posted on November 1, 2000 04:14:49 PM
below are letters my husband recieved ..He thought He could trust ebay if it was in writting Guess they showed him ...If ebays motors wasn't mess enough this has finsihed it. they tell their sellers to be trust worthy yet they aren't we are moving all our auctions to yahoo and golds enough is enough from a company that thumbs their noses at their customers.
From: 67flshovel(157) (view author's auctions)
Topic: ebay lied to me
Message: 1 of 1
Sent: Wed, 01 Nov 2000 16:03:48 -0800
Below is a letter I got from ebay when I asked them if I could say Harley style in my auction title. Please note where it say's "Currently, it is not against eBay guidelines to list "Harley Style" in the auction title and/or description" Which I told them I had wanted in writing because there seemed to be different rules for different sellers. Appears I can't trust ebay even when they put it in writing ! Then today I received a new letter also below ending my item.
Thank you for taking the time to write to us concerning the inconsistencies for the keyword spamming policies. I would like to clarify this information.
Our policies are reviewed regularly, and sometimes you will see different actions being taken on auctions you report. We always try to be as consistent as possible, as well as listen to our member's feedback on the guidelines that are in place. We have also tried to make listing items more beneficial to our sellers, as well as staying within the trademark policies.
Currently, it is not against eBay guidelines to list "Harley Style" in
the auction title and/or description. However, the rights owners for the name "Harley" can request us to remove your item if they feel it is an infringement on their rights.
For this reason, we urge you to contact the Harley Davidson company to make sure that they would approve your use of their trademarked name. I have again included the link to our trademark usage policy for your convenience:
Unfortunately, your listing contains the following information, "...harley style...". Listing your items in this way is considered "Keyword Spamming", which is not allowed on eBay. Therefore,
we have ended this auctions and all fees have been credited to your account.
Keyword spamming is the practice of adding words, including brand names, which do not directly describe the item you are selling. Keyword spamming is also unfair to members who may be searching for a specific item
and receive search results of listings which are not selling these items. In
addition, certain uses of brand names may also constitute trademark infringement and could expose members to legal liability.
Please view our guideline page for a better understanding of our auction policies and how they affect the way you list your items:
Please be aware future incidents of this nature can lead to further action
against your account. We value you as a member of our community and wish to continue our relationship, so we respectfully ask that you refrain
from any violations of the Listing Policies or User Agreement in the future.
posted on November 1, 2000 04:41:36 PM
I understand your frustration. However, the first email from eBay told your husband what might happen, and unfortunately it did:
"However, the rights owners for the name "Harley" can request us to remove your item if they feel it is an infringement on their rights."
They also suggested, in that first email, that your husband contact Harley Davidson to make sure it was okay. Did he contact them?
posted on November 1, 2000 05:04:27 PM
What I see here is that the auctions didnt get canceled for use of the name brand but for keyword spamming.
I can understand this point here you were selling an alarm clock and Harley was the frist Keyword in the discription everyone searching for harleys came up with this Alarm clock I would guess this ticked someone hunting for bikes off.
maybe try to list it with Harley style as one word like Harley/style might help.
WWW.dman-n-company.com
posted on November 1, 2000 05:09:27 PM
I sure agree they should make a policy one can understand whether one is in violation of or not.
That said, I'm very pleased that eBay cancels such auctions due to keyword spamming. "Harley", in the context of motorcycles, should be used only to sell a product originally sold by the Harley Davidson company.
posted on November 1, 2000 06:12:08 PM
You guy's don't seem to understand we asked if we could say this...ebay said yes that Harley could stop it but that it wasn't against the rules of ebay ...Harley did not request it. Someone turn in the auction saying it was Spam and ebay on their own decided that is against the rules... the ebay legal dept. seemed surprised when I told them we had a letter saying the title Harley style was not against the rules.... Besides if I don't say that in an auction it can't be found since the mess they have made of the area they now call MOTORS !
They change the rules to suit the moment.
It was stopped for saying Harley style motorcycle. Someone here said for spam that is what they said the spam was.
Don't you think If I clearly say harley STYLE that people have brains enough to know it does not say Harley product..anyone who collects knows the difference at least my auctions and my husbands say style so as not lead the buyer to belive it is a Harley product. I try to let my customer know that it is not and only in that style. I use the word style so that my customers can find related items since the search engine sucks. we have very good feed back and do not get sales unless i can bring the auctions to those that are interested in that type of thing....what about the auctions that say Harley Indian in them They are two diffrent companies but eBay has allowed those auctions to run.
No I am not surprised that ebay lied I was more surprised when they wrote the letter saying it was not against the rules.
If I am infringing on their copyright by refering to Harley then I think a lot of motorcycle shops , web site etc. besides auction should be shut down also. Harley it is not an infringes ment to simply use the words Harley Davidson.
posted on November 1, 2000 06:20:01 PM
you should say harleydoolittle
harleyclinton or harleyhillary
or harleydisneeeee
and not just harley
that solves the problem
you got to say harley and then some
posted on November 2, 2000 05:08:34 AM
The purpose of the "Keyword Spamming" policy is to keep people from filling up the search results with garbage. When searching for Harley Davidson collectibles, people want the search results to return auctions listing Harley Davidson collectibles not a bunch of dime-store look a likes.
It is both common sense and the law. You cannot use someone elses trademark and reputation to market your products without their consent.
