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Have you been warned before getting suspended?
 

I sold Apple iPhone cables on Ebay.de and got my listing pulled down and basically Ebay gave me a slap on the wrist and told me to not do that again. I was new to the e-commerce scene and had I known what I know now, I would probably have been selling these cords on Ebay until now.

The reason Markmonitor reported me (among many other sellers), is that I used the word "Apple" as well as images off Apple.com in my listing. Some sellers got away with selling the exact same product, but they were smart enough not to touch any original Apple picture or use the Apple word in their listings.

Had Markmonitor not reported my listing, Ebay wouldn't have taken any action whatsoever. So basically Ebay will take down a listing only if the rights holder complains. Ebay does not check the listings and doesn't take personal initiatives to fight counterfeits. Their rule is simply, they wait for the trademark's owner to file a complaint and then they take down.


Does the same apply to Amazon? Or does Amazon monitor the listings themselves and take down?


I figured out the way to avoid reports from Markmonitor and I am 100% sure on how to sell and get away this time (many sellers are doing it) and I tested the method myself (on Ebay though).

I want to create an account with Amazon and sell the inventory of lightning cables I have because it will generate a revenue of at least 20k and I am not financially ready to let that inventory go or simply destroy it.


So my 2 main questions are the following:

1. Does Amazon monitor the listings itself? Or do they only take action upon receiving a complaint from the rights owner?

2. Will Amazon suspend an account right away? Or will they at first take down the listing and let go with a warning?



Thanks a lot in advance!

Re: Have you been warned before getting suspended?
 

1. Yes they do and they are much stricter than eBay.

2. Depends on the infraction but most likely they will warn you first before suspension.

Re: Have you been warned before getting suspended?
 

What they will do is remove your listing and ask you for invoices. The invoices they will want will have to show that you purchased the item directly from Apple. Apple does not allow items to be sold online as new unless they are purchased directly from Apple. They might suspend the account right away and they might not. I would not sell that product with the Apple name on it on any stealth account that you want to keep for a long time.

Re: Have you been warned before getting suspended?
 

I want to sell these cables as generic cables on Amazon. For example, the listing title will be something like this:


2 Charging cables for iPhone 6 6s iPhone 5 5s iPhone 7 iPhone X iPhone 8 Plus


And you know the specification under the titling where it says for example:

By Apple - By Samsung ...etc

In my listing it will be:

By X-Company (Not Apple, rather the name of the company from which I bought the cable. It's a Chinese factory name).



So nothing in my listing will indicate that the cables were made by Apple at all (No photos from Apple.com, no usage of the word Apple in neither the title or the item description).


I think this way one could only argue that I am infringing on Apple design rights because the cables look identical to the ones made by Apple. However I am yet to read about a report filed by Markmonitor or Apple itself based on that ground!



The structure of my listing will be very similar to this listing (Warning: Amazon.com link):


https://www.amazon.com/Xcords-Charge...s=iphone+cable



I have not yet created a stealth account with Amazon.de, but will do in the coming days. It will not be a stealth account though, it will be registered with my real information.


What do you think? Will this listing go smoothly?

Re: Have you been warned before getting suspended?
 

If you are a new seller and sell ⊗⊗⊗⊗ stuff OR stuff that might be ⊗⊗⊗⊗ then you won't get a warning, you'll be kicked off right away.

On ebay you might last a few month, on amazon maybe 2 weeks, 3 if you are lucky.

You need to age the account and sell some other stuff first (maybe in the same category), then you may have a decent chance to get away.

Re: Have you been warned before getting suspended?
 

How could the cables be ⊗⊗⊗⊗ when they're passed as XCords cables for instance?


If the title reads like:


XCords Charging cable for iPhone X iPhone 6 iPhone 7

By XCords


Nothing from the Apple marketing box (i.e: pictures off Apple.com - the brand word Apple) will be used.

So the customer will know he is buying XCords cables that look alike Apple cables.

If it's about infringing on Apple design, then every single seller on Amazon ,who is selling compatible cables for the iPhone, would be infringing on Apple design rights. According to Apple, nobody is allowed to make an 8-pin lightning cable except Apple itself. You see how all the cables being sold on Amazon or elsewhere having forged the 8-pin technology and no one is complaining.


If you take a look at the Amazon listing I listed above, you will see what I mean. That listing is up since June/2017 and never got reported.

Re: Have you been warned before getting suspended?
 

The seller on that listing probably provided invoices accepted by Amazon

Re: Have you been warned before getting suspended?
 

XCords is a company that produces cables for iPhone devices. My point is that they're distributing cables identical in design to Apple cables, but they're labeling their cables as XCords cables.

There are a lot of similar listings on Amazon & Ebay and none are being reported or taken down simply because these cables are being passed down as generic cables that have nothing to do with Apple except compatibility.

Re: Have you been warned before getting suspended?
 

This is just a theory but I guess that amz has a database with big (and not so big) brand names. Apple and Iphone is such. You will be banned by a bot not by a human based on the assumption that you sell ⊗⊗⊗⊗.

Re: Have you been warned before getting suspended?
 

Is the selling of generic cables for iPhone prohibited on Amazon?

How about one shooting an e-mail to the seller performance team (or whatever team responsible for trademark violations on Amazon) and asking them if it's o.k to list and sell these non-branded cables? (The e-mail will be sent anonymously for sure)

Re: Have you been warned before getting suspended?
 

I'd like to get warned before I get suspended...
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Re: Have you been warned before getting suspended?
 

Well I have been googling for the last few days and it turned out that Amazon kicks off without any warnings.

It seems like Ebay has a 5 star treatment for sellers in comparison to Amazon.