Countering counterfeit?

Jackad7

I have been thinking, since it is possible to get your money back from counterfeit Legos which are craftily worded through paypal/ebay. Could I go through and start scooping these up from American sellers and then slamming then to both get my money back and the fakes. I'm not overly interested in the phonies other than to give to my cousins so they don't play with my collectable figures, but it would definitely start to tinker down the fake sellers as it would NOT be profitable for them. I've also noticed there are a lot of people selling fake Pokémon games but you can tell the community there is lax as they are not in any way crafting and straight up label them as Pokémon products. Just wondering if you guys think this would work.

SprinkleOtter

I think it is a wonderful idea.

Dontcopythatfloppy

I don't think anything's going to change if one guy (you) starts doing this. Remember, These things are mass-produced in the thousands.

CCC

I think you are likely to have your paypal account suspended if you make many claims of fake goods.

Coyotelily

If I have any I bin them, the quality is poor, they break easily and god knows what chemicals are used in the plastic- shouldn't be allowed.

mr.piggles

I feel like you would definitely be flagged for some type of fraud. If not at the very least, knowingly buying a counterfeit item for the purpose of enacting Paypal buyer protection refund while keeping the item, and doing it repeatedly, is not ethical.

TigerMoth

If you knowingly buy a fake item, then you have no reason to claim a refund because you know what you are getting. It wouldn't just be flagged as fraud - it is fraud. People do intentionally buy fakes.

You have also declared your intentions in an open forum.

You'd do a lot more damage to yourself than you could ever hope to inflict.

Jackad7

That's what I was thinking. Even thought they are breaking the law by mailing counterfeit it would definitely look suspicious if I made a lot of claims in a short period of time. Thanks!

Pitfall69

Now, it may be nothing, but this one company in my Facebook feed is constantly advertising Marvel Minfigures for $9.99, ya know, the one with The Hulk with a gun? Anyway, I constanty comment in the feed telling everyone in the comment section is that they are crap, not LEGO and counterfeit. Now, when it comes up in my feed again, I am unable to comment. Maybe one person CAN make a difference ;)

ryjay

Go ahead and try it.  Buy as many as you can.  Let us know what happens.

TigerMoth

Jackad7 said:

Even thought they are breaking the law by mailing counterfeit

You have to be careful what you mean by "counterfeit". You have described sellers using "crafty wording". That probably means they're not counterfeit or fake; if the item is a counterfeit, the seller wouldn't need to use crafty wording because the item itself would appear to be the original item. It sounds as if you are referring to sellers acting fraudulently, not counterfeit items.

ChrisJThunder

Counterfeit and clone-brand copies of Lego are an issue much larger than consumers or fanbases. In all honesty, only Lego or the governments of countries where clone brand sets are being sold can really do anything about it. Even then, politics and legal loopholes keep allowing the counterfeits to keep being sold.

It's the age-old paradigm - if someone wants it, someone else is out there distributing it illegally.

Istokg

Pitfall69 said:

Now, it may be nothing, but this one company in my Facebook feed is constantly advertising Marvel Minfigures for $9.99, ya know, the one with The Hulk with a gun? Anyway, I constanty comment in the feed telling everyone in the comment section is that they are crap, not LEGO and counterfeit. Now, when it comes up in my feed again, I am unable to comment. Maybe one person CAN make a difference ;)

You are unable to comment because the person's page where your comment shows up on has Facebook blocked you from posting on their page.

Jackad7

ryjay said:

Go ahead and try it.  Buy as many as you can.  Let us know what happens.

Thanks for your helpful advice on an already answered question :)

Pitfall69

Istokg said:

Pitfall69 said:

Now, it may be nothing, but this one company in my Facebook feed is constantly advertising Marvel Minfigures for $9.99, ya know, the one with The Hulk with a gun? Anyway, I constanty comment in the feed telling everyone in the comment section is that they are crap, not LEGO and counterfeit. Now, when it comes up in my feed again, I am unable to comment. Maybe one person CAN make a difference ;)

You are unable to comment because the person's page where your comment shows up on has Facebook blocked you from posting on their page.

Right, so I got under their skin and maybe persuaded a few other people to not buy that crap ;)

blogzilly

Pardon me if this question has been asked and answered. But what is the situation with the interior bags with white stripes and a single number? As opposed to no stripe and the number being printed multiple times?

i attached a couple of screen grabs from YouTube to illustrate what I mean. I ask because I bought a Cargo Truck off eBay from the Cargo Train 60052 and it came in the bag with the white stripe, something I have never seen before. 

Thanks...is there anywhere online a comprehensive write-up on fakes and how to identify them?

masterX244

blogzilly said:

Pardon me if this question has been asked and answered. But what is the situation with the interior bags with white stripes and a single number? As opposed to no stripe and the number being printed multiple times?

i attached a couple of screen grabs from YouTube to illustrate what I mean. I ask because I bought a Cargo Truck off eBay from the Cargo Train 60052 and it came in the bag with the white stripe, something I have never seen before. 

Thanks...is there anywhere online a comprehensive write-up on fakes and how to identify them?
--SNIP-- videos stripped

According to some other posts here  about new sets its a change by lego that slowly propagates through the sets until old bag stock is cleared. Probably done for better readability

kiki180703

I had a white stripe bag per bag number in my Big Ben.

Jern92

White stripe bags are pretty common. I've been getting them for a while now

ryjay

Are the white stripped bags made of a different material then the cellophane bags?  It looks like from the photos they are polypropylene  and sport the recycle claim.  I have not seen those in the US yet.

natro220

They don't seem any different.  Half my bags in my Beetle were the new type.

blogzilly

Understood, thanks for the info all.

Context from this end. While I've picked up quite a few sets in the past year since I got back into this, I have just scratched the surface as far as opening/building/learning parts, etc. And the nutty thing is that later tonight I open a newer piece to start tinkering with and sure enough...a white stripe that answered my own question. D'OH!!! :)

TigerMoth

ryjay said:

Are the white stripped bags made of a different material then the cellophane bags?  It looks like from the photos they are polypropylene  and sport the recycle claim.  I have not seen those in the US yet.

There have been polypropylene bags for many years - with numbers and recycling details, but no stripes. Perhaps they just haven't been marked as such in the US?

SumoLego

Jern92 said:

White stripe bags are pretty common. I've been getting them for a while now

The new Ghostbusters set has white-striped bags.

Pitfall69

SumoLego said:

Jern92 said:

White stripe bags are pretty common. I've been getting them for a while now

The new Ghostbusters set has white-striped bags.