I just got hit by the Ebay police--or the crocheted bear Nazis, take your pick. Evidently, I've stepped on a toe or two just by posting a crocheted bear that I made and calling it a 'thread bear', which I gather is a TRADEMARK and not able to be used by us peons.
So my auction was pulled.
Here's the text of the message:
Dear Jennifer St Clair (jenstclair@sff.net),
**PLEASE READ THIS IMPORTANT EMAIL REGARDING YOUR LISTING(S)**
We would like to let you know that we removed your listing:
5576673340 ALFRED -- Crocheted Thread Bear 14 inches Tall!
because an intellectual property rights owner notified us, under penalty of perjury, that your listing offers a counterfeit or unauthorized item that violates a trademark.We have credited any associated fees to your account. We have also notified the bidders that the listing was removed, and that they are not obligated to complete the transaction.
If you relist this or any other similar items on eBay, your account likely will be suspended.
If you believe your listing was ended in error, or have questions regarding the removal of this listing, please contact the intellectual property rights owner directly at:
(deleted)
eBay is available to answer questions, but since it is the intellectual property rights owner that requested the removal of your listings, we encourage you to contact them first.
For more information on the VeRO Program, and a list of rights owner About Me pages, please visit:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/confidence/vero-removed-listing.html
http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/vero-aboutme.html
Thank you for your cooperation.Regards, Customer Support (Trust and Safety Department)eBay Inc
To say I am pissed about this is an understatement. I emailed the intellectual property owner with the following email:
Hello.
Can you explain to me how the bear I made is counterfeit or violates a trademark when there are approximately 91 items on ebay that appear under the search of 'thread bear'?!?!?!
Seriously, what the heck is this?
Jennifer St. Clair
So far, no response.
What gets me is this sentence:
If you relist this or any other similar items on eBay, your account likely will be suspended.
This sours Ebay for me. It really does. I mean, I was burned out before, but this really makes me not want to post a damned thing ever again.
I am seriously, seriously pissed about this. To say I'm taking it personally is really an understatement.
All I am trying to do is make a little extra money so I can pay some things off and be able to live a bit more comfortably. I'd like to be able to fix the things that are wrong with my house without taking out loans or whatever, and that means I need a second source of income, because my salary just isn't enough and my royalties aren't enough either.
I listed Alfred because he was left over from the craft show and I wanted to give him a new home. I posted his auction starting at $1.00. Why my little $1.00 bear is a threat to people whose bears go for hundreds of dollars, I don't know.
Maybe I just need to take a deep breath and chill, but this really makes me mad. Furious, in truth. You didn't want to hear me rant and rave. I wasn't very nice.
But to me, it doesn't make sense. That's like trademarking the term 'cloth doll'. Or 'crocheted scarf'.
It's anal. It's petty. And the only thing I can be happy about is that I'm not alone. While browsing some auctions, I noticed many mentions about this very practice, and some of the bear artists are no longer registered, which means they were suspended or they left voluntarily.
Sometimes humankind makes me ill. There are so many other things out there in the world to worry about. Why this?! It boggles my mind.
So my auction was pulled.
Here's the text of the message:
Dear Jennifer St Clair (jenstclair@sff.net),
**PLEASE READ THIS IMPORTANT EMAIL REGARDING YOUR LISTING(S)**
We would like to let you know that we removed your listing:
5576673340 ALFRED -- Crocheted Thread Bear 14 inches Tall!
because an intellectual property rights owner notified us, under penalty of perjury, that your listing offers a counterfeit or unauthorized item that violates a trademark.We have credited any associated fees to your account. We have also notified the bidders that the listing was removed, and that they are not obligated to complete the transaction.
If you relist this or any other similar items on eBay, your account likely will be suspended.
If you believe your listing was ended in error, or have questions regarding the removal of this listing, please contact the intellectual property rights owner directly at:
(deleted)
eBay is available to answer questions, but since it is the intellectual property rights owner that requested the removal of your listings, we encourage you to contact them first.
For more information on the VeRO Program, and a list of rights owner About Me pages, please visit:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/confidence/vero-removed-listing.html
http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/vero-aboutme.html
Thank you for your cooperation.Regards, Customer Support (Trust and Safety Department)eBay Inc
To say I am pissed about this is an understatement. I emailed the intellectual property owner with the following email:
Hello.
Can you explain to me how the bear I made is counterfeit or violates a trademark when there are approximately 91 items on ebay that appear under the search of 'thread bear'?!?!?!
Seriously, what the heck is this?
Jennifer St. Clair
So far, no response.
What gets me is this sentence:
If you relist this or any other similar items on eBay, your account likely will be suspended.
This sours Ebay for me. It really does. I mean, I was burned out before, but this really makes me not want to post a damned thing ever again.
I am seriously, seriously pissed about this. To say I'm taking it personally is really an understatement.
All I am trying to do is make a little extra money so I can pay some things off and be able to live a bit more comfortably. I'd like to be able to fix the things that are wrong with my house without taking out loans or whatever, and that means I need a second source of income, because my salary just isn't enough and my royalties aren't enough either.
I listed Alfred because he was left over from the craft show and I wanted to give him a new home. I posted his auction starting at $1.00. Why my little $1.00 bear is a threat to people whose bears go for hundreds of dollars, I don't know.
Maybe I just need to take a deep breath and chill, but this really makes me mad. Furious, in truth. You didn't want to hear me rant and rave. I wasn't very nice.
But to me, it doesn't make sense. That's like trademarking the term 'cloth doll'. Or 'crocheted scarf'.
It's anal. It's petty. And the only thing I can be happy about is that I'm not alone. While browsing some auctions, I noticed many mentions about this very practice, and some of the bear artists are no longer registered, which means they were suspended or they left voluntarily.
Sometimes humankind makes me ill. There are so many other things out there in the world to worry about. Why this?! It boggles my mind.
Comments