indicate that it occurred in 2007 which is three years ago.

A lot has changed since then, and in all fairness, Alibaba.com is constantly making improvements on their sites and have made great strides in reducing the incidence of fraud among their sellers, and are continuing to work diligently work to stamp out fraud as much as possible.
O oceansideblueMember
quote:
Originally posted by Lisa @
Hi Lisa,

Thank you for the link you provided...it's great to see that the government is getting involved. I am in the process of opening a small boutique in my home town in Southern New England… I am an authorized dealer for Ed Hardy apparel and jewelry, but there are over 6 stores in my city alone selling Ed Hardy & dozens of other counterfeit items and the people running these stores are quite scary...I know firsthand because they have made threats towards me after I spoke out at a town meeting & the local police dept. doesn't even seem to care. The Ed Hardy Co. will be sending their investigators here to take care of this problem by removing all of the counterfeit items from their stores. I left eBay because of what was going on there and know it looks like I might have to leave my own home town and take my business elsewhere...this has been very stressful while trying to build a small family business and following all of the rules in life!
I love your business concept…I too help families in need with some of my profits through my own private charity. Keep up the great work!!

Kathy

Handbags4Hunger.com:
Hi Kathy! I can totally relate to what you're saying....I thought it was hopeless for a while too, but take heart at this: Our government is cracking down on replica's - there was just a big news story about how they cracked down on a huge ring on the West Coast.



Here it is: http://www.washingtonpost.com/...AR2010080304739.html
A anacyclusMember
Despite a couple of bad transactions, I happily trade with a couple of great companies in China, originally sourced through Ali Baba. To protect myself, I have paid through Paypal and on one occasion, they got my money back with no problem at all. I should point out though, that this was a couple of years ago and Paypal have now changed their user agreement covering companies in China and elsewhere, so if the same thing happened now, I would NOT have been covered...

(AliExpress is slightly different as it uses the Alipay escrow service, but I suggest you take a look at some of the offers on there. AB encourage companies to offer free shipping, so to get round this, sellers increase their unit cost to cover the shipping. As we all know - shipping is NOT free!)

However, I am also concerned about the counterfeit business. Several points come to mind: firstly, Ali Baba is choc-full of companies openly selling fake designer goods. Why don't they crack down on this? Secondly, eBay don't allow the sale of fakes (supposedly) so how will they feel about Ali Baba's acquisition of Auctiva, bearing in mind this will open the floodgates for more sellers to easily source fake goods? Let's hope they don't end their agreement with Auctiva because of it - where would that leave us all?

Thirdly - and this is a constant mystery to me: if you and I can easily find fake stuff on eBay, why don't eBay ban the sellers? Whenever I have reported such things to them, the listings have remained in place and the sellers continue to sell. I can only believe (being a cynic) that eBay make too much money from these sellers to care all that much... On the other hand, if the designer companies are so concerned, a simple daily search for their own goods would bring up lots of fakes. If they spent a few weeks reporting all these to eBay (and getting them removed) it would improve the situation considerably. I realise that unscrupulous companies will just set up new IDs and continue selling (something else eBay does nothing about...) but if they were continually removed it would surely discourage a lot of them.

None of this would be difficult to do, and considering the ease with which eBay have removed a couple of my listings in the past, (for reasons they later admitted were mistaken!) it makes me wonder what their VERO department staff do all day...

Fakes abound on eBay. Fakes are easily sourced through Ali Baba. Maybe we should all start selling dodgy Uggs, Ed Hardy, Prada bags, Pandora bracelets, Nike trainers, etc etc etc. Until Ali Baba start removing the companies selling counterfeit goods from their site, I will continue to believe that they really don't give a *%#* about it. (After all, they make a lot of money from these companies.)

And now Auctiva has become part of this company - sheesh.

Frown

Jane
Silk Dreams Lingerie
L lookandbuymeMember
I have not contacted ebay about counterfeits but have about other issues. When I write over and over and over and finally call. They say, well, we are experiencing a heavy volume right now. I have been hearing this "heavy volume" so much I want to puke. (excuse me while I go do that - ha). It is not just holidays it is EVERY day they experience this so they just do not answer your question period. For 6 years now they are experiencing this problem.

I know I have had my account blocked several times by them for selling LIZ CLAIBORNE and Sigrid Olsen items they said I had too many listed. I am sorry but their clothing is just not that expensive. After 2 holidays of them just blocking, I am hoping this year they will give me a break. The question was never it they were fake it was too many listed. I specifically asked if they thought it was fake and offered receipts for items to them. They said, oh, no we do not feel they are fake it is quantity. I had 100 total of those listed at the time and they blocked after 100.


One year I was blocked from selling Discount/drug store fragrances (again I offered receipts). .there was no reason for block.

As far as our Govt cracking down, I know they go in and burn, rip items up, etc., occasionally, but they have done that for years and they have soooo many issues started this will probably be at bottom of the bucket compared to many other items. It would take them my lifetime to agree on how to really handle this.

So their reasoning makes no sense at all!
L lisahandbags4hungercomMember
Kathy/Oceanside Blue
I'm so sorry for the troubles you've had with the counterfeiters. Running you off eBay might be a blessing in disguise but running you out of your own home town is entirely different. I would hope you could find a way to stop these people before you are inconvenienced enough to have to move.

Have you thought of opening your own eCommerce store w/Auctiva Commerce? Or do you already have one? Maybe leaving eBay was the push you needed to go on your own.

Thank you for your kind words, and for helping those in need too.
Lisa

quote:
Originally posted by Oceanside Blue:
quote:
Originally posted by Lisa @
Hi Lisa,

Thank you for the link you provided...it's great to see that the government is getting involved. I am in the process of opening a small boutique in my home town in Southern New England… I am an authorized dealer for Ed Hardy apparel and jewelry, but there are over 6 stores in my city alone selling Ed Hardy & dozens of other counterfeit items and the people running these stores are quite scary...I know firsthand because they have made threats towards me after I spoke out at a town meeting & the local police dept. doesn't even seem to care. The Ed Hardy Co. will be sending their investigators here to take care of this problem by removing all of the counterfeit items from their stores. I left eBay because of what was going on there and know it looks like I might have to leave my own home town and take my business elsewhere...this has been very stressful while trying to build a small family business and following all of the rules in life!
I love your business concept…I too help families in need with some of my profits through my own private charity. Keep up the great work!!

Kathy

Handbags4Hunger.com:
Hi Kathy! I can totally relate to what you're saying....I thought it was hopeless for a while too, but take heart at this: Our government is cracking down on replica's - there was just a big news story about how they cracked down on a huge ring on the West Coast.



Here it is: http://www.washingtonpost.com/...AR2010080304739.html
L lisahandbags4hungercomMember
Hi Jane,

I hear you on all points you mentioned. I know Louis Vitton scored a big win against eBay in France to the tune of a $6 million judgment? So I'd like to think eBay is being more proactive about preventing the selling of fakes. Of course like you say they stand to make a ton of money if they "look the other way" and allow the selling to continue.

I am glad to see Coach is cracking down, as the fake stuff looks nothing like the real thing - cheap scrappy looking hardware, funky colors, ugly fabrics - but yet some are still fooled into buying it. I can only hope they continue to go after the big suppliers as once it gets onto eBay there's too many small sellers to catch I would think. Just like when they go after the big drug king-pins, stop the stuff at the source. That's the key.

I just hope Alibaba takes a strong stance against fakes as I won't even consider doing business with them as it stands now. At least not for handbags. Puhlease. If they have some good suppliers of authentic designer goods already, you'd never be able to find them, they are so far outnumbered by the fakes. I'm staying away.
A auctivatonymAuctiva Product Manager
Alibaba DOES remove fraudulent sellers. Removing them is not a one time occurrence; Alibaba does this on an ongoing basis. So does eBay. No marketplace can every get rid of them all, because when you get rid of one, all too often, another pops up to take his/her place. But marketplaces like Alibaba, like eBay, or any other are--have to be--constantly working this issue to remove them.

There are a couple of links on the Alibaba site that have a lot of information about this topic. First, they have a page devoted to safe buying (and selling) located here. This page has a great deal of information on it including topics. I'm not going to list them here, but I encourage everyone interested to read it.

Alibaba also maintains a Trade Disputes Complaints List that you can find here that lists companies that they have received complaints against, the industry that company is in, how many complaints, and what the account status the specific (e.g. active, canceled) is.
O oceansideblueMember
Hi Jane,

Thank you for your post!! eBay and Paypal are making millions of dollars a year off of the sales of replicas and they have no intention of removing such items from their site, nor does Paypal have any intention of stopping processing these sales because their profits are to large... they are a major part of the problem.

Take the HERMES HANDBAGS for example that are selling on eBay...90% of them are fake, they are being made in China and being sold to people in the US for about $200.00 and then being sold on eBay for thousands of dollars and eBay has been contacted by Hermes, but they don't seem to care because they are enjoying the big profits.

As a small boutique owner I called Hermes of Paris to inquire about setting up an with them and their requirements are as follows:

A One Million Dollar Opening Order

Your store must dedicate One Thousand Square Feet to display their latest collection.

A 5 Year Contract

I've contacted eBay about this problem and they did not seemed to be to concerned...after speaking with them I took it a step futher...I went to alibaba.com and within one day found a seller of the Hermes bags & purchased one for $150.00 and paypal processed the transaction...it was then listed on ebay without a problem...my aution was up to $3,500.00 before I stopped it and contacted eBay and still...they didn't seem concerned!!!

What about the buyers that are being mislead...were are their rights??

It's sad, but it's the world we live in now and it just seems to be getting worse. eBay & Paypal does not seem to have a soul!!

Best of luck,

Kathy

quote:
Originally posted by anacyclus:
Despite a couple of bad transactions, I happily trade with a couple of great companies in China, originally sourced through Ali Baba. To protect myself, I have paid through Paypal and on one occasion, they got my money back with no problem at all. I should point out though, that this was a couple of years ago and Paypal have now changed their user agreement covering companies in China and elsewhere, so if the same thing happened now, I would NOT have been covered...

(AliExpress is slightly different as it uses the Alipay escrow service, but I suggest you take a look at some of the offers on there. AB encourage companies to offer free shipping, so to get round this, sellers increase their unit cost to cover the shipping. As we all know - shipping is NOT free!)

However, I am also concerned about the counterfeit business. Several points come to mind: firstly, Ali Baba is choc-full of companies openly selling fake designer goods. Why don't they crack down on this? Secondly, eBay don't allow the sale of fakes (supposedly) so how will they feel about Ali Baba's acquisition of Auctiva, bearing in mind this will open the floodgates for more sellers to easily source fake goods? Let's hope they don't end their agreement with Auctiva because of it - where would that leave us all?

Thirdly - and this is a constant mystery to me: if you and I can easily find fake stuff on eBay, why don't eBay ban the sellers? Whenever I have reported such things to them, the listings have remained in place and the sellers continue to sell. I can only believe (being a cynic) that eBay make too much money from these sellers to care all that much... On the other hand, if the designer companies are so concerned, a simple daily search for their own goods would bring up lots of fakes. If they spent a few weeks reporting all these to eBay (and getting them removed) it would improve the situation considerably. I realise that unscrupulous companies will just set up new IDs and continue selling (something else eBay does nothing about...) but if they were continually removed it would surely discourage a lot of them.

None of this would be difficult to do, and considering the ease with which eBay have removed a couple of my listings in the past, (for reasons they later admitted were mistaken!) it makes me wonder what their VERO department staff do all day...

Fakes abound on eBay. Fakes are easily sourced through Ali Baba. Maybe we should all start selling dodgy Uggs, Ed Hardy, Prada bags, Pandora bracelets, Nike trainers, etc etc etc. Until Ali Baba start removing the companies selling counterfeit goods from their site, I will continue to believe that they really don't give a *%#* about it. (After all, they make a lot of money from these companies.)

And now Auctiva has become part of this company - sheesh.

Frown

Jane
Silk Dreams Lingerie

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