Wocka-Wocka... He's at it again!

[spcglider]

Well, I definitely don't want this to become a flaming thread... its already a hot subject full of passions one direction or another. But I really don't cotton to anyone trying to demonize doing what we all know is right.

As I said earlier, I'm not the only one on this board who has reported the person in question. And I really admire the veracity of those who have taken it upon themselves to do the right thing.

The use of my signature as an allegorical point against my argument is spurious. The statement has nothing to do with the perceived rights of someone who makes a lot of money, but the excesses brought on by it. I have nothing against making lots of money... far from it... I hope to do so myself in future days. But just because somebody has lots of money doesn't mean they've abandoned their rights under the law.

-G

 

[Mistersuperstar]

I have seen numerous eBay auctions from this guy but never seen a single bid on any of his "replicas". I don't understand why eBay don't have a more advanced system of removing these kind of sellers. They must have his email, Paypal details and home address when he signs up for a new account each time. He'd need to supply those details if he expected to get paid if someone bid and then won.

 

[spcglider]

I have seen numerous eBay auctions from this guy but never seen a single bid on any of his "replicas". I don't understand why eBay don't have a more advanced system of removing these kind of sellers. They must have his email, Paypal details and home address when he signs up for a new account each time. He'd need to supply those details if he expected to get paid if someone bid and then won.

Well, like any business, the bottom line for eBay is to make money. If this seller does complete a sale through the auction site, its an automatic percentage of that sale for eBay. And they don't necesarily WANT to pay attention too closely to the "gray area items" that are passing through their service. If they kiboshed every seller who'd repeatedly broke the rules, they'd be cutting off quite a few dollars from their bottom line.

I'm not saying ebay is crooked or corrupt, but they obviously aren't adhering to the letter of their own policies. The deniable culpability generated by the "we have an enormous service to watch over...we can't catch all those who infringe the rules" is convenient and profitable.

Without someone putting the red flag in the air, they'd ignore even more.

-G

 

[SurfPark]

You chose your battles. You decided that this was important and its something to act on. In the grand scheme of things, illegal internet auctions are not high enough priority for me to put effort forth. To each their own.

 

[Jinx]

I wonder if you would feel that way if the illegal internet auctions were ripping you off?

 

[Mistersuperstar]

I think this is less about the moral issue about some guy making money out of rip-off replicas and more about the fact that we feel "how dare he cheapen The Muppets like that". Either way, it really doesn't take much effort at all to report a seller to eBay when they are selling something that is illegal or questionable.

 

[spcglider]

I'll agree... there is an element of respect for the Muppets in my motivation. But as someone who has every intention of creating many licensable properties myself, I cannot help but me motivated by a sense of fair play and attention to the Golden Rule.

Say my show Transylvania Television takes off and (I'm crossing fingers here) turns into something even remotely popular. I know I'd be pretty cheesed off if somebody decided to start selling unlicensed replicas of my characters on eBay. Flattered, yes, but non-plussed and angry as well.

I've worked like h-e-doubletoothpicks to get this show off the ground and spent more than a little personal money, time, effort and sweat to do so. To have somebody simply come along and start profiteering off my efforts without so much as a "hello, please bend over" certainly wouldn't do anything to make me stop defending intellectual property rights. Especially my own.

-Gordon

 

[Telly]

Just out of curiousity...has the guy ever sold any replicas? They're priced kinda high and I was just wondering if anyone's paid the prices he's asked for.

 

[Mistersuperstar]

I haven't seen any bids at all when I have looked at his auctions. I am sure there are people out there that would bid but his prices are ridiculous.

 

[spcglider]

He has received bids in the past. And he has sold puppets in the past. I suspect he's got a thing going on with this... a pretty standard ebay tactic that works very well for lots of people. You post your item at a very high price. If you get that price, then you're happy. But you don't really want to get that price. You want people to come to you asking if you would do a deal outside of ebay for less. In this way, you are paying a minimal amount for "advertising" that will reach a VERY large audience that is specifically targeted to what you make or sell.

Ebay doesn't like this kind of activity, but there's nothing they can do to stop it. You're following all the rules as long as you don't put "contact me outside of ebay" in your listing.

-Gordon