Hi,
I received an email from eBay this morning, informing me about a petition they want their users to sign.
I can only recommend everyone signs it as it is, in my opinion, a very important part of retaining your rights and a free market – it’s about the sale of branded goods.
We all know that there are more counterfeit products on the markets than genuine ones. I myself tend to buy branded goods, although they have to be reasonably priced. I also buy ‘counterfeit’ products – or ‘like’ products – not because I want to damage the brand that’s been copied, but because I like their product, but find that less quality at a much more affordable price is what I’m happy with.
Who expects to buy a genuine Armani jacket for £15? – Someone incredibly stupid! But if it’s nice, I would buy it, well aware that it’s fake, but I’m happy with purchasing it.
When Armani says that this damages their profits, they clearly do not understand that I would never pay £500 for the same item, no matter how wealthy I am. I am clearly not their target consumer. Nor would I go and claim that this is a genuine product or do I care what the label says.
While I do buy counterfeit and often prefer counterfeits to the real brand, I encourage the purchase of those products from countries that have ethical workplace policies: no child labour, fair wages…
There is another side to it. The bigger brands are trying to eliminate the re-sale of their products through eBay alltogether. This is not because they fear for their brand name, but simply because of their greed. If you really want Prada, but can’t get it used, you will have to purchase it new.
This not only puts pressure on your wallet, it also infringes on your rights as owner of the products.
When you buy something it becomes rightfully yours… You should be allowed to wear, show off, sell or destroy the product as you please. It’s yours.
Once authorities take away your rights to your own property, what could that mean? – You would own a watch, but will later be forbidden to look at it; you have dog food; but you aren’t allowed to feed it to your dog, throw it away or consume it yourself; you have a bank account, but won’t be allowed to get money off it; you have a house, but won’t be allowed to live in it. The abstractions are endless, but it’s important to understand the concept: if something is yours, you should have all rights to do with itas you please as long as you don’t harm others…
For all these reasons, I encourage you to sign the eBay petition!