Ebay Ethics?

[elsephen]

So do you guys get this butt-hurt over the generic cereal when you go grocery shopping?

[pcgd]

If they called them "FROSTED FLAKES" but just used slightly crappier ingredients than yes I would.

These jerseys are not Generic. Those closest thing to a "generic" jersey in this case would be the jerseys you get in Walmart, Target, etc. And then they are still licensed.

Most of you don't get it and most likely won't get it. It does not matter how much money someone is making, or who you're hurting. These are unlicensed and therefore nobody that should be making a profit is. From the player, the team, Reebok (or any company) and there for the actual people who work for those companies right in the US and Canada. Even if you support those people not getting money for whatever reason, why support the scumbags potentially using sweatshop labor making money?

[OMMF]

I'm not sure that it's literally possible to "steal" something that isn't physical property.

Identity, bandwidth, ideas, logos....

[WBGMike]

how about someone selling North Stars jerseys with the font wrong?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230418688629&ssPageName=ADME:X:AAQ:US:1123

I tried to be nice and let him know the shadow was wrong and was told to mind my own biz. have at him boys. he has several listings

[spyboy1]

That's a perfectly legit jersey, it's just not customized correctly.

There's clearly a disconnect between what the leagues are charging for jerseys, especially the recent huge price increase in hockey jerseys with the change to Reebok, in this economy and what people are willing to pay, thus giving rise to the knockoffs as they are taking full advantage of the public's desire for an acceptable looking, lower priced alternative.

Is it acceptable legally and morally? No. But the manufacturers seriously need to take a look at their price points for authentic and replica jerseys and get a handle on just how much business they are losing to sales of counterfeit jerseys and decide "Are we now losing enough in sales that we need to respond with what the public wants, a more affordable, quality product, or are we still selling enough jerseys at a high enough price that we don't need to change what we are doing at all?" Based on the fact I'm seeing 40%-50% of people wearing fakes at the ballpark, I'd say they have a problem on their hands which is only going to get worse as the fakes get better. At least now you can still tell the difference, but the gap in quality is shrinking.

[BlueSky]

I think I've spotted a fake Saints jersey. No, really, this guy's listing calls this a 'vintage New Orleans Saints jersey.' I'm a little suspicious though, something seems a little off.

[no97]

Can we put a moratorium on the "you wouldn't steal an old lady's purse, but you download music for free??" parallel? I'm not saying either one is right, but they are decidedly different concepts.

Sorry to get all non-uniformy, but I hate when people parallel using Bit Torrent with shoplifting. They might both be wrong, but they ain't the same.

Thank you...it may be illegal, it may be in some sense similar to stealing; but it's not the same as physically stealing something. Has anyone ever been prosecute for theft for doing something like "stealing" cable or sneaking into the movies? (serious question. Maybe they have.) Those two things are a lot like downloading pirated music or software, and I'd say they're a lot more like trespassing than they're like stealing.

I'll bet this woman thinks downloading music is a pretty serious crime:

http://www.startribune.com/local/48287937.html

[Morgan33]

how about someone selling North Stars jerseys with the font wrong?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230418688629&ssPageName=ADME:X:AAQ:US:1123

I tried to be nice and let him know the shadow was wrong and was told to mind my own biz. have at him boys. he has several listings

Ugh, the cutomization for these jerseys is almost always wrong. Its supposed to be a drop shadow like on the logo. I can't think of any other jersey whose customization is so frequently botched. Third String Goalie wrote an entire article on it

http://thirdstringgoalie.blogspot.com/2010/04/most-frequently-screwed-up-jersey-of.html

[infrared41]

I think I've spotted a fake Saints jersey. No, really, this guy's listing calls this a 'vintage New Orleans Saints jersey.' I'm a little suspicious though, something seems a little off.

It sure is off. Everyone knows Tretsven wore number 46. Other than that....

[DG_ThenNowForever]

And, really, who wants to get beer and ketchup and nacho cheese all over a $200 jersey?

(I so want to argue here, but I've tried before and made a total fool of myself. Hell, I can't even win arguments at home when I'm right...)

Actually, that about does it for me. Thread closed, right?

[njmeadowlanders]

I know I'm a little late to the party but I just wanted to chime in with this because it was incorrect:

It is NOT illegal to purchase stolen goods if you bought the item in good faith (of course that has to be proved in a your word against theirs situation if it were to come to that).

Ex: I buy a TV from Best Buy that they stole to put in their inventory. Because one can expect that BEst Buy sells TVs I certainly expect that purchase to be in good faith. I'm in the clear...I can keep the TV without recourse and whoever stole them is who the victim can go after. If you worked for best buy and said hey we have stolen tv's in our store we'll sell them at a discount and you thn buy that, then we have a problem.

Now, with jerseys it's important to note that they are NOT selling stolen GOODS...they're selling knockoffs which while they are a theft of registered trademarks for their own profit, they are intangible assets being stolen. The actual tangible goods are not stolen. What the law says about knowingly purchasing knockoffs I cannot say, I do know that the perpetrators are certainly in the wrong though.

And just for the record, I've never bought unlicensed jerseys but I HAVE bought unlicensed tee shirts (i.e. In the parking lot at a football game, etc)