Back to Commandments I. Do Not Ignore the eBay Takedown Notice. The reason for this is eBay keeps score. If you get shutdown for too many "alleged infringing" auctions, eBay can, and will, suspend your account for whatever time period eBay wants. There is no set standard that we know of as to when eBay will strike and eBay will not tell you what their rules are. Back to Commandments II. Do Not Relist your auctions until after you have determined the exact reason(s) for the takedown. Don't Guess! If you relist without getting the reason(s) for the takedown you can expect your re-listed auction to be also shutdown and your account suspended indefinitely. In its takedown email, eBay warns you not to relist and they mean it! Back to Commandments III. Do Not Delay emailing the VeRO member for an explanation. Get to them right away especially while your case is fresh in their minds. Be specific and as short as possible in your request. Long, rambling and threatening emails will not get you a quick answer. If they don't reply within 24 hours, begin emailing the VeRO member several times a day and number your emails (i.e., Request For Explanation #4, Request For Explanation #5, etc) in the subject line for future reference. Back to Commandments IV. Do Not Contact eBay. eBay doesn't really care about you or your problem. eBay considers you a pest and will treat you as such. eBay is not required to take action against you when a "Rights Owner" complains to them but eBay will take action in order to minimize the possibility of being sued by the rights owner. There are a lot of actual infringing listings on eBay, and as far a eBay is concerned, you are one of the infringing sellers because the VeRO member said so! Contacting eBay only is useful when the VeRO member has an invalid email and then, maybe then, eBay might do something. But don't hold your breath. Back to Commandments V. Do Not Erase or Delete any emails or communications with the VeRO member or eBay. Start and maintain a paper trail until the issue gets resolved. Create a folder on your computer or email server and save the emails. This avoids a "He said, She said" problem later. Keep these emails because VeRO members love to lie and they forget a lot. Back to Commandments VI. Do Not Verbally Communicate with the VeRO member or their lawyers. They are only interested in their side of the issues and possibly will later lie to make you look bad or create a legal advantage. When it is in writing they cannot restructure the facts to their advantage. Besides, many times these lawyers have experience weasel-wording and can twist your spoken intentions to their advantages. The corporate lawyers are more experienced in intimidation and will throw legalese and jargon at you until you are confused and willing to admit you invaded Mesopotamia in 343 BC. Back to Commandments VII. Do Not Admit to doing anything wrong. Just because eBay and the VeRO member have claimed you were wrong does not mean you were. Even if it turns out you were infringing, never admit to doing anything wrong. Many times the only way the "rights owner" can get damages from you is to show a court you were a "willing infringer". This is a difficult standard to meet and usually will only be granted against parties who are involved in criminal or large scale infringing activities. Even if you were infringing, if you cease upon being notified they have a very weak case for willful infringement. And do not tell the VeRO member how many of the items you have sold or for how much money. Back to Commandments VIII. Do Not Believe the VeRO member's jargon, lies, and threats. It is likely the "rights Owner" will throw a lot of legal jargon at you claiming trademark infringement, dilution, unauthorized use, copyright infringement, etc. What they don't often tell you is that they are actually misrepresenting the legal definitions in an effort to scare you into compliance. Can we say, "they are lying"? Why do they do this? Because they can. It's up to you to determine the real facts of law. Don't believe what they tell you without checking up on it. Back to Commandments IX. Do Not Sign anything from the VeRO member or from eBay. The VeRO member might tell you to sign something agreeing not to violate their trademark/copyright and they will reinstate you. Don't. If they are willing to go that far they have a very weak case and your signature could be used against you in court. eBay will sometimes tell you to sign a statement as part of eBay's reinstatement procedure. Don't. The statement you sign is broadly worded and you might not realize that it means it covers all auctions for all items, regardless. Someone could get mad at you and falsely have you VeRO'd and eBay will suspend you with no chance of reinstatement because you agreed in writing to "never again" list something infringing. Back to Commandments X. Do Not Pay Any Monies, or agree to pay any monies, to the VeRO member or their representatives. Many of these "representatives" falsely claim that you "owe" them monies for violating their trademark and that they could get this money easily by going to court. We firmly believe this constitutes extortion because they are using the threat of harm to you if you don't pay them off. They have to prove you are a "willing infringer" (see Commandment VII) in order to get damages. The chances of this are slim. Back to Commandments XI. Do Not Believe that they will win and that you will lose. They will try to browbeat you. They will exaggerate their legal position while minimizing yours in an attempt to scare you into compliance. They will throw jargon and threats at you. Why? Because they want you to settle outside of court on their terms. Back to Commandments XII. Do Not Compare Your Auctions to other auctions running on eBay. It's a waste of time and effort. It doesn't matter how many other people are selling the same item, you're the one that got shut down. Don't worry about what other people are doing. Don't think that because there are a hundred other sellers out there selling the same item, using the same pictures and the same descriptions, that it matters one bit. It doesn't. eBay won't listen and the VeRO member will ignore you. Back to Commandments XIII. Do Not Argue with Tabberone after asking her for her opinions. People have solicited the opinion of Tabberone and then argue with her about the points. If you're not going to listen then don't waste her time. I'm happy to answer questions but read the information on the trademark pages before emailing me. A lot of your questions will be answered. Remember that my advice is based on my experiences. I've had 15 VeRO members to date retract their eBay takedowns.