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Looked up Buyers info, odd results, should i ship?
 

Is there anyway to tell if a competitor is purchasing items from your A-mazon store? I find It odd that I listed 2 items, and they sold within 10min, so I used "pipl" to look up this buyer, and i see different links about Lawyers, Intellectual Property,etc. What do you all think I should do?

If its illegal don't ship! Or don't but a return address if you are using a stealth account.

This does not sound like a competitor. It sounds like an undercover buyer. They DO exist. They work for the rights owners.

They buy from you, and if the item is counterfeit, you can expect to hear from their law firm. And since they have proof to win in court, they will sue if you do not settle with them.

You got lucky, finding this out now. Because some are impossible to detect. It couild be someone in New York City, or someone from a tiny town in Arkansas. You usually don't know until you get the demand letter from the law firm, or get served with a summons and complaint.

Well if you are Not sure of your buyers or the authenticity of your products you really should not be selling that item

In your position I would Make 100% Sure the Item is Legit before I Ship it out.

Excuse my ignorance
pipl...?

What if you ship the items, and they are 100% legit(authentic), but you are not an authorized reseller. Can they issue an order to stop selling that product?

Sometimes if find items on ebay for a good price, and resell them on Amazon.

Legally, I don't think they can demand that you not re-sell a legitimate item. They CAN, if the complaint is TRADEMARK infringement, have eBay take it down through tier VERO program, but that is not the same thing as going to court.

However, are you SURE the items purchased on eBay are not counterfeit? If so, then just ship the items.

The FIRST SALE DOCTRINE states that if an item is legitimate and obtained legitimately, then it can be re-sold without fear of violating copyright/trademark law. Otherwise, you could never have a garage sale, or even donate your old clothes to charity.

If you purchase electronics from lets say Best Buy, afterwards, unlock them, and resell for profits, is that fine?

That SHOULD be fine but, to be safe in your position (I don't deal with electronics), include a picture of the receipt in your auction - blacken out the vital info - show to eb ay that this sh*t is real retail goods.

Should help but can never be 100% sure until you try.

That is the other thing with selling this stuf...

If your items are 100% legal and legitimate, but are also favored by counterfeiters, then you could STILL lose an account over it. Remember, eBay/PayPal/Amazon CANNOT know for sure if your items are real or not, since they are not in possession of them. It is the SUSPICION that kills you.

Well put jeffweico - these sites will always err on the side of suspicion in order to avoid POTENTIAL fraud. They will take out a huge round of sellers just to keep image intact for sure.

Before I buy, I ask for the serial number, and SKU, and in some cases call customer support for that brand (electronics) and ask for validation. Usually if the seller refuses to give up the information, I know Im probably dealing with someone with checkered merchandise. I also let them know that I am a seasoned seller, and I will know immediately when I get the item that it is @#$%^&, and I will report them, and open a dispute. Also, I only do this on a buyer account. Dont want them coming after my selling account.

sometimes even sellers selling legit items do not want to give us serial numbers for fear of it being used fraudulently.

I had an inquiry from a potential buyer asking if my item was a knockoff or not. I said that I thouroughly believed all of my items were real and if he had any concerns as to their authenticity that he should perhaps try to find the item from another seller. The Amazon system sent me an email saying that my email to him was undeliverable because his registered el was not valid and his Amazon box was full...huh?
What does that mean?
If he ever orders I will just cancel because his questions make me suspicious and at the very least he seems to be setting up a way to get items for free by disputing