Can someone please advise how I get in contact with eBay regarding an item I purchased 12 months ago that was sold as genuine but I have now found out its an imitation due to the “roseGold” wearing off !
Some of the sellers from whom you've purchased in the past (from your feedback) do not look as though they sell genuine items. Purely at random, one of your past sellers sells "Pandora" items - which is a complete giveaway that this seller sells fakes.
(To the best of my knowledge, there are no genuine sellers of Pandora items on eBay. There was one authorised reseller in the past, but it appears that this seller no longer sells on eBay.)
If new items are listed on eBay with a price that's lower than RRP, or even lower than RRP with a good discount, then you have to consider that it is almost certainly one of the following:
Parallel imports have their own issues. While genuine, they're not released for authorised sale in Australia. This can be a problem if you are likely to be relying on a warranty, or - for electrical/electronic goods - if you want to use them safely in Australia. (You may want to see this reply in connection with parallel imports.) this thread in connection with that.) Here's what the ACCC says about parallel imports / grey goods.
❝Parallel imports (also called grey or direct imports) are products that you buy from a seller who does not have specific permission from the manufacturer to sell those products in the Australian marketplace.
[...]
Parallel imports may benefit you by offering products at lower prices and providing access to items which otherwise may not be available in Australia. However, you need to be able to identify when you are buying parallel imports and be aware of your rights when purchasing these products.
[...]
While you have the same consumer rights when you buy parallel imports as you do with any other goods, it may be more difficult to obtain a remedy if something goes wrong with a parallel import.
[...]
If the product comes with a manufacturer’s warranty - that warranty may not apply in Australia, or depending on the terms and conditions may not apply to products sold as parallel imports.
Although your products may carry a particular or popular brand name - if it is sold to you as a parallel import, the local manufacturer is not required to help you if the product develops a fault. You need to contact the seller.
You may not be able to get assistance such as product/technical support or repair/spare part facilities from the local manufacturer or their representative. For example, the software of your product may not be suited for the Australian market. You need to contact the seller.❞
Non-genuine items are rife on eBay. eBay does not personally police its auction site/s, and that means that you, as the potential buyer, must be diligent. Don't expect ludicrous bargains for designer goods, genuine leather, gold, diamonds, iPhones, USB drives, etc., and remember that a listing is only as honest as its particular seller.
It's certainly not as prolific as fakes and parallel imports, but nevertheless it's always worth being cautious about the possibility of items being stolen. If the price is cheap and the seller is in Australia and it seems as though the seller's in a hurry to sell at less than the worth of the item (especially for used items), it may be worth being a tad more careful and possibly contacting your local police - although police are usually on the ball with spotting stolen items listed on eBay.
Some "sellers" list on eBay with hijacked accounts; usually what they list are in-demand items at a lower price than you'd expect, and they have multiples of them. Their object is to get as much money as quickly as possible. You may find that a seller's history has abruptly changed (previously only bought items, but hasn't had any activity on eBay for a while - now suddenly selling high-end items); you may find that the seller is quite new and has quick recent positive feedback for items that are very different (e.g., cheaper items - the feedback may be from linked accounts to build a convincing account as quickly as possible).
Due diligence involves checking the seller's history and location (in their feedback profile page), any unusual change in their activity that you might spot, a lower-than-expected price, poor English (although some scammers have listings with good English, unfortunately), and so on. After-sales, if there is a problem, make sure that you act within the eBay MBG timeframe or PayPal's Buyer Protection timeframe. "Too good to be true" dates back to 1580, but it remains just as valid today.
This may be irrelevant, but I have sold genuine Pandora charms over the past few months. I had a bracelet with several charms given to me as a gift from a friend that at the time of giving had "feelings" for me that were not really appropriate.
So anyway, he doesn't know I sold off the bracelet and the charms (I have one more charm left to sell) and I feel a bit bad for doing that, but...oh well. lol
My point is though that the bracelet itself was authentic, still in the original box, some other charms were authentic and one also in an original charm box, and annoyingly I found out that a few of the charms were NOT actually Pandora but another jewellery brand. That surprised me, and although they were still good quality, I was not able to list them as Pandora obviously.
I also listed them as "as new, never worn" which is true. They looked new but technically were not.
My point is though that the bracelet itself was authentic, still in the original box, some other charms were authentic and one also in an original charm box, and annoyingly I found out that a few of the charms were NOT actually Pandora but another jewellery brand. That surprised me, and although they were still good quality, I was not able to list them as Pandora obviously.
I also listed them as "as new, never worn" which is true. They looked new but technically were not.
But yeah, they were genuine Pandora.
"genuine Pandora" Get a grip, you have said that some were fakes....................
No, the non Pandora ones weren't fakes, they just weren't Pandora brand and I didn't realise until further investigation. I did not sell them as Pandora once I knew. The bracelet and other charms are all genuine.
My point was just that there ARE some people selling genuine Pandora items. I assume people like me who happen to have those items anyway and then decide to sell them. I'm not a jewellery shop selling all Pandora stuff.
I think the line in countess' post ("To the best of my knowledge, there are no genuine sellers of Pandora items on eBay") is just worded a little badly in regards to the info she was trying to convey; that being that there are no authorised sellers of Pandora items (i.e. an authorised seller's stock is sourced wholesale from Pandora for the explicit purpose of reselling them at retail - like say an electrical goods store sourcing directly from Sony to sell their items, the seller themselves aren't Sony, but they can (or should be able to) guarantee 100% authenticity. It just means there isn't any one seller on eBay who Pandora endorse as selling 100% genuine Pandora products.
Genuine Pandora does appear on eBay, of course - if they are not casual sellers just on-selling their own charms ect, they would usually be sellers who might deal with all sorts of pre-owned items / jewellery, or maybe they buy up a storm during sales, or - like one seller who has posted in the forums previously - they purchase them and modify them to provide something Pandora doesn't, or didn't at the time (from memory, they had the charms gold plated, I believe Pandora has now introduced a range of gold / gold plated items, but the seller's were genuine charms, just not in their original form).
