DHL Seizure lead to eBay Suspension?

[Justin Ghost]

SO I had a friend that got banned off eBay yesterday indefinitely for selling VERO items.

It wasn't a stealth account and he had the account since 2007 doing tons of business.

He had stuff removed but was able to show "legit" receipts for the items so they let him relist the items.

Strange thing is he got a shipment seized from DHL the day before and thinks that is what raised red flags.

Anyone ever hear of this?

Does eBay get alerts form customs when they seize packages?

It's possible to link name, address, phone on package to eBay account...

Wucha think?

[SaiJin]

Why would customs contact eBay?

Customs would be more interested in you instead.

[phaz0rz]

It's possible but extremely unlikely that the seizure was related to anything that happened on the eBay account.

When a shipment is seized for copyright or trademark infringement, the only party US customs shares any information with is the copyright or trademark holder. So if you had a shipment of phake Adidas seized US Customs would contact Adidas and tell them what you were trying to import, and also give them all of the contact information they could extract from your shipment.

In that example it's possible that Adidas then goes to eBay with the contact info they got from customs, and asks eBay to search for a user selling shoes with that name and shipping address. Going by the info from Adidas eBay could assume the account has been selling counterfeits and suspend/restrict it.

So in a roundabout way it's possible the seizure was related to activity on your friends eBay account. But like I said, it's very unlikely.

[JamesNorth101]

It’s just a coinsidence

[nickopedia]

As the two posters said above, this is highly unlikely. Customs doesn't intercept packages then contact eBay.

[Justin Ghost]

Originally Posted by nickopedia

As the two posters said above, this is highly unlikely. Customs doesn't intercept packages then contact eBay.

Yes, but what if customs has a supscription service or api? There are so many marketplaces these days. I know they can verify real US IDs from not real... Why not customs?

[phaz0rz]

Originally Posted by Justin Ghost

Yes, but what if customs has a supscription service or api? There are so many marketplaces these days. I know they can verify real US IDs from not real... Why not customs?

Because customs is a gov't agency which is greatly limited in regards to what they can share.

[rsot]

Originally Posted by Justin Ghost

Yes, but what if customs has a supscription service or api? There are so many marketplaces these days. I know they can verify real US IDs from not real... Why not customs?

Overthinking the situation Justin - customs not linked to ebay and such

[iamlmfao]

Originally Posted by JamesNorth101

It’s just a coinsidence

I second that. DHL has customs agents in near all big city facilities, if your city has a customs and border protection building odds are you got a customs agent chilling in your DHL station. Just cause it makes it through Cincinnati means nothing.

[walkingupwards]

I think customs notified the rights owner about the shipment, then eBay got copies of these "customs letters" and that resulted in the account being shutdown.

If a rights owner files a claim via the Vero program, the account might not get toasted the first or second time, but if the rights owner can prove a shipment got seized by customs, I think eBay would understandably shut down that account immediately.

If you read through the pages of some third-party companies that enforce IP rights online, you will get the impression that eBay or Amazon usually don't think twice before taking down a listing that got reported.


Anyway, if customs are involved in this suspension, they were involved indirectly through the rights owner. What happend is a sad coincidence, but it happens!

[oompaloompa]

right, there is no reason why a rights owner (who is contacted by customs) would not
contact selling platforms with user details........but they would be playing a dangerous game re data protection. It is more possible if there has been some interaction re this brand and ebay and OP before, like a file already from prior transgressions.......

[walkingupwards]

Originally Posted by oompaloompa

right, there is no reason why a rights owner (who is contacted by customs) would not
contact selling platforms with user details........but they would be playing a dangerous game re data protection. It is more possible if there has been some interaction re this brand and ebay and OP before, like a file already from prior transgressions.......

I think the rights owner would care about date protection only in case OP is a big fat firm that has the capital and willingness to sue his **s. Otherwise I guess they wouldn't really care

I don't live in the US, would such data violation cause the rights owner a lot of trouble without OP taking action?

[oompaloompa]

nothing causes trouble legally, without action and some proof...........

[nickopedia]

People tend to overthink things when it comes to Customs. There is a set procedure they follow if they stop a package or intercept. Neither of those would result in them calling some random marketplace such as eBay. If there is some criminal act, they likely would involve another agency to investigate further.

[rsot]

Originally Posted by Justin Ghost

SO I had a friend that got banned off eBay yesterday indefinitely for selling VERO items.

Have you friend join the forum as well for good direct advice