eBay Yanked Millions of Scam Items in 2008

Internet auction site eBay has defended the way in which it handles reports of counterfeit goods, saying that it has delisted millions of items and suspended tens of thousands of seller accounts last year. However, its actions may not be enough to stop a lawsuit brought by a luxury goods retailer, which maintains that eBay needs to do more to stop online auctions of counterfeit products. eBay spokesperson Nicola Sharpe notes that 100 percent of reported listings are removed, with 70 to 80 percent removed within 12 hours. Site policy has zero tolerance for sellers who list counterfeit items, and will also suspend any seller who lists a counterfeit item more than one time. Background information is also used to prevent sellers from creating a new profile and re-listing items. Sharpe reports that 2.1 million listings were removed in 2008 based on VeRO reports, and 30,000 sellers suspended