Etsy - how do they get away with this obvious fraud

[tytim]

Just found this Etsy seller.

Does Etsy not police items listed on its platform, unbelievable deceit and fraud.

I queried the seller on the Schott Perfecto's and he suggested they buy in bulk from Schott so can offer discount prices. I think not.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/4540300419/the-real-mccoys-buco-j-24-leather?ref=shop_home_active_4&frs=1&logging_key=45b2ad1b7546b832cefb0b26ecb98d79cc17c90b%3A4540300419

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/4541244601/belstaff-trialmaster-panther-leather?ref=shop_home_active_1&frs=1&logging_key=d02d024033b09a0d5912ae58ef9661fdce6087e7%3A4541244601

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/4540309654/lewis-leathers-lightning-no-391-mens?ref=shop_home_active_5&frs=1&logging_key=a29488d6ea6dbfda66e6a33a0fe09dfe733a92bc%3A4540309654

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/4540294616/aero-leather-1950s-half-belt-jacket-mens?ref=shop_home_active_6&frs=1&logging_key=f1d918e6a4fdfa3c3293545be905c030dd7e261e%3A4540294616

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/4540068137/schott-nyc-618-perfecto-steerhide?ref=shop_home_active_7&frs=1&logging_key=478876c01f54524318528f9ba0d6d3d5bf51ae0e%3A4540068137

 

[codex]

Etsy does not mind ****mers, there is not even a way to report fake shops. I've tried it before.

 

[Zoro]

Not so different with eBay IME...

 

[Yango]

Forward your links to Schott and let their legal department deal with it.

 

[bobjones]

You're totally mistaken, that highly reputable and honorable company has a time machine to take you back to 1975 when Lewis Leather and Schott sold their jackets for $275.

 

[Madhouse27]

I reported a seller as fraudulent on there the other day. Explained that it was false advertising and an unauthorized use of Schott’s trademark and images. Never heard a word back from Etsy.

 

[Hide'n'seek]

Etsy are ****** useless. I reported the seller for copyright infringement and they rejected it.

 

[cl206]

All I know is I used to own some Etsy stock a few years back and now gladly own none of it.

 

[Edward]

Etsy are ****** useless. I reported the seller for copyright infringement and they rejected it.

Unfortunately the odds are stacked against us that way. US platforms have long fought hard against any liability for the content they make available; certainly within the US, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act has been very widely interpreted as to obviate platforms from any responsibility for unlawful third party content, even if in many cases aware. The tech industry, especially in the US, has long been extremely vigilant in its efforts to push back against any sort of sensible regulation. I'm not a specialist in US IP law - the DMCA might apply, but it's hard to make an IP based argument if you're not the rightsholder.

The other big problem now is that with the rise of generative ai plagiarism software and chat-bots based thereon, an awful lot of these platforms are farming out their frontline functions that deal with reports to AI functionalities. I've certainly noticed a massive drop-off in ebay doing anything about all sorts of stuff I report, undeniable breaches of rules from obvious use of TMs ("like Aero, Buzz Rickson, ELC", "not Schott", and so on) for items that do not carry those marks to open far right propaganda materials (I mean the sort of stuff so nasty, nobody could claim it's anything else). The eBay AI can never see a problem with these.

The only thing you can really do, if you want is send a note to the companies involved so they at least know; they seem to have a better time of getting these things pulled, probably with a legal C&D letter. I remember once emailing Derek when Leather Monkeys were on the go and had transitioned from dealing in used Lewis jackets to making their own jackets. Reasonably decent and fairly priced for what they were - but always with the "like Lewis Leathers" in the auction title. Lewis had a nightmare with them for a brief while (even, apparently, had to ban them from the Lewis FB page), but I think they got it sorted in the end. Etsy and eBay both have European operations, so if they get approached there, they will have to take some level of notice of a C&D, given European law is must stricter in this respect, and they actually have assets there against which a judgment can be enforced (in Ireland, for Etsy).

It's a real shame seeing this sort of thing turn up on etsy. You do have to be careful there. There's also a rising problem with all sort of mass produced tat being passed off as 'craft' there, often with misleading, GenAI images that bear no resemblance to the actual product. I got caught out once myself with a scarf for the wife as an intended present. It was sold from a US seller, but after payment was drop-shipped from the far east. What arrived, when we opened it, was a one-side printed piece of the sort of felt they use in commercial fancy dress costumes intended for a single-use item. I was utterly mortified. Sent it back directly to the US seller who offered a refund when I raised it with them on the basis of 'you might not be aware what your drop shipper is sending out...', don't think I ever got the refund. Awful, though -really embarrassing when you think you've bought a nice gift, then... the wife appreciated the thought, but I couldn't leave that and had to go out and find something actually worth giving her. Pays to be really careful out there.