Don't be scared, be carefully cautious when selling on auctions. eBay isn't the best resource when selling on auctions. eBay isn't the best place to start but it is a place. The best place to start would be
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Amazon moves fast and you just pick the hot-selling items then stock them in your store. Send the products to Amazon directly if you want them to ship it for you. If not just use blind dropshipping.
Clickbank is another excellent resource for selling online. When you dropshiip you're basically selling another's products for them anyhow, and taking a cut of the profits for you. You're selling the wholesale goods directly for them. That's why its nearly the same as affiliate marketing, you just have to finish filling the order though.
Why you should be cautious is pretty much regardless of where you sell at one time or another, Vero is going to scrutinize it. If you're not selling brands probably nothing will happen. But if you do sell brand names or designer goods, expect to be put under a microscope.
There's a number of things Vero can do to you. They're called the Verified Rights Owner Association. Since they are the original patent holders for most products, they can shut down your listings. They can certainly order Google Adwords to delete your ads and make the official claim piracy. They can prosecute you and seize everything you own, attack you with threatening letters, and fine you extra-ordinarily high sums of money.
The Vero group essentially consists of all the major corporations. Sony, Nintendo, Samsung, Rolex, Gucci, DeBeers, Tiffany, Chanel, Exxon Mobil, Louis Vutton, Square-Enix, Columbia, Paramount, MGM, Nokia, Coach, Abercrombie & Fitch, Tower Records, Apple, Compaq, Microsoft, Bungie, Tommy Hilfiger, Victorias Secret, Maybelline, JVC, Direct TV, Toshiba, AT&T, Verizon etc etc...
Essentially, all the major brand names in the world have joined and become a part of V.E.R.O. Their mission with their million dollar legal teams, expensive cars and thirty-something bigshots is to eliminate piracy and fight global piracy.
That all seems simple enough. But what they don't tell to you at least is that their definition of 'Piracy' is extremely broad. Vero's definition of piracy is anything which could be seen or shown to be infringing on the rights of the patent copyright holder, which is them. It means that anything Design Inspired, any Designer Brands you sell, or anything they don't like being related to their brand-- even if its just a replica or came from their factory overseas- is piracy.
This simplifies it a little too much however. There are all sorts of extraordinary definitions that have been enforced. Essentially if they see something released from a warehouse they own overseas and you're selling it, they can flash a piece of paper and have your listings yanked down and your store held responsible. Anything which aspires meaning to or is related to a brand is fair game.
There is no currently known solution besides not selling designer brands. You can file a complaint with the FTC, but it takes months to get a hearing. The Vero association wants to pass a law that ascribes a tax to every item that is sold, distributed or passed off online or offline. It wants a business to consumer direct operating model enforced everywhere possible.
You might consider voting for Obama if you really want to make a difference in this crucial area. Obama wants to repeal the NAFTA trade law which exported most manufacturing jobs overseas. He wants to repeal the consumer tax and will never allow V.E.R.O to pass their own business-consumer spending tax. His stance on trade is the opposite of most others. Alot of the cheap jobs in China or India are unregulated. Sure they offer great products. But nobody is watching them or solving this crisis so they get back to the US. He said that he would endorse a new form of free trade and legislation for ecommerce that would give back jobs and create high demand for consumer products. It would replace NAFTA. I consider NAFTA to be a total failure & adds to alot of the mess we're in now.
Good luck with the auction. Just remember start low, offer specialty discounts and gifts & go high!!!! I sell items regularly off my online store but usually through Craigslist, Amazon or ioffer.
