Why you should research your suppliers thoroughly - Learn from my experience!

I recently sold some items on eBay from a supplier i wont mention. I bought off the supplier Microsoft office 2010, as they are a hot seller, so i thought id get in the market. Anyway i contacted the supplier and asked are these 100% genuine Microsoft products, original? They assured me, yes they are, several times. Great i thought, listed them on eBay, mad a tidy profit. Then i get a message that my listing is removed, and i have violated copyright by selling counterfeit goods. So i had to end up refunded all the money, which was quite a bit, then i had all the fees, and all the posting costs on top, ended up losing about 960 bucks.
I then contact the supplier for a refund, and he says no. Turns out the goods were real, they were developers licenses. However, the problem with that is, your not allowed to sell them. Then the supplier demands i cancel the dispute with him, or he will send someone round to my house.
Then i get angry emails from customers, stating im very upset you attempted to sell me illegal goods, you should be ashamed of yourself.
So overall a not very pleasant experience. More research is needed whenever you sell products, if i had have done that, i would have avoided this mess.
The supplier issue is currently ongoing, my gutt tells me hes full of it to send someone to my house, but there is that what if he is for real thought to.

Thx for sharing it:)

Hope things sort out for you. The supplier can`t be serious if he threaten with that. Not sure where u live but have you talked to the police?

But if u feel it`s real threats better be heads up with the police. If something should happen u can refer to that and they might come quicker.

Sincerely

Steinar

Hi again general-grievous7,

Turns out the goods were real, they were developers licenses. However, the problem with that is, your not allowed to sell them.

Although the products were real and came with developers licenses, since these were not for general sale, in theory these may get classified as counterfeits.

Have you gone to the police as suggested by Marc as a reply to your other post? I think you should, that suggestion is being echoed by another member.

Hope things turn out to your advantage.

Do keep us posted. All the best!

wow, sounds like a real bad experience. If I were you, I would contact Microsoft themselves and relay to them your dealings with your seller.
Microsoft spend millions to produce their software. If Microsoft software is the real thing it will have a sticker on the package with an authorization code on it. What you probably got was oem software. Software that is supposed to be installed only in new computer systems. It is sold as a license to computer builders to install on new systems at a heavy reduced cost. If you buy a new computer with software installed, their is supposed to be an authorizing code on it somewhere. That way if your computer ever crashes, you can get in touch with Microsoft and re-download the software to your computer by giving them that authorization code. That code is your proof either you or computer builder paid for the software...

hey all, i came to an understanding and got some of my money back.
i contacted Microsoft anti piracy team, but to my surprise, it seems they don't really care. I told them all that happened. Obviously selling 30 copies of counterfeit goods is acceptable to them, cause they never got back to me.

Hi general-grievous7,

That's good news! If I were in your shoes right now, I would be quite happy that Microsoft just let it pass. If they didn't it would mean more money lost on your part.

Cheers :)