Currently in a lawsuit due to one item.

Vernacular · #1 04-03-2020

I just want to share my current story. Not necessarily looking for advice; I just want to contribute to this forum for any future or current sellers since this place is hopefully going to help in the long run. Love this site and everything it provides.

A little backstory first. About three years ago one of my suppliers in China had suggested I sell a product. I looked it over and it seemed like it would sell. I ordered a few and put them for sale on my Amazon account.

Cut to now. I finally had my first sale of this product earlier this year, 2020. Not a single sale before this. The total sale amount was less than $20. One month later, the funds in my account, just under $2k are now on hold due to trademark infringement. Never received a cease and desist, direct message, or anything of the sort. Surprisingly, I was able to get in contact with the law firm who caused the hold fairly quickly. At first they were responsive, but now, they will not return my emails or calls after we agreed to a small settlement due to only having one sale. This was a couple weeks ago.

A couple weeks go by and I receive an actual case document from the lawyer, with no other contact, of a lawsuit where the default judgement against me if I do not reply within the time frame will be $100k. Not sure why he will not respond to my earlier emails. Never thought this would happen and now I have to deal with this.

Not sure if anyone else here has a similar story or not. Just a crazy situation.
Thanks for listening.

agent006140 · #2 04-03-2020

email is not a good way to communicate,companies are just too busy to respond to all emails,esp if the case is only$20.
Think,how much is lawyer fee per hour,even a law clerk or any clerk,?
you have to call them or write them a letter and send certified

Bigblackdog · #3 04-03-2020

Ignore them - there is no default judgement - think about what you are saying - let them set a court date (and spend their money in the process) but do not respond - that was your big mistake unfortunately

agent006140 · #4 04-03-2020

Rolex has a lawyer who sends out letter,but no one really pay attention to the letter.

Vernacular · #5 04-03-2020

It is a legit court order against me from signed by a judge. I'm pretty sure I have to reply at this point.

Vernacular · #6 04-03-2020

Quote:

Originally Posted by tinsoldier

Ignore the poster above, they do not know what they're talking about.

Which poster do I ignore?

Vernacular · #7 04-03-2020

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigblackdog

Ignore them - there is no default judgement - think about what you are saying - let them set a court date (and spend their money in the process) but do not respond - that was your big mistake unfortunately

But there is a legit court order signed by a judge. Now my PayPal has been blocked.

Vernacular · #8 04-03-2020

Quote:

Originally Posted by tinsoldier

Your first mistake was to reply.

Do not pay any monies, do not respond to any further communication. However threatened or anxious you might feel DO NO RESPOND.

If they deem you're worth their efforts they'll see you in court, from what you've said that ain't happening and they're simply trying to scare you into volunteering money.

I would really like my accounts to be unfrozen though. It seems like they can go after my bank accounts at this point

Vernacular · #9 04-03-2020

Quote:

Originally Posted by agent006140

Rolex has a lawyer who sends out letter,but no one really pay attention to the letter.

Is it just a letter or a court order signed by a judge? Mine is signed by a judge.

agent006140 · #10 04-03-2020

you said your Paypal account has been blocked,I thought you said you sold it on AMZN?

agent006140 · #11 04-03-2020

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vernacular

Is it just a letter or a court order signed by a judge? Mine is signed by a judge.

Rolex letter is sent by the lawyer.

Vernacular · #12 04-03-2020

Quote:

Originally Posted by agent006140

you said your Paypal account has been blocked,I thought you said you sold it on AMZN?

The court order states all financial accounts including PayPal, eBay, etc. I may have had a sale or two on eBay years ago but I can not locate any sales emails.

Vernacular · #13 04-03-2020

Quote:

Originally Posted by agent006140

Rolex letter is sent by the lawyer.

Okay. Mine is a court order from a federal court.

agent006140 · #14 04-03-2020

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vernacular

The court order states all financial accounts including PayPal, eBay, etc. I may have had a sale or two on eBay years ago but I can not locate any sales emails.

POST THE COURT ORDER,you may need a lawyer then

Vernacular · #15 04-03-2020

Quote:

Originally Posted by agent006140

POST THE COURT ORDER,you may need a lawyer then

I think I'm going to have to get a lawyer. I will post the court order after everything is taken care of. I do not want the lawyer/plaintiff to find this post. I'm trying my best not to get a lawyer. I don't know anything about judges but hopefully they will see I am just a small time seller with less than 5 sales and let me off easy. We don't make a lot of money and have a fair amount of business debt related to our assets. If not, I'll just file bankruptcy.

KlugePatrik · #16 04-03-2020

Similar situation in Germany.

There was a court order , person did not show up , received official letter from court about decision. Has to pay Court + rights owner + defending judge.

No action was taken

since then no messages received, was 4 years ago.... so if you have the balls to sit it out do it.

ONLY time you HAVE to pay is if you owe $$$ to the government !!!

Vernacular · #17 04-03-2020

Quote:

Originally Posted by KlugePatrik

Similar situation in Germany.

There was a court order , person did not show up , received official letter from court about decision. Has to pay Court + rights owner + defending judge.

No action was taken

since then no messages received, was 4 years ago.... so if you have the balls to sit it out do it.

ONLY time you HAVE to pay is if you owe $$$ to the government !!!

Hopefully it does not come to that. My goal is to get my Amazon account unfrozen at this point. Currently, there are no policy violations on it.

agent006140 · #18 04-03-2020

You said yOur paypal account is restricted,how did they find out your Paypal account?

Vernacular · #19 04-03-2020

Quote:

Originally Posted by agent006140

You said yOur paypal account is restricted,how did they find out your Paypal account?

I am not sure on that one. Maybe because of my email address or name. I signed my name on my emails. Looking back on now, was probably a mistake.

One other thing of note, my business name is not the main name in the court order.
E.g. plantiff vs. "Main name" and other defendants.

Kingfisher · #20 04-07-2020

What was the item you sold? Was it a replica or something? I mean whoever did this to you did this on purpose their main goal was to buy it and do this... there’s lots of people who are paid to do this

rsot · #21 04-07-2020

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vernacular

I am not sure on that one. Maybe because of my email address or name. I signed my name on my emails. Looking back on now, was probably a mistake.

One other thing of note, my business name is not the main name in the court order.
E.g. plantiff vs. "Main name" and other defendants.

Live and learn.

Non-registered letters are not considered response-worthy in general

Vernacular · #22 04-08-2020

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kingfisher

What was the item you sold? Was it a replica or something? I mean whoever did this to you did this on purpose their main goal was to buy it and do this... there’s lots of people who are paid to do this

I won't say what product it was yet. Maybe after everything is finally settled. I think technically it would be considered a replica of their product. I have no doubt that the one sale was for the purposes of adding me to the lawsuit.