Another eBay Lesson Learned: I was selling fake UGG boots!!!

Another eBay Lesson Learned: I was selling fake UGG boots!!!

UGG boots are really hot on eBay right now. About two weeks before Christmas, I found an ads on a website that a company was hiring eBay salesperson, and on the ads they said by simply responding to emails one or two hours a day, a person can earn one to three thousands bucks a months. Lured by this easy money, I contacted them through MSN. They said their products are UGG boots and they assured me that the boots are 100% genuine, and they are manufactured in New Zealand and meant to be sold in Asia, the quality of the boots is not as good as the ones that are being sold in Europe because the interior fur are not 100% sheep fur. But they have shown high confidence in the quality of the boots except the fur. They said I would get 10% commission but I should use their Paypal account.

Finally I decided to give it a try and started to list the products on eBay. After three days, two of the four pairs of boots were sold. I remember it was December 22nd of 2008. On December 26th, I sold another three pairs. On December 29th, I sold three pairs more. Right after the auctions ends, eBay removed three of the four listings including two of the three sold and sent me an email saying that the listings were against eBay policy and the boots might be fake or replica products. I got so angry at eBay, how could they just remove the listings just according to description of the listings. Then I tried to contact the company to get some help, but no one was online. Is it a fraud, I thought. But anyway I contacted all the buyers to whom the company hasn’t shipped the boots and let them know that eBay had removed my listings and if they didn’t want the boots anymore, I would arrange refund to them.

On January 1st, I got an email from one of the buyers who just got the boots. She said she had textile background and run a fur-burning test on the interior layer of the boots and found the fur was mixed. Now I realized that the boots might be fake and check the internet on how to identify fake UGG boots. There are at least two signs indicating the boots are fake:
1. Genuine UGG boots are made in China, not in New Zealand;
2. The interior fur of genuine UGG boots is real sheepskin fur.
I sent emails to the other buyers who have got their boots shipped and told them the boots might be fake and send the boots to where it was shipped from and I will pay for the shipping cost.

One of the buyers got so angry because he bought it as a gift for his wife. He actually gave a negative feedback with a very bad comment. I can understand his furor because I am also a husband. Finally I decided to buy a genuine one for him. He is quite happy eventually and agree to withdraw the negative feedback. Although the bad comment is still on my feedback list, I feel good because I have compensated for the wrong thing I have done. If you go to eBay and check for “echoicestore” (my eBay account), you can see this comment.

On January 2nd, the company, my supplier, appear online again. They have gone for a holiday. In order to let them refund my buyer’s money, I told them politely that their supplier might be not good, and the boots are possibly replica product and asked them refund the money to my buyers. They did refund the money to my buyer though. Who knows, maybe they are also cheated by their supplier.

Lesson learned:
- As a seller, I need to learn eBay policies before publishing the listings.
- Don’t be too quick to trust a person through internet.

--- Another eBay Lesson Learned: I was selling fake UGG boots!!! -----