Has ANYONE had ANY trouble with the law?

[hustle4dough]

I'm not talking about getting your listing removed. What I mean is, have any of you or anyone you know actually been summoned to court or had ANY issues with the cops? Seems to me that they're too busy to be bothered with authenticity issues on Ebay.

 

[rhino2020]

Just 2 C&D emails from a "lawyer" . Didn't even get anything in the mail from them.
O I forgot, got called in to sheriff's office for questioning about some computer sales. I was selling for someone over seas.

 

[eldran]

lawyers do not send emails, they send letters that require you to sign for them - otherwise you can claim in court you never received the C & D.

 

[bluecrab]

I got a formal C&D from a law firm representing a major tobacco co.
basically I wasn't doing anything with the site so when it came up for domain renewal I just let it go. Never answered the rat bastards either.

 

[eBayMafia]

I sold things online when I was a teenager, but stopped for a little and when I started up again after making a $5,000 investment in inventory and reinvesting the money for three months instead of drawing from my investment, I went out and purchased a slightly damaged NSX from a used car dealership in AZ with plans to get it fixed up and resold for a profit. I paid cash for it, and 2 weeks later the IRS was knocking at my door. Another 2 weeks later, a rental property (which was actually a mobile home trailer) I was fixing up was raided by police looking for drugs.

 

[StartupBros]

I sold things online when I was a teenager, but stopped for a little and when I started up again after making a $5,000 investment in inventory and reinvesting the money for three months instead of drawing from my investment, I went out and purchased a slightly damaged NSX from a used car dealership in AZ with plans to get it fixed up and resold for a profit. I paid cash for it, and 2 weeks later the IRS was knocking at my door. Another 2 weeks later, a rental property (which was actually a mobile home trailer) I was fixing up was raided by police looking for drugs.

Sounds like somebody wasnt paying their taxes :saeek:

 

[dizz]

I have been nailed for taxes like 10 yrs ago but nothing since then you learn quick.

Dizz

 

[Orbit143]

I received a letter from some belgium (belgian?) lawyer company, classic bullshit about copyright infrigment or whatever. I wrote them email saying I have no idea whats this about etc and ignored it.
Nothing happened so far.

 

[healzer]

I have been nailed for taxes like 10 yrs ago but nothing since then you learn quick.

Dizz

wut did u learn? :saeek:

 

[eBayMafia]

Sounds like somebody wasnt paying their taxes :saeek:

Nope, the dealership didn't report the purchase of over $10,000 to the IRS. If you are experienced with spending over $10,000 at once on anything, you know about the 8300 Form, or 4789 Form.

 

[FTPSiCk]

Yeah,

I used to be in an underground group (not trying to brag), and they compromised a website's server. They compromised the website's server just for fun, not knowing anything about it, but did it just because they could and ended up defacing the website.
What they didn't know was that the gaming clan of the server had several people that worked for the FBI and they ended up putting on the defacement page of the alias name that I went by.
Me, being stupid at that point made a MySpace page with the same alias and all they did was a simple google search and found me, my parents, address, phone, etc.
About a month later, two FBI agents arrived at my door at 9:30 in the morning. It happened just like it does in the movies I guess. They walked in, flashed their badges and explained everything to me.

They ended up giving me a warning since I was a minor, and told me if they was to come out it would be more than a warning.

That's my experience with the FBI

 

[hustle4dough]

Thanks for sharing everyone. What I meant was, has anyone who sells watches, handbags, etc. on Ebay had any issues with the law? I read about a woman once who was selling replica purses advertised as replicas from a website she made, and the cops raided her house because she didn't even try to be stealthy with her info. All they found were a handful of replica purses she had for personal use because she was drop shipping. She said she didn't know she was breaking the law, so the judge gave her a slap on the wrist and community service or a fine or something, I don't remember, but definitely no jail time. She probably had to take her site down too.

If she had been ordering in bulk and shipping from her home, instead of drop shipping, she probably would have gotten in a lot of trouble. The thing is, the cops have to actually catch you with merchandise on you in order to build a case against you. It's not like they can collaborate with your bank, credit card company, or Paypal. Even if they could, it would be hard for them to build a case against you without catching you with a lot of merchandise.

I've read about heavy sentences for trafficking in replicas, but most of them were for traditional sales, not online. For example, a store gets raided and shut down for selling replica goods, a guy gets arrested right after signing for a large shipment of replica goods from overseas, or organized crime types get caught with large shipments in ports. In these cases, the sentences can be VERY severe. Check out this story about a guy in Texas who got arrested for selling replica purses:

http://www.ktsm.com/news/man-arrested-for-selling-fake-purses

I'm pretty sure he was a flea market type of vendor. His SUV got raided after a ten month investigation and they caught him with a couple dozen fake purses. The news story says his maximum sentence would be SIXTY YEARS and a TEN MILLION DOLLAR fine, although I doubt that his sentence was THAT severe, even in Texas. I also saw a news story about some folks in Britain who got raided for selling replica clothing on Ebay, and they had a whole house full of stuff, so they probably got a lot of time.

I'm wondering if anyone has had any trouble for selling a purse here or a watch there, nothing major...and even if you've had legal troubles for a major operation, please share...

 

[Aclizzy]

I just read the link you posted, and I hope you do not believe that a man was found in possession of 24 Coach handbags and went to jail for 60 years??
To Answer your question, people do get nabbed on a regular but depending on the volume they sold/Brand they sold/if they are able to pay the money back.

 

[heavyjay]

I'm pretty sure he was a flea market type of vendor. His SUV got raided after a ten month investigation and they caught him with a couple dozen fake purses. The news story says his maximum sentence would be SIXTY YEARS and a TEN MILLION DOLLAR fine, although I doubt that his sentence was THAT severe, even in Texas.

Is this the same Texas that used to give serial killers early parole due to prison overcrowding? Kinda makes you wonder how things have gotten so upside down. Crimes against corporations are punished more severely than crimes against real people.