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Didn't get a VERO takedown, yet company still harassing me
 

I sold a product that a certain small company (not going to name) is accusing me of unauthorized selling. They have sent me four letters in the post over a 3 month period. Its important to note that this company/person NEVER went through the eBay Vero program (The Verified Rights Owner, program) to remove the product. I removed the product in question until I get more legal advise. For all I know these letters are coming from a competitor trying to extort me out of money and de-platform the product in question. The company has horrible reviews across the board online, I know that doesn't prove anything, but it casts a doubt on the character of the company.


The company Never went through eBay (Vero program. In the One Month that they knew about the product in question) (I removed myself) So I assume they are NOT the rights holder, otherwise they would have gone through eBay to remove the product. I also searched the company to see if they own any trademarks, and they don't own any trademarks that relate to the product I had listed

Got a Final notice letter a few days ago, saying that if I don't write back acknowledging their demands including a compensation plan, by a certain date, they would escalate to their legal.

I sold Around 30 of these products and Profited about £400 from the sales

My question is..Can a company really just send out letters willy dilly demanding compensation, without proving a thing? Just a fancy letter with words attached? Is not that Extortion? If they don't go down proper, legal paths?

Next week I will be getting Legal advise, but in the mean time, just looking for guidance. I have no intention of signing anything over to this company

Re: Didn't get a VERO takedown, yet company still harassing me
 

SOLD 30 AND PROFIT 400 GBP.
They could supoena Ebay to produce your trade records.

Re: Didn't get a VERO takedown, yet company still harassing me
 

if they do not own the trademark you are unlikely to have any problems

what I would do in this case:

remove the item for 2-3 months and NEVER send any replies

then relist the item and sell again

if they start sending letters again I would continue selling for a few weeks and remove it again for 2-3 months

repeating the same indefinitely as long as the item was not removed officially by ebay

I actually tested this strategy a number of times , in most cases the harasser gets tired

Re: Didn't get a VERO takedown, yet company still harassing me
 

you do not need legal advise as long as it is a usual letter , if you sign it this means you have accepted the obligation , take legal advice only if the matter goes further otherwise ignore

if you sign it you will owe the money , in this case they could take you to court and the court will not be interested in whether the claim was valid but only if you signed it , if you did you owe them regardless of anything else

I have dealt with such letters before so that ignoring and not signing anything is the best and only way , let them take this further , this would cost them $$$ as opposed to sending cheap letters

Re: Didn't get a VERO takedown, yet company still harassing me
 

Never signed the letter, but upon checking the tracking, it shows the letter was signed for, even though I never signed it, sometimes the Postman will sign for letters on behalf of the recipient. Shouldn't these types of letters be sent via special delivery? By Fedex, so forth

Re: Didn't get a VERO takedown, yet company still harassing me
 

Upon further checking, im 99.9% sure this company does not own any trademarks. I did an official UK government online search. Plus they never went through eBay VERO, so I'm putting two and two together. Unlikely they have any rights to the name. Thus why they could not go through eBay to remove the listing

Re: Didn't get a VERO takedown, yet company still harassing me
 

you can ignore it , what exactly is their argument what you owe the funds for?

Re: Didn't get a VERO takedown, yet company still harassing me
 

They have not specified

Re: Didn't get a VERO takedown, yet company still harassing me
 

ignore it

the worst case scenario they are the exclusive distributor but in this case they would likely let you know

Re: Didn't get a VERO takedown, yet company still harassing me
 

I had a similar situation years ago when I was selling TWS wireless headphones.

The product is none branded but a company called KL Tech Limited might of slightly got name wrong had decided to go onto government website pay £50 for each design you can think of on alibaba of wireless Bluetooth headphones.

So if I sold these headphones they would get in touch with eBay and eBay would remove my listings because they have the so called document so eBay has to oblige and remove my listing.

I emailed KL tech and told them the situation they said how many have I got left and I answered then they said we will let you sell them but once they run out do not sell again.

The Bluetooth headphones on eBay anybody should be able to sell as their none branded brought from alibaba. This happened years ago and it’s still winding me up lol

I got out that stupid game anyway but I would advise you to email the company and give your reasons.

It looks like you’re going to have a similar problem I had years ago so best to get out and move onto something else.

Re: Didn't get a VERO takedown, yet company still harassing me
 

''exclusive distributor'' Yes, there are words in the letter that pertain to that, but overall the verbiage is vague, does not give alot of details

Re: Didn't get a VERO takedown, yet company still harassing me
 

Murdered-by-ebay and I seem to disagree on a few matter, so when we do agree you can be pretty certain its the right course of action.

Do what they said, do not enter into any negotiations, nothing at all. How you decide to move forward with the product is up to you, but at the risk of repeating myself, do not correspond with them whatsoever.

Re: Didn't get a VERO takedown, yet company still harassing me
 

No, I have removed the product and dont intend to relist. As I dont want the drama, I have no issues with moving on with a different product. My problem is them sending these letters, when they didn't even go through VERO as they probably dont hold the rights. Different in your case, at least they went down proper routes and engaged with you

Re: Didn't get a VERO takedown, yet company still harassing me
 

Are they new on eBay? How long has the company been around for? Did you get in touch with them and ask them why they have not gone through eBay vero program.

I had to message the company they never messaged me to understand why and to this date I think they done what they did was to be greedy and have the whole marketplace for themselves.

Re: Didn't get a VERO takedown, yet company still harassing me
 

As far as I know, the company is not trading on eBay, but I could be wrong. I have never got in touch with them, and I don't intend to, if I do, it will be through a solicitor

Yeah, I understand competition is good, but some people abuse it for sure

Re: Didn't get a VERO takedown, yet company still harassing me
 

Yeah they definitely do that’s why people create so many accounts so they can dominate certain markets.

I think you done the right thing taking your listing down and not engaging with them.

Re: Didn't get a VERO takedown, yet company still harassing me
 

I would not give them any information under any circumstances wait and see what happens, if they really mean business they will send you a solicitors letter to cease and desist selling the product with a threat of court action. As you have stopped selling the product they should go away.

Re: Didn't get a VERO takedown, yet company still harassing me
 

How did they get your contact information and address? Lol

Re: Didn't get a VERO takedown, yet company still harassing me
 

He obviously used his own details something which I never will.

Re: Didn't get a VERO takedown, yet company still harassing me
 

Sell the product with a stealth account

Re: Didn't get a VERO takedown, yet company still harassing me
 

Buyer made a return, that's how they got it, and this buyer is in with the company in question. But the name on the return address is slightly different. Anyway, I don't think its the right way to follow up with someone using their return address. Sellers can use any address for the return. Its not the same as the REGISTERD address

Re: Didn't get a VERO takedown, yet company still harassing me
 

I would not take it seriously , just don't sell the item for now , you can relist it later